It's Time for Tea and a Party with Rose Petal Jam!

I am having my Mother's Day Tea Party for friends, students, fellow artists etc. It is a wonderful time to just enjoy my garden with friends and sketch and paint while we all visit. I just happened to be reading the book "The Zoo Keepers Wife" and she mentions in the book about living in Poland and loving Rose Petal Jam. I was intrigued as I always love to make jam but have never even heard of using Roses!! I guess in Europe this is nothing new and much loved. These homespun activities are rarer and rarer here in the states since we are all so busy but I still love to do them. I have an old spirit, I am a homespun homebody, and I can't help it.

 

So that peeked my interest and I started Googling Rose Petal Jam. Subsequently, this year,  I am making Rose Petal Jam for my Tea Party!! Everything seemed to come together for us to work on the jam. We had just ended a long tour and needed some R&R. Jennifer and I needed a day together, enjoying the outdoors whether painting, gardening or just hanging out always invigorates us. Her and I made this together and we had a blast!! I thought I would share our adventure with you and the recipes we used, yes we used several and changed them a bit.



Jennifer helped me collect the most fragrant roses!

Randy made us a bouquet to enjoy while we worked.

We selected roses by fragrance and by color, then we
washed and sorted. The jam will be the color of your
roses.

Here is our pinks and we also had reds. Then at the end we
made a mixed batch with all the left overs.
 

I then had Jennifer sort through the petals to assure that there were
no bad petals etc. This is her doing her choosen roses, Judy Garland.

This is how her roses looked when they were put into jars.

After she was finished sorting and cleaning we measured out our roses and Jenn bruised the petals with sugar to bring out more of their fragrance.

I then started to cook them

                                                                 

 Once they were done cooking I filled the jars and then inverted them to sterilize the tops. The jars had been sterilized earlier and were just waiting for the boiling mixture.

This was Chloe, sunbathing as we cooked our Rose mixture! Everyone was enjoying the sunshine. Randy was busy working in the yard, pruning roses and mowing the lawn!

 

 

 

We tried several recipes that I found on the internet for Rose Petal Jam. We changed up each batch to see which one we liked the best, which one set up the best etc. Depending on how long you cook each batch you will determine the thickness of the jam. I don't think we followed any of the recipes to the letter, we are like that, rebel canners. It is very sweet but so fragrant! Jennifer's jam was our first batch, we cooked it the least and it is the loosest but it is a golden, fragrant syrup that will be perfect for ice cream, cheese cake and pancakes! 

The next batches ranged from pink to red and since we experimented with pectin and cooking time the pink jam is far more set up than the others. It was a fun way to try several recipes. I loved the sun coming through the jars, they looked like jewels.

At the end of the day we had lots of beautiful jars of Rose Petal Jam to serve at my Tea Party and give as Mother's Day Gifts. Below are links to several recipes I found. I hope you try one.

So far we have tried it on toast and now last night for dessert we put it over our ice cream. I opened a Red Rose Petal Jam and it looked beautiful over the vanilla bean ice cream. I will be sure to serve this at my Tea Party in May with scones! Happy Jammin!

Here is the first one we tried, they used wild roses! Make sure your roses are pesticide free!! I even included a Martha Stewart Recipe for Rose Petal Jelly. We prefer the petals in the jam! Enjoy

http://www.feastingathome.com/rose-petal-jam/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/166277/rose-petal-jam/

http://www.emikodavies.com/blog/rose-petal-jam/

http://www.marthastewart.com/356009/rose-petal-jelly

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook to see our other adventures. Life is short, make every minute count!

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Whiling away the Summer Days

This summer has been a mix of extremes, super hot days then cool days, then humid days. It recently decided hot was where it would stay. I have still been able to open up the house at night to cool things off and then close it up in the morning to try and keep the heat out so I don't have to run the air conditioning. The mornings are wonderful and the evenings are perfect for swimming, walking but the hot part of the day you will find me hiding inside. How have all of you guys been dealing with the summer so far? I made some Hibiscus sun tea yesterday and sat with my feet in the pool enjoying the breeze of late afternoon and talking to my husband who was in the pool brushing it down.  My peach tree was so loaded this year, and with us being away, I was unable to thin enough to save one of my limbs which is now being supported by two by fours until the fruit is picked and then it will have to come off.

It makes me so sad to loose another major limb, the tree is just so productive. The peaches are white flesh, free stone and I love them so much. There is just nothing like fresh peaches over ice cream, even now over vegan ice cream.

Its just not summer without that. Last year I canned jams, preserves, chutneys and relishes. This year I am going to make more fresh fruit things for a change. Some fresh relishes, fresh fruit pies, every morning my cereal is loaded with peaches, its been a bumper crop!

