Small Batch Strawberry Jam

Last weekend at the farmers market I scored a half flat of beautiful organic strawberries for $10, half price. Yes please! If I wasn't completely crazy I would have bought two! But we struggle to finish our usual three pints per week. I know, I have become incredibly spoiled in regards to strawberries since moving to California.

Strawberries ready to macerate!

So, since my freezer is full (and unless you make tons of smoothies, which I don't, what does one do with pounds of frozen strawberries?) I decided to make jam! It's something I've been considering for a while. I hadn't made jam since before I moved to California, and never on my own. But I don't eat a lot of jam (and neither does my husband or daughter) and I have few friends and no family here to pawn it off to. So after I talked myself out of the idea all together two things happened: 1) I got extra berries and 2) I found Food In Jar's small batch strawberry vanilla jam. Yes! I don't need dozens of jars, just a few. Perfect. So I got to work.

So steamy!

Water baths make me nervous

I didn't make too many changes to the recipe, though I started to get nervous after 20 or so minutes at 212 degrees. I thought I was smelling burning but it was either my imagination or splatters hitting the hot stove. I didn't get quite 3 pints either. One was a tad short, but that's okay. I'll eat it first!

Oh, and then this happened.

I can blame the loads of strawberries I still have, or maybe it was an excuse to finish off the last of the hot fudge my brother made when he was visiting (someday I might share some with you!). It was delicious, of course.

A Quilt! Part 1

My to-do list for sewing projects is long. And always growing. But when I saw this adorable display quilt at a local shop, I was inspired. Couple that with my mother's new Tin Lizzie and some great ideas from an employee, and this quilt bumped to the top of my list.

My inspiration. Sample provided to store from Robert Kaufman Fabrics

The panel is 8 squares, which I think is sort of an odd number to work with. I also started out with the feeling that a panel is cheating, but I'm making it my own. In addition to the panel I bought four colors. I supplemented the four with scraps from my stash.

\

So that's the basic layout! But I didn't take into account I wouldn't lose the seam allowances for the panel pieces so turns out I need to add another solid and triangle strips. No problem...I think. I might have to scrounge up for a leftover piece long enough to work in. This is only my second quilt so I don't think a calculation error is too surprising. Oh well. Finished product coming soon!