Strawberry Heaven

My Mom loves to go strawberry picking - usually it is a weekend outing, involving a 45 minute drive to her favourite U-Pick farm. There are many farms that are closer, but she prefers two of the province's largest farms (which happen to be the furthest from our homes!), and although we always enjoy the outing - let's just say that it's not exactly a cost-effective undertaking!

When my girls were small I remember them "helping" and coming home with strawberry fun covering all of their clothes. One year, my daughter, Dior actually fell asleep in the strawberry patch - she had picked a 4 litre pail, filled her tummy with fruit and expired, exhausted by the experience - dear little girl!

This year, we went on a Monday in the late afternoon - it turned out that the weekend was too busy for us both! The result was great and I think a new tradition has been born - the farm was not crowded, berries were just as plentiful, and it was much cooler in the evening.
The only thing I missed was popping a sun-heated plump berry into my mouth - something about the warm berries in the sunshine; they just burst into your taste buds! However, I did plenty of "quality control" tasting in the field :)

A few years ago I started making freezer jam for my kids - they always liked Grandma's so much and I thought it was time that I learned to make it. This evolved into making the low sugar recipe, and then to the sugar-free recipe. The first time I made the sugar-free version I was concerned that the kids would hate it and it would be wasted! Boy was I wrong - it has been a huge hit! Here is the recipe - the consistency is like a thick syrup. You may wish to stir some into plain yogurt or use it as a waffle or ice cream topping - tart and fresh tasting and good for the waistline. Hope you will try it and enjoy it - very easy to make too :)

Sugar-Free Strawberry Freezer Jam

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and mashed
4 tsp. Splenda
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
I box Certo brand powdered pectin

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a medium pot and heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boiling point and boil for one minute; then remove from heat and stir for two minutes. Ladle jam into clean plastic or glass containers, cover tightly with lids and allow to cool to room temperature. Place cooled containers in freezer. Freezes well for 9 - 10 months in deep freeze or for 3 months in a refrigerator freezer. I quadruple the recipe and make two batches - 32 cups of berries yield twelve of the 2-1/2 cup sized plastic containers of jam.