My vegan scone recipe, turned out a bit loose even though I dried the peaches before adding. They didn't look like a normal scone but they taste pretty yummy. 

They are great to grab and go for breakfast or to snack on, fat free too!

Since I don't want to heat up the kitchen, cooking and baking are kept to a minimum and then I have been setting some time aside to do some Spring cleaning. I have been avoiding this for too long and I make myself go through magazines, paperwork etc and organize for a few hours then I get to go and work on a sewing project or paint. I finished a block to submit to Quiltmakers 100 Blocks, if they except it I hope to see it in Volumes 9 or 10. I would like to submit another, we will see. I have some art quilts also that need to be finished up.

The Queen

I did this small wallhanging art quilt for a challenge in my art quilt group called Sub-Q. The challenge was holes. We were free to interpret anyway we liked and being an avid gardner had been dealing with damage to my hollyhocks from snails. I had declared all out war actually as they had practically skeletonized all the leaves on my poor bushes. It was perfect for the challenge and I painted it and then quilted it to some black felt. I then cut out the felt and leaves to produce holes. I have now decided it needs a bit more color on top and I am going to back it with another fabric. I am contemplating wether to cut through the fabric like I did in the front and make the holes go all the way through or back it with black and leave it. I am kind of leaning towards cutting it out. I think it will be interesting to see all the way through the quilt to the wall. I really love this little wall hanging more and more as it hangs in my studio. I still have my Hollyhocks too!

Hollyhocks, handpainted, machine quilted. Available 

I also have another fabric line due so I need to focus and get going on that, time is flying by and I just haven't been inspired. That is my goal this week, get it done!!

Oh and just a few other Summer things of note so far. My oldest grandson graduated from High School even though we all know I couldn't possibly be that old. But anyway, my daughter made him a money lei that she found on Pinterest. It was awesome!

Congrats Mikey!

And finally, it is Jennifer's birthday tomorrow. Its hard to believe she will be 37! Although she is in a wheelchair now I will always remember her free, independent spirit, and riding our horses through the hills together. She is an amazing person and although physically challenged she still continues to amaze and inspire me everyday. Happy Birthday Jenn!!

More sketching opportunities in Big Bear!

A painting of the marina and our hotel in the distance

We took Jennifer up to Big Bear for an amazing two days of water skiing, jet skiing and tubing. Casa Colina's Outdoor Adventure program and USARC hosted this adaptive event! Another wonderful opportunity for disabled people to have a chance to have some fun on the water in a safe and monitored environment. The weather was crazy weird, with bouts of thunder and lightening and pouring rain in the middle of August but everyone managed to have a great time. Randy and I even got up before dawn on Thursday morning and went out to capture the sunrise.

 The clouds were off in the distance but made for a perfect photo shoot!  I even managed to sneak in a painting and sketch onsite while I was there watching and photographing Jenn. I did something that was really fun, and I thought I would share it and challenge everyone that is reading my blog to do something similar and let me hear what you did!

During one of the downpours we ran inside the restaurant up there and sat in a small glassed in porch area and watched the storm take back the lake. Everyone was sitting just watching and hoping that they could go back out. Well I happened to have brought some fun art supplies so I passed out paper and intense sticks to anyone who wanted to sketch! It was such fun and helped pass the time until the sun was out again and everyone could resume their day of skiing. Before I left I noticed that Chris was sliding his sketch under the glass top that covered the red table cloth at the table near the window. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was leaving his sketch for others to see. I thought that was such a great idea! I had painted a small sketch of the boats and water and slid it unsigned under the table top glass too! What a neat thing to do! To leave a little piece of art behind for others to enjoy. I am hoping that the restaurant will not remove them and that next time we go there will not only be ours still there but that others will have done the same! I think a glass covered piece of art table covering is much nicer! Lets leave gifts of art and then share where they are and if you happen to get by that way please make a note to leave your art or take your picture with someone's art! My art is under the glass at B's barbecue on Big Bear Blvd, over looking the lake.

Another early morning shot of a fisherman getting ready to fish, I love this photo!

