Ooh, yeah! all right!
We’re jammin’:
I wanna jam it wid you.
Were jammin’, jammin’,
And I hope you like jammin’, too.
-Bob Marley

Homemade Jam
64 ounces of strawberry jam for $29
     5 pounds of organic strawberries from Peach Crest Farm = $25
     Sure-Jell pectin = $1.44
     7 c sugar = $2.56
45¢ per ounce

Store-bought Jam
Smucker’s Organic Strawberry Jam
12-ounce jar for $2.99
25¢ per ounce

Sure, there are external costs—transportation, water, time, energy, scale—that have not been included. And if I were able to buy a gallon jar of of Smucker’s organic strawberry jam, it would probably work out to an even cheaper price per ounce. But, I’m just looking at these numbers for curiosity’s sake. The stuff I made is some of the best damn jam I’ve tasted. Perhaps I’m a little biased? And I know the story behind it: the kitchen faucet broke and water leaked all over the floor during the sticky jam-making process!

I took a suggestion from the cookbook I used and added three tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to the jam for a “robust” flavor. Other suggested variations/additions are vanilla bean, black pepper, or lemon zest.