This afternoon's farmstead activity was supposed to be a family affair of Queen Anne's Lace jelly making. Queen Anne's Lace jelly is delicious on crackers, toast, and tea biscuits. Its delicate floral taste is really quite lovely, making it one of our family's tea party favourites.
Liam and Seamus helped me get started by harvesting two bouquets of blossoms - one from our yard and one from the field of wildflowers on the property beside ours. I rinsed and de-stemmed them and then brewed them into two batches of floral tea.
The most interesting thing; however, is that the two identical batches (except for the picking location of the flower blossoms) turned out to be different colours! The first batch turned out golden and the second ended up being rose coloured. How unexpected yet lovely.
It seems that instead of sticking around for the rest of the jelly making, the boys had other ideas. All three boys treated me to a completely voluntary concurrent afternoon nap. In a shocking turn of events, I ended up with two solid hours to make my jelly in complete peace and quiet. It was incredible!
For each batch of jelly, I heated up four cups of the filtered tea, added two tablespoons of lemon juice, a box of no sugar pectin, and two cups of sugar. I boiled, poured the mixture into jars, and water bathed them. And voila, yet another floral jelly.
The most interesting thing; however, is that the two identical batches (except for the picking location of the flower blossoms) turned out to be different colours! The first batch turned out golden and the second ended up being rose coloured. How unexpected yet lovely.
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| Batch 1 |
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| Batch 2 |
I think it might be time for a tea party. I hear warm tea biscuits with fresh Queen Anne's Lace jelly calling my name. Wait...you hear it too? When should we expect you?
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