The Last of...

This weekend we used up the very last of the fruits and vegetables we'd grown in our garden this summer and stored in the freezer. We made a green-red pepper jelly that's very hot and, at times, also sweet. It's much too spicy for me, but Kathy seems to be enjoying it on crackers or toast as long as there's lots of cream cheese with it to cut some of the heat. And the red and green pepper pieces in the jelly make it look very Christmasy.

Peach and Strawberry

Early Saturday morning was a nice break in a week that has been a fast blur of work and family obligations. For two and a half hours, my entire focus was taken up with stirring fruit, pectin and sugar (lots and lots of sugar) and then heating and jarring it for jelly. The end result—35 jars of peach-strawberry and strawberry jelly. Do I like jelly? Not very much, but I enjoyed learning the new skill and I love having something concrete to show for my work.