jammin'!

i took the kids strawberry picking yesterday. it's been a rough year for strawberries here. the season has been cut short by daily pounding storms. i'm glad we finally made it because it doesn't seem like there will be many more days of our already short season.

we picked a huge mixing bowl full. not sure how many pounds because my cousin was working at the patch and we got them for free (score!). i am pretty sure though that my two little helpers brought their own fair share home in their bellies. 

henny was covered with strawberry juice. he was just pickin' and eatin'. and of course bee helped with her special blend of fantasy fun/complaining/eating/real live helping. 

when we got home we whipped up some jam, to really round out the experience. gold star for me! we followed the directions found inside this pectin box. it was super simple and not too sugary. they even had some no-sugar options but i didn't have any juice concentrate, so next time. it was my first experience with canning of any sort so i was excited to see the jam actually turn into jam and the jars seal. 

and the jam actually tastes pretty good. the kids love it of course, but i think if i try to make more (maybe raspberry season?), i might follow a more interesting recipe. but for now i guess we have some jam to get eating!