Home-made Plum Jam via the Breadmaker

Having previously done mulberry jam on the stovetop and with Master 4 asking could we make jam, I thought hey, let's give the breadmaker a whirl.  I don't like how the breadmaker makes bread, instead I ask it to make dough and I finish the bread by hand and then into the wall oven... and I intend to have a go at sourdough by hand ... but I didn't know what I thought of how it made jam so thought it time to give it a crack!

rather than 'just buy a new one'...

At the end of term, a kite that had been in lost property for a year or two, was given to Jake to bring home. It needed some serious repairs. I did what I could cutting down a tomato bamboo stake, and sewing up the holes and attaching the 'poles'. It flew but was still not quite right and more frustrating and pot luck.

the repaired and 'new life' kite!

So we decided that once Easter was finished, we would go to a kite shop and see if they could help. I rang up and explained to the fellow on the phone that while it probably was cheaper to throw it out and buy a new one, I wanted the kids to learn about fixing things, about not just 'buy a new one' and to work on something until they succeeded. You know, the kinda stuff we did as kids. I realise these days not everything than be repaired and that sometimes, replacing really is the better option but for this, I wanted the kids to have a go...

The 'Kite-shop-fellow' (Neil, I think his name was) was really very helpful and said he was sure he could round up some bits and pieces to fix the kite.



Anyway, so (their) Grandad took two of the boys to Hold The Line Kites Australia ...and fixed it is. He even sewed up the parts of the kite that had split, new 'poles' and a 'reel and string' to replace the temporary one we had. $5 to fix it. fantastic and really helpful, great service. He makes his own kites so I guess that explains some of it - it's not just a 'sell the product' shop.
So that was Jake's kite fixed... and Grandad bought Zeke a kite too.


Hooray for fixing things and finding people who specialise in that area who are willing to help! And for Grandad's for taking boys down to kite shops :)

Christmas making ...Yes

I know it's September but we all know Christmas comes along faster every year and all our good intentions of a 'made' Christmas gets quished into small amounts of time or get watered down and end up not quite as we had wished.

I am liking the seed cards from Ash N Juls and I like the herb card from Biome. I've decided to do my own version of those for the teachers at school. I have a minimum of five cards to do and I want to make my own paper and disperse the seeds within it (from the bumper tomato crop we got this year!).

from two of my boys

A little something...

for a good friend and her Family

The little biscotti we made today, the downloaded Christmas 'free printables' from here and some self seal cello bags and there you go.

Making Mulberry Jam... and brocolli

Here's one of what was left after we jarred the jam... mmmm

No... not mulberry jam with brocolli but rather we made some mulberry jam...or mulberry sauce LOL depending on how it turns out AND here's a pic of our first ever brocolli! Boy it took patience as they grew through winter so very slow and they nearly got pulled once or twice but here 'tis... the others have still yet to LOOK like making heads...


Our mulberry tree went nuts as usual and we picked a lot of fruit in the last couple of days, with plenty more on the tree. Brooke has been wanting to make jam for years... so I said righto... let's do it.

Jamsetta was out of stock everywhere we went... some say it's cheating, others say it isn't - I haven't formed an opinion yet! So we did one that uses lemon juice instead. Not sure that we got to setting point hence the possible 'mulberry sauce' instead... which if that's the case will be great with ice-cream or marbled through muffins. Not sure what I expected it to taste like... I can taste the lemon though, just a hint of it, so maybe we'll try for jamsetta next time. Lovely colour though, beautiful rich deep colour and texture is mmm

Just used reclaimed jars and lids (hot washed, dried in the oven, jarred the jam while both were hot, inverted for 2mins as per the recipe before righting and standing to cool). If this turns out/if we're still keen we may invest in some new lids etc etc just trying this first and will keep in the fridge, use within x amount of days.
so... waiting for some good light to take some photos and will deliver the verdict!


Off to read up some more on this preserving thing. I am checking out this post and this post on Down to Earth and off to read up in the archives there for more info.