Do you want to know what makes me happy?
Eating what's available seasonally makes me happy. Experimenting with new varieties and flavours makes me happy. Picking baskets filled with produce makes me happy. Growing as much of our own fruit and veg as we can makes me happy. Sharing our bounty with friends and family and those in difficult circumstances makes me happy. And making the most of what we have by using it all and not letting it go to waste makes me happy.
This year we had one apricot tree that fruited. We shared the bounty with the birds and carried a basketful home.
That basket sat on the dinning-room table for a couple of days and filled the bellies and pockets of everybody who passed by.
Once the fruit started to go soft I cooked one kilogram of fruit into four jars of jam.
And I baked 800 grams into an apricot upside-down cake.
This bowlful is all that's left. My guess is that it'll be empty by this time tomorrow otherwise I'll cut the remainder into halves and freeze them for winter baking.
I love summer's bounty. It feels like everyday there is enough produce to pick to keep us well fed with a bit over to give away and to preserve. It's autumn's bounty that often gets a bit out of control.
So tell me lovely ones; what's making you happy today?
Wishing you the sweetest rest of your Wednesday.
Love Kate
xoxo
What a delicious post Kate! Your kitchen must have smelt wonderful with those apricots cooking. Having enough produce to preserve and give away makes me happy too. I've been making passionfruit cordial lately as our vine is laden and that is no way we will eat or bake with them all.
ReplyDeleteMaking my happy today is the weaned lambs being more content (I don't like to hear them baa-ing for their mamas), knitting bamboo washcloths for the first time in years and eating fresh spelt sourdough.
Sarah x
I was happy to bottle some tomato/pasta sauce :-) and make some yummy pull-apart bread to go with our yummy (mostly home-grown) vege soup.
ReplyDeleteYum! I can only imagine the heavenly scents coming from your kitchen. It all looks delicious. My happy today is sitting by the fire with my knitting while watching the snow fall.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
My happiness is a reprieve from scorching hot temperatures - 27°C forecast today after a week of 36° and over. Getting to the beach also makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to have been a great year for apricots. A mate brought me a lovely bundle of them over Christmas but when I didn't have time to cook them up, I quickly dried them in the oven. I cannot purchase dried apricots from the shops because they always have preservatives on them but the ones that I dry myself in the oven - delectable. I was planning to use them in a slice but they ended up being eaten as lollies pretty quickly! Like you, I will do anything to avoid wasting good food. cheers!
I know exactly what you mean as I always feel the same. We are having a blackberry and apple crumble today made from the blackberries I picked last autumn and apples from our tree. Lots of happy memories and a delicious pudding to boot. :0)
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ReplyDeleteI made apricot jam today too, I added the zest of an orange just to try something different. I also stewed up another batch for the freezer so I can make jam in the middle of winter, such a treat!
I enjoy this blog of yours so much. I sat down for a moment to get caught up on the last few posts and sitting here reading brought me so much pleasure. And it is so interesting to see what your part of the world is like compared to mine this time of year - you are in the growing season and I am in the slowing-down and reflecting season. What's making me happy today are simple things - three big dogs and one fat cat piled at my feet while I type, an incredible candle burning bright, and knowing I have a four-day weekend ahead.
ReplyDeleteI have planted an apricot tree, in anticipation for next season's harvest! That cake looks divine xx
ReplyDeleteThe balmy breeze, after a very hot day here, is making me happy right now. The night is cooler,crickets are chirping and the two plump geckos who come to feast off the moths that land on the kitchen window are there waiting! My husband and my boy are well fed and settling in to watch the cricket. My golden dog is snuggled up and snoring. All is as it should be at our place tonight. That makes me happy!
ReplyDeleteI love your practice of blogging daily in January! I love peeking into your beautiful summertime when it's chilly and dormant up here in the US. Eating seasonally makes me happy, too. I sure do miss fresh fruit this time of year! What also makes me happy is middle schoolers who find the perfect book to engage them. I teach language arts to 6th graders.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
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