How to make plum jam that quickly disappears

My husband, A, decided to make plum jam on Sunday. I wholeheartedly supported him with words of encouragement and appreciation whenever my mouth wasn't full of delicious plums and jam. Thank you, A.

This is a guest post from the chef himself (with some comments under the pictures from me) - a beginner's guide to making plum jam.

Enjoy. I'm off to lick up some more...

Step 1: Get some plums - preferably sweet and preferably free

Lie in your hammock and wait for plums to appear in June

Stare at the plums and wait for them to ripen

Pluck when the plums are red, not green or yellow. It's fine if they are hard 

Announce a round of family plum picking and enlist resourceful members (Can you see A, who scampered up the tree? My dad is helping him)

Create a family event and get little hands to pick fallen plums

Step 2: Wait - for kids to be asleep, plums to ripen [if not quite sweet per step 1], and spouses to give you a day to just get it done

Wait

Choose

Taste to test

Step 3: Pit the plums - do it alone or enlist one father-in-law to make an assembly line of it. Expect to get your hands squishy, plummy, and quite wet.

Step 4: Boil the plums - with a hint of water added; also separately boil the pits; when done boiling the pits, strain the juice into the plum boil.

Step 5: Hand puree the plums as they boil to get a reasonably even consistency and eliminate big chunks of fruit

Step 6: Walk out to your garden and pluck a lemon from the lemon tree

Step 7: Squeeze fresh lemon juice from your lemon from your lemon tree into the boiling plum mixture.

Step 8: Add cinnamon and sugar to taste - if in doubt, add a lot. This is jam or preserve - sweet is good.

Step 9: Cut an apple [preferably from tree in your garden] and drop the chunks into the boiling plum mixture. Natural pectin (thanks KJ)

Step 10: Keep boiling till everything comes to an even boil, tastes sweet and reasonably thick. Typically about 15 minutes or more. If the jar boils over, let it [the cooled jammy mixture is yummy to taste!]. If the foam bothers you as this mixture boils, add some butter and the foam vanishes.

Boil

Step 11: Pour this hot mixture into sterilized mason jars / cans and follow instructions to seal and store.

Sterilized

Delicious

Side profile is just as gorgeous

Step 12: For any jar filled, you can either give it to someone, eat it yourself, or give it to your kids to gobble up. [Half a pint per meal seems to be the going rate with our kids]

To get some sterilized mason jars/cans, boil the germs out of them for at least 10 minutes. Cool them down without touching them by hand.
[If you cannot do this, then be prepared to eat all the plum jam you can in one sitting.] 

The plum jam is so delicious, I doubt there will be any by the time you read this and demand some. Just like that, poof! Going, going...almost gone

10 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Stick a Pearl Up Your Nose

Hey kid,

This post is for you. Are you reading this aloud? Fabulous.

Yes, I know that the inside of your nostril is a warm, dark, gooey, magical and mysterious wonderland. Best part is, you can reach into it with your lil fingers.

A perfect fit! HUZZAH!

And yet I speak with wisdom from experience. Please do NOT stick a pearl up your cute lil nose. Or stick anything else up there.

What's the fun in that, you ask? Valid question. Well...

1. When you stick a pearl up your nose, your teacher will get a mini heart attack and ask you to blow your nose. You will not.

2. Then she will call your mommy. Who will be driving on a busy expressway to pick up her friend who just traveled half way across the country to see her. Mommy will pick up the call via Bluetooth, which ensures poor call quality.

3. Then your teacher will say, in a wavering panicky tone, "Your daughter has stuck a pearl up her nose. You might need to take her to the doctor. "

4. Then your mommy will get a mini heart attack and shriek, "a-what-up-her-WHAT?"

5. Then your usually frazzled and anxious mommy who doesn't really know anything about anything will call the doctor and ask in her fake calm, civil tone, "Hello, my toddler has a pearl stuck in her nose, what should I do?"

6. And the phone lady at the other end will say, "I'm not a doctor or a nurse but can she breathe?"

7. And then your mommy will call the teacher back and ask in a high-pitched voice, "can she breathe?!!!!" to which the teacher will say, "yes, she can. she looks uncomfortable and is crying but she can breathe"

8. then your mommy will call the doctor's office and say that you, the toddler, can breathe. To which the phone lady will say, "ok good. then please come here, there is a wait. you might need to bring some toys to keep your child entertained. (Is she really talking about entertainment here?) Or if you need urgent attention, go to the E.m.e.r.g.e.n.c.y (oh crap.)"

