Strawberry Butter
Submitted by Sharon Sanders from SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Ingredients:
3 Lbs Butter (real butter) Room Temperature
1 Jar Smuckers Strawberry Preserves (18 oz jar)
2 Cups Powdered Sugar (loose not packed)
1 case of 12 (4 oz Decorative Crystal Ball Jars)
12 Round Wax Paper Circles cut to fit inside of lid
12 (6″) Circles from Christmas Napkins or Christmas Fabric
12 Sturdy Rubber Bands
Jute Twine or Paper Rafia
Directions:
Place softened butter, powdered sugar into bowl and mix with mixer until smooth. Add jar of jelly and fold into mixture. You can add more jelly if you think it needs it.
Make sure jars and lids are clean and dry.
Place mixture in each jar up to where the crystal markings stop on jar. Do not over fill the jar. You might have extra mixture to put onto your dinner table. Place wax paper ring in lid and screw on lid tightly. Center Christmas paper napkin circle over lid of jar and secure with a rubber band. Take your twine or jute and wound around rubber band to disguise it and before tying extra into bow slide on Christmas tag that has a thread with the name of person receiving the gift.
This quick project takes an hour to an hour and a half. The mixing is quicker that cutting out the wax paper rings and Christmas napkins. These look great and are decorative sitting in the middle of you dinner plate at Christmas as a gift to your guests. Place several in a wicker basket with paper crinkled stuffing and add a couple of gourmet muffin mixes, bag of gourmet coffee, and Christmas coffee mug to give away to your boss or special neighbor or hair dresser, etc. These are great gifts at the holidays.
CAUTION! Do not put REAL fruit in the mixture which then requires it to be refrigerated and a short shelf life of 3-4 days. That is the reason for the jarred preserves which have preservatives. You can store these on the counter until you give then away. Because it is usually around 40 degrees in our garage, I keep them there in a box until setting my table or giving away.
