Well Preserved
Strawberry Jam
Watercolor Sketchbook
A very happy June 1st to you all, and here’s what’s left of the strawberries. They have been well preserved in pint jars as strawberry jam, with just enough fresh ones left over for both of us to each have a huge bowl of berries. The picture doesn’t quite tell the whole story though, because this was the first time I ever made jam.
I spent two very full days of hulling, cleaning, and cooking strawberries followed by boiling the filled jars in a water bath. One day for each flat of strawberries. Some “real” canning equipment would’ve made the job a little easier, but I was able to borrow a deep pot for the water bath, and had a pair of tongs that were just long enough to grab the tops of the submerged jars. I didn’t burn myself, and even more importantly, I didn’t drop any jars.
The house got steamy enough that one of my “buckled” watercolors is now almost flat, and obviously there are benefits to home canning I didn’t know anything about! I ended up with thirty pints of jam, and spent two fun filled afternoons listening to the sweet sound of sealing jars singing tink, tink, tink!
Have I sampled any yet? You betcha! I couldn’t help it. I had no idea if it had set, or if I was going to be the proud owner of 30 jars of ice cream topping. So I opened one. It was good. It was real good.
Technorati Tags: art, watercolor, strawberry jam
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What beautiful watercolor jams!
And they sound delicious too. You’re throwing a craving on me, lol.
:)
Thanks Kasie! PB&J has never tasted quite so good, but Smucker’s is pretty close to what I’ve got here.
Lovely looking strawberries, look good enough to eat.
Thank you!
This is stunning! It looks so much like glass filled with strawberry jam. Just gorgeous!
Thanks Jana! The strawberries & jam were my first experiments with a “Masquepen.” It works pretty well, but I’m amazed at how much mask comes out of that teeny, tiny hole in the tip!
mmmm,love your strawberries