THIS IS MY LITTLE STRAWBERRY PLANT. First one ever. Grown in my window and on my porch.
From a little seedling...
To something that actually looks like a strawberry.
Growing...
Turning pink...
Isn't she cute. I'm so proud.WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY FIRST JAM SESSION.
Strawberries were on sale--mine are not even close to eating yet--so it was a good time to learn.
I was excited to finally have a seemingly legit reason to use this weird, red utensil:
And then I melted it.Oops.
Poor weird, red utensil-that-I-still-don't-know-what-you-are. I loved you. I used you. I will miss you.(Steve told me it was time to let it go and throw it away. He also made me get rid of my first car 3 years ago. Boys are mean.)
Many lessons were learned.
For example: always use a pot much bigger than they lead you to believe you will need...always assume you will have a boil over...always assume it's going to make more than it says on the directions.
(Thank goodness for flat-top stoves!)
(Steve told me that I have to post the good with the bad. This being the bad. That's alright. Julia Child dropped like 89 chickens ON T.V. throughout her career.)The show had to go on.
And it did.One batch of regular canned jam and one batch of freezer jam. The freezer jam was MUCH easier to make...and I didn't melt anything. But the canned jam has fewer ingredients--including NO corn syrup, thus, it's healthier (...I'm assuming).
They both smelled AWESOME though. I'd do it all over just for the smell. And I most definitely will.
Jam making was MUCH easier than I thought it would be. I give it two thumbs up.
I'm so impressed! :) Your little house on the prairie skills are all coming together :) Although they didnt have the flat top stoves. I love mine too. Poor Fork :( Thats so sad, it worked so hard for you and then u just toss it away.. well I hope you recycled it so baby forks will someday arrive.
ReplyDeleteI love your little strawberry, its so cute :) I should grow something, maybe then I will feel.. useful in some way.
recycled? just what left-wing tree hugging global warming kind of place do you think we live in? It's garbage, it goes with all the other garbage.
ReplyDeleteAmy says I have to wait until tonight to try the jam :( I hate waiting....
Wow! I am scared to try jam. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to recycle it too...I told him I could still use it. Steve doesn't get attached to stuff like I do. He gets mad at me for growing emotional bonds with inanimate objects.
ReplyDeletePoor steve, he would HATE me. silly left winger, tree hugg'n hippy chick! I name my appliances, and talk to the dice before I toss them in yahtzee, and sometimes at work.. when the printer is feeling a little sad, and just not working up to its full potential.. I give it a little snuggle.. it always seems to help :)
ReplyDeleteI still love you...tree huggin' and all.
ReplyDeleteyour freezer jam recipe called for corn syrup??! umm odd! i have made 2 batches now and one was decent and the other called for buttloads of sugar (but troy likes the consistency better)but nothing else did it call for other than strawberries, sugar, and pectin! hmm! i have yet to go fer the jarred stuff. i have the water bath canner AND a pressure canner, but i have yet to use them ONCE! sad huh?? (they were given to me) i actually need to go and make sure the gauge on the pressure canner is accurate before i can use it! fun fun!!
ReplyDeleteThe corn syrup was for the freezer jam recipe. The regular one called for buttloads of sugar.
ReplyDeleteOh I am sooo proud of you! Posting the good and the bad! Well done and gorgeous pictures!!
ReplyDeleteI made jam for the first time a couple weeks ago. Just freezer jam though. And it was way easy! I want to expand and try different flavors.
ReplyDeleteCute strawberry, by the way. If I were growing it, it would never grow. People have learned to never ask me to plant sit. I will kill it. Even here I am not allowed to help with the plant care. But that's all fine by me.
Good job!
Nichelle is the Grim Reaper of all plant life.
ReplyDeleteShould should see the dead basil in her back yard right now. And the dead thyme. And the dead grass.
Basil is a wussy herb to begin with...I wouldn't entirely blame Nichelle. Let's not forget that you all live on the face of the Sun.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amy! It did reach 104 today. Hot. But it will get worse. And I really do have a black thumb. I once killed a cactus. Did you know you can give it too much water? Apparently it needs hardly any at all. You would think I would know that.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dan it's parsley not thyme. Come on!
ReplyDeleteI might give a crap but I haven't got the thyme.
ReplyDeleteAmy- I don't know who's more entertaining - you or your friends!! Thanks for the laugh all! My basil stays in the south window sill and LOVES it. My hubby complains about my STINKY plant all the time, but I love it.
ReplyDelete