When I was a young mom (I mean, when I had only three kids), One took an Aikido class. He was in first grade, and he hated it.

Through that class, we met and got to know a group of unschoolers. I was new to the homeschool community at that time and hadn’t really found where we fit.

I knew we didn’t fit with the unschoolers. Some of their life choices made my hair stand on end. Maybe it’s because they weren’t doing unschooling right, but their kids were poor readers. The families seemed to live lives of chaos where they didn’t potty train or wean until the kids were uncomfortably big, and there were no rules.

I sat next to one of the other moms as we watched our kids in the class. I mentioned we’d been making strawberry jam at our house. She looked over with interest and asked me about the recipe we used. It’s pretty easy to remember, and I related it to her. I still remember the look of horror on her face. FOUR CUPS OF SUGAR?!!!! I could hear her thinking. Just to be clear, she had a five-year-old who was wearing pull ups because the little girl “wasn’t ready” to potty train, and she was looking at me with horror. But I digress.

The reason this jam is so good, the reason it glistens like rubies and doesn’t need any pectin to set up, is because it requires so much dang sugar. And it is SO GOOD.

Also, it goes much faster with child labor. It’s a tradition that at least goes back to when I was a child – standing in front of the hot stove, on a stool as needed, covered in perspiration and steam, breathing in the heady goodness of cooking strawberries and sugar as the sweet aroma fills the whole kitchen, and you stir until your arms are about to fall off.

The recipe doesn’t mention this, but I use medium to medium-high heat. You can pour it directly into your jam jars, let it cool on the counter, then stash it in the freezer. I keep mine in the freezer even when I’m using it, because it is delicious frozen.

At least where I live, it is NOT cheaper to pick your own strawberries and make your own jam. But it is much more satisfying, and it tastes way better.