I hung out with my Polish friends this weekend: Sunday in Rambouillet with Agnieszka, who told me that you can plant goji berries in France so you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get their health benefits. Then she gave me a plant and some piano music. And Saturday I spent time with Renata who taught me how to make strawberry jam. Polish people are so cool. They know stuff.
Renata lives close by and her daughter is in the same class as Young Lady. She grew up on a farm, so when our apricots grew ripe at the exact time that we were in Bretagne last year, she confessed that she almost hopped the fence into our yard to pick the apricots so she could make jam. This year we’re giving her a key when we go to Bretagne.
As long as she promises to give us some jam.
The first thing I did for my jam prep was to take out the (not so) bright copper kettles to be washed.
Oh boy does this intimidate me. This is what Sir’s grandmother used to use when she made jam in her big old house. Who knows how long this stuff has been in the family. And what was I supposed to do with it? Luckily Renata was coming over.
Renata is here to make strawberry jam. Wearing white.
We washed and de-stemmed the strawberries …
can you believe the harvest?
And then we put the 3 kilos of strawberries in the cauldron (cackle, cackle)
squeezed three lemons, one for each kilo.
added 4 heaping spoons of pectin
and heated and stirred it ’til it looked like this:
When the strawberries had given off some of their juice, we added 600 grams of sugar (for the 3 kg of strawberries). This is a really low amount as most jams contain an equal weight of fruit and sugar. The pectin helped it to hold in place of the sugar.
What’s this? Doth help arrive in the form of a Young Knight in shining armor?
This little Y chromosome always manages to show up whenever something is astir in the kitchen.
We cooked the strawberries until a mousse formed
Renata tested the jam by putting it on a plate to cool, and when it was only slightly runny …
she filled the pots with jam. Three kilos of strawberries made 9 jars.
We took the other copper pot and placed the jars in it with a shoebox ripped and wedged in between the jars so they would not clink together while boiling, thus breaking the jam. This is the smart rustic Polish farmhouse way.
We brought them to a boil and left them there for maybe 15 minutes; we didn’t time it.
And then we put them upside down.
You could hear the squilch sound as it sealed.
And when they were cool we had our jam!
Oh, we had our jam plus bright copper kettles, which had been scoured by the fruit acid. Actually they had been scoured by the fruit acid in the jam, which we were about to consume, come to think of it.
So maybe we won’t think of it.
Sir’s grandmother would have been so proud that her family copper kettles were being used, even if she also had to come to grips with the fact that her grandson had settled for an American. Perhaps some things are better left unlearned.
And with the hard work done, I was free to sniff the warm fruity perfume permeating the house and sit down to play piano with my new sheet music. That’s when the jammin’ really started!
Well folks, that is, if you can jam to Mozart.
I can practically taste the strawberry deliciousness over here, yum!!
Who knew that a post about making jam would make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside this morning.
Really.
I’m not being a smart ass.
And wearing white is bold. But that goes to show you that she is a jam making professional.
I am planning to start canning this year. I am scared! Especially since I do not have a Renata to help me. My mom is threatening to take a trip out to help (threatening is my word and feeling, not hers) which scares me even more. Your jam looks super yummy.
You and Renata make it looks as though I could do that.
Almost.
SO envious of your jam! My mom used to make it in the good old days but now it’s Bonne Maman all the way.
I guess there are worse things? 🙂
How cool is that? I love those pretty “Home Made” jar lids. I might need to find some of those on my next trip to France! I made cream scones with whipped cream and strawberry jam (Bonne Maman) to celebrate the jubilee last weekend. Wish I had a jar of yours, copper and all!
I can’t decide which is cooler:
The bright copper kettles (or not-so-bright; either one)
The homemade jam
The Mozart.
On second thought, I like them all. And I want to hang out with you and Renata.
(I could be the official taste tester, but that’s about it. Oh, and also cool. Kind of.)
Look at all those strawberries! You have a seriously green thumb.
My mom used to make chokecherry jam and it was the best thing on buttered toast.
You make it look simple, fun, relaxing and totally doable.
I hear all experts make difficult things seem this way.
You should see my family when we try to jam. It is a sad, sad, sad scene.
P.S. OMG ARE YOU GOING TO BLOGHER THIS YEAR???? Ah, I can’t believe we’ll finally cross paths!! I mean, unless my overzealous all caps just scared you.
P.P.S. I’m in Germany right now, headed to Paris in a few days. What is up with all this rain?
Yes to BlogHer, and definitely let me know when you’re in Paris and for how long. Send me a mail, okay?
LOL….and now my “famous’ freezer jam looks like le crap! 🙂
You are sweet, Jennie, dommage i’d not read this before my strawberry jam last week: raté! Bon, i didn’t think to buy a pectine:( You see, i’m polish but, hmm, i still need some help to prepare a strawberry jam:) Kisses!
WOW!!! Love that the acid repaired the pots! Love that your friend wore WHITE while making strawberry jam. (I can’t even wear white while eating marshamellows – something will get on me and I’ll be a mess in seconds!) And LOVE, really, how simple the whole process looked. I think I may be able to try this out. Dare I? (I’ll credit you all the while, my friend!)