Pump up the jam

This summer, my little girl and I have decided to do all kinds of homestead-y projects.  One of them is making jam.  I have never done it, but have thoroughly researched it and I'm pretty sure I possess the necessary skills to make it happen.  We are going to try strawberry first and later on down the line blueberry, raspberry, and even apple butter.  How exciting!  I know, we're dorks.

Anyway, here is our jam making in pictures:

We started with 4 pounds for fresh strawberries, then hulled and crushed them before adding 4 pounds of sugar.  Yes, 4 pounds.  I've never claimed to be an angel.

The recipe I was using then had me bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce heat slightly and cook until it reached desired consistency.  I think this took about 25-30 minutes.  If it doesn't thicken quite like you want it to, you could add liquid pectin, return to full boil for 1 minute then remove from heat before canning.


My jam came out a little thinner than I would have liked, but it's pretty tasty and no one has complained.

Lickety split

I know some of you as parents often bribe your children to get them to succumb to your will.  I rarely have to do that with my child, as she will pretty much do whatever I tell her to.  Sure, she moans and groans a little, but what 8-year-old wants to clean her room or take a bath?  That being said, we had to do major grocery shopping and since she didn't want to go, I bribed her with a stop off at Braum's for a banana split.  My daughter then informed me she had never had a banana split and I was appalled!  How could I have deprived my girl of such a wonderful treat?  I immediately took her to the nearest Braum's (25 miles away) and we waited in line for a good 15 minutes, which was fine because the people-watching in Braum's is PHENOMENAL.  We shared this beautiful banana split:

In approximately 6.4 seconds, it looked like this:

It was a feeding frenzy!  People were staring with mouths agape and neither one of us cared!  Total abandon!  We didn't eat like ladies in the slightest, but we did wipe our mouths delicately when we were finished and got up and exited the store gracefully.  And miserable.