Abundance

Our neighbors have taken a little vacation so we (read: Werner) are looking after the mail and the indoor plants.

But there are some outdoor plants, too, and Friend says, "There are loads of currants still.  Pick as many as you like!"

It's funny - I love fresh anything, love to pick things for myself, and these are really pretty.  But frankly, currants are SOUR.  And Werner seems to have an aversion to sour, so I naturally thought he'd have little to no interest in the currants.  Well. You never know.

"I'm going to Friends.  Shall I pick some currants?"  Well, OK.

 
I used some on the salads, some on the morning cereal, but there's still LOTS.  Question:  What to do? Answer:  Make jam.

Werner stemmed and washed and drained and we cooked them a bit. Yes,but they are very sour, still.

Now to work.  Drain and squeeze because Werner doesn't like the pips  Not at all.  Looks rather grisly here with lots of red and dripping, but no animals were sacrificed for this jam.

Cook it up.  Add more sugar.

Here's the bounty. Three jars are just currant jam with a splash of Cointreau.  The other batch, currant jam with a touch of hot chilli peppers and orange.

We have so many jars of breakfast sweet spreads in the pantry and we eat jam never more than twice a week. We're looking for takers and I have to say this tastes pretty good.  Anybody up for currant jam???