Making Jam, By Myself

Well................I actually did it all by myself, (I'm a BIG KID now). I made jam without my mom standing right next to me telling me what to do, or better yet, me watching her make it and never paying attention to what she was doing. Since we moved from Michigan, back west to see family, and then here to Tennessee, I haven't had a chance to do my yearly jam making. Now usually my mom comes in the early spring to help me make this, well....she isn't coming until late summer, so............I had to do this myself. Mind you, I did make use of the phone and call her several times just to make sure I was doing it right......but no one was here to show me how to do it. Tyson became my second in command during this adventure. He helped me blend up the strawberries and would get all of my ingredients as I needed them.I love homemade strawberry jam. I live on this stuff in the summer and fall, and yes that much sugar goes into making it, unless you like it tart, which I do not!Here we are boiling down the sugar and about ready to pour it into the freezer containers. I only burned me once and it was just minor. A tiny spec of the jam jumped out of the pot during the boiling stage and landed on my arm, no worries. It hurt only for a second.

Ah, the fruits of my labor. I love the fact that I made this and now have jam for my family for a whole year. Thanks for the words of encouragement over the phone, mom. And thanks to Tyson and Taryn for their help in making and cleaning up.