Entry #11: Strawberry Conserve

After an exhausting day of running errands (where nothing could go to plan) The Universe seemed to reward my patience as I drove by my favorite small-scale strawberry stand - it was Open.

Now, this one's much smaller than Porter Farms - our favorite produce stand - with only two fields and an apiary; it's family run and only open about two days a week, with no set schedule besides 'afternoon'. Safe to say that I always feel like I hit the lottery when I get to bring a bucket home from them!

Walking up to that little stand always smells so heavenly; I'm fully convinced no plug-in or air freshener, or even candle could smell that good. It's a stinky-sweet, one that your nose rankles a little, but your mouth salivates because it's just like candy.

There weren't many buckets for sale this time, and I half panicked, thinking our strawberry season got cut short by all the storms we've been having, but the young lady selling put my mind at ease - there'd just been a bunch of people also buying strawberries! I still worried I wouldn't get enough, so I just had to grab two buckets full of those shiny red gems; even though it's just me and my daughter eating them, my husband won't even look at a strawberry head-on, lol!

Well, we knew we couldn't ever hope to eat that many strawberries at one time, so it only meant one thing, for us: Conserve.

Strawberry (or any berry, really) conserve is kinda like a happy medium between a jelly and a jam; sliced berries floating in their own sweet sauce, and it'll keep for months in the fridge. It's incredibly easy, and really convenient for snacking! I use it to sweeten my water or tea, I pour it over ice cream, oatmeal, and gluten free graham crackers.

When I see that we're on our last big ol' mason jar, I kinda feel like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings - My Precious!

I've looked up recipes for it online, with measurements, but I'm very informal making it, and honestly? I don't think this is something anyone could mess up.

Cooking time: 30-40 minutes.

Resting time: 1-2 hours.

Utensils:

Big Pot. (We used a dutch oven)

Slotted Spoon, Stirring Spoon.

4 Large Mason Jars, and their lids.

Two Knives.

Measuring Cups.

Stove Top.

Ingredients:

Strawberries. (2 buckets)

1/2 Lemon (rind only).

1/2 Cup Maple Syrup.

1/2 Cup Coconut Sugar.

1 or 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract.

Addendum: You can use white or cane sugar instead of maple syrup and coconut sugar.

• Step 1: Wash, hull, and cut your strawberries into whatever size you'd like. I usually cut them in half, unless it's too big even then!

• Step 2: Add chopped berries into a big pot. I used my dutch oven because it's one of the bigger pots that I have.

• Step 3: Pour your sugar and maple syrup over the berries and gently stir to incorporate.

• Step 4: Let the pot sit for at least an hour. This helps generate the conserve liquid, so letting it sit for a longer time means more liquid; I let ours sit around two hours.

• Step 5: Wash and slice your lemon into quarters, using only the rind. Add lemon quarters into the berry pot and gently incorporate. Add in vanilla extract here, too.

• Step 6: Set the pot on medium heat until it begins to bubble, for 5-10 minutes. You want the berries to become soft, the whole house to smell like candy, and the lemons to be dyed red.

• Step 7: Take the pot off the heat and toss away the lemon rind. Carefully taste to judge the sweetness level and adjust accordingly (add more syrup or sugar).

• Step 8: Gently use a slotted spoon to lift out the berries and add to waiting mason jars until they're 3/4 full.

• Step 9: Put the pot back on the burner with the conserve juice inside on medium heat, reduce to half.

• Step 10: Carefully fill the cooling mason jars the rest of the way with the reduced sauce.

• Step 11: While hot, put on mason jar lids to create a seal. You'll know it's done when they pop!

When the jars cool, you can store them in the fridge for 2-3 months!

This will make, as aforementioned, about 4 large mason jars full of Conserve, possibly a little bit more, because I was eating them as I cleaned, stirred, and taste tested. How could I not??