Old Traditions
Every year my grandmother has made her famous strawberry jam. It isn't really famous, but we have called it this for years. She spends hours in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove and pressure cooker. Every small town has it's (set in stone) traditions and my families just happens to be jam. This year will be different, and somehow I feel incomplete. Strawberries will not be ripe for a few more weeks, but we have already started the process of finding containers and making sure they are all clean.
Grandma starts out collecting sugar in small batches. They local grocery store always gives her a hassle if she buys the sugar in bulk. They think she might be using it for something illegal. Come on now! Really? She is a little old white haired frail woman who wants to cook in quantity. Once she has her sugar, she beings looking for local farmers who have surplus berries. I have been on several outings where we have done nothing but talk to people. She is a "talker." After securing her supplies, we usually start digging for her recipe. Every year that she has made jam she has also lost her recipe. She doesn't want anyone to see it, so she hides it, and usually looses it in this process.
You have to know how much you need to make. My grandmother has never measured anything in her life. "You need to learn how to cook by feel," is what she usually tells me. Another thing that she likes to say is, "Go by taste, not what is written down on the paper." This will be the first year that my grandma will not be participating in this tradition the way we did in the past. After loosing my grandpa, everything is different and we don't do "old traditions," because it still hurts too much. She is only going to make enough to fill her cabinet.
Grandma starts out collecting sugar in small batches. They local grocery store always gives her a hassle if she buys the sugar in bulk. They think she might be using it for something illegal. Come on now! Really? She is a little old white haired frail woman who wants to cook in quantity. Once she has her sugar, she beings looking for local farmers who have surplus berries. I have been on several outings where we have done nothing but talk to people. She is a "talker." After securing her supplies, we usually start digging for her recipe. Every year that she has made jam she has also lost her recipe. She doesn't want anyone to see it, so she hides it, and usually looses it in this process.
You have to know how much you need to make. My grandmother has never measured anything in her life. "You need to learn how to cook by feel," is what she usually tells me. Another thing that she likes to say is, "Go by taste, not what is written down on the paper." This will be the first year that my grandma will not be participating in this tradition the way we did in the past. After loosing my grandpa, everything is different and we don't do "old traditions," because it still hurts too much. She is only going to make enough to fill her cabinet.
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