Colette Patterns just released their line of Autumn Patterns, just in time for the “Fall Palette Challenge”
I’ve said many times, I have not met a Colette Patern I didn’t like. They are well planned, user friendly, and VERY Flattering. BUY THEM, BUY THEM ALL!!!!
Friday, Pete brought home a gallon of little orange jelly palm fruits with the expressed purpose of making jam. “You’ve made jam before, right?” Says the Husband. “Ummm, yesish…” quoteth the Miranda.
The last time I made jam was when I was 8ish, maybe 9ish …and it was strawberry which is easy, no pits (unlike the accursed jelly palm fruits) AND my job was easy. I had to mush the strawberries into a jam like pulp. I honestly suspect my husband A) had no idea how labourious a project this would be…B) is just INSANE…C) is secretly a sado/masocist…D) all of the above.
Pete was a trooper, and pitted all of the fruits. Then we set about cooking them into a jam like puree. I learned two very important things. Jelly palm fruits are tough little buggers and don’t take kindly to being “cooked down”. Second point, an immersion blender is God’s gift to jam makers. There wasn’t a recipe (that I could find) online for Jelly Palm Jam. There were several for Jelly (Pete wanted JAM) and several for Wine (Miranda lobbied for Hooch). So we used stunning combination of a recipe for “Plum Jam” and trial and error.
5 hours over a hot stove and one tiny 20 minute lecture on botulism and WHY the JAR RIMS MUST BE CLEAN lest we kill our friends with food borne illness, and we are left with 24 tiny jars of amber colored jam like substance that may or may not constitute an acquired taste. And I have found myself bitten by the canning bug, which is why I signed up for the Urban Harvest Food Preservation and Safety Course.
*Yay…It’s Punny!
