Strawberry Freezer Jelly

For years, my Aunt Betty has made strawberry freezer jelly for all the family. She loved to pick strawberries and then make the jelly. She would ask each family how many jars we’d like. We’d save jars all year for her. She must have spent hours and hours doing this for us all. You may remember me posting and asking prayer for the family when we lost Aunt Betty and Uncle Junior in the car wreck the end of May.  I will always think of her with my strawberry freezer jelly.

My kids have grown up on the strawberry freezer jelly. As a matter of fact, for the longest time, Colt (my oldest) didn’t even know there was any other kind of jelly. One day we ran out of the freezer jelly and I purchased grape jelly from the grocery store. He had no idea there were other flavors even. He was shocked.  For him still to this day, the only kind of jelly worth eating is strawberry freezer jelly.

Strawberries were on sale last week for $1.00 at Walmart.  So, Jason and I decided it was time to make our first batch the end of last week. One of the 16 oz cartons of strawberries makes 6 half pint jars for us. And it really makes it go quicker and more smoothly to have two people working on it. We did 12 jars the first night.

Since then, my mom and I have made more. I think we’ve done a total of 48 jars so far. We’ve still got strawberries waiting on us. My dad keeps picking up more!  lol!

Here’s how we do it:

Strawberry Freezer Jelly

To make 6 half pint jars (freezer safe ones), you need:

4 cups sugar
16 oz of strawberries (2 cups of strawberries chopped in blender)
1 box sure jell
¾ cup water

Remove the stems from the strawberries and wash the strawberries. Chop in blender. I put 4-5 in there at a time shaking the blender container around to make sure all are blended and slowly add the same amount to it until all are blended.

Put 4 cups of sugar in a bowl (I ended up using one that has a pouring lip on it to make it easier later). Add your strawberries (16 oz or the 2 cups blended strawberries). Let that sit for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

When there’s about 2 minutes left on my timer for the above, I start the sure jell on the stove. Add 1 box of sure jell to 3/4 cup water in a small stewer. Stir constantly until it begins boiling. When it starts to boil, set your timer for 1 minute. While it’s boiling, stir occasionally.

After that one minute, remove from the stove and add to the strawberry/sugar mixture.

Stir the sure jell/water from the stewer into the strawberries making sure it’s mixed well. Stir occasionally for 3 minutes (again I set my timer).

After 3 minutes, you’re ready to pour it up into your jars.

You can see here that I moved it to the pouring bowl.  We learned it makes it easier to just start with that bowl.

Leave about ½ inch from the top to allow for expansion in the freezer. Cover with lids.

Leave the jars out at room temperature to allow them to set for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, move to the freezer.

They will keep in the freezer for a year and in the refrigerator for 3 weeks. (I know I have kept mine longer than that in the refrigerator though). To thaw them for use, move to the refrigerator.

Isn't that easy?  :)

Colt came out Saturday and was very excited to see that we had strawberry freezer jelly made. He made sure he left the house with a couple of jars to take back to his apartment and the assurance that he could come back for more when that was gone. Lol!

It’s so easy to make. It takes us about 45 minutes to make 12 jars. Not long at all. And it’s SO good! So go on…..get you some strawberries and make some. You’ll be glad you did! And just think, you'll be able to enjoy it all winter long on those biscuits on a cold morning!  :)


*********************************************************************************************************

Thank you for the very kind comments on my post yesterday. It’s those about my family that make me smile the most. :)


*********************************************************************************************************

And I have to share what came in the mail for me yesterday! JoAnn of Sweet Pepper Rose sent me this cross-stitched bookmark.

I love what it says….it says it all……In the beginning, God…….. Isn’t that great and so sweet of her? This is now my read-aloud bookmark for our homeschooling. Thank you so much, JoAnn!

***********************************************************************************************************

On another note, I have another Sunporch Chat in the works……more on that later…….. ;)  And thank you for stopping by today! Have a wonderful Wednesday!  :)


♥ Tammy ♥