This and that

[luzula]

1) My teaching starts tomorrow. It is a course I have never taught before, with first-year students, and all online. Wish me luck...

2) I have picked a total of 7.5 liters of lingonberries, quite near my home! Truly it is a wonderful year for berries. I thought lingonberries naturally had a lot of pectin in them, so I did not use jam sugar for my first batch (= sugar with added pectin). But the first batch of jam ended up very loose and did not gel at all! I have ordered some pectin now and intend to re-boil the jam, because ten jars of lingonberries in juice is not what I wanted.

But now I made a second batch, also with no added pectin, and it has gelled up very nicely. It is a mystery...I did add more water the first time, but still. ETA: Upon reflection, it must be the water that made the difference--I actually followed a recipe the first time that said to add a few deciliters of water, and the second time I added almost nothing.

3) Look at this very beautiful pattern! It is the instructions for an 18th century ballroom dance.

Comments

[china_shop]

That pattern is so elegant! :-)

[luzula]

I know! I wonder how one is supposed to read it.

[isis]

mmmm lingonberries!

I love picking and making use of local fruits. A few weeks ago I was biking back from errands and I passed a house with two plum trees and a sign saying, "Pick as much as you like!" So I did, and made plum cake.

[luzula]

Mmm, plum cake. We have lots of cherry trees where I live, and I use my arborist equipment to climb up and get at the cherries. : ) It's pretty great, because you can use both hands for picking, when you are secured in a harness. Making cherry jam takes some time though.

[princessofgeeks]

Wishing you all the luck!

My fall semester starts the 21st and I'm in your same boat.

[luzula]

Thanks! I had the first lecture today, and it felt better than I thought it would.

Good luck with yours!

[hyarrowen]

I've never come across lingonberries before! They look super healthy.

The ballroom dance pattern is lovely - so elegant. It's wonderful that we've got these patterns today and can reproduce the dances.

[luzula]

They're quite sour and not that good to eat if you don't add sugar (but then they're delicious).

Yes, it is lovely! The blog where I found the picture talks about reconstructing them, but it doesn't seem like they are often danced today.

[lyr]

You could pop a tablespoon of chia seeds in the loose jam, and it will still gel right up. I make jam without pectin that way.

[luzula]

Huh, interesting! I got the pectin in the mail today though, so I will use that.

[regshoe]

Good luck!

That pattern is very pretty, although I wouldn't know where to start with interpreting it—I love how the figures are drawn as little musical notes.

Ooh, that jam sounds very nice! I've never tried making my own jams, but apparently rose hips and haws both work well in jellies, and there are quite a few of both round here, so I'm looking speculatively at them.

[luzula]

Yes, it is lovely! The blog where I found the picture talks about reconstructing them, but it doesn't seem like they are often danced today.

In Sweden rose hips are often used to make a sort of dessert soup that you eat with whipped cream and little almond biscuits. You have to strain out the seeds, which contain a substance that makes your throat kind of scratchy, which you often feel the effects of slightly even if you've removed the seeds. Also rose hips ripen very late--you should wait until they're a little soft (although maybe that's different for jelly? I don't know.) Haws I assume are the berries on hawthorns? I've never tried making anything from those, maybe I should.

Good luck! Jam-making etc is very satisfying. : )

[regshoe]

Oh, thank you for the jam-making advice! Most of the rose hips I've seen are indeed not looking ripe yet. I've eaten some off the bush before (avoiding the seeds!), but not any kind of jelly/syrup or anything—that dessert soup sounds very nice. Yes, haws are hawthorn berries—they're very abundant round here, so it seemed like a good idea to do something with them :D

[feroxargentea]

Presumably it's not just the obvious, that you boiled the second batch longer and hotter? I can never bring myself to trust jam thermometers, I just use the small dab on a cold plate method, and when the surface wrinkles when poked, it's done. But I'm sure you do that already!

[luzula]

Hmm. Does it really get more firm the more you boil it? I had the idea that you need to heat it up enough, but anything more than that does not make it gel more.

Actually I have discovered now that the loose jars have actually gelled a bit more now, with time. They're still looser than my second batch, but not as watery as they were the day after. Hmmmmm. Chemistry, bah.

[feroxargentea]

It has to reach setting point, which is purely temperature -- but I was assuming it would set better the more water you'd evaporated off first? Maybe not!

[luzula]

Ah, okay--I was thinking you meant the longer time at higher temperature would make it gel more in itself, but yes, it makes sense that losing water would have an impact! ETA: I have read that boiling for a really long time (like, an hour) would destroy the pectin, though.

[feroxargentea]

Oh, I didn't know that! I'll be sure not to! I haven't made jelly/jam since moving house, as no soft fruit here, but hoping to plant some at some point:)

[chestnut_pod]

All the best of luck! I hope it's a good term, despite it all.

[luzula]

Thanks! The first two days went well, but left me quite tired.

[toft]

Good luck!

[luzula]

Thanks! The first two days went well, but left me quite tired.