• Words

    Why Today Was Good

    It rained this afternoon and I went for a walk. I saw five ospreys hunting. Two reached down and pulled silver fish from beneath the green scarf of the lake. There were…

  • Preserves

    What’s That in Your Pectin?

    A mystic is someone who wants to understand the universe, but is too lazy to study physics. ~ Anonymous I recently stumbled across that quote and thought, well, that’s true for me.…

  • Preserves

    Oh, Honey — Blackberry-Rhubarb Juice

    Now that I’ve had to give up refined sugar, honey seems like nothing less than a miracle. I’ve been thinking of all those beautiful bees, working so hard to make it. They…

  • Words

    When Things Change

    I’ve been surprised by many things in the past few weeks. For one thing, I am surprised by the number of people diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who think it’s good…

  • Garden, Words

    Apricity

    Today on Facebook, a good friend who is caught in deep winter asked her friends for a story “about how outside their door the sun is warm, the leaves are green, and…

  • Preserves

    The Bumpy Road to Being in Business

    In the three years since I started writing about jam and preserves, this is the longest I’ve gone without posting anything here — three months. I’m mostly taking a winter’s rest from…

  • Strawberry Feijoa Jam
    Preserves

    Strawberry Feijoa Jam

    If you met a feijoa on the street, how would you say hello? You could greet it in Spanish (fay-ho-ah), Brazilian (Fay-zhwa), or as they do down under in Australia and New…

  • Travel

    Postcards From Holland

    I’m going to Holland in January. I didn’t pick that month. Stewart is teaching a workshop then and I will tag along. (Check it out if you want to get creative in…

  • Preserves

    Wild Whiskey Blues

    There are some foodie words I can’t say with a straight face. “Foodie” is one of them. Terroir is another. Honestly, I can’t even pronounce it well. (Follow this link and mouse…

  • blackberry strawberry jam recipe
    Preserves

    Blackberry Strawberry Jam

    I’ve been thinking about wild blackberry jam. There’s nothing at all wrong with a basic approach: combining blackberries with sugar and lemon juice and cooking the mixture until it sets. You don’t…