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I must confess, I hate skimming too, and often skip that step. You might have just convinced me to at least reconsider. I can also see how the lemon would give the strawberries that bright clean flavor. What a lovely recipe—thanks for sharing.

Oh, Luisa, Darling - I LOVE little strawberries just picked from the field. I use just droplets of my real Balsamic Vinegar on them.

I also sugar them lightly and layer them with the best vanilla ice cream I can find (or make when I am being industrious).

I make little jars of Immediate Gratification Jam from Joie de Vivre.

But now I want those glistening jars of your jam on my shelf too. The local strawberries are available upstate.

I guess I'm going to be busy next weekend.

I love eating strawberries with cracked black pepper. But now I'm convinced that I must make my own jam. This looks delicious and simple, too. Love that.

Oh I can so relate to having "eyes bigger than stomach" syndrome, picking way too many berries then being faced with an over full fridge and wondering what on earth to do with all of them! My last two strawberry picking outings (in the last 2 weeks) have resulted in a really good strawberry lime sorbet, and a not so great strawberry jam making experience. Let's just say I discovered how to make "twice cooked" strawberry jam!

I have always used lemon juice and lemon peel in my jams, as lemon's natural pectin helps the jam to set, offsets the sugar and brings out the fruit flavors. I can't wait to try the candied lemon slices, as they look so beautiful in the jars.

I only use Weck jars, and you're right - they're a real pain to find in the U.S.! We are way beyond strawberry season here in the South, but I am drowning in wild blackberries. I'll have to nose around and see if Christine has a good blackberry jam recipe.

yum! & kudos for canning during high summer. another addition to the wish list it is...

Oh, it's beautiful! And those tulip jars! Sigh.

I've recently decided that all strawberry preserves probably should have slices of whole lemon in them. It's just such a nice little surprise to come across a tender-chewy bit of tartness. Lemongrass sounds amazing too. I do love grassy flavors with strawberry—fresh cilantro and basil, chamomile, lavender, even a little tea ball of dried alfalfa.

How do you manage to describe the contents of a pot of jam so beautifully?!!!! 'Lemons snaking...' and 'garnet-hued'. Love reading your blog so much!

Those tulip jam jars are absolutely lovely! I'm far too slothful to skim and jar my own jam, so I'll just admire yours. And I cannot fathom your friend who doesn't like strawberries--a seed issue, I wonder? Inconceivable!

thnks for this,..

I have made the strawberry raspberry jam with balsamic vinegar and I think you chose the better of the 2 recipes. My children loved it but it was a little to dark and sweet and overpowering for me. We call it Obama jam as my oldest son and I made it while listening to the presidential election returns, hearing Vermont, where I live be called first for Obama.

Jam is the safest product to can because of the sugar and the high acid. Fruit is high in acid and botulism cannot live in a high acid environment. Your description of the jam has me thinking I need to pick enough strawberries to make the last batch of freezer jam we need for the winter, plus this jam.

-Robin

Love the new banner! How nice that Molly came to visit and bearing gifts too. To be honest, I'm not a huge strawberry jam fan; someone told me strawberry is the trickiest kind to make because they contain little natural pectin but I assume using the lemon juice would make that foolproof. For the moment I'm still hesitating although the thought of proudly displaying those lovely jars full of my own homemade produce appeals to me.

Mmm, this looks fantastic! I'm not a big strawberry jam person either, but the lemongrass is very intriguing. My canning season started with pickled asparagus, but I haven't made jam yet. Soon, very soon, I think.

I love strawberry jam but with the lemongrass leaves sounds absolutely fantastic and original.
Magda

Your new header is your best yet in my opinion.

Last night my oldest son wrote on his list for summer, "Pick berries. Make jam." We're going to go strawberry picking later this week and will definitely make this. Thanks!

I was JUST thinking about making some jam. The lemongrass is intriguing. Thanks for another great post!

Now I know I need to get more creative than basic jam. The candied lemon has me so intrigued. I envy your beautiful jars, but I'm swimming in Ball jars, so I won't be investing just yet.

I'm an avid strawberry lover as well and this looks wonderful! I need to give this a try before summer is over. Great photos!
http://amusebouche-caitlin.blogspot.com/

Wow. This sounds amazing! And a great idea for summertime gifts!
Love the addition of lemon:)

what was the name of the farm? my brother lives in berlin and i want to pass the info on to him

Kitchen Pickers - thank you!!

Robin - oh, good to know. Thanks! I love that you call it Obama Jam. :)

Lecia - that is adorable. You have to save that list!

Emily - it was Neumann's Erntegarten in Potsdam, http://www.hofladen-potsdam.de/

I love your new banner, Luisa! And the jam looks incredible, which pretty much goes without saying!

I also had an episode of over-picking this weekend. I've made strawberry shortcake, strawberry ice cream, strawberries with yogurt... and I still have berries left. I wasn't going to attempt jam this year, but strawberries with lemon might change my mind!

Here, strawberries are over. Bookmarking this for next year.

