On Canada Day (Friday) we went to our friends annual pool party! Since the weather wasn’t the nicest, the pool was a little cold, so our munchkin just dipped her feet in!

Then, we were off to another place the next day, and squeezed in some time at the park!

Then it was Sunday, and yet another get together! I finally got in one of the photos! I’m usually the one taking the pictures.

My brother snapped this photo….isn’t it hilarious?! Can you tell she doesn’t have chips very often? Savoring every bite!

Then, I took advantage of the fresh local strawberries and decided I was going to make some jam!  I would have preferred to do the cooked jam, as then you can store it on a shelf at room temperature.  But I don’t have a canner to do it all, so instead I opted for a freezer jam.

Check out all the strawberries I got.  2 flats full, and they were RIPE.  Had to use them asap!

Of course I had a little helper 😉

Halfway done!

All finished!

I followed the directions in the No Sugar Needed pectin by Bernardin  but for the extra sweetener (aside from the apple juice that’s required) I used stevia.  For this jam, I wanted to use a strong stevia extract with absolutely no filler.  So for each batch, I used 1/2 a tsp of the NuNatural Pure Stevia Extract.  This stuff is STRONG, so you only need 1/4 to 1/2 a tsp to sweeten an entire batch!!!!

I’m loving the canning, so I think I’d also like to try raspberry jam, and dill pickles!!

QUESTION!  Have you ever canned anything before?  If so, what!

I’ve got a very busy week ahead of me, so you may not see me around much.  I’ve got a work conference, so I’ll be away from Tues-Thurs.