Cooking that Lasts

I've been rediscovering jam making in recent weeks... something I used to do when the kids were younger (and I wasn't running a business). I'm just making small batches on weekends, even half-quantities of recipes, enough to make 3 or 4 jars of Tomato Chutney, Apple Cider Butter, Marmalade, or Mandarin & Apricot Jam (illustrated below) :



I think I've put my finger on why it's so satisfying (for me at least) - I put a lot of effort into cooking healthy meals, mostly from scratch, most days in the week. It's a lot of preparation, planning, shopping, and then effort in cooking and serving. In 15 minutes, 30 if I'm lucky, it's all gone! Which is the way it should be, of course.


But it's really really nice to put a bit of time into planning, preparing, and cooking, and produce something that will last for more than 15 minutes! Weeks, even! And, damn, it's delicious!!


Work on The Book is nearly there, but the deadline is being pushed back while we wait for the author to make the requested changes, which I'll then need to re-check. I'll happily never look at a Sudoku ever again (although I am pretty sh*t hot at solving them now, I must say, after all this enforced solving!)

Dotter is still pretty unwell, was back at hospital today for more tests. She's missing a lot of school, and it's very hard to see her struggling so much.... Her hands even hurt too much to knit. So we're enjoying the small joys in life, like warm jam on fresh bread and hugs.

ETA : She's had a positive TB test (a student at her school passed it around), and her autoimmune symptoms seem to be looking more like Lupus. Crap.