Spreading last bits of strawberry jam and remembering June.
From the archives/ June, last day.
Few thunder storms. One that woke me up at 2 a.m. and made me sleep on a chair covered with sheets over my head.
Lots of rain but also lots of strawberries, fresh and juicy, locally grown.
To many mosquitoes, way to many.
Allergies, inside and out.
One dead lemon tree.
New favorite egg salad, two rotten avocados and few cans of
sardines. Boiled purple roots of young beetroots. Sour cherries on a
tree.
It happened just once. The day was hot and night even hotter. I went out to attract all the insects of this city. I drank spirits and felt strong acidity of the wine. Around midnight I rushed towards the apartment. On my way home I saw middle-aged man unsuccessfully riding unicycle. Then I made filo pastry pie with fresh strawberries, sour cream, sugar and bread crumbs.
Strawberries.
Every day strawberries, mostly eaten macerated in lemon juice and vanilla sugar. One afternoon fragile luxury bites sat on a plate.
Wild strawberries.
I neglected some social events and made batch of best strawberry jam. New classic.
Strawberry jam, the recipe adopted from test kitchen.
1400g strawberries, cut in a half inch (1-1.5cm) pieces
600g sugar
one big apple, Granny Smith, peeled and grated
2 tbsp lemon juice
Place strawberries in a big heavy bottom pan or Dutch oven. Using potato masher start crushing strawberries leaving some chunks. Add sugar, grated apple and lemon juice to the pan. Turn the heat on to a medium high and bring to a boil. Let sugar dissolve and cook for about 30-35 minutes. Stir all the time and make sure to skim the foam off once it starts to form.
It's time for canning. Ladle jam in sterilized jars and put on the lid. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge.
