Homemade jam

About Us

Welcome to our little virtual corner! I’m a single mother raising my wonderful son, Ruben, who has grown into a remarkable teenager. For years, I was the sole breadwinner as a Krav Maga instructor, balancing the challenges of parenthood and work on my own.

When Ruben started kindergarten, I embarked on a new journey by studying healthcare management at Semmelweis University, specializing in health tourism management. After graduating, I began working in my field and experienced firsthand the tragic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as a healthcare manager in a state hospital.

As the pandemic subsided, I transitioned into private healthcare, where I currently work as a practice manager. Meanwhile, our family moved from a small town to Vác, a charming historic Danube riverside city near Budapest.

Here, we embrace the everyday moments and joys of life together. If you want to hear more stories about us, you’re warmly invited to visit the original Daysonpaper blog at S&Ru’s Diary on daysonpaper.blog.hu.

So I decided to try living for a year on an international stage and see if there are other mothers in similar shoes for whom this diary could be a support on the harder days—just as it has been a support for me when I was able to look beyond the difficulties and sincerely believe in my own strength.

Thank you for stopping by!

A few years ago, when I made my very first jam, I counted it as such a huge success that every time I think back on it, I’m flooded with euphoric nostalgia. Even now, I sometimes marvel at what I considered an achievement while juggling my ridiculously limited 24 hours as a mom, woman, instructor, and student day after day. ;DDD

Because, let’s be honest, making jam isn’t rocket science—especially if a housewife sacrifices her good reputation and uses jam sugar mix ((: The biggest (and unfairly HUGE!!!) chunk of time goes into preparing the fruit—washing, hulling, chopping… Then it’s definitely an advantage to double-check before you start canning that the flour-like package in your cupboard is actually sugar. If not, at least the neighbor’s kid would be the kind of clueless person who eats granulated sugar instead of honey…!

All in all, jam-making for me is the essence of summer—selecting the juiciest fruits is pure joy, and the canning itself is exceptionally fun in the kitchen. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared with the right ingredients. (:

Strawberry Jam:

About 3 kilos of fresh homegrown strawberries
2 x 350 grams of white granulated sugar (or however much you have xD)
2 packets of jam sugar mix (I prefer the 3:1 ratio because we don’t like our jam too sweet)

After cleaning, washing, and chopping the strawberries (if you’re cooking with kids, allow plenty of extra fruit because the starting-to-cookable fruit ratio is shocking! Kids are great thieves…), put them in a pot with the sugar and jam sugar mix, then cook it all together. Done!