Pork for Jam

A few weeks ago, I bought some fresh pork belly from our local butcher to make bacon. I got it home, put it in the fridge to deal with the next day since we were having company that night. Then something came up the next day so I figured I'd cure it the next day. Or the next. Or the next. It went rancid before I could cure it and my heart sank. I wasted food and money. I was really, really sad about it. I didn't tell anyone but Ken, it made me that upset.

I vowed to take on only projects that I could tackle (if they involved perishables, at least). Yesterday, I went strawberry picking on Sauvie Island. I picked 12 lbs of berries and when I went to pay for them, I saw that they had a jamming flat reduced for quick sale. My inner struggle. Get the hurting berries or leave them. It was the pork incident all over again.

For $6.50, I purchased the additional flat of berries and went to a barbecue at a friends house while they sat in the back of my car. By 9:15 p.m, I was on my way home. By 9:30, I was sitting in a chair pulled up to the sink, hulling and washing berries. Come hell or high water, these berries wouldn't rot on me. By 10:00, I was almost finished processing the 15 cups of strawberries that would make up my jam. By 10:03, I realized I didn't have enough sugar. I called Ken, who was on his way home from kickball and work to pick some up. (You have to love a husband who knows you well enough to know that when you ask for sugar, you mean a 25 lb sack of it -- he called to confirm that's how much I wanted, which it was. He didn't ask why I wanted it either. He just picked it up for me. Another reason why he's my best. Sidenote: he was also very understanding about the pork incident.)

Back to the stove, it was now 10:10 on a work night. I had my pot of boiling water going for the jars and I'd just finished processing the strawberries and adding the lime juice when Ken walked in with the dog and a 25 lb sack of sugar over his shoulder. I am stirring a 26 gallon sized pot of red goo.

His only response: "You're doing this now? Is this because you're motivated to make jam or because you're still feeling guilty about the pork?"

Yes. Talk about hitting my reasons out of the ballpark.

Ken said he needed to walk away from the canning madness. I mumbled something that may have sounded like "ok" but I can't be sure. I was in jam-land. I added the sugar, cooked it all down, ladled the jam into the jars and processed it in the boiling water. Thankfully, it was a cool night (a welcome change from normal jamming weather) so I was only a sticky mess rather than a sweaty, sticky mess. By the time I pulled the last of the jars from the water and cleaned up, it was around 11:30 pm. I had 24 pints (around 3 gallons) of perfectly-set, jewel-colored strawberry jam. I left it on the counter overnight so I could admire my work the next morning.

Upon seeing my work this morning, I was proud of what I accomplished but I am still thinking about the pork. I am also thinking about the other 12 lbs of strawberries still sitting on my counter.