Summery things: Strawberry Jam, Sunflowers & Bumble Bees

Our teddy bear sunflower!

I absolutely love summer.  The days are so long, that even after my 12 hour day, which includes a horrid commute to work, and the breakneck speed working hours in between, it still gives me time to step out into my garden and enjoy the extra bit of daylight.

It is during these moments, I am rewarded by looking at the most perfect teddybear sunflower, which I did not know it was until my friend Julie pointed it out, and admire the loveliness and the cushiony teddybearness it embodies.  Who knew it would stand so tall and greet everyone who walks through to our cottage, shining its sunny face at them?  And then there are these bees that graze from flower to flower in the calendula bush.

And then there are those luscious berries in the Sunday farmer's market that are overflowing at the seams of the stands, proudly sitting there warmed by the sun, with their berry tasty goodness.

But no, we did not buy those berries that the farmers and their helpers had picked that very morning, but instead we drove the Swanton farm and picked some ourselves. And by some, I mean a whole 8 pounds of them.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and Swanton farm just happens to be situated in a beautiful spot across from the Pacific ocean.  We picked berries, we ate their yummy strawberry shortcake, and went home and made jam 2 days later.  Right at this moment, I have 8 jars of strawberry jam sitting in my fridge, and I cannot wait until we are able to open them up in 25 days.



Yes, the unfortunate part about this process is that you have to wait a whole month to open the jars !  A small price to pay what I can guarantee will make me very happy in 3 and a half weeks, because I decided to experiment with my strawberry jam, and infused half of it with vanilla and mint and black currants from our local UCSC farm stand ( yes, I am boasting ), and the other batch was infused with basil and black peppercorns. And did I tell you how easy it was?

Strawberry Jam

2 lbs strawberries, rinsed & hulled
11/2 cups of organic cane sugar

1 T lemon zest
2 T lemon juice
Optional:
black currants
1 t vanilla
2-3 stalks of mint

OR
2-3 stalks of basil
1 T whole black peppercorns
4 jam jars, sterilized by boiling open faced in a full pot of water for 15 minutes. Note: the lids are just put in simmering water for 10 minutes.  The ladel and tongs used in this are also sterilized in the same lot as the lids.




In a large pot, add the sugar, lemon zest and juice, and strawberries until dissolved.
Let Cool and refrigerate overnight.
Next day, sterilize jars, fill jars, and tightly close the lids.  In a pot full of water, insert the filled jars for 10 minutes, or until you hear the jars go "pop".  At this point, take the jars out of the pot, and rest on the counter overnight.  The next day, label and stick into a fridge for 1 month.

One month later, Open and spread over a warm biscuit or scone.  Yum !