Saturna Island Plum Grand Marnier Compote
Yesterday was a rest day for me after the busy activities earlier in the week. I found that the night before last and the one before that my dream state had returned. But last night before sleep I got up around 4 times and paced as my brain was cartwheeling.
Yesterday for my daughter Chaya was a whirlwind of activity as she cleaned house in preparation for Dylan's return from time spent with his dad in Vancouver. She can do several things at once, multitasking without losing focus.
Earlier in the day she had vacuumed all the rooms in the house and scoured the bathroom including shower, sink and tub.
This week her partner Rick had brought home a load of plums from the trees in his yard, so Chaya decided to make pectin free plum jam. She was bent over the steaming pot when I first saw what she was up to...inhaling the fragrance. She turned to me with a frown and said, I made a mistake following the recipe. I should have put the sugar in after the fruit had boiled. But that statement didn't slow her down at all.
The fact that she has also been studying and preparing to write the Provincial Fitness Instructor exam [she is doing this today in Victoria] made this endeavor of jam-making even more amazing.
Her hands were moving all over the kitchen taking care of spills, adding ingredients on the fly, talking to me.
As I watched she stirred the pot and then reached into a cupboard for a big dollop of butter and threw that into the mix. Next was a half empty bottle of Grand Marnier...she tossed some of that in.
It was like watching Picasso at work...ideas on the fly! What a dynamo!
I kept worrying she was going to scald herself she was moving so fast, and I even warned her. She just smiled back too involved to really pay attention to her old man.
Next she arranged the jars on the kitchen island by the stove, and without blinking carefully poured the steaming mix perfectly into each one, 4 medium ones and one a little smaller. She didn't spill a drop holding the big cooking pot in one hand. Each one was filled exactly to the brim.
Then she brought over a spatula which she had used to clean the pot, and let me lick it.
Nectar! Too bad Dylan! Grandpa got your lick!
By now it was past supper time and she asked are you hungry?
Starved I replied.
Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes she said, and it was too. A feast including fresh salad [Rick's garden produce again] and linguini in a fantastic tomato sauce, with buttered and heated french baguettes on the side.
Yesterday for my daughter Chaya was a whirlwind of activity as she cleaned house in preparation for Dylan's return from time spent with his dad in Vancouver. She can do several things at once, multitasking without losing focus.
Earlier in the day she had vacuumed all the rooms in the house and scoured the bathroom including shower, sink and tub.
This week her partner Rick had brought home a load of plums from the trees in his yard, so Chaya decided to make pectin free plum jam. She was bent over the steaming pot when I first saw what she was up to...inhaling the fragrance. She turned to me with a frown and said, I made a mistake following the recipe. I should have put the sugar in after the fruit had boiled. But that statement didn't slow her down at all.
The fact that she has also been studying and preparing to write the Provincial Fitness Instructor exam [she is doing this today in Victoria] made this endeavor of jam-making even more amazing.
Her hands were moving all over the kitchen taking care of spills, adding ingredients on the fly, talking to me.
As I watched she stirred the pot and then reached into a cupboard for a big dollop of butter and threw that into the mix. Next was a half empty bottle of Grand Marnier...she tossed some of that in.
It was like watching Picasso at work...ideas on the fly! What a dynamo!
I kept worrying she was going to scald herself she was moving so fast, and I even warned her. She just smiled back too involved to really pay attention to her old man.
Next she arranged the jars on the kitchen island by the stove, and without blinking carefully poured the steaming mix perfectly into each one, 4 medium ones and one a little smaller. She didn't spill a drop holding the big cooking pot in one hand. Each one was filled exactly to the brim.
Then she brought over a spatula which she had used to clean the pot, and let me lick it.
Nectar! Too bad Dylan! Grandpa got your lick!
By now it was past supper time and she asked are you hungry?
Starved I replied.
Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes she said, and it was too. A feast including fresh salad [Rick's garden produce again] and linguini in a fantastic tomato sauce, with buttered and heated french baguettes on the side.
Unfortunately for all of us...I guess when to add the sugar to the mix is a very important step. The compote hardened to the point where it was stuck in the jars. We changed the name to Saturna Island Plum Grand Marnier CEMENT!
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