Berry bounty

  
A weekend trip up to the North Shore for a visit to Russell Orchards yielded a bounty of fresh-picked strawberries, encounters with a few ladybugs, and a fair share of cider doughnut tasting. And then, the brainstorming: what to do with all of these beautiful berries!!?

Obviously shortcakes are in order (and I'm waiting on a batch of crème fraîche to compliment that as we speak) but my immediate thought took me right back to summer at my grandparents' house on the lake where there was always a healthy stash of strawberry freezer jam made from the garden harvest. I'm pretty sure that my grandma Jane used the recipe off of the box of pectin, but I didn't have any pectin on hand and I am much too impatient when faced with a big box of berries and a few empty Weck jars to wait for time to run to the market.

So instead I went with a recipe by another favorite cooking lady, Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa). Like most of her recipes, it's so simple and so delicious!

Strawberry Jam

2 cups of sugar

1 large lemon, zested and juiced

1 1/2 pints (about 3 cups) strawberries, hulled and halved or quarted

For something a little different than traditional strawberry jam, you might adapt or vary this recipe by adding additional lemon, balsamic vinegar, or a vanilla bean.

Combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over very low heat for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and continue to cook over low heat for 20 minutes, until the strawberries release some of their juices and the mixture boils slowly. Pour carefully into 2 pint canning jars and either seal or keep refrigerated. Use immediately, can or freeze.

I found that, after cooking, my jam was still a bit juicier than I prefer. I spooned the solid bits with some of the juice into jars and then added about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the remaining liquid in the pan. After cooking that down over low heat for about 5 minutes, I bottled and refrigerated it for use as an ice cream topping or to add to salad dressings.

And, ta da... summer in a jar!