Faith, Folklore, and Friends

The summer of 1993, when I was doing some research in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, I became addicted to bagels.  After I returned to Alabama, I searched everywhere, and there was not a real bagel to be found.  Sure, there were frozen things available in the supermarkets here, but I'm talking about bagels fresh from the oven, with a big slab of cream cheese in the middle. In Franconia, New Hampshire, I found some real bagels at this little coffee shop. They even had a big chicken outside to welcome me. They were just as good as I remembered.  Hub got an everything bagel and I had the cinnamon/raisin. We each ate half, then swapped.  We do this all the time when we are having different things to eat. It is hard to say which one was the best.  They were both amazingly good. Maybe more so because I knew it might be years before I have another one. Back in '93, after looking and looking for fresh bagels, I tried to make some.  I went ...

  Yesterday, we took about a gallon of the muscadines and made preserves.  There was eight pints and a little extra when we were done. These are not easy preserves to make, because you have to separate the pulp and hulls in order to take all the seed out before you can cook the preserves.  It took a lot of time, but hopefully, it will be worth it when we spread it on bagels and biscuits this winter.  Thanks to my magic Ninja, the hulls and pulp were ground into small pieces, making it almost like a thick jelly.  Sorry I don't have pictures for every step, but it was impossible when there was so much going on. The house smelled fantastic as the preserves were cooking, and for a long time afterwards.  We did the obligatory taste test, and I think these sweet preserves will be worth every bit of the work!