Sweet Strawberry Success

I'm currently obsessed with strawberry jam. I've never made jam before. But my community garden plot has been taken over by some strawberry plants I planted last year (not that I'm complaining) and I get a good basketful of strawberries every other day. Three basketfuls if I wait a couple more days. Which brings me to being the happy jam maker at least once a week! My first attempt was inspired from a recipe garnered from a wonderful blog that makes me salivate on a daily basis called, "Chocolate & Zucchini," written by Clotilde Dusoulier, who in turn, was inspired by Christine Ferber's (aka: the jam fairy's) book, "Mes Confitures." Clotilde's receipe was for a strawberry jam with black pepper and mint. Mine was a strawberry with key lime, chocolate mint (grown in a pot outside my door) and black pepper jam. I made sure to put enough pepper so that there was definitely a bite to it. As a taster remarked, "there's something slightly burning in my mouth." The key lime can be tasted. But sadly, the mint is quite overpowered. Nonetheless, I will make one sometime this season where the mint does come through forcefully. The jam is sublime. I ate a jar and a half before I started in on the next week's jam which was, strawberry with balsamic vinegar with just a hint of black pepper jam. Equally tasty. And now that I can bike over to my garden, I'm zipping over there more often so that I can whisper sweet, tender encouragements to my growing gems. Ah..... a girl couldn't be happier.