Strawberry Lavender Jam

Once again I caught strawberries on sale - $0.99 a pound, people! Blueberries happened to be at an all time low on price as well (blueberry cinnamon jam, anyone?), so I stacked several of those in my cart as well. Thirty pounds of berries hogged most of my cart space. I looked like a berry crazed fiend. Hulling twenty six pounds of strawberries isn't what I would call a wild Friday night, but it was certainly worth it. I started a six gallon batch of strawberry wine, made two batches of strawberry jam, and have a few pounds of crushed strawberries on reserve in the deep freezer should any strawberry emergencies arise. Score. 

I'm in love with my deep freezer. We just bought it a few weeks ago and until three days ago, it was all empty and sad. Then I harvested the broccoli from the garden, blanched it and divided it into bags (one pound each) and put it in the deep freezer. Such a beautiful sight. And now there are gorgeous crushed strawberries in there, too! Anyone else get a rush from harvesting, prepping and freezing food? Anyone? Surely I can't be alone in this! 

Strawberry Lavender Jam

makes 6 half-pint jars

5 c. Strawberries

1 pkg (or 3 Tbsp.) Ball Low Sugar Pectin

2 1/4 c. sugar

4 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp. Dried Lavender Flowers (or 2 Tbsp. Fresh Lavender Flowers)

1/2 tsp. Butter or Margarine (optional - keeps foaming down)

Prepare jars, and lids. Combine strawberries, lavender, lemon juice, and butter (if using). in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Whisk in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that can not be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove lid and let stand in canner for additional 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool, and store.