Summer Sunday

This morning Jenn, Jenny and I drove out to Sauvie Island and bought 2 flats of beautiful strawberries for $12 each. I didn't plan on buying that many berries, but it was a crazy good deal. Last year I paid $24 for 1 flat of strawberries that weren't nearly as good.

Then we made tons of jam, as is our summer custom. Jenn and Jenny made strawberry jam and strawberry & raspberry jam (they picked some of the raspberries in my back yard, thank god.) I just made strawberry jam with honey, because that's my favorite:

It turned out really well. I used the remainder of a quart of honey that I bought at a farmer's market last year, so my jam is all-local! I've had problems with jam made with honey not setting up properly before, but this time I tried using a calcium activated pectin and it worked so much better. And because calcium activated pectins aren't dependent on sugar to jell, this jam isn't sickeningly sweet. I only used 2 cups of honey total, and it made about 14 jars.

I also made pesto with basil from my CSA bin.

I know, pesto is kind of boring, but this batch was exceptionally good. All the produce I'm getting from my CSA is amazing. I grilled some bread, then mixed up some pesto with cherry tomatoes and served it as build-your-own bruscetta. I think I ate about 95% of it all on my own, but everybody seemed to like it.

While the jam was cooling, and the lids were popping (which is such a satisfying sound) we talked about all the other things we want to can this summer: pickles, tomatoes and salsa are at the top of our list. Canning is addictive.