I made a list a couple of months ago of all the things I wanted to do this summer. Now that the wedding is over and summer has officially begun, we can start checking things off. First up, strawberry jam like my grandma used to make.
Things you need:
1. This recipe.
2. Inspiration. The funny thing is, she also has a summer list, which included making jam. The internet, I tell you, you find the greatest people!
3. Lemon, juiced and zested:
4. Sugar! Mixed with the lemon juice and zest, and reduced down to a syrup:
5. Perfect strawberries:
6. A lot of patience for a lot of stirring:
Things that you don’t need but I found helped immeasurably:
1. Dog at your feet:
2. Music! I started with The Elected, which is always good, but ended with Ray Charles, which was perfect. It is best if this music is played off an ancient iPod that only works when connected to a major power source. It adds to the ambiance:
What you end up with:
1. Stained fingers:
2. A little runny (but perfectly ruby) jam:
I plan to put the list on my sidebar and try to check off as many things as possible. Don’t be surprised if I call you and ask you to go to the drive-in or help me find a zipline. I’m recruiting everyone in Summer 2009: The Summer of AWESOME.
Oh dude! I ate my runny jam on vanilla frozen yogurt last night & it was awesome. I say runny jam is the new non-runny jam. Can’t wait to see the rest of the list!
Runny or not it was so good on waffles. Count me in on the zip line, always wanted to try it.
That’s funny: I make my strawberry jam with a little dog at my feet too! I think they just need to start writing that into the recipes now, you know?
Seriously LOVE YOU.