Fresh from reading “River Cottage: Preserves” I headed out inspired into my garden this week to harvest what little fruit I had left on my 3 blackcurrant bushes ready to turn into Jam.  I’m probably a little late in the season but lucky (or not) for me I had enough for one solitary jar - so in amidst my wife laughing at my feeble crop I set to work in the kitchen.

And I have a confession to make.  Although blackcurrant jam is by far one of the easiest to make, mine was cooked for too long - I watched the Olympics a little too much at the neglect of the bubbling saucepan.  It’s still delicious but perhaps little too thick for spreading and hence will go well dolloped into a bowl of hot oats for breakfast…

Follow the recipe and remember to check for setting point (unlike me) and all will go well, I promise!

Blackcurrant Jam Recipe - Ingredients

• 1kg blackcurrants (stalks removed)
• 1kg caster sugar
• 120ml water

Blackcurrant Jam Recipe - Method

1. Bring the water and sugar to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes to create a syrup
2. Add the blackcurrants and bring back to the boil; leave for another 10 minutes
3. If you have a thermostat, check the temperature; 105 degrees is perfect for setting point.  If not then pour a teaspoon of jam onto a cold plate.  If it is jelly like it’s ready - the jam thickens on cooling.
4. Pour into sterilised jars and keep for absolutely ages unopened and a few weeks when open (in the fridge).

Enjoy this however you like!

It’s half way through August already and I’m only just revealing the winners of July’s “Does My Blog Look Good In This” food photograpy competition.  Well, there’s nothing like keeping people in suspense…

The judges, by the way, were myself, Trig, Julia and Amy.  As way of thanks you should all hug them next time you see them.

Well done to all those who won (who are quite entitled to display the DMBLGIT logo, right, on their blog by way of reward) and even those who didn’t - all of you took fantastic photographs!  Make sure to check out Andreea’s blog for the August edition of DMBLGIT, too.

Drum roll please!

Overall Winners (highest total scores):

First Place: Strawberry Balsamic Jam with Lemon Lavender Buttermilk Scones

Second Place: Chocolate Pasta

Joint Third Place: Gamberoni, crema di patate e cipolle caramellate (Shrimps, potato soup and caramelised onions)

Joint Third Place: Sweltering Jamaican Hot Pepper Shrimp

Following are winners for individual categories, the titles of which are fairly self explanatory:

“Edibility” Category Winner: Egg Yolk Spillage

“Originality” Category Winner: Psychedelic Cheesecake

“Aesthetics” Category Winner: Chinese White Cut Chicken

So I’m sitting here at the computer with sweat running down my back (apologies for the image) - it’s so damn HOT today!  English summer, tshh.  We wait all year for some hot weather and now it’s finally here - but it’s so…sticky!  Seems it’s an English tradition to complain about how other countries have a “different kind of heat” - but it’s true!

Still, enough complaining.  Days like this mean one of two things, either a) a barbecue (traditionally in England this is all the meat you can lay your hands on, from sausages through to burgers all in the same meal) or b) salad.  I’m opting for the latter since I binned my barbecue in protest about the poor weather a month or so ago.

A Greek Salad is the ultimate in simplicity and tastes delicious.  We enjoyed ours with tzatziki and crusty bread creating glorious memories of our honeymoon in Chania, Crete…

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This is the gallery for July 2008’s “Does My Blog Look Good In This” food photography competition, and will be updated as new entries are received right up to the end of the month…Have fun browsing!

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Isn’t it peculiar how we remember the strangest things?  Take my recent holiday to Poland (of which I am only just back) for example.  We stayed in a beautiful wooden house next to a lake in the forest, visited beautiful cities (Gdansk, Sopot) and saw one of the largest castles in Europe (Malbork).  From all of this, what do you guess I remember most about this trip?

Yep, you guessed it (perhaps rather obvious given the photograph, taken by my Wife) - Frogs.  From big ones to tiny ones the size of your thumbnail (which oddly seem to exist in abundance in the forest miles from the closest lake), they’re everywhere.  Still, they seemed to keep both the storks which visited our garden each morning and my Wife’s dog entertained for hours on end!

Just time before I disappear to remind you all that I am the host of this month’s “Does My Blog Look Good In This” food photography event.  You can read more about it here, and check back in the next few days for the image gallery.