It's the season for tomato and lemon jam around here, and the Ds, figuring that they were already dressed for the part after the soapmaking adventure, got busy making a supply of tomato and lemon jam, which has gone down very well in the past and finally we have time to make it again. It's sweet but not like dessert, more interesting than a jammy taste.
Then the movie-going Ds decided that they should also be food critics, and they requested that their committee should sit in judgment of the finished product. As you see.
Simple recipe: one thin sliced lemon, 5.5 cups sugar, three pounds of tomatoes, preferably Roma plum for my taste, peeled, cored, deseeded, quartered, simmered for 10 minutes before you add the other stuff, one pouch of pectin or one package depending on how you get it. Usual remembering to put it in a much larger pan than you can believe, to allow for the unstirdownable boil it has to come to. This is a safety issue.
I love making pickles (as in recent piccalilli) and jams and that kind of thing which involve stirring and fooling with boiling liquids and so on. So this was fun.
It was also a response to yet another bereavement package that arrived in the mail,very well meaning, reminder that hospice continues to be available for the family, but in my case timing not good. Just as I start to get up again, something arrives and knocks me flat once more. So when the going gets tough, the tough make jam!
I really think the kitchen has been a wonderful saver for me, what with making bread and soup and jam and pickles, all great stuff good to enjoy, but very therapeutic to make, too. Maybe that should be in the bereavement advice? feel sad? make pickles. feel bad? make jam. feel all angry and upset? punch out some bread...
I love the dolli's and the idea of tomato jam completely rocked my world. Hmmm... I'd love to try it but I know I'd never make it. What a shame!
ReplyDeleteNice to hang out with you again.
Very interesting sounding recipe. How long do you let it all cook for?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is time to send the nice well-meaning hospice people a little note and let them know that you are coping quite well without them and that their reminders are distressing. Maybe they could incorporate into their hospice package asking families if they would like continued contact after their family member has gone. There must be other families out there that don't want a monthly reminder of their loss.
Enjoy you pickles and jam.
Yum - I come back from our holiday to see the Dollivers happily guarding the jars of goodness. I used to make all sorts of pickles but when the kids moved out I realized I was wasting my time - we just don't eat enough ourselves. I miss it!
ReplyDeleteTwo lovely posts - Feynman, such a person! Thanks for the title and authors of a new bio.
ReplyDeleteMinimiss said what I was about to say, boud. Call the hospice people and ask them to stop beating you over the head with this. Ours was good, and backed off when we said we're doing fine.
ReplyDeleteThe jam looks elegant, like jewels, and yes I'm dealing with Roma this year too (so many tomatoes, endlessly growing), but as serious paste. It does tie you to the house even when there's nothing to do to it, "just in case"; much like making bread or maple syrup. Good for those slow rainy/snowy days...
I agree with Minimiss - the hospice folk need to know enough is enough. And if you are distressed with mail reminders, there must be many more who feel as you do, too, and who wouldn't have the strength to let them know. There should be, as Minimiss says, a box you check off on a form, contact/no contact. I've never heard of lemon tomato preserve - sounds intriguing and looks lovely. I can almost smell it....J in Cowtown
ReplyDeleteI think there should be such a thing as a "bereavement cookbook" with sections for the stuff you should take to the house, and the stuff that you take to the memorial service, and then a whole section of recipes for stuff you can make to distract/comfort/entertain yourself.
ReplyDeleteAnd there could be an advice section for what to say and when to say it, and how long the food offerings should continue... People used to know this stuff, but not anymore! ;-)