Kitchen and market thyme!

Last weekend we went to the Barre Farmer's Market.

We had a blast!

Henry slept the whole time...which worked out fine. At the market there were loads of vegetable plants, fresh eggs, rhubarb, perennials, quilts, handmade wooden furniture (!), cheese, fresh baked breads, maple syrup and a new litter of terriers. The borderland products are here! This is the season I love!



These flowers reminded me of the twins - they are called "Giant Sunflowers" (?!) - surely they grow, but right now are quite shrimpy.



Sophia charmed everyone as her father chit-chatted away with a man who invented an intense looking wooden game ball.



We left with two loaves of bread, a carton of fresh eggs, 2 accidental pounds of fresh rhubarb, 2 tomato plants, 1 pepper plant and a wooden shelf for the playroom.

Someone else left with a puppy (Cappy would have killed us).

Back at home I was up to the challenge of making a homemade rhubarb jam. For the first time. With my accidental rhubarb.

I invented the recipe - here goes:

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups of accidental rhubarb
4 1/2 cups of strawberries
1 box of fruit pectin (I used (not-so) Sure-Jell)
1 tbsp of butter
3 1/2 cups of sugar (I know this sounds like a lot, but all the recipes online said 5 cups and I just couldn't do it....)

In the kitchen with Henry and Sophia - they are playing with their set of fruits and vegetables. There is an orange, a cabbage, an apple, a banana, a carton of milk and a grocery bag (duh, for putting it all in there). They seem to like it so far - each piece makes a different noise.

Sophia with her cabbage rattle and Henry with my measuring cups -






Directions:
Bring the rhubarb, strawberries, butter and pectin to a rolling boil. Add sugar. While still warm, put into washed, scalded ball jars (I cleaned all the ball jar pieces and scalded them even though I guess I wasn't supposed to)....

Yay jam!