Strawberry Jam Two Ways

STRAWBERRY JAM

5 cups crushed strawberries (about 5 lbs.)
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice (must be bottled)
6 tablespoons pectin
7 cups granulated sugar

Trim the berries and crush them. Do not use a food processor. Yes, it makes a difference.
You can't use fresh lemon juice because it has to have a certain acidity in order to be safe.
Yes, there is a lot of sugar in jam. It's not like you eat a ½ cup or anything. You can buy low-sugar pectin and you can make jam with honey, but this recipe is for beginners.
Combine strawberries and lemon juice in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.
Ladle hot jam into jars and cool. After ...

Homemade Staples and Make-Ahead Mixes

Have you ever started to make a recipe and realized you didn't have any powdered sugar or started to make cookies and found you were out of brown sugar? I have a solution for that!

You can make these pantry staples and more from scratch very easily!

Here's how.....

Powdered Sugar
Put regular granulated sugar in a food processor and grind until the consistency you want. You can use this as-is right away. If you want to store the powdered sugar, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch per 1 cup of sugar. Store in an air-tight container.

Brown Sugar
Put 1 cup of regular granulated sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Add 1 teaspoon of molasses and stir until completely mixed. There you go! Store in an air-tight container.

Baking Powder
Combine 1 part baking soda and 2 parts cream of tartar. Store in air-tight container. That's all there is to it!

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