Strawberry Jam

Oh.  My.  God.  !.  And yes I do believe the exclamation mark does deserve its own sentence.

The better half has made on the last day of her summer vacation what can only be described as heaven in a jar.  She has made the best, the very best strawberry jam I have ever tasted.  And I do not like strawberry jam.

Instead of a saccharine red jelly, this is a fruity, runny concoction with lumps of real strawberry that tastes fantastic AND smells like strawberries.  Lovingly made from strawberries that were past their best but okay for jamming I am glad she is away the next few weeks as I will have it all to myself.

There really isn't a traditional recipe or this in terms of quantities but it should be clear from the description how to go about it.

Hull and halve the strawberries into a saucepan and cover with an equal amount ie cup of strawberries for a  cup, of sugar.

Allow to sit for 2 hours until the fruit is starting to soften.  Once softened, for every kilo of fruit add the juice of a lemon.

Gently heat the pulp on a medium heat, allowing the sugar to dissolve.  Once the fruit is cooked but still whole which wont take long, scoop out a third and reserve.  Bring the remainder to a boil and cook down until its thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and starting to go jammy-ish.  Keep stirring to stop it sticking.

Add the reserved pulp back to the saucepan, allow to come to the boil then pour into steralised jars.