Adulting Is Hard!

Hello to all my lovely blogging buddies out there in cyberspace! How are you all today? I have to admit that I've had trouble getting my butt into gear today ... I think my "Adulting" function (which is a bit iffy at the best of times!!) has been completely scrambled by our spate of public holidays. :0P Don't get me wrong ... I LOOOOOOVE a public holiday, but after a few scrambled work weeks in a row & another coming next week, I'm completely bamboozled. Then add in that instead of working my usual four day week at my grown up job this week, I'll be working FIVE days ... And it's all too hard! :0P

And what have I been doing with all of the extra time I should have with all of these public holidays? Darn good question! Tee! Hee! Hee! I did spend some time sketching, inking, scanning & editing the next block of my Secret Squirrel design-in-progress ... But can't show you that. And yesterday I spent a lot of time in the kitchen making quince paste ... Which is a bit of a marathon effort.

I confess to being ignorant of quinces before we inherited a quince tree when we bought our house ... I thought they were furry apples! :0) But after a bit of googling, I am now a fan of quince paste with my cheese & bikkies. :0) While it's not difficult to make quince paste it's very time consuming because it's a long, slow cooking process.

Step one ...

Rinse quinces & rub off the fur. :0)

Step two ... Core & dice the quinces ... Not easy as they're almost as firm to cut as pumpkin & the slippery little suckers quite often get away. :0P Step three ... Stew the quinces until soft ... About three quarters of an hour. Step four ...

... Purée the stewed quinces in a food processor & pour them into an uncovered slow cooker. Add sugar & lemon juice ... & let them bubble for about five hours! The tricky bit here is that the mix needs to be stirred every twenty minutes or so to prevent a tough skin forming on the surface, so not much gets achieved when you're popping up to stir the pot every twenty minutes! Though there are some who would say stirring the pot comes naturally to me! Tee! Hee! Hee!

It's actually pretty cool to watch the process ... The fruit purée changes from a creamy colour to a deep burgundy colour through several shades of pink & rose. You know it's done when it's a nice dark burgundy. Then it's into containers to set ...

Before finally ...

... Providing the perfect accompaniment to your favourite cheese & crackers for a delicious gourmet snack. :0) It just needs a nice glass of adult beverage to go with it & we're set. :0) So we're stocked up on quince paste for the rest of the year now.

It did mean, however, that there were no sewing projects completed again ... SIGH! But for those of you who HAVE been busy stitching beavers, it's time to update your OPAM sidebar lists & email your April tally through to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all been up to. :0)

But now it's time to head back into the kitchen to work out what's for dinner. Then again ... That sounds like adulting & that function is on the blink! :0P I wonder how GB feels about boiled eggs & toast?! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS