Jam and crumpets

It seems there is to be no imminent departure of this wet and torrid weather we are all being miserably forced to deal with.

I try in earnest to deal with the weather damage that has forced itself violently and without regret on our swamped vegetable patch and the hanging baskets filled with petunias look as if they are trying in desperation to reach out and grab a hold on to something that might stop them from being washed out to sea.

Pea vines are being snapped carelessly, lettuce leaves are drowning in the constant showers and the outdoor tomato plants look like they are receiving the most horrid form of torture. I may wail and whine as much as I like but my own green fingered problems are nothing to that of those who heavily rely on their fields and fields worth of crops to provide them and their family’s with an income. As I suppose with many farming families, checking the many weather apps, meteorological websites and bizarrely inaccurate long range forecasts is part of daily life here in the Nield cottage.
I try to put my insignificant worries aside when I catch a glance of my husband’s perplexing face as he ponders daily when it is he will be able to jump in his tractor and finally make a start to this year’s impending harvest.

When you work outside, you come to realise that if it is raining you will indefinitely get wet no matter how many fancy waterproof, 500ml showerproof and rain repellent clothes you buy.
Hats, hoods, shower caps (no umbrellas allowed with horses), there is no escaping it, you learn to embrace it. There are times however, when your hair (when rung out) could provide enough water to fill a bath tub and your undergarments are making squelching noises when you have just had enough. All too often in the past couple of weeks have I had to strip down to my underwear in the outhouse and make a quick exit to the adjacent back door which chooses sometimes to stick and leave me jumping up and down on the door mat with next to nothing on in the pouring down rain hoping that the postman isn’t about to turn up.

With these enduring times I needed to restore my good nature in the few hours I had spare before I returned to work in the monsoon like conditions. Normally I find the best soul searching solution is a hearty bowl of my mums’ rice pudding but I thought it would be inappropriate to turn up at my mums’ house in her dinner hour and demand that she makes me her restorative recipe. Given that I wrapped up in my biggest knitted cardi (made by my mum – of course) and took to the stove.

What may seem like some as a chore, jam making is a pastime in which I can align my harmony. Evil, stressful thoughts are driven away by bubbling amounts of sugar oozing their way into your chosen fruit. Timing can be imperative but with rhubarb even more so as it seems to set as soon as all of the sugar has melted away and left you with a sumptuous gloop that will be lucky if it ever sees a slice of toast due to its addictive nature.

With jam splattered surfaces cleaned and rain still beating hard at the window I found being away from the oven for too long made me return to the shivering’s of the morning’s weather so I thought it would be useful to make something that could accompany the rhubarb jam. Scones were too predictable and bread would take too long so to sooth my senses just that bit more I made some soft plump crumpets that with a generous slather of good butter would be the ultimate vessel to carry the earlier made jam.

With great contentment and a slight fuzzy feeling in my body ( which was probably from all of the jam I had consumed), I chose to eat my crumpets at the kitchen sink, looking out to those who seemed to be the only creatures in the country taking full advantage of the dampened weather.

Rhubarb and vanilla jam

To every 1kg of rhubarb you will need 1kg preserving sugar, the juice and rind of 1 lemon and the seeds from a vanilla pod.
You will also need to put a small plate in the freezer for when testing to see if the jam is ready.

Chop all of your rhubarb into even chunks and add to a large preserving pan with the correct amount of sugar, lemon and vanilla.

Heat slowly and stir until all of the sugar has dissolved.
Turn up the heat and bring to the boil for about 10 minutes, skimming off any scum that has risen to the top. To test to see if your jam is set, take your plate out of the freezer and put a teaspoon amount of jam on to it. Leave it for around a minute the push your finger through the jam, if it wrinkles it is set, if not you will need to boil the mixture for a little while longer, testing every ten minutes to see if it is done.
Once set pour into sterilised jars and take care not to lick any jam off your fingers until it has cooled!

Crumpets

8oz strong flour
1 tsp. of salt
1 tbsp. of dried yeast
1 tbsp. honey
½ a pint of warmed milk mixed with 55ml of water.

Mix the yeast and the honey with the water and the milk, stir until well combined then leave to rest for 15 minutes.
Sift the flour and the salt into a bowl then once your mixture has rested, add the flour and mix well to form a smooth batter. Place in a warm area with a tea towel covering the top of the bowl for around an hour.

Put a large frying pan onto a medium heat and grease well with some butter. Take two egg cooking rings and also grease liberally with butter. Place the rings in the pan to heat up.
Put one tablespoon worth of the batter into each egg ring and wait for the magic to happen.
Small bubbles will start to appear then large ones will form and burst, at this point turn your crumpets over to just brown the tops. Repeat with the rest of the batter, re – greasing the egg rings each time.
Smooth with a dollop of soft butter and a spoonful of jam!

Not bad for an afternoons work!