Strawberry Jam

I got a quart of chemical free strawberries on Thursday and still had half a quart left on Sunday. I love fresh strawberries and I have been eating a full quart a week for the past month. But yesterday I took the rest and made about 6 ounces of strawberry jam preserves.  I didn't use Sure-gel. Grandma always used Sure-gel.  Turns out you don't need Sure-gel if you work the strawberries like a chemist. I found a recipe on the BBC website that I liked although I never looked at the list of ingredients or paid any attention at all to the amounts I was supposed to use.  Recipes are more like guidelines anyway. If I used Sure-gel I would have to have 7 cups of fresh strawberries.  I would have to mash the berries. I thought this recipe would work no matter the amounts. And I didn't mash them. I didn't add Sure-gel (besides, what is in that stuff anyway?) I used as much sugar as I thought would be good. I liked the line in the recipe where I don't rinse the strawberries but wipe them gently with damp kitchen paper (the words the Brits use for paper towels).  I read a line about  putting two saucers in the freezer and that confused me. I had to read the instructions 7 times before I figured out you test the doneness of the jam by putting a dab of what you think is fully cooked jam on a cold plate, wait 30 seconds, push it with your finger and if the jam returns to the shape before you poked it, it's done.  See what I mean? Chemistry. The reason I didn't eat the strawberries fresh and plain like I usually like them or with my home made Greek yogurt is also chemistry. For the past month my mouth has felt weird. I constantly feel thirsty but water and other liquids don't quench it. Cabernet Sauvignon quenches it but that is another story. My tongue frequently massages my teeth. I feel thirsty but I'm not thirsty. My tongue felt slightly swollen. My teeth stick to the inside of my lips. My mouth and tongue felt sore. I avoided salty foods because they hurt. Most telling of all I just had my third consecutive canker sore under my tongue. My body was telling me to cut back on the strawberries but it took not one, not two, but three canker sores before I received the message. I wish I was the type of person who paid more attention to her body but you know that hypochondriacs suffer too so maybe it's all even. What kind of cosmic horse laugh is this that I become sensitive to strawberries right after I paid money for a quart a week for many weeks? I don't know if it's the strawberries or the acid that bothers me. I always thought of citrus fruits as acid.  Guess who just bought a three pound bag of oranges? Yeah, that is right. I bought three pounds of oranges. I could put out orange halves for the orioles but I know the squirrels will eat them. I knew grapefruit bothers my mouth and that is why I limit it to one grapefruit per month.  Perhaps it's the combination of the strawberries and the kefir I have been fermenting that is the problem. Maybe if I preserve these delicious red berries and dole them out over the winter I will be able to tolerate them better. Or maybe not.  I looked up a list of the alkaline foods and the acidic foods.  I love food on both lists. I think the fad diets that emphasize alkaline or acid foods are bogus. I'm sure my body and most healthy bodies has found a way to keep our ph balanced. I guess I could be a generous person and give the berries away.  Hold the phone!  I'm not that generous! I could make more strawberry jam. I had a piece of toast this morning and this strawberry jam tastes better than any other batches I have made in my life.  Oh, I got an idea. I could sell these berries on the black market and make a fortune!  I could be rich! Red market perhaps?  You can take away my strawberries, my oranges, my coffee (also acidic), and even my chocolate, but don't come near my tomatoes. That one cherry tomato on the deck will be ready by tomorrow or the next day.