We took Japanese granny on another long, sunny walk this week, beside a river, to collect berries. Blackberries and sloes. It was breathtaking. Clear, blue skies, warm sun, dragonflies, swans, cattle, sheep, birds and beautiful autumn hedgerows. We did well with our little haul, and were scratched and stung and stained to prove it.
The resulting jam was not a success however. It is bitter. I did not see it being made, but it was done very quickly, with almost no added water (not that jam needs much) and I worried that might have been part of the problem. Sloes may need some sort of extra help to coax the bitterness out. With sloe gin, one just adds sugar and gin and waits for a few months. Granny has gone off to Liverpool now and there is not enough time to get her back out into the fields to try again before she heads off again. On top of that, we have two jars of bitter jam. Yikes.
It feels as though we have wasted some of this season’s bounty. The search continues for methods to improve the product however.
In less than a week I head off to Australia. It is a surreal feeling. I know all will be well here with the WC looking after Em, but I worry anyway. The thought of being back in Australia is lovely however. This time we celebrate Mum’s 80th with a couple of planned gatherings. Recipes are being tested daily for the party, according to reports. Getting excited.
Gulls and roses 