Pickled, Potted and Just Jamming

 

Here we are again in our usual domestic autumn alchemies and the throes of the annual "putting things by" frame of mind -  we're all wrapped up in the splendid exercise and the feelings that go along with it.  There are jars all over the house at the moment, baskets of late fruit and tomatoes lining the counter and threatening to take over the place, the fragrance of spices and brine anointing the air and wafting about like incense.

As much of a botheration and production as it all is, we wouldn't miss this for the world, and the colors and smells and tastes are sublime.  When I set the jars under the window in the kitchen, they catch the sun in the most amazing way.  Will we line everything up alphabetically this year or according to color?

Some things never change though...  The purple of potted beets delights the eye, but tucking sealers into a boiling water bath yesterday afternoon, I found myself thinking that the larder needed a little more red - particularly that fine deep intense earthy red I am seeing everywhere in the shops this year.  In chiffon the color is absolutely stunning, and I wish I had somewhere to wear such things. 

The right word for this time of the year is brimming...