Christy brought me 16 ounces of strawberries yesterday. I know there were 16 ounces because they came in a cottage cheese container that was chockful. These beautiful berries evaded greedy birds and marched straight from her garden to my house. Tiny little jewels with sparkling flavors of tart and sweet. And I ate every one myself, one at a time, dipped only in a bit of sugar. Selfish? Yes. Thank you Christy!
I will share the apricot jam I made this morning. Talk about small-batch cooking. I had about 14 apricots from California. Probably not the coveted Blenheims, but once boiled furiously with lemon and sugar they made an exquisite jam. The Blenheim apricot is a mid-season variety, considered to be one of the best in America. The bigger, prettier, earlier ones we get now from our friends in California make better cooked dishes than eaten out of hand. Too often these early specimens are mushy and tasteless, or lip-scrunching sour. I'm going to have to score more apricots, early or late for jam making. My favorite jam maker is a French woman, Christine Ferber. Her book, Mes Confitures, is nothing short of inspirational. For apricot options alone see: Bergeron (the favorite French variety) Apricot, Bergeron Apricot with Almond, Bergeron Apricot with Vanilla, Apricot with Mountain Honey, Apricot with Mango, Apricot and Raspberry with Citrus Zest, Apricot and Nectarine with Ginger, Two Kinds of Apricots with Vanilla and Gewurztraminer, Spicy Apricot and Apple Jelly.
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