Strawberry Jam

I've been learning a lot since I've been out here about how many things I've blindly taken for granted. I have been missing my mom's home made strawberry jam, and while I found myself in a cooking mood this week I decided that I would make some myself. . . with mom's help still, of course. I must confess, this wasn't exactly my first attempt. I actually made it a few months ago, seemed easy enough, but eventually I ran out of my freezer stash.

I was humbled earlier this week when I was attempting to repeat my same performance in the kitchen. Being confident enough in myself that I knew what I was doing, I seldom glanced at the instructions sheet, positive that it would turn out just as it had before. I had helped my mom a million times before. . . but I should have been taking notes. Morgan was on the web cam right there on the counter, helping me smash all the pieces of strawberries I'd cut up. I hadn't any air conditioning and my kitchen was all humid and filled with heat. It was quite a work out-- putting all that elbow grease into mashing up all the little pieces- I was surprised! I even considered finishing the recipe with the 3 instead of 4 cups of the strawberry juice, but I knew I couldn't-- I was just getting tired. It was about midnight by the time I finished this strenuous task, and now I could move onto the next step, adding some sugar. I made sure to look at the directions so see just how much sugar I should add and then poured it with the rest of the contents into the mixing bowl. I went to see what came next, when I suddenly realized my mistake. I hadn't cooked the sugar on the stove before combining it with the rest of the contents. Horrified, I tediously read over the instructions-- only to confirm my fears. Everything had been ruined. I'd have to totally start over. All that work had been for nothing. Poor Morgan had to endure my breakdown, wanting to help me but feeling so powerless being so far away, and not totally understanding why I just couldn't stop crying. I was so tired, and hot, and mad at myself for missing that one crucial step. But oh well;) Mistakes happen. I was so excited the next day to wake up to a fresh new start. I thought about not making jam for a while because I wasn't prepared to cope with the stress of making another mistake, and then I realized how silly I was sounding. If for no other reason, I knew that I needed to try it again, and give myself an opportunity for it to turn out right. And this time. . . it did;) Here it is!