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Mary Starr's Strawberry Preserves

List of Ingredients

1 quart prepared strawberries
1 Tbsp. vinegar
3 cups sugar



Recipe

Sometimes simple is best. (Actually, MOST of the time it is!) And that's how I feel about this recipe. I have tried more recipes for strawberry preserves than I care to think about. Then along came this one. Oh, it IS a bit of work, and the result is only three measly half-pints. But WHAT half-pints they are! Each spoonful bursting with summertime flavor. Thank you, Mary Starr, from the bottom of my heart...

May 10, 2000

By Louise Durman News-Sentinel food editor

Shirley Romine, Kodak, writes that she makes strawberry preserves every year from a recipe by the late Mary Starr, who was with WATE, Channel 6. It appeared in the early 1960s before Starr's cookbook, says Romine. "I have included some hints, which I have learned after experiencing a few disasters--too runny, too gummy, etc.! If you follow
these hints, I can guarantee you will have perfect preserves!" she writes.
She likes to use half-pint jars because they make great gifts. She says that since she's retired, she doesn't cook as much. "Yet when our children and grandchildren come to dinners, they want the old-fashioned comfort foods like chicken and dumplings, angel biscuits and chocolate chess pie. "When I arrived in the Knoxville area in 1955 from England, I couldn't cook any of the local foods and my husband, Hugh, had to teach me to make dumplings (the rolled kind we eat in East Tennessee), corn bread, biscuits and green beans cooked half a day. (He maintained the English only half cooked their veggies.) It took a little while, but of course I learned to love the style of cooking here and I proudly became a Tennessee-Limey! I do, however, still enjoy my cup of hot tea with cream and sugar."

Combine berries and vinegar in saucepan and boil 5 minutes, after they come to a full boil. Add sugar all at once and boil 20 minutes at rolling boil. Empty into crockery container. Let cool and stir occasionally.

Tips:

* Rinse berries before removing caps to prevent water's entering berries.
* Dry berries thoroughly on towels. Do not add any water to recipe.
* Cut large berries in quarters, small ones in halves, or mash berries.
* Vinegar in recipe prevents darkening of jam and keeps good red color.
* Cook in a 3-to-4-quart pan. Bring to a rolling boil on medium to medium-high heat (never high), then start timing for 20 minutes. Type of berries will dictate actual cooking time of jam. Very juicy ones will require a few additional minutes to jell properly.
* Stir frequently with wooden spoon to prevent sticking/burning. Stir both around and across the pan.
* Do not double recipe -- it won't work. Jam mixture rolls while boiling and fills a
* 3-to-4-quart pan. If you try to double the recipe, it boils over. If desired, you can cook one run in each of two pans simultaneously to save time. It's just as easy to stir two pans as it is to stir one.
* Three to five makings can be poured together into crockery container.
* At end of cooking time, remove from heat and allow to stand 5 to 10 minutes, then skim off scum and froth with metal spoon. It is edible, but it just doesn't look appetizing when mixing into jam.
* Fill hot jars, wipe rims with damp cloth and seal. Putting sealed jars in freezer keeps the jam's flavor better.

http://www.knoxnews.com/entertainment/food/recipes/ld05102000.shtml