Strawberry Freezer Jam

If you take but one bit of advice, from the countless pearls of wisdom that I toss your way, please let it be to make this jam. You must, absolutely must, make this. It takes 20 minutes, really, and the outcome is amazing. I don't know about you, but I frequently gauge my cooking by a ratio. The ratio of my effort vs. the outcome. A good recipe, in my opinion, should have an output that far outweighs my effort (or at least be well worth the effort). This recipe gives so much more than you put it in, it should be against the law.

Now, strawberry season is over with here. Pause..for a moment of silence. But I'm not too heartbroken because being the resourceful girl that I am, I have 3 bags of vacuum sealed strawberries in my freezer, waiting to be turned into something fabulous. And after making this jam, I think they shall all become more of this!

This all happens because of the miracle known as "Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin." See it pictured above? The recipe is from the back of that package. It doesn't get any easier than this!

NO-COOK Freezer Jam

1. Measure 1 1/2 cups of sugar into a bowl. ADD contents of 1 pouch of Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin, stirring to evenly blend.

2. CRUSH fruit. ADD 4 cups crushed fruit to pectin mixture (for peaches and apricots, reduce measure to 3 1/2 cups). STIR 3 minutes.

3. LADLE freezer jam into clean freezer jars leaving 1/2 -inch headspace; apply lids. Let stand until thickened (about 30 minutes). SERVE immediately, REFRIGERATE up to three weeks or FREEZE up to 1 year.

Yield: 5 8-ounce jars (I actually ended up with six)

That's it! Really try not to hurt your wrist, while you energetically pat yourself on the back. Look at my rows of gorgeous jam! I kind of laughed when I read the part about refrigerate for three weeks. A jar of this has not lasted a week in my fridge. And this last picture is just a bit of helpful advice for you (really, there is no end to my advice, just ask my daughters). If you have one of those handy-dandy 4 cup measuring cups, and you think that you'll just go ahead and crush the fruit in it. It doesn't work. When you get to a certain point, pressing down on the fruit to mash it, requires the previously crushed fruit to move out of it's way, and the only place to go is up and out of the cup. Yes, I know it's basic science, my brain doesn't do science in the summer. This picture was taken, right when it finally dawned on me that it was not going to work! Learn from my mistakes. I make them for you, so that you don't have to. I really do.

And since strawberries are red, and red is good, and they are loaded with all kinds of antioxidants, this will be my entry for ARF/5 A Day hosted by Cate at Sweetnicks.