For several years growing up Mom had a "jones" to pick strawberries. Long before school ended, Mom would start pulling out canning jars, stock piling sugar and Sure-Jel l in preparation. We had a little "Pick your Own" farm near our house (living in suburbia, I'm not sure why this tiny farm survived over development, but it did) and Mom would keep an eye out for the hand lettered signs announcing "Ripe Strawberries." The announcement coincided with the end of school and me sleeping late. I did not enter into this process willingly --it would take a fair amount of prodding on Mom's part, until I'd finally give in, sighing and huffing as only a teenage girl can. We'd spend most of the morning squatting between rows of strawberries in the hot sun, dusty and bug bitten, filling boxes and buckets with precious cargo. We paid for the berries by weight, sub par berries were a waste, Mom kept a good eye on the quality aspect of this process. There was no sense rushing.
We would return home at lunchtime for a quick sandwich and begin the tedious process of "capping" and chopping the berries for jam. The jars were saved and used from year to year, depending on the style of lid, some were sealed in boiling water others with wax, only six at a time. It was a long day, there was no sense rushing.
The jam would last most of year, much to my dismay. My friend Leslie's mom always had grape jelly and when the container was empty it doubled as a juice glass with a Mighty Mouse character on it. She had the whole set. I was so jealous. (Leslie's mom also made spaghetti sauce from powder in a packet that only needed water and for sleep-overs she would make fried Spam sandwiches with orange Velvetea cheese.) Leslie was so lucky. Mom assured me many, many times that our jam was better. I doubted her until I was old enough to understand preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and meat by-products.
I used Maryland strawberries for this batch of cupcakes. I didn't pick them myself, but got them at the farm stand and stashed them in my freezer a few weeks ago. They were perfectly sweet. The balsamic vinegar and black pepper added a "grown up" element enhancing the strawberry flavor. I even had a little of the strawberry sauce leftover for ice cream. Maybe I should look Leslie up and invite her over?
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