This is a picture of Kim’s kitchen counter, with bowls of just-made strawberry jam set out next to her stove. We were testing her jam recipe and trying to figure out the best flavoring. She’d put hibiscus in the original recipe, but had switched out the dried flowers to use in a different recipe. So we experimented: into one bowl went a few sprigs of fresh oregano from her garden; into another, fresh lavender from the backyard; into a third, a capful of balsamic vinegar; and into a fourth, the zest from a lime. Kim used the freshly cut sprigs as a brush, swirling the jam around to infuse the flavor, then taking out the stems before the flavor got too intense and muted the fresh fruit. The kitchen filled with perfume from the fruit, the herbs, the citrus. Don’t sit there anticipating a winner: they were all wonderful. The balsamic made for a rich, meaty jam; the lime brightened the fruit by degrees. The lavender, instead of imparting a medicinal note, accelerated the fruit and cut the sugar. And the oregano-scented jam was really kind of amazing–not at first, but as it mellowed. Duck, anyone? Not bad for using whatever happened to be in a cabinet, a fruit bowl, the garden.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
How fun to see that day documented! Thanks for sharing.
and you forgot to mention that the lavendar was your idea!!