Creativity - In the Kitchen

It has been a creative weekend of sorts - no painting - missing that, but spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon making jam. Fresh fruit is arriving daily from British Columbia. The roadside stands are overflowing with peaches, cherries, plums and the local farmer's markets are starting to fill up with fresh vegetables. Took advantage of the fruit and made Red Plum Jam, Peach Ginger Jam and Blueberry Lime Jam. I love the process of preserving, I have my checklist of must do's, but can get creative adding different spices (in small amounts). It reminds me in some ways of printmaking - there are the must do's but the creativity too. When I remove the jars from the hot water bath and cool them on the counter I get a certain amount of satisfaction from the time spent turning the fruit into jam that we can enjoy through the winter months and when the last jar is opened I can't wait for next years crop. These jewel-toned jams will inspire when I head back to my studio.

A weekend well spent!

....highly recommend Amy Bronee's book 'The Canning Kitchen'. Such a great book! Have enjoyed all the recipes tried to date. Especially like that these are for small batches not large quantities - in other words 'just right'!

.....thanks for reading and hope you will give it a try....now off to do some painting!