" Biggi, We Must Make Some Plum Jam Today. "

An ordinary Sunday in the country it seems!

Some couples go for a nice leisurely Sunday breakfast, others go for a drive while we make plum jam! Yip, living on the wild side indeed. But the mere thought of making our own jam is a reminder of how great life is. Imagine, having enough fruit in your garden, and just walking out there and picking a bowl of fruit.

It has that flavour of reality, pure and simple. Life is not all about meandering down a supermarket isle and picking out your preference. Well, you can of course but making jam is, apart from being easier than making a pizza, a task that will have you reconnect with real life.

If only you knew how easy it is to make jam ( even if you have to buy the fruit ), you would try it more often. There is nothing better than eating your homemade jam. Putting a few spoonfuls in a cup of joghurt, topping a lavishly buttered slice of bread or freshly baked scone or buying some vanilla ice cream merely to showcase your jam on a cold and neutral canvas. Divine

Some of our fruit trees are outside our garden and if we aren't quick about it, the Schnapps brigade might get there first. As soon as the fruits are ripened on the trees ( they tend to prefer plum and peach ), the eagle eyed Schnapps makers of the village, cruise past at idling speed. Look, they do ask us if they see our fruit dangling off every branch and twig and it is hard for me to say No...

The more fruit they garner, the more homemade Schnapps there is to be drunk. Homemade is better then store bought, but in the case of Schnapps, the work is plenty and arduous. Bob has tried too and now that I think of it, our fruit trees are rather bare...that is the peach ones!

The local homemade Schnapps has plenty of legends attached to it. I've heard stories of women in their 80's having one tot of Schnapps upon waking. Mind, only the one. As they are still working the vines, driving and generally having a good time, it might just be that homemade Schnapps is the elixir of youth...

Ah, the good life...

Biggi