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.

Red Onion Jam

My Mama loved Pepper Jelly! I remember her having the green jelly in the little jars. She would get Ritz Crackers and smear them with cream cheese and Pepper Jelly! I bet she would have eaten this stuff up!!!

4 cups Red Onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 pkg (1.75 oz) fruit pectin
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

In a large pot, combine all ingredients EXCEPT the sugars. Bring to a rolling boil. Add sugars. Stirring constantly, bring to a rolling boil again and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off any foam that may have formed. Spoon jam into heat resistant jars and cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator.

You can also use a water bath and can the jam to store it in your pantry!