Keep It Local: Strawberries

It's been a few months since strawberry season ended here in coastal NC. :(  Picking strawberries is one of our most favorite things to do... we even picked strawberries on our California vacation last month :)  Admittedly we have a problem-- we don't know when to quit.  ;)  But in the case of of picking strawberries... that's a good problem to have :D

Before the season ended we picked loads of berries and enjoyed the bounty of fresh local strawberries...

Mmmm... local berries.  They're in season and the flavor (and texture) is at their peak... far superior than anything we could ever buy in a grocery store.  True, I'm missing strawberries already... but I know that my taste buds would only be disappointed by berries shipped from across the country.  So thanks to our habit of not being able to quit picking berries, I've got ice cream buckets full of strawberries in my freezer just perfect for making smoothies AND I finally did what I've been wanting to do for so many years... make Fresh Strawberry Jam.

Sure in past years, I've made strawberry jam... but only a few jars.

As one of my many commitments this year, I decided that I wasn't going to buy strawberry jam anymore.  

Strawberries macerating.

By making my own, I bring it back to the way things used to be... picking my own food and preserving it for the future.  I know where our strawberries were grown and how they were prepared (by me!), I can control how much and what kind of sweetener I use.... no plastic seals, no trucks, no shelves stocked. 

 Keeping it local.  Keeping it seasonal. 

Want to get canning and jamming?  Check out Food in Jars

Food In Jars: Strawberry Jam