Peachy Keen

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I've been meaning to post this for a little while now. These are photos of the peach jam that I recently made - and just so you know, for me, this is quite a feat. You see, being married to a veritable whiz in the kitchen I'm certainly learning a lot, yet I lack a sense of adverture and confidence in the kitchen. I'm a recipe girl, through and through, or I need someone holding my hand, shouting forth instructions. But, BUT, a few weeks ago at the farmer's market I came across a bushel of peaches - they were perfect, I could smell them just standing there, and I suddenly felt inspired. I paid $8, took them home and let them sit on the counter for a few days, contemplating the challenge ahead as I had my heart set on peach jam. I consulted my book on preserving and discovered the process of blanching and removing the skins - it was surprisingly easy. I was so struck by the beauty and richness of the colour of those peaches! And then, I proceeded to make jam - I totally winged it (read: I had no recipe!!). And it was a huge success. I've been afraid, deathly afraid, of making jam before my sister and I tackled strawberry jam earlier in the summer, but it wasn't too bad and the results made it so worthwhile! Slowly Jonathan and I are building our 'slow food' repertoire, from growing a garden (yes it's full of weeds but there are vegetables too), Jonathan makes his own beer, we sometimes make bread and now I've made jam to last the year. It's a wonderful feeling of accomplishment - I encourage you to try it. Take advantage of the weekend ahead and tackle a project you've been a little afraid of. It will feel so good! Let me know how it goes and good luck!

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Thanks Erin for taking these beautiful shots!