Tea, Mushrooms and Strawberry Jam

Last week Friday, I called in sick. I woke with a very sore throat and a headache. Once I made my call, I took a few tablespoons of some yummy Elderberry Syrup (go to this site to learn how to make it) and went back to bed. I slept until 11:30 am and when I got up, I took another tablespoon of Elderberry Syrup and continued to do so every hour through the day. By 4:00 pm my sore throat was gone, but I was still tired so I took another nap. Saturday I woke with a little bit of a sore throat, but after a few more tablespoons of Elderberry Syrup it went away.

On Saturday I was still a little tired so I went shopping - online! I decided to try my hand at growing mushrooms after reading an article in Mary Janes Farm magazine. So I went to Fungi Perfecti and bought a kit to grow Oyster Mushrooms. They're good for you and I like the idea. Then I decided I needed to buy some tea. Since being diagnosed with an ulcer, I gave up black tea and I wanted to try a variety of herbal teas; but tea at the market can get pretty expensive. I went to Mountain Rose Herbs and bought 7 varieties of tea. I bought 3 oz packages of such teas as Fairytale, Dawn's Chorus, Hibiscus High, Easy Day, Evening Repose and 2 others I can't recall right now. Don't these sound like fun teas? I also went to Sustainable Seed Company and order mostly a variety of pepper seeds. My husband likes a hot red cherry pepper and they didn't carry it. I ended up going to another company Seedman and found what I needed, but they were expensive! I ended up paying $2.25 for 15 - 25 seeds, plus $3.50 shipping for only 3 types of seed.

 I've been anticipating deliveries this week and the mushroom kit and tea came today. By the way, 3 ounces of tea is A LOT. My Seedman order came Wednesday. That means I'll be busy this weekend, but I guess I didn't think that was enough to do.

Product of Puget Sound.

Pretty large package. It takes up the seat of my chair.

7 kinds of tea to try out for my favorites.

Who knew that 3 oz of loose tea was so much.

Today on my way home, the strawberry stand finally won out. I've been eyeing those juicy strawberries for a couple of weeks and I just couldn't resist anymore. You see I love strawberry jam if it's home made. And it is so easy to make. I pulled up to the stand and dug a $10 bill out of my purse. As I walked up to the stand looking at the boxes of 3 baskets the lady who runs the stand pulls a half flat out from underneath the shelf and says, "This is for you. I saw you coming." I asked her, "How much." "Ten dollars," she replied. I handed it over and left a happy camper. Oh, did my car smell good the rest of the way home. I wanted to start on the jam right away, but I hadn't done a home cooked meal all week. I decided it was best to treat my husband to baked chicken, garlic roasted potatoes and swiss chard from the garden. It was very delicious.

My mushroom kit and teas came in while I was fixing dinner, but I had other work to do. So while we watched a movie, I cleaned some strawberries to make jam. It only took about 3 baskets. Of course I ate a whole basket will I was cleaning them. Strawberry jam is soooo easy. Before starting your jam, you want to wash enough jars to contain your jam. The recipe says it yeilds 8 cups so you can use 8 eight ounce jars or 4 pints, etc. I usually wash a few extras because you never know if you may end up with a little extra. I put my jars in my boiling water bath canner and filled it about half full of water. You want your jars to be covered with an inch or two of water while processing. Turn on the heat below your canner so the water will boil and sterilize the jars. I placed the new lids in a bowl to be filled later with boiling water and I put the rings in the canner with the jars.

Then I started on the jam. You just cut the tops off the berries and mash them a cup at a time until you have 5 cups. You want it kind of chunky. Put your 5 cups of mashed berries in a pot and stir in 1 box of Sure Jell. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of butter to keep your jam from getting too foamy while it's boiling. Pre-measure 7 level cups of sugar and set aside. By now your canner should be boiling. Add a some of the boiling water to the bowl with the lids and let them sit. You can turn the heat down under the canner until your ready to process your jars of jam. Turn on the heat under the berries and bring them to a rolling boil that can't be stirred down, add the sugar all at once and return to a boil. Boil hard for exactly 1 minute. Voila - at least 8 cups of Strawberry Jam. Put your jam in your jars leaving about a 1/4 in space at the top. This is called head space. Wipe the rims so they're clean of any spilled jam, place a lid on each jar and screw a ring on to secure the lid - not too tight. Lift the jars in the canner with a special pair of jar tongs. Turn your heat back up on the canner if you turned it down and start timing. Since the jars have hot jam in them, you can start timing right away and not wait for a boil. After 5 minutes, take the jars out and place them on a towel on your counter to cool. As the jars cool, you'll hear a popping sound. Don't panic, it's just the jars sealing. In fact, if your lids don't suck down and pop, they didn't seal correctly. By 11:00 pm I had 9 and a half  8 ounce jars of delicious strawberry jam and I'm sitting here enjoying a cup of Evening Repose tea. Hmmm, life is good.

Needed equipment - note water bath canner on right; it's a great
investment.

Wide mouth funnel to keep jars from being messy.
Potato masher for berries. Jar lifter tongs, they're
rubberized to keep from scratching or breaking
the jars.

Ended up with 9 jars plus a little extra
 from about 4 baskets of strawberries.

Berries to jam in maybe an hour.