Comments on: Independence jam

By: gen

gen — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:32:07 +0000

Hi Maria,
Thanks so much for your lovely comment. Wow, Sekers’ book sounds great, thank you for the tip. I’ll have to look into it, then perhaps blog about some of the recipes (though I always seem to adapt them a little). Am slowly building my canning library, so interesting to read about how many ways there are to go about making jams and pickles etc. I’m learning a lot.
And yes, I’ve realized that using less sugar means the jams last less long but I’m willing to pay the price, like you, of a shorter shelf life if I can get that great fruit flavour at its peak!

By: Maria Redpath

Maria Redpath — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:28:51 +0000

Hi Genevieve,
I enjoyed reading about you and your blog in the Gazette. I inherited from my mother a love of homemade jam and preserves. I have had mixed success making my own, but sometimes the disasters turned out to be successes! I grew up in Ireland and I have very strong memories of picking blackberries from the hedgerows along the roads and helping my mother make jam with our haul. Of course my sisters and I ate more berries then we brought home. Mum would cook the berries until they started to fall apart and we would spoon the sauce over vanilla ice-cream and yoghurt. I still do this today! Spicy crab-apple jelly, gooseberry jam, rhubarb & ginger jam, sliced warm beetroot sprinkled with salt.I could go on, and on and on… My parents grew a lot of our fruit and veg and my mother preserved a lot.
One of my favourite cookbooks is Simone Sekers’ ‘Quick and Easy Preserves’. Her ‘Fierce Garlic Paste’, ‘Courgette Chutney’,'Rhubarb, Orange & Ginger Jam,’ Potted Herb Cheeze’ and ‘Spiced Oil’ are fantastic! I generally reduce the sugar content in a lot of my preserves as I find it can overwhelm the flavours. However, this does shorten their shelf life!!
Happy Preserving!
Maria

By: Louise Sanchez

Louise Sanchez — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:42:19 +0000

Hi Genevieve,
Nice to see and read about you in the paper and on your site. I also love preserving and have done many types over the years. I plan on preserving with my wonderful herbs and produce from Anny’s organic garden this year. Good thing your jam did not set your gorgeous red hair on fire – it would have ruined it’s lovely color!!
Hope to see you again soon.
Louise Sanchez (mother of the talented Sanchez Brothers)