JAM- getting an early start...

 Last year was my first time making jam.  It was a lot of work, but I loved making it.  

There is nothing like opening a fresh jar of homemade jam.  I wanted to stock up a little earlier this year especially since we ran out of homemade jam way back in December.  

We made strawberry and blackberry again.  Blackberry was my favorite last year so of course I had to make more.  I feel like strawberry is just a given.  

I started way later in the day than I had anticipated.  I didn't even start until after I picked the kids up from school.  

Andy ended up helping when he got home from work.  We made 2 batches in the afternoon and one more after getting the kids to bed.  

I finished cleaning up around midnight.  I made smaller batches this year because last year we kind of burned one batch. I think it was just too much in one pot.  

So just as a reminder to myself, I made batches of 4 pints of strawberries.  

This pretty much made 4 pints of jam with just a little extra to put in the refrigerator.  YUM!  This year I used the low sugar pectin.  It worked great and the jam is just as yummy with about half the sugar.  I used the recipe that is in the Ball jar recipe book and just adjusted the sugar with the pectin.  I put 2 1/2 cups of sugar for the 4 pints of sugar.  I might try a little less  next time.  I was just worried it wouldn't gel, but it did.  

I want to try a couple of different fruits this year also.

Doesn't apricot sound delicious?