Strawberry Jam 3 Ways!

My friend Mary at All Things Food~Cooking with Mary and Friends brought me two gallons of strawberries the other day from Willard Farms. They are beautiful, fragrant and delicious! I decided to make three different types of jam. One regular batch of Strawberry Jam. One batch of Strawberry Jalapeno and one batch of Strawberry Basil Jam.

I washed and trimmed the stems of one gallon of strawberries. That yielded about 6 cups of chopped strawberries. It would have been a little more, but my hubby and son kept sneaking strawberries from the bucket! LOL

Strawberry Jam Base:

6 cups chopped strawberries
8 cups sugar (more or less depending on the sweetness of the berries)
1 pkg Sure-Jell fruit pectin

Add the strawberries to a large pot and mash a little with a large spoon or potato masher. When some juice has been extracted, add the pectin and stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil and add the sugar. Bring back to a rolling boil for at least one minute. I cooked mine a bit longer. Remove from heat. At this point I added the jam to 4 half pint jars.

For Strawberry Jalapeno:
Add 1~2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos to each of three jars, and add the jam leaving 1/4" head space.

For Strawberry Basil:
Add 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon dried basil according to taste in each of three jars or tear or mince fresh basil and add to jars.

Process jars in a hot water bath for ten minutes. (according to manufacturer's directions) Or if you are not sure how to or need a good reference when canning check out Ball's Step-by-Step Guide.