Jammin'

It is getting to be that time of the year - actually, what am I saying, it is smack in the middle of that time of the year (how did that happen so fast?) after the growing and harvesting is all done with and the winter holidays are rapidly approaching. I spent the first three or so hours of today making jam with my aunt. I adore making jam with my aunt. We made four batches - strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry rhubarb. My aunt's jam is like none other, even though it has practically the same ingredients as lots of jam (sugar, fruit, pectin, and a teeny bit of butter). I don't know what makes it so superior to everything else. Maybe love, or the fact that she grows ALL the fruit herself. :) Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos of the process.

She reuses glass jars and lids to put the jam in. Wooo, green!

Yes, that is actually more sugar than fruit. I like to just focus on how great it tastes when it's done and just accept the fact that it's a LOT of sugar.

These are the two giant pots involved, with one more small pan on a back burner for heating the jar lids. The silver one on the left is what the jam is made in, and the black one on the right is full of boiling water. The jars go in this one to heat up while the jam is made, and after they are full of delicious jam and lidded they are re-immersed for about ten minutes and then finally taken out - after this final step, the jam is done and can be set aside to cool (which takes a looong time).


Et voila. Jam. :)

Bam.

As long as I'm unable to do anything with glass, I've been working on this quilt - my first one ever - which I fondly call my Ugly Quilt, since it's made with scraps of fabric that I inherited (rather than picked out myself). I figure everyone needs a nice warm shabby-looking blanket. I don't know what it is about quilts but they always remind me of family and Thanksgiving and Grandma's House. The uglier, the more at home they make me feel. It doesn't have sides or a back yet, but it will soon enough. Then I have to actually quilt it. Should be interesting. It's definitely the right time of year to be making a quilt, I just hope I have it finished before it gets cold enough to need it.

I don't know how people make those crazy geometric quilts with teeny triangles and have everything line up just right. Despite the fact that I measure everything, it somehow ends up wonky still. There's also the fact that I can't sew a straight line even on a sewing machine. Half of the squares on my Ugly Quilt quilt are unevenly matched up.

I did set out to make an ugly quilt though. I wonder what is it that makes ugly things endearing?

Peace,
Ruth