Strawberry Jam with Breadmaker

 

I have tried several times to make strawberry jam. On the stovetop, I usually make strawberry sauce or strawberry concrete. At some point, I decided to give making strawberry jam in my bread maker a try. If at first you don't succeed try, try again....eh?  

It worked so well this time! I made three batches in one day and they were all perfect! 

I have a Hamilton Beach  breadmaker and I got the instructions out of the instruction manual that came with the machine. The machine had a jam setting, so it takes the guesswork out of how to set the machine. The recipe was adapted with less pectin than called for to get these results. 

Strawberry Jam in Breadmaker

Yields: 6 cups

6 cups strawberries, capped and chopped into to small pieces

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice (used bottled)

2 tablespoons fruit pectin (I used standard pectin and low sugar, both did well.)

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. Pour into bread pan. Start breadmaker. Place your breadmaker on the jam function and start machine. This takes about 1 1/2 hours to cook and then let it cool for one hour in the bread pan on the counter. Then transfer into storage containers. Some of mine went into the fridge and some was frozen. Stores in the refrigerator 3 weeks and in the freezer for one year.

This jam turned out so well! I am forever hooked on making strawberry jam in the bread maker. I ended up with 18 cups of jam. While the breadmaker was cooking through the cycle I capped and chopped up the rest of the strawberries for the next batch and froze some of them for pies or desserts later. I had 35 pounds of strawberries to put up this day. 

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Happy Birthday America!

 
Happy 250th Birthday America! 

May God bless America! 

In Victory,

Sherry

A Pink Bouquet

Many flowers are in bloom, so I went to the garden and made a bouquet.

I probably don't do this enough, but with new varieties this year I wanted to try them in a bouquet.

I had some spent violas that were ready to come out of the pot for summer, and when I pulled the violas on one side of the pot, I found this. 

When I gasped and saw them, they did this! Needless to say, I put the violas back and left them alone. I have seen the mother bird back at the nest feeding them, so they are safe for now. 

In  Victory,

Sherry

Drying Flowers

I have always wanted to try drying flowers. This year I grew several varieties I could try that out with.  

The plant shelf my husband put in for me has been a really great addition to the yard. The planters were mostly water-saving and the rain comes off of the shed and waters them. I haven't had to water them much. They are also thriving and growing several of my drying flowers.

Now that I have a potting shed, I also have a place to dry the flowers.

Here I am drying oryla and strawflower.

The garden shed continues to be a favorite prop and staging place. 

The Lady of Shalot rose blooming. I need to catch some of these in the bud stage to dry also. 

In Victory,
Sherry

Garden Progress 2026

The garden is off to a good start here at the beginning of summer. I started eighty percent of it from seed this year to save money. There were many more native plants that like our climate. 

Every year the garden is an experiment. I try new things and change things around. I used to be bothered by the change-ups due to something not liking the place I put it or the weather being so harsh, but now I like it. It gives me something to go out and tinker with. This garden planting system was new to me this year, and I am still seeing how it turns out, but so far so good. I mixed up as many herbs and flowers as I could in with the veg; this confuses the bugs. 

So far it has worked. I have some beds not planted as densely and some planted really densely. A few things are also volunteer, and I just let them come up and fill in the bed. 

The chives got repotted. They had been over run with grass seed that had gotten into the pot by mowing. 

The lavender I started from seed two years ago, it is really beautiful this year. I brought an ornamental bee skep out to place in the bed for fun, and it really looks at home here.

I have grown nasturtium for years and the seed from the store doesn't germinate very well at all. Last year I noticed the one plant I had that was thriving was producing a lot of seed. I saved that seed and this year I planted it and I had close to perfect germination. That is a trick I will use again.

I love these dark purple bachelor's buttons, this was Black Ball.

A clematis that is new to me. Last year I noticed Menards was selling $5 perennials. I found this in the selections and was thrilled to find a clematis that wasn't expensive. It is growing really well. 

I have also found the secret to sowing poppies. It is called snow sowing. I get a lot of ideas for gardening off of YouTube and one person I watch said to go out in the winter and sow your poppy seeds right into the snow. This gives them moisture, cold stratification, and they germinate when the time is right. I have done this two years in a row and it does work. 

The Cathedral Bells rose.

These sown last year only bloomed this year. They are related to chamomile, but you don't drink them. They are the Marguerite daisy. I always wanted some of these but couldn't find them in a garden center, so I just grew them from seed. They will come back each year.  

For all the seed that I started and didn't have anywhere to plant it, Hubs made me a plant shelf along the shed. He just used a large board on top of concrete blocks. 

I am now starting to get bouquets! That is the best part of growing all of these flowers.

In Victory,

Sherry

My Antique Creamer Collection

I have a few antique creamers I have collected from thrift stores to style flowers in. 

I especially love to cut my roses and put them in these creamers.

I only pay two or three dollars for these. This is my "newest" one.

 

That was what was on the potting table last week. I actually potted up some marigold starts too. Work does happen in the shed; the new space is really useful! 

In Victory,
Sherry