Something wonderful happened today: a bushel of peaches (or was it a peck of peaches?) became ten beautiful jars of peach jam...sweet and golden, dotted with amber pieces of real, orchard-fresh fruit.
We didn't do a great deal of research; rather we jumped right into the process, going to our national purveyor of automotive parts... and home decor, pet supplies -- and now also groceries, can you believe it? -- and bought some supplies: a great big canner, stock pot, lids and so on. Then home we came to peel and chop 16 cups of fruit, combine it with pectin, butter and -- wait for it -- 20 cups of sugar! That's 5 kilos of sweetness! After several rounds of bringing things to the boil, then bringing them to the boil again we have arrived at the stage of admiring our display of domestic prowess as the filled and cooling jars sit in rows on the counter.
We are jam-makers! We are preservers of summer harvest! Ok, so it's not our harvest, but we are preserving it nonetheless. My feminine heart feels a great deal of satisfaction from this day's work. Such a simple thing, to give such pleasure. Strawberries, here I come!
And of course, you would share such sweet summer harvest with dear friends, wouldn't you???
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