the red kitchen

jam face

oh, such a long time between posts! shall have to rectify that. i have been writing posts in my head but just have not been able to get near the pooter.

we've been madly jam-making here, it being summer and all. mum has been a most efficient helper, so we've made jars and jars of the sticky good stuff. we've made:

- strawberry jam - see previous post

- apricot jam: alas, sullied by the addition of pectin - never again, made it too jellied and with a weird taste. i tried to avoid last years' too-runny apricot jam and cheated by adding some pectin which certainly made it set but had unwanted side effects (funny taste). never again! i only like fruit, sugar and lemon juice in my jams. i know i could have used christine ferber's green apple jelly for the same effect but i didn't have time to make it. oh well, it still tastes ok. and bruno is coming back from the valais today with some beautiful french apricots for more apricot jam.

- redcurrant jam: very tart, made from berries grown in bruno's parents' garden. a very bright, fresh red colour. max loves it.

- black cherry and raspberry jam: inspired by christine ferber! i love her book 'mes confiture' but to be frank i don't really have time to make the jam exactly like she specifies, over a couple of days. so i've just used her ideas for jam combinations and made them the good old way. perhaps the jam is not quite as lovely as hers undoubtedly is, but it's still pretty good! the combination of cherry and raspberry is quite extraordinarily delicious. i love how the gorgeous perfume of the raspberry mixes so well with the darkness of the cherry. possibly my fave jam to date.

- raspberry jam, more or less seedless: i do so love raspberry jam. but i'm not so enamoured with the pips that go with it. so last night mum and i attempted a seedless jam by mouli-ing the pulp. we got a few trillion seeds out of the mixture but there were still a few thousand floating around. still, it set wonderfully and with a glorious fresh crimson colour. fantastic for breakfast this morning.

- jams to come: more apricot. definitely some blackberry when they come into season. then some plum, if we're still here in time for them. i think we should have enough to last us til next summer, then!

fresh pickings

at the lakehouse a few days ago: we braved the rain and intermittent thunderstorms to do a spot of fishing and raspberry picking.

fast-ish food, more cake

finally, a chance to blog. not many exciting eats in the last week or so though, because we've had the most shocking weather and been fighting off an awful lurgy which has swept through the family (grandparents and visitors included). this evening i was so exhausted i resorted to what counts as fast food for us here - fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli (takes 2 mins to cook) and a jar (!) of pasta sauce. i haven't had a jar of pasta sauce in years and now i remember why.....

this morning, however, my lovely friend michael and i had the chance to make a cake while lola was sleeping off her version of the dreaded lurgy. we were unoriginal and chose to make another of the yoghurt cakes which are my favourite of late - this time with blueberries and cherries.

this is before: i love how the berries sit on the surface. they disappear down into the batter as the cake cooks.

and this is after: not a berry in sight on the top!

we could barely wait until it cooled. i cut us big pieces which we scoffed whle still hot. then i wrapped up a big piece for michael to eat on the plane back to london. hope it survived the trip, michael!

cherry baby

this week we are eating a lot of......

...frau ruckstuhl's gorgeous freshly picked black cherries .

gadgets

was reading this article about gadgets in the sydney morning herald...i agree with choice mag, i think my rice cooker is the best gadget i own - altho they put it at second behind the water filter, i definitely put it in first place. it's amazing how many things go with rice. i use it at least 3 or 4 times a week and every time i think how much i love it. i've never been able to cook rice properly (despite many careful instructions from friends), but was never able to make the rice i remembered my nana making - drier and with separate grains. we bought the rice cooker and wahey! the rice of my childhood. i could live on rice and soy sauce. i often make some just for myself for lunch, with soy sauce and a 3 minute egg when i'm short of time and can't stand around the stove making something hot. in fact.....i could do with some right now cos i'm starving! we didn't buy a fancy one, just a basic model, but it was worth every cent of the 60 or so francs it cost.

most useless gadget - bread machine : ) although i was enthusiastic at first, i soon came to despise the pale, crumbly loaves i kept making. and switzerland has SUCH fantastic bread that i couldn't bear to miss out on it.

oh, and my other favourite gadget - zyliss salad spinner. i never thought i'd own one of these totally mumsy things, but i LOVE it. i hate wet salad leaves with a passion - the only thing i hate more is drying said salad leaves with a bloody teatowel or whatever. my salad spinner is amazing - a few whizzes and it's perfectly dry. in fact, we have trained max to do it (he loves spinning it) so salad is even less hassle for us. it comes with a lid so after you have finished spinnignit you take off the spinning lid and put the other one and hey presto! a salad crisper that keeps the salad perfectly for quite a few days. i couldn't imagine living without it now!

redistribution of wealth

how about thinking about someone else for a change....the lovely pim has started up a little effort to redistribute a little of the wealth that we enjoy to those who are not as fortunate as us....any donations greatly appreciated!