How to Eat Jam.

Prompted by a post over at Stomper's , I was moved to memory banks.

Jam.
In this instance "Jam" means the preserve, made with fruit & sugar, mainly, to preserve the bounty of fruit, over the Autumn months, for use in the lean, lacklustre winter months. The making, the bottling, the storing.

Not the type of meaning where one might be 'in a jam' or sticky situation. Nor the meaning of jam, where one is unable to move. Nor the flooding musical experience of a Jam!


"Putting up the preserves", as our Grandmothers would have it.

My Maternal Grandmother was very good at the preserving. The useful use of the season's superfluity. She could take all the fruit,~ about to rot, ~& turn it into magic, sweet jam, for use in the winter, when fresh plums or peaches, apricots, or any other fruit, were unavailable. Even Rhubarb. Remember this.

Apples were a wonderul, bounteous crop, which arrived in buckets. While, perhaps, not so appealing as a jam, it could be made, painstakingly, into the most wonderful, light, delicious, clear jelly.

This brings memories of disused, -but perfectly clean! - stockings. They were filled with the pulp of the cooked apples, & hung to drip, suspended by a wooden spoon, above the perserving pan. The resulting, wonderful clear jelly, was proudly put into jars, labelled, to be admired, for the clarity, & the wonderul flavour!

Heaven help the thoughtless child, that might give the full bag a squeeze, on the way to the toilet!!!

For, in our humble home, the concrete laundry tubs, served as vats for the suspension of the jam/jelly drip systems.
On seeing the bulging stocking, dripping its liquid into a bowl, it was almost impossible, to restrain oneself from giving "the squeeze!!" But.... woe betide if you did, because someone always seemed to keep a tally, on who was out to the laundry-based toilet, when the 'cloud' in the jam/jelly appeared.

As children, we went on berry picking missions. I do not use the word 'missions' lightly. They really were missions. If we failed to return home with non-jamable quantities we never quite lived it down.

Any & all, berries we encountered were to be brought home, unmolested, uneaten, & in good order, for the sizing up, for the making of jams.



The Blackberry, was one of the favourites. Juicy, & so succulent, they would warn a watchdog, by the colour of the stain about the lips, had they been consumed...illegally! This is a Boysenberry. They were prized, for their flavour, sweetness, & longlasting joy, when made into jams, jellies, & puddings.

Tthere were no large freezers available domestically, back in our day. It was all, eat it now, or preserve. So our Grandmother preserved.

The wonderful Passionfruit of our childhood summers, would be made into a syrup preserve, for use when winter was upon us.

The bountiful fruit of summer, was transformed into sweetness & joy for our winter puddings, with sauces, or just bottled fruit, with the joyous taste of summer!

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I was never a fan of Rhubarb, (the veg/fruit/ plant.) but a lot of my friends were. One girlfriend used to come to collect a car-bootful of our rhubarb, in the season. So please, regard this vigourous plant behind our Gom & son, in the garden of the day!! I swear, you could not kill that rhubarb! Well, not with thought, anyway!!

This is Meggie, with 2 of our children, & the gift of the vines.

You know what they say,... 'fruit of the vine'..

Good grief, I have forgotten the rest.. Hmmmmn..

And now to a confession of sorts, Stomper!

I have a love of Figs. They are not often available in shops, as fresh fruit.

Some very dear, & caring friends, are aware of this fig love of mine.

They bought me a pot of jam... Fig Jam, in fact.

I was so thrilled, I decided Gom was not to partake of this treat. So. I hid the pot of Fig Jam. Even though, Gom assured me he would not like it.

I know what he is like. He will even eat CHEESE! whe he wants to!! In great quantities, & also with gusto!!

So, I stashed the Fig Jam away, & sneaked it out at intermittent intervals, to slurp from a teaspoon. In secret. In the computer "Dont you dare come in here" room! OMG!! The Fig Jam was just so wonderful!! I loved every morsel. I loved every pip!! It was just luscious!!

So, Stomper, my story of jam snacking is not so terrible... is it??

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Here is a further photo of our little new family member.

He, of the rosey cheeks. Or should that now be of the cheeky cheeks!

You gorgeous boy!!

Did any one try the French Onion Soup? We all loved the end result!!

Tomorrow, I have been promised lunch out. I will be 66. Is that a good year, or, who cares!! LOL!!