Strawberry Kiwi Jam

Late May. The Memorial Day cookout. We don't do this every year — Hannah and I usually skip the holiday and treat it as a quiet weekend — but this year we did because Caleb wanted to bring Miriam to the family for the first time, and a Memorial Day cookout was the easiest format, and Hannah took it on as a project. We had eleven people: Hannah and me, Caleb and Miriam, Lily and Ben, Ada and Quoy (home from Haskell and NSU for the long weekend), River and Lucia, and Terry, who Lily drove out from Turley.

Smoked ribs on the smoker. Bean bread. Wild onion eggs from the dehydrated batch. Roasted asparagus. Coleslaw. Macaroni salad Lily brought. A persimmon pudding from the freezer for dessert — the last one from the December batch, defrosted and warmed. The food was simple and good. The day was clear and warm. The conversation moved.

Miriam met everyone. She got along with Hannah, who she'd met. She got along with Lily, which was the test I'd been watching for, because Lily is the family's sharpest reader of people, and Lily liked Miriam easily. Miriam knew how to be at a family event. She talked to the kids — Quoy, twenty, and Ada, twenty-two. She talked to Terry. She brought a small thing for Terry — a jar of jam she'd made from her own kitchen — and Terry was charmed. She charmed Terry. That was the moment I knew Miriam was the real thing. Charming Terry takes either decades or a particular kind of grace, and Miriam had the grace.

Caleb watched Miriam at the table. He watched her interact with us. He watched her bring his mother a piece of bean bread. He watched her laugh at one of Quoy's stories. I watched him watch her. The look on Caleb's face was a look I had not seen on him in twenty-five years. I won't describe it more than that. There are things you observe in your brother's face that should stay observed, not described. But the look. The look was good.

After everyone left I sat with Caleb on the porch alone. He said: I'm scared. I said: yes. He said: she's good. I said: she is. He said: I don't want to mess this up. I said: don't mess it up. He said: I'm going to take it slow. I said: yes. He said: I know what I'm doing this time. I said: yes. He stayed twenty more minutes and drove home, sober, careful, in his clean truck, with his clean hands on the wheel.

Miriam brought Terry a jar of jam she’d made herself, and I keep thinking about that. Not the cookout, not the ribs, not even the look on Caleb’s face — though I keep thinking about that too — but the jar. The thought behind it. The fact that she had made something with her own hands and brought it to someone she’d never met, because she knew it would matter. This Strawberry Kiwi Jam is the kind of thing Miriam might have made: simple, bright, and exactly right.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 48 (about 6 half-pint jars)

Ingredients

3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and crushed
3 kiwifruit, peeled and finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package (1-3/4 oz) powdered fruit pectin
5 cups granulated sugar
6 half-pint canning jars with lids and bands

Instructions

Prepare jars. Sterilize 6 half-pint canning jars and keep them warm. Prepare lids and bands according to manufacturer directions.
Combine fruit. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the crushed strawberries, chopped kiwifruit, and lemon juice. Stir in the powdered pectin until fully dissolved.
Bring to a boil. Over high heat, bring the fruit mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. A rolling boil is one that cannot be stirred down.
Add sugar. Add all 5 cups of sugar at once. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil hard for exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Skim and fill. Remove from heat and skim off any foam with a metal spoon. Ladle hot jam into warm sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe jar rims clean.
Seal and process. Place lids and bands on jars and finger-tighten. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours. Check that lids have sealed before storing.
Store. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Refrigerate after opening.

Nutrition (per serving, approximately 1 tablespoon)

Strawberry Kiwi Jam — The Jar That Charmed Terry