These stains we had on St. Lawrence's Day
For posterity, I update on jam. We got to the Farmers Market too late to buy raspberries today so, instead, we picked some blackberries on the way home. Popular opinion seems to be that blackberry jam is too seedy so, after cooking them for 15 minutes, we strained the berries. This left us with a fair bit of juice and a lot of sadly discarded pulp and seed. We need to get a proper sieve, possibly. But the pot of juice seemed to put us into the business of making jelly more than jam which in turn made deciding whether the stuff to which we added sugar and lemon and put back on the stove was "done" even more of a mystery than usual. We decided it seemed right and started ladling the results into jars but then I noticed that the consistency seemed uneven so we dumped the contents of the jars back into the pot to cook a little longer. This led to a lot of shrinkage, what with some jelly/jam/whatever being left behind at each stage. We ended up with less than three half-pint jars of jam at the end of a somewhat hot and sticky afternoon. On the bright side, what blackberry spread there is is seed-free. We've not yet decided if we're making more blackberry jam next time out or just getting to the market earlier. Happily, there were cocktails.
End of the process results
I've felt behind somehow for some hours now and it occurs to me that possibly the lengthy wait for a bus at Lake Forest Park last night could be to blame. We had met alexfandra for dinner at Thai One On and then traveled, separately, to Third Place Books for a reading by the author of a series of mysteries told by a dog. After the reading, buying more books than I should have during this strangely fiscally strained pay period, and chatting a bit more with Ms. Fandra we went out to catch the 7:56 bus. Which never showed. Instead we hung about for at least forty minutes, wondering if any of the bus schedule could be relied up. Happily, the 522 did eventually appear and it is a relatively zippy bus to downtown. Still, bed was late leading to getting up late leading to missing the raspberries at the market, etc. etc. etc.
Currently reading: Fist Full of Collars. It's about as good as one might expect. Also purchased last night: Before She Met Me by Julian Barnes and A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson. Ms. Fandra has guaranteed that I'll like the Drayson book or she'll give me the $6.30 that I spent on this used copy. She's mighty nervous.
End of the process results
I've felt behind somehow for some hours now and it occurs to me that possibly the lengthy wait for a bus at Lake Forest Park last night could be to blame. We had met alexfandra for dinner at Thai One On and then traveled, separately, to Third Place Books for a reading by the author of a series of mysteries told by a dog. After the reading, buying more books than I should have during this strangely fiscally strained pay period, and chatting a bit more with Ms. Fandra we went out to catch the 7:56 bus. Which never showed. Instead we hung about for at least forty minutes, wondering if any of the bus schedule could be relied up. Happily, the 522 did eventually appear and it is a relatively zippy bus to downtown. Still, bed was late leading to getting up late leading to missing the raspberries at the market, etc. etc. etc.
Currently reading: Fist Full of Collars. It's about as good as one might expect. Also purchased last night: Before She Met Me by Julian Barnes and A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson. Ms. Fandra has guaranteed that I'll like the Drayson book or she'll give me the $6.30 that I spent on this used copy. She's mighty nervous.