Warning.....you will be requested to answer a thought question...if you don't want to, don't read on =)
What, you may ask, is a preserve? I quote one of my favorite cookbooks, 175 Favorite Jams, Jellies, Marmalades, and Other Soft Spreads by Linda Amendt on page 178. "Preserves are made with large, uniform pieces of fruit or with small whole fruits. The cooked fruit holds its shape, and the fruit pieces are evenly distributed in the jar ans suspended in a soft jelly or very thick syrup. during the cooking process, disolved sugar penetrates the fruit cells, giving the fruit pieces a luminous, semi-transparant appearance.
"The crown jewel of soft spreads, perfect preserves contain brightly colored, translucent fruit with intense flavor....When it comes to elegence, preserves are hard to beat!"
You can faintly see the apricot halves on the bottom right of the jar.
1,Set a portion of the sugar and the fruit aside to stand for a period of time before the preserve is cooked.
2. Slowly heating the fruit and sugar allows the sugar time to completely dissolve, thereby replaced some of the air in the fruit with sugar. Tada - heavy fruit that sinks in the jelly.
3. Let the preserve sit 5 min. after removing from the heat, gently stirring every now and then. The fruit continues to cook a bit and fully absorb the syrup.
Now last week I asked some canning questions, and out of 41 pageviews (Iknow, this is a limited audience blog) only 2 people answered. For you active bloggers out there, am I expecting too much?
That being said, THANK YOU to you who did respond. Danita - I'm thinking about doing a Marinara (Spaghetti Sauce) post sometime. I have 2 recipes I like, and one is quite handy b/c you do NOT have to skin the tomatoes first.
Some people have the ability to encourage others. The 2 "posters" on my last post certainly did! One of them called me and left a message letting me know that I was in her thoughts that day. Little did she know that I was having one of those very bad-no good-horrible days and that message brought tears to my eyes just to know someone cared. We all know with our head on those days that people care, but I'm usually to proud or protective of those around me to let others know how bad it is.
The other person I have not had personal contact with in almost 10 years. We had dinner together when we were out of state. She found my blog, and answered a thought question from earlier this summer with beautiful postcard showing me how they had painted a rock with a verse I had posted while camping with their children. It made my day! What a gift a personal note is.
So here is today's thought question. And YOU are requested to answer....why? Because positive examples encourage others to do the same. Isn't that what we want our world to include? People who are givers and not takers!
When was the last time someone unexpectedly encouraged you?
Thank you for sharing and encouraging.
This was actually hard to answer, I seem to be over and abundantly encouraged "unexpectedly". But I would like to share the best encouragement from my grandsons last week. We were staying (just the three of us) at a friend's mountain cabin last week, taking a walk, and I asked the boys "If you had JUST ONE WORD" to describe Grandma to a stranger, what would it be?" It started with the word "kindness", and ended about twenty words later. My soul was profoundly blessed that my grandsons saw pure love in me, and gave dozens of examples of what I do to impact their lives. Thank you for allowing me to share!
ReplyDeleteLast week on my birthday, I was very unexpectedly surprised with a whole homemade supper from an Aunt. Talk about being blessed and encouraged!!
ReplyDeleteWOW. Those are both great stories...and wonderful ways that both young and older can bless others. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThat would be when my husband came home from work in the middle of the day with an early anniversary gift: a new digital camera with a large-capacity memory card and rechargeable batteries. It has been an ongoing encouragement this summer, as I have been able to share what I "see" with facebook friends, who then comment and encourage me. Most encouraging of all was the fact that Hubby had listened to my not-so-subtle complaints and even took my brother shopping with him, to be sure and get something that would suit my needs. And he bought a case for the camera that is my favorite color!
ReplyDeleteLisabeth
There is an older lady in my Bible study group who is so good at sending little notes and cards in the mail. She recently brightened my day and my mailbox with a notecard from her!
ReplyDeleteAs for the commentint thing....
1. It takes time. I know of people that read my blog, but have never commented.
2. I think some people have never commented on a blog and just aren't sure about how it all works.
3. If you don't have a blog, you don't understand as well that comments are fun!
4. There are SO many blogs out there and so much other stuff that needs done besides computer time! :)I simply don't always get all the blogposts read that I would like to.
5. My personal rule of thumb-if something pops to mind that I want to comment after reading a post, I do(if I have time). If not I don't usually try to come up with something. And it's not that I didn't enjoy that person's post.
Sorry to be longwinded. :) I understand enjoying getting comments and these are just some of the things I've concluded since I started my blogging journey.
Have week and happy preserving!
A girl from my Sunday School class yesterday encouraged me -- and I love her for it!! It was desperately needed. God answered my prayer for strength through her.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog, Beth! Even if I don't comment much. :)
I am encouraged every single time I enter my classroom. The parents are soooo good at showing how much they appreciate what I am doing for their children...each and every day they thank me. It is the hugest blessing knowing they are praying for me and rooting for me and cheering me on!
ReplyDeleteOften it is just a simple phone call from a friend who just wants to say hi :)
ReplyDeleteLast week I had a party for the 3 boys starting kindergarten this year. I had been to the library looking for a specific book to read to go along with the activities. I was unable to find the book. When one of the boys showed up he had a gift for us that included the exact book I had looked for. It made me feel that God felt the thoughts that I had to go with the book were important.
ReplyDeleteMelanie
My son Henry - he is 5 - is very sweet with his compliments. Two days ago I was cooking dinner, our first in our new place, and he came up several times and told me "Wow mama, that's a great job! You are really good at that, that looks great!" He is a gift!
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