In the process of pursuing my passion for really good food (and apparently alliteration!), I have managed to spoil my kids in some really alarming ways. One example that makes other mothers shake their heads at my stupidity: my son’s lunch 
requirements. It is currently the middle of May—three weeks till the end of the school year. Every day since he started the 9th grade in August, Toby has taken a sandwich for lunch. The specifications are nonnegotiable: a homemade roll (one particular recipe, which I make about once every ten days and store in the freezer), peanut butter, and homemade strawberry jam.
Yes, you read that right. My fifteen year old son, whose diet otherwise includes ONLY Moe’s, Papa John’s, and Chicken Parmesan Lean Pockets, takes homemade bread and jam to school every single day. I am such a sucker.
The upshot of my marshmallow-Mom status is that I’m making jam today. Strawberries are at the peak of deliciousness here in North Carolina, so yesterday I went out to the local patch and picked a couple of buckets full, and today they’re becoming that sweet, sticky essence of spring that will feed my kids all through the school year.
I started making my own jam about five years ago, primarily because I couldn’t bear to let go of strawberry season—I wanted to find a way to hang on to those berries a little longer. I started with freezer jam. Easy enough: cook berries with some sugar until they reduce enough to firm up a little, then throw it in the freezer.
Turns out making ordinary pantry jam is not much harder; you really only have to add one more step. After you’ve poured the jam into jars, you boil the jars for ten minutes. This creates a vacuum in the jars, causing them to seal, at which point they’ll keep a really, really long time. Not rocket science.
If you are going to try making jam (NOT A MYSTERIOUS PROCESS, I PROMISE), I do recommend that you take a look at a jam-making book first; I like The Complete Book of Home Preserving, put out by the folks at Ball. You’d be surprised, though, at how many jam-making books there are out there. It is a totally gratifying little hobby, and one that is, I might point out, totally heart-healthy: there’s not a speck of fat in jam. Smear some on a slice of whole wheat toast, and you have a nutritious, healthy, and super-tasty snack. It also makes a mean PB&J.
One final note: one of my absolute favorite cookbook authors, Nigella Lawson (seriously—my idol!) has a brilliant tip: add a dash of balsamic vinegar to strawberry jam. The woman is a freaking genius. Just ask my son.