Canning Season

It's amazing to me how time tends to fly by! I remember being a child and feeling like the months before my next birthday or Christmas or the end of the school year would stretch before me as endlessly as the horizon. Now I blink and another year has gone.

Last year, I decided to try my hand at canning. I was entranced with the photos I saw on blogs of beautiful, lush fruits being turned into jewel-toned jams, jellies, and marmalades in crystal clear jars. I had to try it for myself. I purchased a canning pot, jars, and set to work finding the best fruit to put up for enjoyment all year long. I made strawberry freezer jam, plum jelly, apple pie filling, and the most delicious apple butter I've ever tasted. I found myself rationing the goodies over the fall and winter as I was so afraid to run out before I could make more. All of the sudden, the seasons have turned here, and it's time to start putting up the first fruits of summer. I bumped into a friend in the supermarket, and she invited me to attend a local strawberry festival to get fruit for canning. I had no idea that the local strawberries were ready for picking, so I was thrilled to get the invitation.

We ended up at a local farm and were given the opportunity to go into the strawberry patches to pick the berries ourselves. It was not an experience I've had before, and I'm so glad I got to do it. It gave me such appreciation for how the strawberries are loved and cared for by the farmers and for the workers who are paid to pick the berries for the farmers each year. The aroma of the berries in the hot sun was overwhelmingly delightful. I was so entranced by the experience that I ate a few berries right off the vine in the field, dirt and all! I purchased one flat (8 quarts) of the sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted.

I brought my haul home and immediately set about hulling the strawberries. Luckily there was a Glee marathon on to help me pass the time! I knew I wanted to make some more freezer jam, but I really wanted to try my hand at strawberry jelly too. When I made plum jelly last year, I had to leave the plums out to drain overnight to get the amount of juice I needed, so I figured it'd be the same way with the strawberries. I was wrong! Within two hours, I had all the juice I needed (and more!) for two full batches of strawberry jelly. By the end of the day, I'd whipped up two batches each of freezer jam and jelly. I was left exhausted but so satisfied with myself.

There is something so deeply rewarding in preserving foods for my family and I to enjoy all year long. And, for me, the sense of accomplishment doesn't end with the jars are tucked away into my pantry. I feel it every time they grace our table. I feel it whenever I see the pleasure on the faces of my friends and family as they enjoy their meals. I really never thought I'd be this woman. I had big plans for an ambitious career in which I worked long hours and earned financial success. What I'm learning is that financial success is nothing when compared to the rewards of a happy, close, thriving family. I feel so truly, deeply blessed.