Jammin'

The Friends of the Library book sale took up most of my time since Thursday, but thankfully it's all over.  We did fine, and Heritage Days, which had been postponed due to the July floods, went very well.  People seemed happy to be together again, temporarily not worrying about sludge and stuff.  There were plenty of food vendors downtown although Al's French Fries were noticeably absent.  My neighbor's daughter sold us some great oatmeal butterscotch cookies on Friday night, so I ordered more that she delivered Saturday.  We are sorry they are gone now!  I'm not sure if she'll be at the Farmer's Market this afternoon, but if she is, we'll be shopping there.

The last few days have been filled with catching up on errands.  I also took Pauline to lunch for her birthday, had a pedicure, emptied flower boxes and pots.   I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce and plan a pot of chili today.  Temperatures are cooler in the morning these days although by mid-day it's warm enough to go without a jacket outside.  The morning fog has been quite thick, a clear indication of the seasons' changing.

I also made some raspberry peach jam from frozen fruit.  The last two batches of jam I've made have turned out runny, so I was glad to see this all jelled nicely.  I have enough fruit in the freezer to make another batch, so I just might do that soon.

Today I'm hoping to sandwich a baby quilt - another "neutral" one (ugh!).  This one's for Paul's sister to give to someone in Utah.  It won't take long as I'm planning to quilt a simple grid.

Productive day

It was a good day for accomplishing things I've been meaning to work on for a while.  Paul had errands to run, so I was home alone in the morning to rattle around the kitchen making jam.  I had frozen strawberries and rhubarb from last year.  I love the look of the jam in jars after canning.

I'm a little disappointed with this batch because it seems rather runny.  Mental note to self:  drain some of the liquid from frozen fruit before jamming!

I finished adding snippets of batting to edges of the Arboretum quilt I've been working on.  My "Frankenbatting" was just a tad too short in places.  Now I'm quilting the last border before adding the binding.  I really like this quilt.  When that's done, I'll take a short break from quilting and work on a few more Dear Jane blocks.

After lunch, I sat down to watch what I thought would be Quilting Arts on TV, but it turned out to be a delightful new program, Fresh Quilts.  It has a modern slant but is less artsy than the other show.  It was quite good.

While watching TV, I finished working on some I Found a Quilted Hearts I started last week.  I embellished them with buttons, charms and decorative ribbon.  They are now in a baggie for the car in case I go anywhere I can hang one or two.  They are fun and easy to make although I haven't seen any reports of finding the ones I spread around on last summer's trip back and forth to Wisconsin.  I plan to take a few to the town forest this summer.

Finally, I started shaping the toe of the sock I've been knitting.  Maybe I'll finish today if I can remember how to do the Kitchener stitch.  I am looking forward to making a few hats with some variegated yarn from Knit Picks,  These will all go to "Bags of Love" for kids in foster care.  It will be nice to work on larger needles after the tiny sock needles (#2).

Peach Melba jam

I love peaches, and I try to freeze some and use them in various other ways while in season.  This morning, I made raspberry-peach jam.  The little jars are to use as gifts while the pint ones are for Paul to put on his toast in the mornings.  I don't eat it as often, but I do love it on fresh, homemade bread.

I have a stash of small jars of strawberry-rhubarb jam also, and plan to make some potholders to go with the jams.  There are 13 or 14 people on the staff so one case of small jars isn't enough.  Every year the Friends of the Library and board of trustees hold a holiday party for the library staff, and I like to give each staff member a little something.  The rest of the jams will go to friends and neighbors, and it makes me feel good, getting a jump on the holidays.

I have been plugging away at a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser) and am anxious to finish.  Growing up, the Little House books were my favorite, and I have a complete set that I treasure.  This biography won the Pulitzer Prize a few years ago and is very extensive.  It also covers the life of Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, who is supposed to have encouraged her mother's writing.  Or was she the ghostwriter?  I still don't know yet, but I am finding not much to like about Rose so far.  I'm anxious to finish because the new Louise Penny book is waiting in the queue.

Jam time

It isn't quite strawberry season in Vermont, but their partner, rhubarb, is abundant.  I made a small strawberry-rhubarb pie last week, using California berries.  They tend to be a bit tasteless, but I suppose they travel well.   I like the way rhubarb cuts the sweetness just a little bit, so this week I made strawberry-rhubarb jam.  Aren't the jars pretty?  I love to look at them all lined up.  I have no more jam jars, so I'll have to buy another case if I want to make more jam later this summer.   I usually make at least two batches of jam a year to have enough to give as gifts and for Paul to put on his morning toast. 

I made a rhubarb cake yesterday to take a meeting this morning, and I still have a little more for a little pie if there's no cake left over.  If there is, I'll cut it up and put it in the freezer for another time.   

Holiday cooking

I'm going to try to cut back on holiday baking this year.  We don't need all those yummy extra calories, and I have plenty of quilting and reading to keep me occupied instead.   I do plan to make Karen G.'s ginger cookies because it wouldn't be Christmas without them.  And I hope to try making a Dutch "tulband," a bundt-shaped fruit cake.

But yesterday I couldn't resist making some Passion Pear Jam because our jam reserves seem to be running low and I wanted some for gift giving.

I do love the colors of home made jam as the jars are all lined up and cooling.  My former mother-in-law used to make this along with her world famous spiced pear, but I never asked her for the recipe.   Luckily, my Canadian quilting friend Karen H. had one to share.  Passion Pear has an orange, a lemon, some chopped maraschino cherries, and a can of crushed pineapple along with the pears, to give it that lovely color like marmalade.  I have Mom C.'s spiced pear recipe and made some last fall, but when I went into the cupboard to put this batch away, I noticed only one strawberry and one spiced pear in reserve.  Looks like I'd better make a little more jam after the holidays.