delicious

What's delicious around here at the moment:

:: School holiday mornings! No rushing, no "come ON get your shoes on!", no "PUT THAT AWAY WE HAVE TO GO!"; rather, a bit of lego, a cup of tea, a nice slow start, and if you're lucky a bit of a sleep in. 

:: Warmer weather. The washing dries on the line in one day not three! 

:: (Mostly) chilled out babes. Particularly the smallest one. And who is *touches wood* sleeping very well. (I just totally jinxed it, didn't I.)

:: Family coming to stay for the long weekend. 

:: A very favorite old friend getting married on the weekend, to the best person imaginable. Hoorays all round. 

:: My book club, Reading Between The Wines, who met here last night. (Hence no post – it was a bit late and I was a bit cactus!) It always leaves me super happy. I love my book club. Last night we did The Elegance of the Hedgehog, so great!

:: Strawberry jam!!!

We went for a bit of an exploratory drive recently, around an area of Sydney I didn't know, and at a funny little fruit barn on the side of the road they were selling five punnets of strawberries for $1. Five! HAD to make jam.

My recipe isn't a recipe, it's more of an idea. I cannot face the gallons of sugar in most jam recipes! I basically weigh my strawberries and add half the weight in sugar. 

You stir through the sugar and leave for an hour or so (softens the fruit)…

Then you add a squeeze on lemon juice and cook on low, stirring often, until the fruit dissolves. Spoon into jars.

Dead easy. 

The hardest bit of making jam is sterilizing the jars!

I do this by boiling the jars (and lids) in a big pot of water for 10 minutes and then drying them out in the oven for about 10-15 minutes on a low heat (110°C). Handle with tongs by the way!! Super hot!

Strawberry jam spread on a slice of toast at afternoon tea time? Oh yum.

Hope you're having a delicious week.

xxx