Strawberry preserves

Karen and I are going up to the city for the weekend, to FogCon. So today I have been doing All The Laundries, all of them; and thinking about packing, while thinking about buying a computer, while thinking about what this nearly-finished story might actually be about; and doing what I can to empty the fridge, and there were these punnets of strawberries that frankly might not have lasted the weekend, so.

I made a jar of strawberry preserves.

To all those with whom I share a mother-tongue, I apologise; but this is a recipe compounded from several, and the core of it was American, and I didn't stop to weigh anything. So:

Two cups of strawberries (see how easily I assimilate?), hulled and quartered
1.5 cups of sugar
Three tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
Three tablespoons of water
The juice of a lemon
Half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Put everything into a heavy saucepan and bring steadily to the boil, stirring every now and then.

Boil to the setting point (222 F/105 C), then let it sit ten minutes with a little lump of unsalted butter stirred in to settle the scum.

Decant into a hot sterilised jar, and seal.

Now I must be about my duties once again. *is dutiful*