The fruit harvest this year is abundant - I am sure the proper Winter had something to do with it. As we will soon leaving for the Island again, we made a start with the first of our two apple trees. James loved trying this strange fruit picking contraption for the higher branches. It became a game - 'Higher - higher - over a bit - got it!'
Experience has taught me not to pick more fruit than I can deal with at one preserving session. So we picked enough for our first batch.
And we had to leave enough to eat straight from the tree - the best way, according to James.
Into the pan to cook with cinnamon and cloves,
and then the juice dripped slowly through a jelly bag. We boiled up this juice with the same amount of sugar until set - and it sets very quickly!
So there we have our spiced apple jelly - served here with a nice, but blurry treacle scone. (usual scone recipe, but melt the butter with a dollop of treacle/blackstrap molasses and add a teaspoon of mixed spice to the flour.) Then there are the plums, the tomatoes, and the pears; and then back on Lewis, the crab apples... Happy canning:)
That looks lovely - can't wait for my trees to produce that many apples xx
ReplyDeleteoh, what GORGEOUS apples! I've become an utter apple snob...they really only taste good at this time of the year....
ReplyDeletecongrats on your bountiful harvest!!
That looks gorgeous! I'd love to try that! My Nanna was a brilliant jam maker, she could make jam out of anything and it always tasted heavenly.
ReplyDeleteI love the apple-picking tool! Before I met DH, I had a job working for a local fruit grower. In the Autumn, we'd go into the orchards with our apple buckets attached to our fronts and pick apples all day! The device in your blog would have been handy for the high ones!! The smell of apples always reminds me of that job.
I bet those apples that you've just picked are a lot juicier than the ones I bought the other day. I really miss fresh, sweet apples and as soon as we move, I'm going to plant some apple trees!
yum yum x
ReplyDeleteThe apples look gorgeous and the jelly I can almost taste it from here. We had a decent winter last year too. My apple tree up at the lake only delievers apples every other year and she has a bumper crop on her this year. We love to make apple butter. Be well.
ReplyDeleteYummy! I agree, best right off the tree.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm visiting from Magic Onions. There is nothing quite like apples fresh from the tree and I can almost smell the aroma of the spiced jelly!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Love your blog title, I feel like mine should be The Interrrupted Everything!