Summer's coming!

Last year I convince the husband that we needed to buy two more appliances.  If you know me, you're laughing right now.  I might have a little problem with acquiring too many gadgets.  That is NOT an admission of guilt...just a possibility.  To make matters worse, these appliances can only do one thing, which is a Cardinal Sin according to Miz Margaret.  I shall not apologize.

So, what did I buy?  And, more important, have I used them?  Well, it's like this...  I stumbled across the Ball (think canning jars) website and discovered that they have come up with a painless way to make jams & jellies and they made an electric automatic canner.  Genius!

Remember helping your mom or grandmother (in my case, my aunt) make jams and jellies?  The kitchen turned into a hot steamy mess as you stood over the blazing stove for ages stirring and checking and stirring some more.  By the time you got a gazillion jars done, you didn't care if you ever saw another strawberry in your life.

I'll never do it like that again.  These two appliances take all the drudgery out of canning and leave you with the fun, satisfaction, and deliciousness.  Sounds a bit like a commercial for Ball, huh?  Well, it's not.  They don't have the faintest idea who I am and probably never will.  Despite that, I shall remain a loyal fan of their products!

To prepare the jam, add pectin, a dab of butter, your prepared berries.  The Jam & Jelly maker does all the rest.  You can sit down and read a magazine while it heats and stirs the berries for you.  While the jam is going, the Electric Automatic Canner pre-heats (and sterilizes) your jars for you.  When the Jam & Jelly maker is done, you just load up the jars, pop the lids & bands on, and return them to the Electric Automatic Canner.  It only needs a few inches of water and it works somewhat like a very low pressure canner.

We used those two appliances to make applesauce, can peaches, make raspberry, blackberry, peach, pear, nectarine, persimmon, and onion jams, salsa, spaghetti sauce, and I'm sure I've forgotten something.  The point is, I got my money's worth out of them last year.  And, the good news is, we just finished our first two batches of strawberry jam for this year.  I think one of the things I like best, is that you don't have to do a hundred flats of berries at a time.  We just did one or (sometimes) two batches in an evening with whatever fruit was ripe at the time.  For reference, one "load" of jam fills four little jelly jars (8 oz) and two "loads" fills four pint jars.  The canner will take four pint jars at a time (or three quart jars at a time).  It never felt like "work" and we enjoyed every minute - especially the tasting.

We are fortunate enough to live in the great state of Washington.  And, even more fortunate to live a mere 6-ish miles from the Columbia River, which divides Washington and Oregon.  And, everyone knows (or maybe you don't) that the best strawberries in the world are grown right here in this area.  Hood berries (as in Mt Hood) are one of the most sought after varieties, which are known for their outstanding flavor - melt in your mouth, sweet, delicate.

These berries are not Martha S magazine worthy (you know who I mean).  More often than not, they are a little pointy on top, small, misshapen, or just flat out ugly.  But, they are red all the way through and they smell and taste like "real" strawberries.  I think God made them funny looking so that people from other parts of the country won't want them, which leaves more of them for me!

Should you be lucky enough to find some Hood Strawberries, snatch them up and eat them quick.  They are wonderful on shortcake with a pile of whipped cream. They will happily swim around in the strawberry pie.  And, they do make the most delicious jam you can imagine!  Here's the recipe from the Ball Jam & Jelly Maker book.  You won't regret giving these two appliances a try!

Strawberry Jam

INGREDIENTS

3¼	cups crushed strawberries
3	T pectin
½	t butter
2	cups granulated sugar

Directions

1. Wash strawberries in cool, running water and drain.  Remove stems and hulls.  Crush berries (not too much if you want strawberry chunks in your jam) one layer at a time using a potato masher.

2. Sprinkle pectin evenly over bottom of the pot fitted with the stirrer.  Add crushed berries evenly over pectin.  Add butter to help reduce foaming.

3. Press the “Jam” button and press enter.  Wait four minutes for the appliance to sound four short beeps indicating that it is time to add sugar.  Add sugar gradually while the stirrer continues running.  Place the glass lid on the pot.  (Now, go read a book for the next 18 minutes.)

4. The appliance will continue to automatically stir your ingredients while it cooks.  When it beeps again at the end of the cycle, press cancel and immediately remove the glass lid.  Remove the stirrer using a pot holder and load up your jars.

5. Process jars in the Electric Automatic Canner according to its directions.

That's it!  Super easy!

PS  Photo credits for the first two appliance photos go to Ball.