Mein Koffer ist voll: In a jam!

{Note, this is a joint post., and it will appear on both the blogs of:
Laura Boyle - http://koffervoll.blogspot.com
Ruth Lewendon - http://atnumber29.wordpress.com
We hope that ALL of our readers enjoy it}

Before Laura returned to England, Ruth suggested that we go to Tulley's Farm and pick our own strawberries. Laura immediately agreed, asking if we might make jam with the berries we picked. Thus the plan was born.

With Oz and Emily in tow, we headed out to pick strawberries. As its near the end of strawberry season, we worried the pickings might be slim, but we managed to find a number of them anyways.

Once home,we cleaned the berries and prepared to make jam. Apples are added to the jam to help it set.

Our recipe calls for equal parts apple, berries and double sugar. We used 1lb 6oz of each berry and 2lb 12oz of sugar. You also need the juice of two fresh lemons.

Step 1: Wash and cut fruit.

Step 2: Add apples to a pot with some water (maybe 2 cups?) - Basically about half of them were covered. Put the berries in a separate pot, with no added water - although the bottom should be damp. Add the lemon juice to each pot (one lemon per pot). The lemons are high in pectin and help the jam set.

Step 3: Cook berries and apples until they are soft and can be further mashed. We used a potato masher. You should probably mash them a bit better than we did!

Step 4: Pour berries into apples and then once the mixture is boiling, add sugar. Continue cooking.

Step 5: While the fruit-sugar mixture is cooking, soak your jars in HOT BOILING water. The jars MUST be extremely hot in order to seal properly. A dish towel should also soak in the water as well.

Step 6: When the mixture thickens and a "skin" begins to form, it is time to pour the jam. Pour the jam into jars and put the lids on them. You need to fill them to the very top, otherwise you risk it molding before you use it. Plus this helps it seal better.
BE VERY VERY CAREFUL, THE JARS AND MIXTURE ARE VERY VERY HOT!
(Disclaimer: We cannot be held responsible if you burn yourself during this process.)