Task one. Homemade jam. Again.

The day after I made my almost-jam, I visited my neighbor, Christina. I told her about my jam making expeditions and she actually allowed me to borrow THE recipe book that she used in her own jam business. I was pretty stoked, especially after she explained where I might have gone wrong and what I should do differently...

I finally obtained some strawberries from the local gate sales (although this time I sent someone else again, rather than getting them myself as I was at work... thank you Meredith and Bronte!). Jam batch number two was not very good though...I very much over compensated for the non-setting of the previous batch and made a jam a similar consistency to tar (it does go alright though when nuked for a few minutes...). I am so sorry, Christina, for making such a botch of your lovely jam recipe. And I have definitely learned the value of sticking to the letter of the instructions. 

So I think I will let task one rest for a while. I am determined though, to come back to it one day and finally get the upper-hand in the creation of decent homemade jam.

As for my next task...

Beryl, a lovely woman, grandmother (and very accomplished housewife) I know from church, recently told me that she had been given a recipe for a three-minute spongecake. She was very skeptical of the idea and promised to tell me how it went when she made it the next day. She told me it was ok... her husband, Alan, also said it was fine (but I have a feeling he prefers her traditional sponge to the three-minute variety...). Anyway, Beryl has now carefully written out for me a copy of the three-minute sponge recipe and also her traditional recipe, Fielders Sponge Cake. So perhaps my next task can be making real sponge cake... the traditional way.

Task one. Homemade jam.

I decided to start this little project with something I had wanted to do for quite a while. Make jam. 

Initially, I had hoped to start with a simple strawberry jam, but by the time my poor brother made it to the local strawberry 'gate sale', they were already sold out. So instead, I decided (with the help of Donna Hay) on nectarine and passionfruit jam ("Nectarine?" said my friend Meredith, "that sounds hard to set."). My next door neighbour, Christina, used to own a jam making company, so I jumped over the fence and walked up the hill to ask her advice. 

She wasn't home. So I embarked on this task alone...with a bit of help from Dad. I started off by fishing around the house for a variety of little jars to sterilise. I ended up with some cute little ones. I'm really not a fan of the one with the Kan Tong simmer sauce lid, though (is that why nannas put pretty cloth over the top? To hide ugly lids?). It took a little longer than I thought it would, but after lots of chopping fruit, stirring and boiling, and skimming foam I ended up with five little jars of nectarine and passionfruit jam. 

For some silly reason, I had decided to also do a load of washing at the same time, so I spent a lot of time sprinting out to the clothesline and back again between 'ocassionally stirring' my jam. I'm sure my washing will have lots of odd peg marks. Although all good housewives must be able to do multiple things at once, I do not recommend this particular multi-tasking combination. At least not for beginner jam-makers.

After letting my little jars of jam cool upside down (and becoming very excited when I realised they were sort-of setting), Dad announced it was tea time, so I threw some quick scones in the oven and within fifteen minutes we were enjoying my first ever homemade jam with scones and cream. It tasted pretty darn good. And although it didn't really set like real jam, it was solid enough to be able to spread it rather than pour it on the scones. 

I think I will call task one a semi-success.

Tips I learned:

1. When the recipe says 'roughly chop', you should probably go smaller rather than larger (my jam is very, very chunky...).

2. When choosing a saucepan for making jam, you should probably go larger rather than smaller.

3. It's always a good idea to have a variety of little jars on hand. Thank you Mama for collecting these over the years.

Journey of a figurative housewife

I’m pretty sure that being the recently qualified working woman that I am, I now classify as a grown up. I’m not really the kind of grown up I want to be though. I do well at being the typical grown up of the ‘nought-ies’, but I want to be something a little different. A little older fashioned. A little more fifties housewife perhaps…

Having left home four years ago, I am capable of performing the basic tasks necessary to run a (student) household. I can use the most basic function of a washing machine, cook meals with all five food groups in them, vacuum and make beds (fitted sheets, please!). For many adults my age this is enough. Not for me though. It makes me sad to see the traditional housewife fade away, when she was what I still want to be. 

I have just moved back to my hometown, and being back with old family friends (and my Mama!) again, I feel I have been blessed with a second chance to learn the tricks of the trade from women who have conquered the art of ‘housewifery’.

So I am starting this little project. Each week I will try to master a new housewife-style task, whether it be learning to bake the perfect sponge, do hospital corners, or darn a pair of socks (I'm hoping that the beautiful experienced housewives I know will share their skills and secrets with me!).

So, today begins my journey to becoming a figurative housewife, who knows how to cook, clean, mend, iron and sew. Who is talented in the areas of home-keeping and ‘people-keeping’ and who needs nothing more than a cute high waisted apron to conquer the world, one homemade scone at a time.