Tasty Tuesday: Triple Berry Jam

My mom and I took the 4 kids strawberry picking the beginning of June. (One day I'll go through all those pictures and write up a post. One day, hopefully before my kids are teenagers.) We ate quite a few fresh strawberries, froze a bunch, and then made jam with the rest.

We made cherry-strawberry jam last year for my first attempt at jam making and canning. I have since canned a few other things, but hadn't made anymore jam. Last time, I was a little nervous that something would go wrong, but this time since I'd done it before, I was confident. Right?

Nope. There was still that little bit of anxiousness that my jam wouldn't be thick enough or that the jars wouldn't seal properly. I know, such confidence. 

But enough about that, let's make some triple berry jam!

Enlist the help of a big, strong helper. The cuter, the better.

 Mix berries and pectin (with portion of sugar) in a large pot.

Once the mixture has come to a boil, add the remaining sugar and stir; bring back to a boil.

Skim off the excess foam and pour the hot jam into prepared jars.

But beware . . .

If you try to fill the jars and take pictures at the same time, you might end up with jam on your counter. 

And then you'd have to scoop it up with your finger and taste the jam. But if you're like me, this wouldn't be the first taste of the delicious concoction anyway.

 Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Remove them, leave them on the counter until cool, and listen to the melodious pop-pop-pop of the cans sealing.

And that's that! I don't know why it's intimidating to me. It's not even difficult. We made a batch right after picking the strawberries and we're down to our last jar. This jam is absolutely delicious! Possibly the best jam I've ever eaten. We just made a second batch again because it's that good. This time, I used 12 oz raspberries, 16 oz blueberries, and just mashed enough of our frozen strawberries to equal a total of 6 cups of berries. So good. You just can't go wrong here. I have a feeling we'll be making a lot more homemade jams.

Triple Berry Jam

Ingredients:

4 cups crushed strawberries (about 8 cups whole)

1 cup crushed raspberries

1 cup crushed blueberries

4 cups sugar, divided

1 (1.75 oz) package no-sugar-needed fruit pectin

Directions:

1. In a large pot, combine the strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Whisk 1/4 cup sugar with the pectin (to avoid clumping) and add it to the pot. Bring to a boil (that can't be stirred away) on medium-high heat, stirring often. 

2. Add the remaining sugar to the mixture; return to a full rolling boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

3. Remove from heat; skim off foam. Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch. Adjust caps. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Remove from bath and leave on counter, without touching, until cool.

Recipe adapted from pickyourown.