Last weekend, we made the hour-long trek to a tiny, family farm north of Cincinnati to pick delicious (un-sprayed) strawberries. I planned to pick 10 pounds, but we just found so many beautiful berries that this quickly turned into 20!!
After several hours of picking, a picnic lunch, and a stop by the store for supplies we were ready for the second part of this adventure. Preservation. My list of canning ideas is endless and I couldn't wait to get started on these berries.
First up, Strawberry Lemon Marmalade! Hubby and S get to work cutting up the berries and slicing lemons, while I prep the canner and jars.
For the jam, I decided to make my own pectin from tart apples. This made for the most delicious strawberry jam I have ever tasted!
After 2 days of back-breaking work (seriously, I am now seeing a chiropractor!) we finished our strawberry project!! We ended up with Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Lemon Marmalade, Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate, Maple Strawberry Smooch, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a huge 2 gallon freezer bag full of berries. YUM!!