thirteenth

Do you want to know what makes me happy?

Eating what's available seasonally makes me happy. Experimenting with new varieties and flavours makes me happy. Picking baskets filled with produce makes me happy. Growing as much of our own fruit and veg as we can makes me happy. Sharing our bounty with friends and family and those in difficult circumstances makes me happy. And making the most of what we have by using it all and not letting it go to waste makes me happy.

This year we had one apricot tree that fruited. We shared the bounty with the birds and carried a basketful home.

That basket sat on the dinning-room table for a couple of days and filled the bellies and pockets of everybody who passed by.

Once the fruit started to go soft I cooked one kilogram of fruit into four jars of jam.

And I baked 800 grams into an apricot upside-down cake.

This bowlful is all that's left. My guess is that it'll be empty by this time tomorrow otherwise I'll cut the remainder into halves and freeze them for winter baking.

I love summer's bounty. It feels like everyday there is enough produce to pick to keep us well fed with a bit over to give away and to preserve. It's autumn's bounty that often gets a bit out of control.


So tell me lovely ones; what's making you happy today?

Wishing you the sweetest rest of your Wednesday.

Love Kate

xoxo