Strawberry Jam

June means a lot of different things to different people, but to strawberry lovers (at least in the northern hemisphere) it means fresh, ripe strawberries! We are lucky to live close to the fertile Fraser Valley, with its abundance of farms, including Emma Lea Farms on Westham Island in Ladner.

First up, we had to acquire a sufficient quantity of strawberries. That's where kids come in handy. Strawberry plants are low to the ground, and children don't have to bend over nearly as much as adults. Furthermore, you don't have to worry so much about losing them like in blueberry fields, but that's a different story.

After a couple of hours of picking, I rewarded my hard workers with vegan fresh fruit smoothies. The quaint little stand at the Emma Lea Farms also offered ice cream sundaes and shakes.

Coming home with the goods, I set out to make strawberry jam. At first I religiously followed a recipe on the package of pectin. This being my first time solo, I may not have followed the recipe adeptly enough, but the "jam" turned out super sugary and runny. Now for certain uses, runny jam works, but I was determined to make a more viscous one.

Take 2: After much internet surfing along my favourite foodie blogs, I went with Jamie Oliver's straightforward cooked "strawberry jam" recipe because I didn't happen to have lemongrass sitting around the house, and these fresh strawberries were waiting for no one.


Adapted from Mr. Oliver (I've really got to buy a kitchen scale):
• 1 vanilla pod
• 8 cups strawberries, washed and hulled
• 1/2 kg (or a little less... taste it as you go along) berry sugar

Scrape vanilla seeds out of the pod and mix in bowl with strawberries and sugar. Mush up, making sure you leave some chunks of strawberry.

Pour the strawberry mixture into a large pot on medium heat. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 5 minutes. Then turn the heat off, skim any foam off the top of the jam and leave to cool a little. Pour into sterilized jam jars and allow to cool completely before covering and placing in the fridge where it will keep for about a week, or freeze to keep them longer.