I think I wanted to save my blog from the fullness of my impatience during that time between when Matt began his exit of Camp K-V, Iraq and when he actually, finally landed in San Diego.
Then, I suppose, I've been distracted with getting used to living with my dear husband again. Which is a delightful challenge. It's good to be together again, and to settle into our house together.
One of the messes he came home to was our backyard. It was a disaster. I'd attempted to begin cutting back our uncontrollable (if abundantly fruitful) passionfruit vine and made a bigger mess of it. The banana tree that bloomed in August fell over a few weeks ago from the gradual pull of the weight of its fruit, and was poorly propped up by a teetering pair of stacked chairs and a wooden prop. And so on.
Last Friday, we made a go at cleaning it up. And things are looking much better. We're just eager for the trash truck to come down our street this week.
One little piece of our work was picking the last three hands of bananas on the other plant--the one that bloomed in June. They were still green, but I've decided that I don't think they're gonna turn yellow on the plant.
So, with those bananas now turning yellow, tonight, I made my second batch of banana jam from one hand. It's too early to say for sure, but it early results seem very promising. And with peanut butter on a sandwich: yum.
Banana jam recipes were a bit tricky to find, so I thought I'd share mine.
Homegrown Banana Jam
7 cups of bananas, chopped
juice of 2 limes (about 1/2 c.)
2 cups of white grape juice
4 1/2 c. sugar
Combine it all, mashing the bananas up a bit. Bring it to a boil, stirring regularly. Let it boil for about 15 minutes, 'til it seems good and jammy. Pour it into jars, and process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.
Makes 9 1/2 pint jars, with about a half-cup left over. I'm a big fan of left-over jam samples.
(Why do you suppose half-pint sound so much more quaint that "cup" when speaking of jars of jam?)
