Here we are - mid July 2017!!!!
I have been intentionally trying to slow down these summer days.
How is that working for you ... you may ask!
It's been a busy two weeks, that's for certain and it seems to have
gone a tad too quickly for that intentional slow down - sigh.
However, we packed it full and made some wonderful memories.
Our dear friends, Debi and Larry, came for their annual visit from Lexington, KY.
This marks the 33rd yearly visit.
A fun gift exchange is always part of the visit ...
Kentucky hats, bourbon, Ale8, etc.
along with these thoughtful gifts of essential oil, oil infusible necklace,
a beautiful hand made by Debi crocheted necklace - I love it!
This year I got busy and had fun making this "quilted by machine" bag (don't zoom in too close because my quilting is still very much at the beginner stage).
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| Egg Gathering Apron |
Since Debi has some backyard chickens, I had to come up with a fun egg gathering apron for her!
This is made from one of the farmer's old jeans leg
(stains and all).
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| She was such a good sport and modelled the apron for us! |
A selfie of our day trip to Tobermory, Ontario where we went on a glass bottom boat tour to the Flower Pot Islands.
Our friends Dave and Jan helped make this an excellent day.
Georgian Bay's Flower Pot Islands
In the meantime, the farmer had covered my red currant bushes with mesh to protect the berries from the hungry birds.
If I wasn't going to use them I really should unveil the bushes right!?
So today, I bravely headed out, slathered with insect repellent (the mosquitos are horrid this year),
and began picking those currants.
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| A bumper crop this year! |
I had a strong feeling that the birds were watching me closely - eek!
I got a nice batch picked and then we unveiled the bushes to let nature take it's course.
I had Red Currant Jelly on my mind and this is the recipe I adapted:
12 Cups currants - including stems
(apparently it's best to cook them unstemmed to get all the natural pectin)
2 sprigs rosemary
1 Cup water
Sugar (1 1/2 Cups for each cup of liquid)
1 package (85 mL) liquid pectin
In a large pot, bring water, currants and rosemary sprigs to a boil
stirring and pressing the currants
with a wooden spoon till soft and juicy. This took about 20 minutes.
Strain this through a fine sieve gently pressing the pulp to drain all the liquid
into a large measuring cup.
Return the measured liquid to the pot and add sugar.
I had 4 cups liquid so added 6 cups of sugar.
Boil for 10-15 minutes.
Add liquid pectin and boil for another 30 seconds.
Ladle jelly into sterilized jars and seal.
Taste Notes - I'm not sure the pectin was necessary as red currants have lots of natural pectin. The jelly turned out a bit too jelled.
Next time I would put in another sprig or two of rosemary since the taste wasn't noticeable enough to my liking.
During the week, I also had a little helper love bug.
These are the days that I especially wish would slow down!!!
Till next time - how goes your summer so far?
