Strawberry Heaven

Strawberries the size of small apples :) or peaches!!!

Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries!

5 flats of strawberries

25 lbs of sugar

5 very willing helpers

12 boxes of pectin

=

HOURS of FUN

2 months ago I got a heads up about some strawberries. Our strawberry freezer jam was all gone, so I figured now was as good a time as any to stock back up.

My sister-in-law Whitney ordered 2 flats, and I ordered 3. Well, the weekend we got the strawberries, Whitney was unable to process them herself, so me and the kids set up my kitchen as a strawberry jam producing plant and got to work. I let the kids eat as many strawberries as they wanted. Washing, hauling, cutting, mashing, stirring, boiling, scooping... everyone took turns doing every job! It was very fun for me to have my kids experience this very similarly to what I experienced growing up. The only difference was that I got to go help my mom PICK the strawberries before we started!

So much fun. I love the look on their faces smeared with strawberry juice, seeds in their teeth, and complete joy on their faces. They loved cutting with real knives, stirring boiling liquids on the stove, and dumping finished jam into jars. There were minor spills and losses. They are turning into such responsible big kids!