Todays painting

I painted this goose, quickly, maybe 10 minutes. He is standing in a field of snow, next to and icy stream, looking off into the distance. Sometimes that reflects how we all feel and how I felt today. Alone, cold, looking out over a monotoned landscape. Unable to find any color, unable to see the beauty of things. Again, we had a hearing about Jennifer's benefits. Medi-cal terminates her health care monthly and we have been fighting to keep it. It a long story, and I wont burden you with details but I feel bad for the many people who,like Jennifer, are unable to fight their own battles and lose. They don't have an advocate and so, in their weakened state fall victim to the constant abuse, threats and finally termination by the government of their benefits. You always hear about the people who abuse the system and rip off the government and take money that isn't owed to them. I think this sets the stage for the way they deal with the rest of us, who are doing it the honest and right way. I thought this was all settled in 2005! I am just now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. It does change a person, how could it not. It makes you cynical, critical, mad, frustrated and the constant stress takes its toll on our health and well being. I guess I will fight for her until I can fight no more and then pray someone will step up to the plate and take my place. Today I had a voice, I got to share my concerns with a judge, on record with the case workers present. I don't know if it will do any good, I don't know if it will make a difference, I have to wait and see. For now the fight continues.

Sidenote: In todays news there was a report of a 93 year old man who froze to death because the electric company turned off his power. They found him wrapped up in blankets wearing 4 sweaters. It was reported that there were icycles in his sinks. How can they do that in the middle of winter. Another story of no one to fight for the weak and sick, its just so sad.

A Day in LA

Back to the doctor at UCLA for Jennifer's throat. With the traffic on the freeways lighter than normal we made good time and arrived early. I had my little sketchbook in my purse but no pencil. I settled for a blue ball point pen in desperation. In the corner of the waiting rooms sits a endtable next to the many chairs. On this table is a giant nose made of marble with a bronze plaque proudly mounted on the top front with the artists information and probably the name of the piece, although I dare not walk over and look too closely at this giant nose. I assume they felt it to be appropriate decor for a top ears, nose and throat doctors waiting room. I suddenly started to wonder about the decor in maybe the proctologist office for example, the urinary doctors offices? This is how my mind began to wander as I sat in the office drawing a giant marble nose. LOL After we got some good news about Jennifer's breathing we felt like celebrating so we decided to go out to dinner and to a play at the Geffen Playhouse which happens to be just across the street from the hospital and the medical center. We sat in the courtyard and drank coffee as we waited for the playhouse doors to open. The courtyard is really lovely with wonderful plants and wrought iron tables and chairs surrounding a fountain. I sat and drew, with my blue ball point pen and happened to capture these masterpieces. LOL just kidding, the sketches lack many things but did give me a few minutes of relaxation as I became absorbed in the details of the buildings, both inside and out. We were one of the first to arrive and I always enjoy watching people and in L.A. there are such colorful people to watch! There were a lot of older people, many who seemed to be regulars and came in greeting everyone. There were those who were dressed to the nines and those who were underdressed. There were several gay couples sipping their wine as they walked around the room. It was great fun, just the energy in the room was exciting. I love when we take this long day and make it an adventure, I can't wait till we come again!

A New Toy!!

I got a new case of pastel pencils so I can do some details that large pieces of chalk won't allow. I was dying to play with them and was looking for something small to sketch when I saw it! Jenn's pill holder. Since her accident she takes a ton of medication, its really sad. When I first brought her home from the hospital my goal was to try and reduce the amount of meds from her system. It seems as though when your in a hospital environment they give you a pill for everything. It took me months to weed through what was necessary and what was not until we arrived at a much reduced number of meds. I also wanted her to be aware of what she was taking and not allow people just to give her meds without her consent and knowledge. I know I can't be there to watch over her forever. While she was still very blind we spent lots of time feeling meds, tasting meds and letting her put her own meds together, with me closely watching. Over the years her vision has gotten better to where she can actually see colors and it helps her sort through her meds. We got these small containers, like the ones they serve condiments in at restaurants for her hold her meds in by her bedside. I know, lots of unnecessary information about this silly sketch. But Jenn now adds vitamins into these little cups and the other day I was talking to her about all the pills she had now added to her daily medications. It was a sea of color, these pill manufacturers are making pills in all colors. This was my sketch for my new pastel pencils, it was fun and challenging due to all the ovals, circles and angles.

IT's July 9 again!

Today is July 9, the anniversary of Jennifers crash. It is a weird day, it always feels weird. Some years I try to go out and fill the day with activities as if to say "I'll show you" and other years I hide away, giving into the power of the event that changed all of our lives. Today began gloomy, and I think I will stay inside today. Jennifer had a fishing trip over the weekend and won for the biggest fish! She is really amazing, never complains or gives up. She pulled this huge halibut in almost by herself, only a little help from dad and the guy with the gafting hook. She has figured out how to wind the reel now without bloodying her knuckles like she did those first few trips. She just keeps at it, determined not to give way to her physical limitations. I didn't go this year, Jenns brother, my son, and his kids went and all had a great time and caught enough fish for many dinners.