The Journey

  Strawberry season is still in full swing, and the berries are delicious at this time of year. The Bible says that the Lord put everything on this Earth we need to live (Gen 1:29), and strawberries have to be one of my favorite ways He did this. One of my favorite ways to preserve them for the rest of the year is to make pie filling with them. From the basic pie filling, I can make cheese cake topping, fried pies, top pancakes and of course I can make strawberry pie.  To make strawberry pie filling, I use a product called Clear Jel. This is a modified corn starch that can withstand the extra heat of canning. It comes in different sized containers, but I usually buy it by the pound. I haven't been able to find it in any local stores, so I buy it online, but if you are lucky enough to find it locally, that would be better.  Some of my jars didn't take on that smooth red consistency that store-bought fillings have, with this recipe, so I think next time I will use some of the sug

    It's been almost three years since Randy passed (and since my last post). Since then, I sank into a depression,  I took over the machine shop, I've gone through the worst of the COVID "crisis" alone, lost two of my three dogs, watched my daughter fight cancer three times and I have now become a new REALTOR.  Working both the machine shop and as a REALTOR, I don't have a lot of time to do the things I love, but canning seems to keep me grounded and helps me relax. Today, since it's strawberry season, I made and canned strawberry jam. Making jam is pretty easy, uses a TON of sugar, and tastes so much better than anything I find in a store. I found a recipe on Almanac.com, called Prize Winning Strawberry Jam, and I made it my own by changing it a tad.  After I cut the tops off 10 cups of strawberries (a double batch) I put them into the pot and added 10 cups of sugar. The recipe called for 12 cups, but dang that is a LOT, 10 cups even made me nervous, but it