9. Your mommy will reach your daycare and pick you up. You will look adorable, sitting and crying because everyone around you is looking dramatically worried, staring at you and well, you know, you have your favorite pearl stuck in your nose.

10. Your mommy will carry you in her arms and kiss you more than ever before while her dear friend will efficiently google the situation and then suggest strategically blowing your nose.

10.1 Your mommy will press one nostril and you will blow hard through another.

10.2....and the shiny white pearl will fall out. Made shinier by you-know-what wonderful gooeyness.

10.3. Your mommy will start praying for a big, fat, gross booger to be the only thing up your nose forever and always in the future.

10.4. When your mommy asks you "what did you put up your nose last week?" You look adorably innocent and thoroughly impish and say "that one."

Huggy kissy,
your amma

Strawbebby fields forever

The Beatles' single "Strawberry Fields Forever" has always struck me as weirdly beautiful. It is psychedelic music, with surrealistic and impressionist overtones. I feel like when I close my eyes and hear that song, nothing else really matters other than rainbows, happiness and childhood. 

Last Saturday, we visited strawberry fields. They were real. Something concrete that still inspired abstract associations in my head. Strawberries. British. Western world. Tart. Picnics. Rich picnics. Poor farmers in India...

Note to self: do something...anything to help farmers in India.

I wonder if farms in India marketed fruit and vegetable picking as a weekend activity for city-dwellers. I bet there would be takers. Maybe they already do this.

Growing up, strawberries were these elusive fruits that were expensive. Strawberry fields used to strike me as an indulgence. A vision that previously only appeared in my childhood imagination and fantasy.

It was surreal to look at and wander through these fields with my family.

Strawberry fields do go on forever...

This was a U-Pick field. First, we checked in at the hut.

Then, we read the rules of the strawberry picking game

Mom hard at work picking the tastiest strawberries

Dad is already a pro

S2 cautious and conscientious

A - a man with a mission

We went with close friends D,K and S - who are pros at this sort of thing

Look at that ripe juicy delicious goodness! Eating while picking is the best part.

The buds, blossom and raw fruits

"I have more strawbebbies than you"
"It's not strawbebby, it's st--raw---be---lll---y"

Little fingers pick great little fruits

The farm rotates the areas which are open for picking each day, to give the rest of the farm a break to refresh and produce tasty fruit.
Did you spot the typo? Yes, they get to me too. :)

Jam? Jelly? Milkshakes? Pie? What do we do? What a good problem to have.

S2 is a climber. Bales of hay are begging to be climbed

Strawbebby fields forever

 Now I'm off to go listen to the Beatles again. Have a wonderful summer! If you want to go Berry picking in the Bay Area, check this out.

Feliz dia to all you mamas!

How do you feel about mother's day? I'm curious.

Just turned 4, S1 is pretty fluent with her Espanyol these days

At 2, S2 enjoys pretty and pink adventures

Playing in the peaceful Pacific

It was my birthday last weekend and we spent a lovely weekend with my parents, A and the kids. It was bliss!

When they have to pick, people I know are usually either beach-lovers or mountain-lovers. Which one do you tend to be? I love both, I just need great weather and lots of opportunity to walk or run.

Living in California means we can get out to a ton of breathtakingly beautiful places that are just an hour's drive away. This time around, we went on a day trip to Venice Beach in Half moon Bay. Someone on the internets called it one of "America's most beautiful beaches."

 Cautious and loving appa (my dad) watching over the kids as they play in the Venice Beach creek

Settling on a safe perch by the water

S1 and S2 dig out sand and then throw it back in....for hours on end

This rocky cliff and creek are just ten steps from the Pacific Ocean

She and she collected seashells from the sea shore

Can you spot the ten steps? A takes S1 into the water

S1 loves the water. Who wouldn't?

Daddy and daughter run and play with the waves

What fun!

Uh oh...someone feels left out because she is a little scared of the Big Blue

But not for long, with dad in charge

"I'm just going to carry you so you can watch the waves."

Uh oh now the other one feels left out

Alright let's do this together

Daddy-Strong-Hands

Let's do this Pacific Ocean thing forever and always

Adventure of the day for the kids: a dead crab on the beach

How can an ocean so majestic and huge be so peaceful? I always feel humbled and thankful when I see this ocean.