The three ingredients to make Strawberry Jam.
Two kilos of strawberries, two kilos of sugar (with added pectin for a quick set) and the juice of two lemons.
Stir till the sugar has dissolved ( with my favourite wooden spoon bought at Monchique in the Portuguese mountains on a rainy day in December many years ago)
At setting point it's hard to skim off the pink froth which settles on the surface at the end of cooking without scooping up a few strawberries too. My husband dollops it into a bowl of natural yogurt for dessert - so nothing wasted.
Liquid rubies waiting for their lids.
It’s too hot to go on being cross and upset so I empty the fridge and make nine jars of strawberry jam - liquid rubies in pots - glossy and seed-speckled.
When the jam is almost at setting point my husband comes home from a session with a dear friend on his support team. He says they played table tennis and it was a huge amount of fun.
Did you win?
Yes - but I haven’t played since I was about fourteen.
Yes you have.....we played when we were on holiday in SW France....about three years ago.....and in Sardinia before that with our niece....and in France before that after your men’s retreat...
He tries to remember.
Who won?
You did, mostly.
It was one of the highlights of our holidays.
He says he thinks he does remember but his face doesn’t.
I stir down the froth on the boiling strawberries, dip another teaspoon into the dark red syrup and drop it on the cold saucer. When I push it with my little finger the surface crinkles.
Setting point for the jam and a different setting point for us. Not just words disappearing now. Memories too. So now it’s just me and the photo albums - preserving our history.....
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