Jam making again.

Here I am late at night still waiting for my Pie Melon,Ginger and Lemon Jam to set. Been there...done this before. Why did I think it was going to be different tonight? I loved the last batch that I made so much that I decided to make a second batch. I still have a couple of Pie Melons left and don't see us growing them again, given that they were an unexpected surprise this year!!!

I also had a basket of limes that a friend had given to me. We only had two limes on our own tree this year and given the attacks by my "furry friends" we are lucky to have those two :-( So...this morning I rolled up my sleeves and got started making this years batch of Brandy Lime Marmalade. I am so pleased with the results. A perfect set and that lovely tangy taste. I have twenty jars sitting on the bench waiting to be labeled. Sixteen medium sized jars and four smaller ones. Its been a good jam making year and I am quickly running out of jars. I even had to go over to the shed tonight in the dark and rummage around to scrape up enough jars for the melon jam. I hope I have enough!

I woke up this morning with a mental list of all the things that I was going to do today...the best laid plans of mice and men huh! I did finally get around to digging up the last of the ginger. The "wobblys" had eaten all the tops but I had a pretty good idea where they were and just needed to dig around a little. The necessity of the job moved to No 1 on the priority list as I needed the ginger for the jam! Sometimes all you need is an incentive ;-) While I was there with the spade in my hand I decided to dig up the turmeric and horseradish which had suffered a similar fate. I was pleased with the amount that I was able to harvest of the turmeric. I think, if I have time, I will slice most of it up and pop it in the dehydrator tomorrow to dry it and grind it up to use later in the year. Sadly I was only able to find a small root of horseradish so I potted it up and will start again from scratch. This time it will join my collection of potted herbs inside the fenced area of the veggie garden.

Lunch today was a delight. The "plan"allowed me 80g of smoked salmon with salad.

Not a very clear picture but you get the idea. Being such a loving, caring wife I am prepared to share my diet with the Gorgeous Boy. Isn't he the lucky one ;-) Actually he is...he got to eat the bread. My plate was the one with the crackers on !!!! No. Its not sour cream that you can see. I wish!!! Just some of the cheese that I made from pressing some of the the low fat greek yogurt that I make. I was "allowed" 3 wholegrain crackers spread with 1 Tb low fat cream cheese. I improvised!!! As an after thought, after I had taken the photo I decided to chop up a little of my preserved lemon that I made a couple of months ago. I sprinkled it on the cheese. Oh yum. It was delicious. I shall definitely do that again.

I just went and checked the jam...its finally ready !! I will go and put it in the jars and head off to bed. Tomorrow I will label everything and shuffle things around in the pantry to make room for today's cook off.

I am limiting the photos that I attach to each post as I am having trouble uploading more than one. Its only a recent problem but my computer is still doing strange things. It seems to have a mind of its own at the moment. I will have to ask Mama or dr.K if there is another way of doing it.

BTW what a stunning sunset we had tonight :-) We are indeed blessed to be here.