Berries in season

We picked a dozen quarts of strawberries the other day and have turned them into delicious jam. It is an arduous process but well worth the time and effort. I prefer the non pectin method which means a longer time in preparing but I think it makes a better jam.

Every morning at our Catskills Bed and Breakfast we serve homemade jam. This week we are finishing up the blueberry jam made last season. Out raspberries are coming in and we should start serving our own homegrown raspberries this weekend. Unlike strawberries which are a short season, our raspberries fruit throughout the summer. Next will be blueberries and then blackberries. The blues in our garden are better than last year but the blacks look a little less plentiful than we would like.

Here are some pictures from the kitchen at Breezy Hill Inn.

Book now for August and September!

Pecan Pear Muffins

My neighbor and friend Sandy has a pear orchard in her backyard. She did not plant the trees but decades ago the farmer who owned her farmhouse did. There are several varieties and every year she graciously gives me pears in the late fall. In turn, I give her jars of my jams and if when we  are both lucky I am able to give her plum jam. My plum tree is finicky and if the weather is cooperating, it yields lots of plums from which I make jam.

This past fall I made Pecan pear muffins and breads. I give or trade them with others but I always put a couple of dozen muffins away in the freezer. This morning I served them to our guests. They were delicious and eagerly gobbled up. I managed to get one myself and shared it with my husband. They were very tasty and moist.

Tomorrow, we will serve our  signature banana walnut muffins along with a fresh fruit cup followed by omelets with cheddar cheese and chives. The chives were grown in our garden, washed, cut up and then stored in the freezer.

Already beginning to think about what we will plant in the garden this spring!