As Sweet As... Strawberry Jam!

Yay, another victory for me - strawberry jam! I actually made the jam before I made the ketchup - that's how my ketchup epiphany occurred as I used exactly the same principles. Life is awesome sometimes :)

Last week, I walked into Woolies and there in front of me, glowing like glorious beacons of fantasticness were punnets and punnets of the most gorgeously plump and juicy strawberries. I was in business!
 Snatching up a bulk punnet, and cradling it protectively towards me, I hurried over to the cashier. "Quickly, quickly", I thought, "I wanna make me some jam!"

At home I googled Jamie Oliver's recipe for strawberry jam and set to work, staring at the red beauties in awe as I went.

Strawberries have many benefits for the body - they are high in vitamin C and K, manganese, folic acid, potassium, riboflavin, vitamin B5 and B6, copper, magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids.

They are also the only berry to have seeds on the outside and one strawberry has as many as 200 seeds! WOW!

Strawberries even have love connotations as some stories suggest that sharing a strawberry with someone may cause you to fall in love with him or her. Now that's what I call an easy love potion. :)

The strawberry plant belongs to the same family of roses, Fragraria, along with apples and plums. Fragraria comes from the Latin word for fragrant. Strawberries can be quite a common allergen and therefore allergies to apples and plums may occur too.

Strawberry Jam:

Ingredients:

400g Strawberries
120mls Fructose
1 Vanilla Pod, Slit in Half

Directions:

Mush up strawberries, keeping a few largish pieces
Combine with the fructose and vanilla pod in a pot on the stove
Boil on a medium heat for 5 minutes
Remove any scum from the surface
Allow to cool for about half an hour
The jam will thicken on standing

Our dinner on this night consisted of scone biscuits with strawberry jam and soya cream. Naughty but ooohhhh sooooo nice :) Scone biscuit recipe to follow in the next post.

There are 10 days left to enter the Cinnamon Sue Competition. Why not do it today?

Pomegranate Power

Some time ago, I walked into Pick n' Pay and spotted pomegranates - I immediately bought them; they cost R30 for two, which is quite hefty for a fruit - but these little babies contain soooo many seeds, it's actually unbelievable. The name "pomegranate" derives from the Latin words pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded").

Pomegranate juice is a good source of vitamin C and Vitamin B5, while pomegranate seeds are high in fibre and unsaturated fats.

~Wikipedia~

The seeds are really versatile and can be used in both savoury and sweet dishes.

I have put them on my oats in the morning

And in fruit salads such as apple, orange and pomegranate or orange, strawberry and pomegranate

And yesterday I made the most gorgeous salad for lunch

Pomegranate, Beetroot and Avo Salad
(Serves 1)

Ingredients:

Handful Cos Lettuce, Torn
Handful Corn Salad*, Torn
A Few Sugar Snap Peas
1 Cooked Beetroot, Sliced
Half an Avo, Sliced
A Handful of Pomegranate Seeds
Squeeze Lemon Juice
Olive Oil*
Salt and Pepper

*The corn salad was in my organic veggie box - it is also known as Lamb's Lettuce
* If you can have it, a parmesan infused olive oil, would work really well in this salad

Directions:

Make a dressing using the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper
I dressed each of the ingredients individually so as to prevent the beetroot colour from running
Layer the dressed leaves at the bottom of a bowl or plate
Layer the beetroot, avo and sugar snap peas over the lettuce
Sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds
Season again with salt and pepper and any left over dressing

Remember to enter the October Cinnamon Sue Competition. Entries close on 31 October 2010. Good luck :)

October Cinnamon Sue Competition

We are feeling generous, and because it's nearly Christmas and simply, just because... I will be running a monthly competition in conjunction with Cinnamon Sue Online Gift Boutique. I have blogged about one of the gorgeous products before - the Nigella Mixing Bowls and told you how much I love them and how versatile they are, but I not only love the bowls, I also love sharing and I want to share some amazing Cinnamon Sue products with you!

The competition is simple - all you need to do is read the poem below and figure out what product is being described by going onto the Cinnamon Sue website and investigating. You will then need to e-mail me your answer by the 31st October 2010 and then guess what? You can win the product that is being described! How cool is that?? So what are you waiting for - get reading and good luck! :)

I am so versatile,

I just love to file.

With teeth like a primate’s,

I just love to grate.

Lemons and oranges are nice,

But, I just love spice.

Ginger and garlic are fab,

And boy do I love a chocolate slab.

Coconut strands are really pretty,

But, I love hard cheese from an Italian city.

All names will go into a draw and the first correct entry picked will be the winner. The winner will be announced on my blog on the 1st November 2010. Judges decision is final and prize may not be exchanged for cash. Competition is only open to residents of South Africa. You may enter as many times as you wish.