Hoopskirts

Peach jam on homemade bread! As summer wound into autumn, I found some end-of-season stone fruit at my local grocery store - peaches and apricots available for a song!   A bit bruised and battered, they were for sale on the produce clearance rack, and, as such, were perfect for making jam.  I made some of each type, but the photos shown are of the peach jam (bet you couldn't tell!). The Recipe- the same for each Fruit This recipe comes from The Young Cook's Assistant and Housekeeper's Guide by  P. Masters (1841, London, The recipe is similar or identical to many others I surveyed.   Working Through the Recipe I have made jam many times, so the concept was easy to me, but let's walk through it. Weighing Ingredients Weighing may seem intimidating, but is by far the easiest way to make this jam.  I purchased an inexpensive digital scale from Harbor Freight, that allow you to weigh in ounces, grams, and pounds. Fruit W...

Continuing with my harvest of rhubarb, I tackled a new type of preserve Rhubarb Orange Marmalade.  Yes, you heard me right. The Challenge Historical Food Fortnighly Challege 12. In A Jam...or Jelly, or Pickle  (June 3 - June 16)  In a world before refrigeration, preserving food was an important task. For this challenge, make your favorite preserved food - bonus points if it’s seasonal! I have discovered how much I enjoy period jams and jellies made without pectin gelling agents.  They are so easy to make and so delicious!  Strawberries would be the logical seasonal fruit in early June in northern Illinois, but I still have a surplus of the last strawberry jam I made.  Since my rhubarb was still hardy, I thought I should take advantage of its abundance.  And, I have loved rhubarb since my childhood. The Recipe Rhubarb is not the normal stuff of jams and jellies, modern or period.  As I researched, I did start finding recipes for a c...