I'm back. After my initial fumblings with this blog so many years ago - I was ahead of my time really - I am back to finish what I started and thank you for the kind offer of viagra but I was hoping for some more constructive comments about my struggles with this technology - Drugs I can assure you are never the answer.
Now spurred on by my friend Phoebe Jones with the launch of her romantic fiction forum ---- I hope to become a modest scribe of the digital age dishing up sound advice and entertainment in equal measure to the citizen's of the web.
So here goes. Now, as you can see from my photographs one topic of this volume will be my beloved allotment. I will share with you tips passed down through the ages from generation to generation. I spent many a happy hour with my Grandmother in her garden, of course for her gardening was a necessity and any flowers were functional. Alas this explains also her attitude to any unfortunate wildlife found wondering through her petunias - I have an early memory of her spade cleaving a dear little mole almost in half and it hanging, flapping from the branches of her lilac. It's blood pooling in the grass underneath. A deterrent to others.
Anyway - I digress - what I want to say in this the first episode of I hope many posts - is what a great year I have had - as well as my beautiful foxgloves I had a bumper crop of Raspberries and so I thought a recipe for - Raspberry Jam was in order here - (Lucy Metcalf after the Allotment society bring and buy sale said to Jennifer Wilson, in my hearing, that it was too sweet but she is a very sour woman so I will ignore her) -
1kg of raspberries
500g sugar with pectin
juice of 1 lemon (for extra pectin)
The first issue is to wash or not wash the raspberries - I personally do not want the risk of cats ** or bird ** in my jam - however one also doesn't want too much water to dilute the fruit. So I wash but then spread out my dear little berries on kitchen towel in a sunny window to dry out. When dry I tip them into my jam pan (I inherited my grandmother's but I'm sure you can buy them in any good department store) - then you smash them to bits with a spoon (wooden I think is best). Now dissolve in the sugar while you bring the mixture to the boil - tip in the lemon juice and keep the jam at a rolling boil - it will smell heavenly - Meanwhile pop a saucer in your freezer or freezer compartment of your fridge to get nice and cold. After about 5 minutes take the cold saucer out and drop a teaspoon of the jam onto it and put it back in the fridge for a minute. If when you poke it the jam crinkles it is ready - if it is still completely runny keep boiling - you can always pop in more lemon juice if it is having difficulty setting - red currants are another good source of pectin and can also be added to help jam set. - Personally I am a fan of runny jam with rice pudding or vanilla ice cream.
Now spurred on by my friend Phoebe Jones with the launch of her romantic fiction forum ---- I hope to become a modest scribe of the digital age dishing up sound advice and entertainment in equal measure to the citizen's of the web.
So here goes. Now, as you can see from my photographs one topic of this volume will be my beloved allotment. I will share with you tips passed down through the ages from generation to generation. I spent many a happy hour with my Grandmother in her garden, of course for her gardening was a necessity and any flowers were functional. Alas this explains also her attitude to any unfortunate wildlife found wondering through her petunias - I have an early memory of her spade cleaving a dear little mole almost in half and it hanging, flapping from the branches of her lilac. It's blood pooling in the grass underneath. A deterrent to others.
Anyway - I digress - what I want to say in this the first episode of I hope many posts - is what a great year I have had - as well as my beautiful foxgloves I had a bumper crop of Raspberries and so I thought a recipe for - Raspberry Jam was in order here - (Lucy Metcalf after the Allotment society bring and buy sale said to Jennifer Wilson, in my hearing, that it was too sweet but she is a very sour woman so I will ignore her) -
1kg of raspberries
500g sugar with pectin
juice of 1 lemon (for extra pectin)
The first issue is to wash or not wash the raspberries - I personally do not want the risk of cats ** or bird ** in my jam - however one also doesn't want too much water to dilute the fruit. So I wash but then spread out my dear little berries on kitchen towel in a sunny window to dry out. When dry I tip them into my jam pan (I inherited my grandmother's but I'm sure you can buy them in any good department store) - then you smash them to bits with a spoon (wooden I think is best). Now dissolve in the sugar while you bring the mixture to the boil - tip in the lemon juice and keep the jam at a rolling boil - it will smell heavenly - Meanwhile pop a saucer in your freezer or freezer compartment of your fridge to get nice and cold. After about 5 minutes take the cold saucer out and drop a teaspoon of the jam onto it and put it back in the fridge for a minute. If when you poke it the jam crinkles it is ready - if it is still completely runny keep boiling - you can always pop in more lemon juice if it is having difficulty setting - red currants are another good source of pectin and can also be added to help jam set. - Personally I am a fan of runny jam with rice pudding or vanilla ice cream.
posted by Sarah Haynes at 4:15 am
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