Strawberries: Preserved

Yes I will miss this weird little town that is Santa Barbara.  I will miss some things much more then others (and some stuff I wont miss at all).  Strawberries are at the top of my "miss list" .  In particular the strawberries from Tom Shepard's farm at the market.  They are out of this world delicious.  I would go as far to say your haven't tasted a strawberry until you have tasted his.   Rather then whining and this later wishing I would have done something about it, I did.  The next best thing to being able to buy them fresh.... I preserved the strawberries.  It wasn't too complicated.  This was the first time I have canned alone, the only other times I have canned I mostly watched my mom, Pam and Momal do it.

I started out with a flat (12 pints) of berries.  I washed and hulled 8 pints (my wrist was hurting so i decided I would have to just eat the remaining 4 pints) I added eight cups of sugar (after some debate and researching other recipes I decided to go right in the middle of the road with the amount of sugar.  I squeezed in the juice of a huge lemon and put it in the fridge to marinate for two days.  (Originally I planned on one day but Lila kept me busy and I couldn't get to it until day three..)
So on day three I pulled out the strawberries and added some more lemon juice (one more huge lemon)  I slowly brought the berries to a simmer and then a boil.  I cooked them until the syrup was thicker.... The best moments of my life are Lila in the Moby.  Here is one of them....
On a side note, this step smelled AMAZING.
 I allowed the berries to cool a bit and returned them to the bowl and placed them in the fridge.

The following day was canning day.  Lila went down for a little nap while mommy sterilized the jars (simple, just boil them for 15 minutes).
 I pulled the berries out of the fridge so they wouldn't be super cold and crack the glass. 

You do need to be careful to not go back and forth quickly with glass temperatures... they will break!   I added the berries to the jars.   Put the lids on top and return simmering water.  Bring the water up to a boil and allow to boil for 5-15 minutes.  After the boiling time is over let the jars hang out in the water for at least five minutes to bring down the temp. 
I had enough for 7 1/2 jars.




I went ahead and opened the 1/2 jar today and WOW!  Yummy!   I might be a bit crazy about when I allow a new jar to be opened because I never want to run out.

Store in a cool, dry spot for up to a year.