summer life: making homemade jam with friends!

Posted on 09. Jul, 2011 by Princess Lasertron in Grab Bag

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Last week, after we picked strawberries at Getting’s Garden in Iowa, we learned how to make jam and canned a whole bunch of jars to share with our friends!

Emma, Shannon, and I used ChillOver Powder from Mary Jane’s Farm, which is a better-than-gelatin powder with no animal products used to create it, unlike regular gelatin. You can use ChillOver Powder to make Jell-O type snacks, mousses, and of course, jam! You only need two teaspoons of ChillOver Powder for each batch of jam, so a little goes a long way.

This was our first time making jam and we couldn’t believe how easy it was. We’ll definitely do it again with other kinds of fruit. And I’ve had a jar or two in my bag for all of my meetings in the last few days–everybody loves getting a jar of fresh homemade jam.

Here’s the recipe we used, available at the Mary Jane’s Farm website.

Chillover® Strawberry Jam

2 lbs. strawberries, washed, hulled and crushed
to yield 4 cups crushed berries
2 cups organic cane sugar
2 packets MaryJane’s Chillover® Powder

1. Combine crushed strawberries and sugar in a large pot. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
2. Sprinkle and stir Chillover Powder into liquid and boil rapidly for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and can in sterile jars (refer to a canning manual for complete canning instructions).

p.s. Did you know Mary Jane’s Farm is going to be at The Creative Connection Event? Did you know I’m teaching four sessions there? Did you know you can sign up for classes and speakers ala carte? Then what are you waiting for? Sign up!