Aren’t they beautiful – those nine glasses of grape jelly? All the way from the vine in Oklahoma to my house in Arkansas and transformed into a delicious spread for buttered toast! The nice thing is, I have that much more juice left to make that much more jelly!
I guess jelly making is sort of old-fashioned, but I like doing it and it is a connection with my mom and grandmothers who routinely canned up all sorts of jellies, vegetables and fruit each summer. But then, I like old things, like words that have come down through the years. One of my favorite words is inglenook – the word of the day this morning.
Making jelly is rather like writing a story. I took grapes, crushed and heated them into juice, added Sure-Jell and sugar, stirred, poured, and behold! Beautiful jars of grape jelly. With writing, I take an idea, a plot, some characters who are demanding to be seen and heard, put them in a certain setting, stir them up, and out comes a book with a beginning, middle, and end.
Having nothing to do with jelly, but a fun thing was going to the art exhibit at the Arts Center of the Ozarks last night with Jane. Beautiful paintings and other artistic exhibits were on display and then awards and honors were given for the outstanding ones. I think it would have been hard to choose only a few. I suppose artists, writers, and jelly makers all have something in common, with changing one thing into another.
What could be better than, when the cold winds blow this winter, sitting in my inglenook, munching a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, and reading a cozy mystery!
Speak Your Mind