Name: Strawberry Preserves
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 3
Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients: 9 cups cleaned, halved fresh strawberries; 6 cups granulated sugar; 1 lemon, zested and juiced; heavy bottomed pan or crock; potato masher; 3 jam jars with lids

When the strawberry season is at its peak, easy homemade strawberry preserves are a must-make for my family!

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is taking a road trip to the local farm and pick fresh berries with my kids. This year we drove about an hour away to Westmoreland Berry Farm in Colonial Beach, VA.

Say hello to my little friend! #ilovegoats
A post shared by b e t s y e v e s (@javacupcake) on May 14, 2017 at 2:01pm PDT

Westmoreland Berry Farm not only has berries but it has goats and is actually quite famous for them! I’m not going to lie here and tell you that my favorite part of the farm was the berries… cause let’s be real… the goats are so flipping cute! #becausegoats

Farm to Fork

This trip to the farm had me inspired to make homemade strawberry preserves and I knew I had to include the recipe as part of my Farm to Fork series on the blog!

In the first post of the series, I shared how easy it is to make farm fresh bread. I had the pleasure of using the farmhouse at Good for You Farm to make that bread and these strawberry preserves!

Homemade Strawberry Preserves

Starting with fresh, never frozen, strawberries are the only way you should ever make homemade strawberry preserves.

For hundreds of years, fresh fruits have been preserved this way to keep the berries usable for the long-term. Thus getting the name Strawberry Preserves.

This preparation of the berries, since they are left whole and the flesh is included in the preserves, can also be considered a jam. Jelly is different because it’s made with only the juice of the berry and not the flesh like in jam.

Some recipes call for the use of added pectin, however, mine does not. Sugar, lemon juice and zest are all that is added to the berries.

The berries and sugar together would make natural pectin that can be seen while cooking. The white foam on top is the key indicator that the pectin is being made and the jam will be thick and perfect!

I’m not a master of canning jams, so I don’t follow all the typical rules for canning. I don’t boil my jars or do anything fancy with them.

Instead, I simply run the jars through the dishwasher and let them air dry before pouring the hot preserves into each jar.

I’ve never had any issue with the jars breaking or the preserves going bad because I didn’t boil the jars first.

After the mess has been cleaned and the preserves have cooled, I’m left with a thick, perfectly sweet and a bit tart strawberry jam!

My favorite way to eat strawberry preserves is on warm farm fresh homemade bread!

There are seriously fewer things in life that make me as happy as I am when I’m eating bread smeared with homemade jam.

It’s the little things like this that truly bring me joy and I always stop to take a moment to enjoy each delicious bite.

Seriously, so good.

As an added treat, I’ve had my amazing photographer Fanette Rickert Photography create a video to accompany this recipe! These are also all her photos… aren’t they amazing?

Strawberry Preserves

Yield: 3 jars

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

This recipe for Homemade Strawberry Preserves uses only farm fresh berries, lemon, and sugar and is incredibly simple and delicious!

Ingredients

9 cups cleaned, halved fresh strawberries
6 cups granulated sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
heavy bottomed pan or crock
potato masher
3 jam jars with lids

Instructions

Clean and half the berries and place them in the pot.
Sprinkle over the sugar, zest and juice. Stir to combine.
Using a potato masher, gently break up the strawberries. Keep at least half of the berries in tact.
On high heat, cook the mixture for 5 minutes while stirring frequently to help break up berries and bring out the juices.
Continue cooking until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Bring the temperature down to a medium/low simmer. Continue to stir occasionally.
When a pink foam appears on the top of the mixer, sure a spoon to scoop it off. This step isn't necessary, however sometimes if you skip it, chunks of pectin will be in the preserves.
After about 90 minutes or until it has reduced and thickened, pour the preserves into clean, dry jam jars. Allow the jam to cool completely before putting the lid on.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

With a few ingredients and a little time, you can make the most delicious farmhouse fresh bread that will taste better than anything store-bought!

‘Farm to Fork’

I’m so excited to bring you the first of many posts to come in my new series, ‘Farm to Fork’ with Good for You Farm. This series will show you how easy it is to use farm fresh ingredients to make delicious food for you and your family!

Good for You Farm is a veteran-owned farm run by Marc & Sarah Tucker in Midland, Virginia. I met Sarah at a caregiver event and was immediately drawn to her and her farm!

I’ve been out several times to visit GFY Farm, the animals and learn about the food she is producing!

On this visit, I wanted Sarah to teach me to make her super soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside farmhouse style fresh bread. Sarah makes this bread several times a week for her family and promised it was easy to make!

We even broadcast LIVE on Facebook to show everyone really how easy it is! (See the videos below)

I’m not a fan of yeast. For some reason, yeast never seems to work for me when I make it. I have no idea the concept of yeast, how it works and I just… ugh! can’t figure it out!

Luckily for me, however, I have fabulous friends who do know how to use yeast!

This farmhouse fresh bread is such a simple recipe that I was able to successfully make it again at my home! My dad even asked for the recipe so he could make it too!

My favorite way to eat this farmhouse fresh bread is hot from the oven and covered in homemade strawberry preserves. It’s heavenly.

(Don’t worry… I’ll be sharing the strawberry preserves recipe this summer!)

You can either follow the recipe at the bottom of this post or you can watch the two videos below. I honestly recommend watching the videos… because duh, I’m in them and they’re amazing… and then following the recipe.

Because if you’re anything like me with yeast… you’ll need all the help you can get!

Buy from Good For You Farm

If you’re interested in supporting the veteran owned GFY Farm or want to buy any of their products, check them out on Facebook!

Farmhouse Fresh Bread – Part 1

Farmhouse Fresh Bread – Part 2

Photos by: Fanette Rickert Photography

Farmhouse Fresh Bread

Yield: 2 loaves

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups bread flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp raw sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
1 3/4 cup hot water (110F)
1 egg white + 1 tsp water
1/4 cup corn meal
stone pan/sheet for baking

Instructions

Add the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the hot water.
Once most of the dry ingredients have been incorporated, turn the mixer to medium high for about 2 minutes. Let the dough hook do all the work bringing the ingredients into a ball.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and use your hands to pat the dough into a ball. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow to rise for 30 minute until doubled in size.
Divide dough in half. Roll first half over itself into a roll. Repeat with second loaf.
Sprinkle corn meal onto baking sheet then place the rolls on top.
Using a serrated knife, cut slits/lines across the top of each roll.
Cover with towel again and let rise for 30 minutes.
Place a shallow pan filled with water on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
Combine egg white and water. Brush the egg white over the entire surface of the dough. Be generous!
Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.