Canning Strawberry Preserves

Today I stopped by Aldi's to pick up some essentials (cream cheese, M and M's, and tortilla chips) and I saw that they had strawberries on clearence- buy one pint get one free. I got 4 pints of strawberries and pnly paid $3.80 On my way home it Dawned on my- What am I going to do with 4 pints of strawberries? I still had leftover mason jars and lids so I decided to make strawberry preserves. I used my crock pot and the tips from Grocery Cart challenge on canning and it turned out great!

Here's the play by play...

First I cut up all of the strawberries and put them in the crock pot along with 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup of sugar. You can adjust the amount of sugar depending on how sweet your strawberries are.

I let my strawberries cook down for 2 hours on highs. While they were cooking I put the empty mason jars in the dishwasher to sterilize and get hot.

Once the strawberries are soft you can either mash them with a potato masher or if you would like a smoother texture put them in a blender (but be careful because it will be hot and steam plus blender lid = explosion of strawberry sauce all over your kitchen!)

Once your berries are blended or mashed put them in a mason jar, wipe the rim, and put the lid on. Instead of going through the whole hot water bath ordeal just turn the jars upside down and let them sit over night or until they are cool. As they cool the seals will pop.

I have tried canning using a hot water bath and using this method. When using the water bath I would always have 2 or 3 that didn't seal. Using this method I have never had a can that didn't seal. I LOVE this method. It is so much less hassle and makes canning much more enjoyable!

While my preserves were cooking I also whipped up this cute halloween dishtowel using some old halloween material and a white towel I got at the dollar store.

Before:

After:

Today was productive and delicious!