Jammin'

Remember this?  It surprised me even that I found time so soon to follow through on my pledge to preserve some summer freshness all year long.

Today, I made jam.

Well, I made strawberry vanilla sauce.  But I'm sure it's just as delicious as the jam would have been had it jelled.

I used my friend Jodi's recipe, and, being the overachiever I am, thought that I'd try to leave out the pectin as many do these days.  And therein lies my mistake; for my first experience in canning, having a little help from commercial pectin certainly wouldn't have hurt.

I can say without hesitation that these ten little jars of strawberry sauce/runny jam have got me hooked.  Despite so much going on (bubbling berries and sugar! sterilizing jars!), the process of turning fruit into preserves, it turns out, is good for the soul.  Slicing, measuring, stirring, pouring: such simple things turn into something amazing and made by me.  There's a real sense of pride in that.