Strawberry Heaven

Can you see a theme of strawberries developing? Lol.  They were on sale for 1.33/lb.  That is a rockin' deal, especially when they were actually ripe and sweet.  So hence the pie, syrup, and of course jam!  I LOVE strawberry jam.  It is my "favoritist" rivaled only by blueberry.  But since I doubt I'll ever live to see a day when blueberries are 1.33/lb., (why are they so darned expensive anyway?)  I mostly make strawberry jam in spring/summer and blackberry in fall.  There is something so very fundamentally comforting about making jam. It's something people have done for generations, preserving all the goodness of summer to enjoy throughout the rest of the year.  It is especially nice to be able to pop open a jar of strawberry heaven in the dead of winter and feel like you're eating a bit of sunshine.  If you've never made jam before, you've got to try it.  If you don't think you can manage it on your own, find an older women and ask her to teach you.  Or get a group of friends together and have a "jam session".  It may seem daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy.  The taste is phenomenally better than store-bought and you will be "preserving" a tradition that you can pass down to your children :)