A Nanny McPhee picnic- Strawberry Vanilla Jam and Lemonade

The age of picnics is far behind us, but that doesn't mean picnic food is to be tossed aside as well. These two recipes evoke a perfect Summer scene accompanying the Famous Five or Nanny McPhee on a spread blanket dotted with different dishes. While that ideal is outdated, these characters all lived in the grey age of Victorian austerity and where 'lashings of boiled egg' were considered an enormous treat, I implore you to conjure the same amount of joy from a picnic comprising of kale smoothie and spiralised cauliflower.
Yes these recipes are old-fashioned, yes these two foodstuffs are nothing you can't buy in any shop and yes they take a moderate degree of kitchen pottering, but that is why they are such wonderful things to make. Just a jar of luscious, jewel-red strawberry and vanilla jam to be eaten with thick slices of white bread and a thermos of fuzzy lemonade will leave everyone enamoured with glee in the park- despite the pain of plastic forks and paper plates to be disposed of later, but so ist das Leben. And unlike Miss McPhee, when you want these recipes, they will be here for as long as you desire.
This doesn't make a huge amount of jam, I filled 4 medium jars with it but it lasts a good year in well-sterilised jars and small amounts is the easiest way with making preserves; great vatfuls of conserve are difficult to finish in your alloted time and difficult to boil with the rapidity you need for jam. The lemonade here will be enough to serve an intimate group of 4-6 but the recipe is a doddle to half or double.

Strawberry Vanilla Jam
1kg small, underripe strawberries (crunchy sour ones from the supermarket are counterintuitively best here)
1 kg jam sugar (this isn't preserving sugar, you need to look for the extra pectin advertised on the packet)
Juice of 1 lemon
3 vanilla pods

Before you begin, you must ensure your chosen jars are sterilised. Any jars will do, you can buy kilners especially but I keep any jar with a nice shape and pretty lid for preserves. The easiest way to sterilise them is to put them in the hottest dishwasher cycle, and once they're done leave them in the hot machine until ready to use. The other method is more labour intensive but still easy: scrub jar and lid well in scalding hot soapy water, rinse them in more hot water then place them on a baking tray in a low oven (150 degrees) for 10 minutes to dry, then switch the oven off and leave them in there to stay warm.
Place a saucer or small plate into the freezer (this will allow you to check the jam later)
Hull the strawberries then place them in a very large, strong pan with the lemon juice and heat them gently until they begin to break down a little. Splay open the vanilla pods and scrape out as many black seeds as you can and then throw the pod and seeds into the pan. Add all the sugar and bring to the boil over medium heat and boil for 5 minutes.
Take the saucer out of the freezer and blob a small bit of jam onto it then leave for a moment. Push your finger into the jam and you should see it ripple or wrinkle. If it doesn't so much, remember the time that you spent checking this with the jam boiling should cover any uncertainty. If it doesn't wrinkle at all, leave to boil for a few more minutes then check again.
Switch the jam off the heat and leave for 20 minutes so the fruit disperses itself evenly amongst the jelly. Fish out the vanilla pods, scraping them against the side of the pan to squeeze out as many spare seeds as possible then rinse and dry them to be placed in a jar of caster sugar to make vanilla sugar. Then, take a masher to the berries so they crush a small amount more (you certainly don't want a complete mush) and give a final stir before pouring into the jars. If you want to use a jug for this, the jug must be sterile too but a ladle is fine for this task. Gingerly screw the lids on then allow to cool completely before labelling.

Lemonade

2 medium sized lemons (I don't buy unwaxed lemons and I have to say I don't mind using waxy ones here, but if you do mind scrub the wax off in hot, hot water)

1 litre chilled water (if you want it fizzy use half soda water)

75g granulated sugar (5 tbsp)

Lots of fresh ice

Chop up the lemons, discarding the head and tail ends and put them all into a jug blender with the sugar and blitz until the lemons are a pureed mulch. This may seem alarming, but it's the quickest way to make homemade lemonade- most other recipes call for steeping chopped lemons in the water and then making a simple syrup, and using the whole fruit gives a wonderful bitter intensity. With the motor running, add the water then strain the whole lot through a fine sieve. The lemon puree leftover I frankly discard, but adding this to a marmalade being made would add a divine lemony hit. Chill well before pouring into glasses or plastic cups.

If you wanted, and this is a special preference for my mother, muddle a sprig of mint in your fist then leave it to infuse the lemonade while it chills in the fridge. And also, as another variant, you can throw in a handful of frozen raspberries or strawberries and make a lovely sunny jug of pink lemonade