My Sweet Honey Baby

After my son turned one we started experimenting with honey. Honey in yogurt, honey on toast, honey in oatmeal. "Unee? Unee?" were the most common words out of his mouth when he was 18 months old. Needless to say honey is a staple in our house. We have also started using Low Sugar Red Raspberry Jam from Smucker's. The great thing about this jam is that there is less sugar than in regular jam and no artificial sweeteners, and although it is sold as a "diet" jam it is perfect for families that want to lower their sugar intake but also want to avoid artificial sweeteners.

But I digress… the real reason we are here is to talk about honey. So if we combine the honey discussion with the jam discussion we get Honey-Strawberry Jam.

4 cups strawberries, trimmed & crushed (about 2 quarts whole berries)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 package powdered fruit pectin

1 ¾ cup honey

Combine the berries and lemon juice and pectin in a 6-8 quart saucepan.

Place over high heat and stir until mixture comes to a boil.

Immediately add honey and stir until mixture comes to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.

Start timing at this point for approximately 10-12 minutes.

Continue to stir slowly.

Jam will foam at first, then subside and, when ready, will feel thick and sticky when stirred. The color becomes a deep garnet red.

Ladle into hot, scalded half-pint jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace, and seal.

Process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: 4 half-pints

A special thanks to my neighbor, Charlotte, for loaning me the book Stocking Up: The Third Edition of America's Classic Preserving Guide
, and for making the recipe originally that got such great reviews.