My mom did a lot for us growing up that I didn’t realize I just took for granted. Homemade strawberry jam was one of those things we had in the house year round except for maybe April and May when our yearly stock would run out. Each June, my mom would load my sisters and I in the car and drive us out to a farm west of Kalamazoo Michigan to buy a trunk full of red, ripe, strawberries. These berries my mom would turn into what seemed like hundreds of jars of freezer jam that we would store for the whole year in our freezer to eat, and give away to special family and friends.

It seemed like anyone who was close to our family knew about “Lorie’s Strawberry Jam” and looked forward to getting a jar each year. This year, I decided to carry on the tradition. It’s the end of Strawberry season here in Philadelphia so I got 6 quarts of berries and made a sticky, sweet, mess in my kitchen.

I asked my sisters about the recipe and it turns out that mom’s verbal instructions were oh so detailed (not at all) and what we know for sure was: “Use the recipe on the back of the pink box of SureJell Pectin”. So I went on the hunt for the PINK box (there are other colors) and I found it! Well, the recipe on the back of the box is extremely basic, and when you scan the QR code it takes you to SureJell’s website with more recipes, and their recipe for freezer jam was slightly different from the one on the box. So, I did what I know my mother would have done, and I put a bit less sugar in than the recipe called for… and let me tell you, the result is some VERY delicious jam!

So in case you wanted my best guess at my mother’s freezer strawberry jam (aka, the best strawberry jam recipe in the world), I’m sharing this here for you… but also for me so that I know where to find it next year when I make it again.

Recipe

• 2 cups of blended strawberries
• 3.5 cups of sugar
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 package of SureJell pectin (the pink box, I found it on Amazon but grocery stores might have it too)

Yield: approximately 6 or so 8-oz jars.

Instructions

• Wash and take the tops of your farm fresh strawberries: the small, sweet ones. If you use store bought strawberries that were imported from some far away place, you’ll end up with pink, under-flavored jam instead of delicious red jam and my mom would have called it “sad and anemic” (she used Florida berries one time and it was less delicious, and kind of ugly.
• Blend the berries: it’s okay to have some chunks, but the consistency is all up to you, I like mine smoother (that’s how mama made it).
• Mix the sugar and berries: In a bowl, mix your blended berries with your sugar and stir for a couple of minutes to help the sugar dissolve. Let it sit about 10 minutes so the sugar and soak up the strawberries.
• Heat the water and mix with pectin: In a small sauce pan, heat up your 3/4 cup of water and once it’s boiling, add the SureJell pectin and stir continuously (with a whisk) for 1-minute while it boils.
• Mix water mixture with strawberries and sugar: Pour the hot water/pectin mixture into the bowl with the sugar and blended berries. Stir well with a whisk for a few minutes.
• Put jam in the jars: Carefully ladle (or use a funnel) the jam into freezer safe containers.
• Let it set: Put the lids on all your jars and then let the jam rest at room temperature for 24 hours before storing it in the freezer.

Jam Storage

The jam will store in the fridge for about 3 weeks, and in the freezer for at least a year.

Recommended Serving

I mean the best way to eat mom’s strawberry jam is on fresh homemade bread, like mom always had in the kitchen (literally… always). But I do not make fresh homemade bread very often so here’s what I do.

• Smear an English Muffin with lots of butter and toast it in a frying pan until it’s just starting to brown. Smear it with butter AGAIN, and then smear it with strawberry jam. (This preparation is a Jeff DuPraw specialty… thanks, Dad!)
• Grab a loaf of fresh sourdough bread from a reputable bakery (be careful buying sourdough from large grocery stores… it’s not always TRUE sourdough) and the first time you slice into it, no need to toast, just smear with butter and jam and eat.
• Once your sourdough loaf has been open for a day, my recommendation is to follow the same instructions as with the English Muffin.

I hope you have enjoyed this little piece of food history and tradition from my childhood. It sure is special to carry on my mom’s tradition of making strawberry jam and sharing with you all. I am sitting on my porch right now finishing this post up and munching on a nice piece of sourdough bread, LOADED with butter and jam.

*Licks lips*
That’s all for now 🍓