a summer strawberry revival

Well, it happened again. I went another 3 months without a peep. I thought about posting (really, I did!) but, life has once again gotten in the way. Eh, well.

After a Father's Day outing to a fantastic local pick-your-own farm, we returned home with a bounty of gorgeous sweet strawberries and I was totally inspired. I mulled over what would become of my little red treasures for a while before settling on jam. I'd never made any jam before and this seemed like the perfect way to stretch the juicy sweetness of these amazing berries as much as humanly possible.

Not having made jam before, I was naturally a bit intimidated by this task. All those fears melted away when I discovered instant pectin that required NO cooking whatsoever (BOOYAH). This jam could honestly not be simpler and is so freakin' delicious. No cooking + no canning = amazingly fresh and fruity homemade jam that keeps for a month (or up to a year!). WIN.

No-cook Strawberry Jam

{Recipe right off the Ball Instant Pectin package}

 Ingredients:

• 1 package (1.59 oz.) Ball Instant Fruit Pectin
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 cups crushed strawberries

In a large bowl, stir the sugar and pectin together until well blended. Add the crushed strawberries and continue to stir for 3 minutes. Ladle the mixture into clean containers of your choice (I couldn't resist these plastic Ball jars- how cute!) and allow the jam to set for 30 minutes. Use your delicious jam now -- on warm cream biscuits, layered into a cake, in thumb-print cookies or just smeared on plain old toast. You can also stash it in the refrigerator (3 weeks) or freezer (up to a year).

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