Your jam looks beautiful! I am a freezer jam girl because I have a fear of the water bath and memories of my grandmother sweating over the steamy stove. But you make it sound so fun! I do have a question though... I bought these adorable jars, and they do not have rubber bands. This may be a silly question, but can I use jars without bands?

This is killing me! I missed strawberry-picking season in Virginia by just a few days...and my first set of canning jars arrived late, too. Now I'm biding my time, waiting for raspberries or peaches to come into season, but next year I'll be on the ball and have this recipe bookmarked!

drool...

check out some salmon recipes on my blog if you want to :)

AAaaah, Luisa, these are the German Weck jars that I'm obsessed with! They're just starting to circulate here and I've been wishing I've had some for a while now... I bet they're abundant over there. And perhaps less expensive? How lucky you are.

Oh please do tell- What store in Germany did you buy your Weck jars from? I have a contact overseas that went looking for me, but to no avail. Those things sure are hard to get over here!

@Katy - Fear not the boiling water bath canning! IT's best done on a cool day, though (which is all we've had here in the PNW lately... sigh). And yes, you do need bands, which you should be able to find at hardware stores. P.S. I love you for the orange-chocolate truffles on your blog. http://pintsizedpioneering.blogspot.com

A beautiful combination of ingredients and your Weck jars are very cute.

Luisa, Calling it Obama Jam would be better if I had any desire to make it again. Plus the 2 are not in season at the same time here. So I had to combine the strawberries and sugar ready for its overnight in the fridge but put it in the freezer instead to wait. My kids loved it and keep asking when I am making Obama Jam again, um... never.

-Robin

Katie - the bands are what allow the jars to become vacuum-sealed. If you don't have the bands, you've just got a glass jar with a glass lid that doesn't screw on. I'd look around online for matching rubber bands for your jars if you want to can with them.

Georgia - they are definitely less expensive here. And a little easier to find, too. :)

Hannah - in Berlin, you can find a great assortment at a store called Glasklar on Knesebeck Strasse and at the Coledampf stores - Uhlandstrasse and Kollwitzplatz. Manufactum also sells this tulip shape in bulk - that's on Hardenbergstrasse.

OH man. That sounds superduper good. I've got a jamming-jonse going on right now (I keep looking at our blackberries and screaming "Ripen! Dammit!"), so maybe this will hold me over for another month.

I've never made jam because it seems so daunting. This sounds delicious, although I think the only way I would attempt it would be with a like-minded friend who was up for an adventure in the kitchen!

Thank you so much for your response, Luisa! Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on some of these jars after all.

looks great! i wonder how this might work with cherries , since i've got oh.... 10 lbs sitting in my fridge...

That really is some beautiful jam. I've been browsing the jam-making books as I gear up to make blackberry jam for the first time this summer, so I'm especially thankful that you mentioned your friend's canning book.

I appreciate your detailed instructions for using Weck jars. I recently got my first set (from Lehman's) and wasn't certain how to process them. I've been wanting to use them next week for apricot jam -- so thank you!

Because of the mentions of balsamic and black pepper (in the comments), I feel compelled to share a link to a fabulous recipe for strawberry balsamic black pepper jam. (I wish it were my own recipe!) I've made four batches this spring and people who visit my house run off with the jars after they taste it. As with the lemon, the balsamic (which you can't taste) and pepper give a lovely pop to the berries. Also, it has much less sugar than a Ferber jam. It's here, if anyone's interested: http://ow.ly/21VIq.

Oh, and the book. I'm looking forward to it. What a great post this is. :-)

Strawberries-lemon, wow, it sounds a perfect jam!!!

I don't eat jam. I've never made jam. But this post has made me desperate to do both. I do have a question though, about the lemongrass. The recipe says cut the leaves in half; so does that mean there are just several long stalks of lemon grass dispersed throughout the jam?

I love lemon juice with my jam, but never considered lemon slices before, what an excellent idea! And thank you for the local links - two more good reasons to visit Berlin soon.

PS - I'm just over from Blackbird's blog; it's great to find you!

You just made me laugh on a day when it felt like laughter wasn't an option ("jam fairy" really got me). Thank you!

Mary Kay - you remove the lemon grass pieces before canning the jam (see the end of Step 3).

Michelle - you're welcome! (I know those kinds of days.) x

Not jam related, but I thought immediately of you when I saw the announcement - Gourmet magazine is being launched on the iPad!

Lucky you for being able to score beautiful Weck jars easily and inexpensively. I've coveted them for so long...

That looks soooo delicious! I absolutely love strawberries! Thanks for the recipe!

Hah, I know just what you mean - I think all cooked strawberries taste like BandAids! That's why I'm so against strawberries cooked into rhubarb pie, just ruins it for me. But fresh strawberries are absolute perfection. So you think the skimming is the key? Maybe I'll try it.

I have grown lemongrass in a pot indoors for the last few years, it's quite easy and makes wonderful tea. I started it by rooting a stalk from the Asian grocery in a glass of water!

Strawberry jam sounds delicious - you remind me my grandmother.....

As for strawberries, don't forget to use them as a facial by itself or mixing with plain yogurt or olive oil. This home made mask will help you look fabulous.
Breathe, smile and be happy.

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