I've been Jammin'

As a gift for my cooperating teacher at my internship, I decided to make some quick and easy jams and marmalade. I found some great new style jars at Canadian Tire, along with some natural fruit pectin. I designed my own labels last night and printed them out for that special touch. I saved some big jars and extra bit in the fridge for myself, or possibly as another last minute gift. She loved them so much and was very excited to try them out. This might actually be a great small hobby business in the future. So far "my classic flavours" are:

Cinnamon & Blackberry Jam

Kiwi & Tangerine Marmalade

Mango Peach & Poppy-seed Jam

Cherry Blood-Orange and Bay Marmalade

I'm looking to make a twisted version of strawberry, work with some wild blueberries and possibly experiment with figs, dragon fruit, papaya, apples, grapes and more citrus. Stay tuned!

Apple Picking in Oka, Quebec!

Today was so much fun! I got up early (for the weekend) and headed down to the sports complex to go apple picking with the girls in Oka. Turns out it was just me, Estair, Sarah, Jackie and Graeme and his kids; Gavin and Morgan. Jackie also brought her chocolate lab, Buffy. It was a beautiful ride and there were grey clouds all day. It didn't rain until we finished up at the orchard. The orchard is called "Jude-Pomme" they have 8 varieties of apples and 3 varieties of pears. The only apples available to pick were; Macintosh, Spartan, Lobo, and Crispin. I filled my 25lb bag with a mix of all of them. We weren't allowed to pick pears, but I snuck some grounders into my back-pack. There was also an Oka Cheese stand, where I bought some very reasonable "Fou du Roi" organic Oka 9 month cheese. Graeme's son, Gavin loved the strongest blue cheese and they bought a chunk of that. Later we drove to the ferry docks, past the Oka cheese factory and stopped at a Frits & Croutes resto for a quick lunch. I had the home-cut fries, the Quebecois love thier fries. We then boarded the ferry and drove home. It was a great relaxing day.