Thursday, August 15, 2019

Scrappy Vintage Kitchen block 4...



How appropriate that the next block in My Scrappy Vintage Kitchen celebrates the making of jams and preserves because last weekend I was hard at work preparing jars of strawberry jam to use now and some to store for later. 

Mid to late winter is peak strawberry season in the tropics and they are very inexpensive so I always make luscious and rich strawberry jam, sometimes plain and other times with apple and vanilla bean.
And of course I bake scones to serve with our first jam for the season. 




Of course once you begin to bake you tend to keep on going, right?
The jam and scones were quickly joined by date muffins and rock cakes so my dear husband was quite a happy chap all weekend...




Today Rosie came over for the morning to stitch but before we took out needle and thread we feasted on cappuccinos, scones, strawberry jam and whipped cream. It's her birthday tomorrow so a slight indulgence was in order and we had the best of times! Amid the laughter, food, coffee and sewing I forgot to take any photos...next time I shall remember. 

This afternoon I finally put the binding on my completed Scrappy Vintage Kitchen wall quilt and it's so pretty. Now I just need to consider where it shall hang and once I do a few photos will be shared.

For now though, you're only up to block 4 and I must not run away with myself because it's not till October that the final stitchery is shared and I'm sure you're getting excited about finishing your own wall quilt.




The complete pattern for My Scrappy Vintage Kitchen quilt is HERE in my Etsy Shop

If you missed the posts for Blocks 1, 2 and 3 go to the My Scrappy Vintage Kitchen page. 




I've previously shared my strawberry and apple jam recipe on the blog but in case you missed it, I'll share this yummy treat again. The recipe is for a quick jam and only makes a single jar, but I tripled the recipe last weekend and made a larger amount without any alteration to the steps apart from needing an extra ten minutes to cook the mixture down. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste - oh my, delicious!





I must apologise for not sharing the scheduled Gentle Art of Domesticity study this past Tuesday. 

Monday was a big day of housework, grocery shopping, planting lettuce and herbs, and preparing soups; Tuesday I was out with Blossom helping her and the little ones do their big grocery shop and running a few other errands; Wednesday was more gardening, catch-up sewing, washing and the dreaded vacuum/mop duo chore; and today I spent the morning with my best friend and the afternoon finishing my wall quilt before watering the garden, cooking a stew and pruning plants which needed a trim. 

Oh, and then I wrote today's pattern for Jam & Apples and here I am blogging about it. 

The weeks fill up quickly these days and though I have a desire and many good intentions to stay on track with the book study I've come to realise that this cooler season in our tropical climate requires a lot more outside work than when the heat and humidity climb high again and many more daylight hours are spent in the air conditioning. 

So I shall have the next instalment of The Gentle Art of Domesticity next week on Tuesday, which actually works better for me because then I don't have the book study and the Scrappy Vintage Kitchen stitch-along in the same week. Should have thought of that before, right? Ha ha! Live and learn.

Have a wonderful day wherever you reside in our precious Earth, and may the Lord's favour fall mightily over your home and fill every corner with peace, laughter, wonder and family.

hugs


14 comments:

Little Quiltsong said...

Just the words scones and strawberry jam fill me with joy, and sound so delicious. Thank you for again sharing - and for the fourth Vintage Kitchen Block. Love the colours you are using - they are just so cheery and cozy looking. So happy you and Rosie were able to share some precious time together again. Laughter, stitching and sharing a cuppa - another chapter of great memories :)!

Beth said...

I've used your jam recipe (minus the lemon juice) a few times now. It's so yummy!! I can't have the lemon juice because of a food allergy, but I just need to cook it a little longer for the jam to set. I've also increased the batch to work with how many strawberries I have, although I must confess that last time I forgot to also increase the apple - it was a little more runny, but still worked and tasted amazing! Thank you for sharing.

Joanne said...

Hi Jenny,
Grab the "good to work outdoors" weather while you can! What a fun week you've had!
Thanks for Vintage Kitchen 4 !
hugs,
Joanne

daisydilly (vicki) said...

hank you so very much for another great block. The jam recipe looks yummy and thank you for sharing that as well.

Lin said...

Thank you Jenny. FNSI tomorrow so looking forward to getting started on block 4 and will share my first three on my FNSI report Saturday. I love making jam but eat hardly any - only when we have overnight guests really or if I treat myself to a croissant! I love baking too and am feeling tempted to bake some biscuits this weekend as we have family arriving on Tuesday. How is Blossom? Glad you had a lovely time with Rosie. xx

Tammy said...

Thank you for part 4 of the vintage kitchen and for you sharing your jam recipe as well. I hope you have a wonderful upcoming weekend. Love and prayers for you and your family.

Susan said...

Thank you so much for block 4. It's another beautiful comforting scene. Thanks for this recipe, too. I had forgotten about it. I used to make a LOT of strawberry jam when we lived in Arizona. Berries would be so cheap at the farm markets at certain times of the year, and I would make pints and pints. Thanks for this quick one-jar recipe. I will try it, though I have been using a different method that doesn't require much, if any sugar, because you add calcium for the jelling factor. I don't generally like freezer jams so much, but this is different from those, so I'm going to give it a go after changing from metric. Measuring devices don't seem to come in grams up over. =)

Deb said...

Thank you for the 4th block of the vintage kitchen series, and the jam recipe too. Your baking looks quite yummy I look forward to the cooler days here in Florida so I can bake a few things.

Julie said...

Oh Jenny how I wish I could just reach into my screen & pluck one of your delicious looking scones out - yes please to Jam on mine! Thanks so much for sharing these gorgeous blocks Jenny - although I still really love my redwork vintage kitchen wallhanger I am printing each of these off with a view to getting on to them at some stage. Have a lovely weekend my friend xx

Christine M said...

Those scones look delicious Jenny. You know how I love my scones! I think the last time I made jam was in home economics class at school! Maybe I'll give some a go. Enjoy your weekend. Hugs, Christine xxx

Susie said...

thank you Jenny - you certainly are busy. The Jam sounds delicious. My daughter often likes to try and make Jam. She has just turned 15 and enjoys cooking so I'm lucky there.

Linda Kay said...

As always thank you for the design and recipe.

Kerryanne @ Shabby Art Boutique said...

So much deliciousness here today Jenny.... gorgeous stitchery block and yummy homemade jam. How perfect my friend.
Thank you for sharing this fabulous post at Create, Bake, Grow and Gather this week. I'm delighted to be featuring your jam recipe and free stitchery block at tonight's party and pinning too.
Hugs,
Kerryanne

Gail B said...

Love these blocks and your jam looks Delicious!!