Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I've Been Busy

It's true. This summer has proved to be busier than I thought it would be. That's ok. Much of it is good busy. Here's a summary:

Last Friday was the Plymouth Art in the Park. It was... an art/craft fair. A few good booths, most of it just wasn't my thing. But they had delicious kettle corn and strawberry lemonade that only I liked! The Plymouth Pottery Guild had a booth. Lots of great stuff there! I almost bought a mug, but bought yarn instead. I'm kind of sad now. Hopefully, I'll find a great mug in A2's art fair. I did get they yarn though. It's beautiful. From the Au Gres Sheep Factory in Michigan. She handspun and handdyed it. I have no idea what I'll make... It's a 2-ply light worsted. Any suggestions?



Also on Friday, Eric and I went to his great-aunt and -uncle's house to help them move stuff for their huge garage sale. There were lots of people buying stuff and there was LOTS of stuff. Seriously lots. Their whole basement was a labyrinth and they had already moved a lot of it upstairs. I got a few goodies though! I'm really excited about them. As of late, I have had a minor wooden-produce-crate-obsession. Nothi
ng to worry about... They're beautiful. And such a thing of the past, for the most part. Now, it seems everything is in cardboard boxes. I got a Welch's crate from them. I also got some really cute mini planters with flowers on them. And an Argoflex medium format camera! It's beautiful. And in such good condition.




Saturday, we went to the Ann Arbor farmer's market. Yay! I was so excited about everything. I got some cherries to make pie with. I might just make jam instead. Jam is much less scary... Also, some more blueberries and eggs and garlic and maple candy and green/yellow beans! And, I got a delicious mocha from Sweetwaters Cafe


Sunday, I made my first freezer jam! My mommy is a serious fan of freezer jam. Not only is it quicker, it also keeps the fresh fruit taste we so love! It was a total success. I was afraid I had ruined it. You see, after I stirred the hot sugar/pectin mixture in with the fruit, I realized I didn't have any jars to put it into! I had forgotten to get them earlier. Oh no! I ran (drove) to Meijer with my hands still stained and sticky and still in my pajama shirt and bought mason jars. It's ok, though. My jam, if I do say so myself, is so good I want to make a million more batches!



I promise I won't do this disappear-then-huge-post thing again.

Brittany

2 comments:

Jen said...

I find jam much scarier than pies! How do you make freezer jam? Is it less complex than all the sterilizing, etc., that goes on with canning?

I *believe* that the Potter's Guild will be set up in front of Hill Auditorium again at Art Fair - that should net some great mug choices.

Brittany | the Home Ground said...

Oh my goodness! Freezer jam is so easy. I'll just tell you what you do: Unstem the berries, mash them with a potato masher, measure them, put sugar (lots) and pectin into a saucepan with water, boil it for 1 minute, combine with berries, put into jars.

Condensed version! The only reason it took forever is because you have to cut the stems off the berries.
I got the recipe from the packet in the pectin box. Really easy!

Do you have a good cherry pie recipe?