Jam & Pies

This year all the berries have been ripened very early. The Strawberries were ready in the middle of May. That is almost unheard in my area of the world. I think I got a little too excited and bought a flat of Strawberries. Than I bought a flat of Blackberries (though they might have been Marionberries). I made several jars of Strawberry Jam because everyone loves Strawberry. I also made some Mango Strawberry Jam that is wonderful. The last batch of Strawberry was Strawberry Mango Mojito....very nice tasting jam if I do say so myself. I then froze about 3 pints of strawberries so I can have some later during the summer. 

Next up Blackberries....a batch of plain Blackberry, some Blackberry Lemon Jam, Blackberry Cardamon Jam, and some Blackberry hand pies. I also bought some raspberries becasue they are my favorite, froze a couple of pints and made some Raspberry Chocolate Sauce (though it looks more like jam). I used my Fresh Tech Jam machine...this machine makes jam in about 22 minutes. The nice thing is you can make small batches of jam, 2-3 cups of fruit will make 3-5 half pints of jam. I like to make small batches of interesting jams instead of large batches, it gives me room to experiment with spices and flavors.

Finally the Cherries!!! My neighbors have a Sour Cherry tree that the cherries were falling off the tree. So I got out the ladder and picked enough for a Cherry pie. I shared some of the Cherry Pie with friends because we had too much pie in the house. Everyone was happy with the results. 

I want to get some peaches or mangos this year and make some chutney. The last time I made chutney it turned out delicious and was devoured quickly. I haven't made it in a couple of years and I think it's time to make some more. 
Of course there is going to be a lot more canning this summer as I have purple beans, cucumbers and tomatoes planted in the garden. Last year we had an abundance of tomatoes and I finally figured out how to can a decent tomato sauce. So I'm looking forward to a lot more tomato sauce this year. 
Lastly...We went up and got the Trophy Wife yesterday. It's running OK, but it needs some work. I have to talk to my mechanic and see when he's available to help me get the car in tip top shape. 

Jam & some Churn Dash Blocks

When all of our guest had left we found that we had a lot of cherries left over from their visit. I like cherries but there was a lot of cherries left at the house so I decided to make some jam. I also had some strawberries so I added those to the mix. A friend had given me some funky scissors last summer that she was using to chop herbs. I was able to use these scissors to cut up the cherries for the jam. I used my FreshTech Jam Machine and came up with 4 half pints + of Cherry, Strawberry Vanilla Jam (I gave away one of the half pints before I was able to take a photo). I think it used a little  too much vanilla in the jam, I used 2 vanilla beans and really I should have used only one. Then luck struck again...my neighbor Jessie pointed out a Golden Raspberry batch in the community garden (I thought it was just a bush of unripe raspberries), it was FULL of ripe raspberries. I picked a lot to make jam, but ended up eating some so I did not get as much jam as I had hoped. The golden raspberries if you have never had them are wonderful. They have a very fresh raspberry taste and are oh so sweet. The only down side that I found in the golden raspberries is they seem to have more seeds then red raspberries. I strain about 1/2 of the raspberries when I make jam so I don't get a seed filled jam. I think I strained about 3/4 of the golden raspberries before I made the jam. I had to add about a pint of red's to this jam to get the 3 cups needed to make the jam in my FreshTech machine. I think the red's helped make the jam a lovely golden rose color. I also added 1/2 a vanilla bean, this gave the jam a lovely flavor.    
I have been working on the churn dash quilt block. I have seen the block in older quilts and it seems to be on a lot of quilting blogs lately. So I decided to take a stab at making a churn dash block. I messed with different ways to use the squares and I really like making a red cross on the center. I think I will make a few more and see what they look like mixed together. It's a fun block but a little fussy which is not my style of quilting. I'm a pretty messy quilter...I hate having to match up points. This block really needs the points to match....so I may only make this as a test to see if I can do it. 

Leggings and a Book

I decided to show you what I look like wearing the leggings. The burgundy leggings are just a little longer then other leggings but they fit really really nicely. I love putting these on first thing in the morning as I drink coffee and feed the cats. The material is 95% Rayon and 5% spandex. The material has a 4 way stretch, it's about a 60-70% stretch which makes it great for leggings. You can make a size smaller and they will still fit,. It's all about the waistband and the elastic you use. Some elastic is nice and comfortable but your leggings will pull down every time you bend over. A nice strong non-roll elastic will keep the leggings in place. I have come great celtic designs that I'm going to print on the fabric this week to see how it takes.
I received a copy of Sara Midds's latest book "A Bowl of Olives On Food and Memory" from Workman Press. It's a beautifully illustrated book that contains memories of picnics, summer dinners on the balcony, a funny chapter on eggs and a delightful page of napkin designs. Sara Midda's delicate watercolors through out delight the eye. I found myself looking at some of the pages soaking up the elegant images of raspberries, pomegranates & figs. Thought the book is small in size it is filled with such amazing detail,  I took 3 days to pour over and soak in this wonderful little book. I keep going back to the raspberry and the napkin illustrations for inspiration.