Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I was totally inspired by Kristen over at The Frugal Girl with her post on homemade freezer jam.

The last couple of years, as I have been learning to make things from scratch, I have made a few things that were a bit out of the standard for me. Two years ago, I made Blueberry Freezer Jam. It was good, but it wasn't quite as wonderful as I thought it would be. This year I decided to try Strawberry Freezer Jam.

After school today, I headed to the thriving metropolis of Lambeth. Well, just to the west of Lambeth, to Millar Berry Farms to get the kidlets to help me pick some strawberries. I was saddened to learn that the Pick-Your-Own fruit isn't ready yet, but they did have plenty of ripe delicious berries for sale.

I bought two, 3L baskets of 'imperfect' fruit for $3.00 each, and a six pack of pints for $23.00. We also bought fresh asparagus that was cut less than an hour before we showed up, and some rhubarb stalks.

Stopping at the TSC store on the way back to London (the east side of Lambeth), I bought a case of 12, 500mL canning jars, perfect for jam. I also picked up some liquid pectin. Total: $20.00.

I ended up with 9-500mL jars and 4-8 oz. jars of strawberry freezer jam. I also quartered some berries and bagged them for the freezer, and had some leftovers to slice to add to some vanilla ice cream for dessert.

I figure the total cost of making the jams/bags came to about $53.36.
If I were to purchase the same amounts of commercial jam, bags of frozen berries, and sliced berries, it would have set me back about $62.83.

I still have 3 jars left to fill with something though. I wonder when the raspberries will be ready?

4 comments:

  1. We have raspberries growing in our garden and this year I'm going to try to make jam when they are ready. That is if I can keep hubby and the babes away from them long enough :)

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  2. I soooo love freezer jam!! Wish I had the jars, etc... to do that! Will need to invest in some I think!!

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  3. I've just never been one to make jam or can anything, though my mother was and my oldest sister does, so I am envious of those who do! We are actually recipients of homemade jam donations from friends and we sure do appreciate it, nothing tastes as good as homemade! (I sound like a commercial!)

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  4. Nice guide thank you!/ I love it! very creative! That's actually really cool Thanks.

    Freezers

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