Time saving Generosity

In the market today I asked for 15 mandarin oranges, priced at 15 for a pound.

The young man who served me shovelled a number of handfuls into a bag, making no attempt to count them. When I counted them at home I found I had 21.

A few weeks ago, a different young man at the same stall gave me 3 pounds of apples for the price of 2; too busy to weigh them, he just put lots in the bag to make sure there were enough.

The deprived folk who do all their shopping at supermarkets never have such entertainment.

Strawberry Jam

Today I made my very first batch of strawberry Jam.

I've often made jam by combining strawberries with other fruit, especially gooseberries but have never before used just strawberries because jam makers I know say that jam with just strawberries won't set, though I'm not sure whether that's because strawberries lack pectin, or because they aren't acid enough.

Just to be on the safe side I added some lemon juice, but I still found setting hard to achieve until I added a lot of extra sugar.

My observations suggest the following recipe:

1 kg strawberries
200 ml lemon juice
1.6 kg sugar

The standard proportions for jam are equal quantities of fruit and sugar, so that's 33% extra sugar.

I wonder if extra sugar would work without the lemon juice. I may try with tiny quantities.

Intermittent Memory

I forgot to take my shopping list when I went to town today, but I still remembered to buy everything I'd put on it.

I'm treating that as a triumph !

Sir Robert Filmer Walks Again

I caught a few seconds of the service honouring the Queen's 60 years on the throne.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said that she did not choose the office, but was 'called to it by God'

Does the Archbishop want us to believe in the Divine Right of Kings ?