Jam

The day began wet and dismal yet again, we didn't have use of the car, P still has a cold and to top it off it was Wednesday. Should have been a recipe for disaster but actually, just as the afternoon brought some sunshine, so the day turned out better than it promised. Inspiration struck on a trip out to the greengrocers for grapes when we saw punnets of English strawberries on sale. Yes, we wanted- still want- to go to a PYO but realistically it's not going to happen at the moment. I reasoned that it was feasible for a two year old to cut up strawberries with a dinner knife and therefore take part in at least some of the jam-making process. He duly proved me right for at least ten minutes before realising that eating the ingredients was even more fun than preparing them.
As ever, I enjoyed the alchemy of the jam-making, but I must admit that it didn't set very well. Apparently this is often a problem with strawberries, particularly when they are ripe. I did add lemon juice, which is meant to help with the lack of pectin, but to little effect. Still, jam is for spreading, isn't it?