My week in which I canned for the first time.

This week has been most interesting for me. A few days ago, I went and ran errands that I normally would have spaced. I actually got a packaged mailed off in time for it to reach my father in time for Father's Day (that was HUGE for me, let me tell you). One of the local grocer's chains in my area, a town south, had a special sale on Strawberries and Raspberries. So I got 2 flats of each, $9.99 a pop. Then I went one town further south to take advantage of a Joann's sale. I was able to finish getting the fabric I needed to finish outfits for myself, my husband, and C for a wedding coming next month. I had so much fun! I bought far more than I had planned on, but I saved more than I spent! Now how often can you say that? My fabric was 50% off, and I got some decorating items for the house, they were almost half price, knitting needles that were clearance, some yarn and pony-tail bands to dress up, some beads for jewelry, and a little tin to temporarily keep the beads in while I'm focused elsewhere.

So my NEW adventure this week has been making Jams! I was so terrified that I would be like Amy March whose jams/jelly's wouldn't Gel! lol. Yeah, no worries there! I made 1 batch of strawberry jam Tuesday night, made a few more and a couple of Raspberry on Wednesday. We did a little sampling on Thursday- yea, the first batch of Strawberry jam we are calling "Strawberry Jam Candy" as its a little too thick to be considered jam.. but it's YUMMY! Both types are really delicious, and I'm super thrilled at the results of my first "Jamming" Session. Which brings us to today. Keep in mind I have not been able to thoroughly finish off the strawberries I bought yet, I'm switching recipes to one with more ingredients and yet simpler. Today, my darling husband bought 3 more flats of Raspberries, and 5 more of Strawberries. Wow.

So tonight I'm spending time getting the house clean so tomorrow I can finish putting away all these berries. They are very tasty and I am enjoying the process but holy cow, talk about volume for a first timer!

But hey, we should have a "Berry" good time of it!... OK, bad pun. I'm done now. Happy Canning!