Comments on: It’s the wobble and the cut

By: Zuelema

Zuelema — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:15:31 +0000

Deborah, I just finished making a batch of quince jelly (first ever) and just wanted some feed back on using bottled pectin.

I did use it but the jelly seemed to take forever to jell.

Maybe it was the quinces. not sure Never heard of them until my Hubby told me we had two trees on this property and both had some fruit. We got about 5 pounds of fruit strange looking stuff

But I am willing to ry anything at least once.

This jelly has more of an amber colour than a pink one is that right? I used your sugar ratio as it seemed better than the other I found on net they wanted about 2 cups sugar to one of fruit juice,

I have made jams and jellies before but always used certo(pectin) and so I did use it in your recipe but it cooked and cooked before it showed any sign of setting.

Is this a quince thing ?

have a dish of the “scum” on the counter and the taste is wonderful and it has set

can you tell me anything more about this fruit

thanks

Zuelema Pronounced Zoo–Lee–Ma

love to hear from you

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:18:01 +0000

Thank you for the lovely comments, everyone. I know that I am very fortunate to still have my mother (‘though that has a lot to do with the very young age at which she and Dad got married, and the lack of contraceptives – she’s only 24 years older than me), and I am very fortunate to get on so well with her. She is one of my closest friends. I know that not all women are so lucky, in their mothers or in their daughters.

PC – I’ve never heard any of those hints, but they all sound so plausible!

M-H – Mum and I had little tasting dabbles at the saucer, even at our advanced ages. It makes me wonder what my grandmothers did to get cool saucers for testing, because they wouldn’t have had refrigeration either.

Carol – my Dad’s parents had a magnificent guava tree, and Granny, and Mum, used to make the most magnificent jelly from the fruit.

rayinnz – I’m tempted by quince paste, but I want to master jelly first. However I have just bought a quince tree to plant in my garden, so perhaps in a few years I will have enough fruit to try both.

Jackie and Adele and Mikhela – yes, it’s the jelly, and also the great joy in doing with, and learning from, my mother.

Stephen – I really do recommend the walk through. And the company. And the sharing.

By: Pavlov's Cat

Pavlov's Cat — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:29:31 +0000

This is such a lovely post, and it took me right back to my own days of trundling round the kitchen after my ma saying Why and How and What for and Can I have a go. One drop at a time of cochineal on the end of a skewer; sift the icing sugar three times; don’t cut your fingers off while making radish roses; no more than four strokes when folding the flour into a sponge cake.

Sigh.

By: M-H

M-H — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:06:46 +0000

Lovely story. Thanks Deborah. My mother died suddenly in 1981, and this is the kind of thing that makes me realise how much I still miss her, even though I’m a granma myself now. I remember that she always put that saucer of cooling jam/jelly outside the back door, in a passageway that got no sun even in the middle of summer, balanced on a low fence. We used to love to lick that saucer in between dollops, and then wash it carefully before we handed back for the next test. I’ve just realised that may have been because we didn’t have a fridge to cool it in when I was very young. Or maybe she didn’t think of the fridge; the passageway was how she’d always done it.

By: Carol

Carol — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:13:04 +0000

Thank you Deborah (and Deborah’s mum) for these lovely posts.
If you get guavas in Adelaide, they make the most beautiful jelly – ruby red and divine.

By: rayinnz

rayinnz — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:47:39 +0000

About all I know about jelly making is not to squeeze the bag, though it is tempting!
I have moved on from jelly to quince paste which is more trendy and a batch lasts for years
Did make grape jelly this year but need two goes to get the right set

By: Jackie Clark

Jackie Clark — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:41:14 +0000

How lovely, Deborah, to think of you and your Mum making the jelly together. I am not a domestic person at all, and no-one in my family made jams and preserves, really, not even my grandmother, so it’s not a skill I have. I wish I did, because I do love chutneys and relish. Having said that, I don’t think it’s what you make together that’s important, just that you were together whilst you were doing it.

By: Adele Villemez

Adele Villemez — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:51:44 +0000

I absolutely loved this story and the associated notes from your mother. I enjoyed the image of you working well together from years of experience and your mother still filling that role and relating to you that way even though you are an adult with children of your own (“Don’t peel!”). Her personality totally comes through in her notes, and the love you two share permeates the story. These are beautiful posts. Thanks for sharing!

By: mikhela

mikhela — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:20:02 +0000

I love this sense of knowledge and *care* being passed on. And ‘it’s the wobble and the cut’ is a great phrase, too.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:22:00 +0000

Dad always does the spoon and saucer thing too. You have inspired me to make him walk me through the whole process.