Tea outdoors, and strawberry jam happens

The weather veering wildly from summer to fall, complete with high winds, and back again, any afternoon that allows for walking then tea on the deck is welcome. 

 
Here's the last slice of banana bread with a nice spoonful of labneh, great contrast, between the sweeter, fruity bread and the tart labneh, a favorite of mine. And a couple of shock horror, bought cookies! Goya Maries to be exact.

The book is Second Honeymoon by Joanna Trollope, great deck reading.  This is one I got enough of before the end, though, since there's a lot about actors and their lives, and it's sadly tedious stuff, as theater is to me, when it's just talking about it.  I've known quite a few actors over the years, and they're most interesting when they're on stage interpreting other people's words and thoughts.

And strawberry jam happened. I remembered having frozen a couple of containers of strawberries after eating some fresh, and last evening thought it would be good to have a little something to spread on bread.  Also to give to helpful neighbors who have been very good lately, what with setting up my washing machine after the plumbing adventure, the kind of job that's too small to get anyone to do for pay, but way beyond my strength to just do.  You need burly relatives or friends, and fortunately I have burly neighbors.

They are both mad for my bread, and the preserves, sooooo, a breakfast kit is going to happen for them soon.  And I need to buy more strawberries before the season ends.  Next jam plan is ginger and lemon, already prepped and in the freezer, the ingredients, that is.

Making jam, or in this case preserves, whole fruit in there, is not a big deal.  This small batch took half an hour start to finish.  It's just a matter of remembering to do it.  It used about one and a half strawberry containers.  Small batch is not only good to make, it's very good to taste.  And it's well received, since homebaked bread and jam is just not available even at the poshest stores.  Boutique food, even the best, has been packed and shipped.  Mine travels about fifty feet to its destination. I like this.

Teatime, outside, first of the year, with Barbara

Wonderful afternoon, warm and just right for afternoon tea outside, first of the year, accompanied by Barbara Pym.

Tea laid out -- gingerbread with a lemon sauce made from mayo and lemon juice, then lemon zest sprinkled on -- tea being English Breakfast with a slice of lemon.  This is from the same old batch of lemons I froze eons ago, and still going.  All very Pym!

And the reader's view.

Gingerbread footnote: it was in fact a whole lot better after a day of being kept airtight.  So there's that.

And sauce footnotes:  the corn, crab, cilantro fritters were great yesterday with the sauce I made with the cucumbers, so today I tested them with the tamarind sauce and with the plum sauce.  Tamarind okay, but the plum overwhelmed them.  So probably the creamier sauce is better for this purpose.  Just fyi from your Test Kitchen Chez Liz.