strawberry jam forever

When Ryan gave me the bread machine, I was pretty thrilled to see that aside from making breads, and doughs, and gluten-free goodies, it also had a jam and chutney setting. I'd never made homemade jam or jelly before, but with a couple of days stuck inside last week thanks to a springtime cold, I had to fill my latent hours with kitchen crafts.

So I washed and hulled two pounds of organic strawberries--picked up on sale at the local grocery for $2.99/pound--and tossed them in a dish. Based on recipes I'd read online, I came up with my own and added one cup of granulated sugar, the juice of one lemon, and one small package of pectin. Then I threw it all into the bread maker and set it to work. A couple of hours later, the mixture smelled sweet and delectable--but had bubbled over into the bread machine. This, I suppose, is the downside of leaving something to cook without any attention--things happen. Jams bubble over, for instance, and leave hot, sticky messes in your fancy bread machine that you have to clean up with a damp towel while wearing hot pads.

Like I said, things happen. But the end result was a tasty and sweet, albeit slightly watery, batch of organic strawberry jam. I made a batch of yummy two-ingredient biscuits and they were the perfect compliment to the jam. I spent $6 on strawberries, and about $2 on pectin and sugar and a lemon--and I got just about two pints of jam out of it. So if the average 8-ounce jar of organic strawberry jam costs about $5, I definitely saved a buncha dough by making it at home. Even with the trouble of cleaning up the mess it made, it was worth it. Next time I may make it the old-fashioned way, with my big red pot and a good ole wooden spoon.