Stawberry Raspberry Jam

Aren't cousins the best :) Ayla just adores her cousin Alana and was driving me crazy to see her this weekend.  So I phoned my sister in law and they dropped by with a beautiful basket of fresh picked Strawberrys and Raspberries from the local farm on Sunday.  To return the favour I (and keep my kids busy) I decided to make a batch of Jam we could give them from the lovely berries.  If you've never made jam you should try it.  You just can't beat homemade.

You'll need some clean glass jars.  I like to recycle used jars and keep a few lying around for occasions like these.  I remove the labels and run them through the dishwasher.  When I'm ready to use them I wash the jars and lids with very hot soapy water then place them on a baking tray in the oven at 140C for 15 minutes to sterilize them.

While my jars where in the oven I measured out 500g of mixed strawberrys and raspberries.  

Then I poured them in a saucepan and added 500g Jam Sugar (that's sugar with pectin already added)

Then I scraped in the seeds from a vanilla bean pod

Then mix it all up.  I use a fork and mush the berries.  The kids will enjoy helping with this part.  

Once the berries are all mushed put the saucepan on medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to boil.  Let mixture continue to boil for 5 minutes.  

Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.  (Your jars should be ready to come out of the oven by now as well).

Fill your jars and allow to cool completely.  You can put the kids to work making labels :)