<p>This year the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is fulfilling its promise in abundance. Many mornings have seen the mistiness that leaves tree tops severed from their trunks. Back in early September I blogged about windfalls from a crab apple tree that has a yellow fruit and today I was able to take photographs of the branches laden with red fruit on an old favourite near our home. Back in April I took shots of the blossom which was really exceptional so it is not surprising that the tree has such a wonderful crop. People often say lots of fruit and berries means a harsh winter ahead but it is far more likely to result from conditions the previous spring than be a foreteller of doom.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Back in the garden we only have room for a couple of cordon apples but the fruit, although not great in number, has been far larger and with a superb flavour. A nearby garden has a quince tree, a fruit we have never tried. In years of abundance such as this a basket of quinces is always displayed for passers-by to help themselves and we have never done so but this year we have selected just a few fruits and, thanks to studying old recipe books and a number of articles in magazines, we are about to venture on some quince jelly. Not quite sure when we'll get the chance but will keep you posted. For those also in the dark about this once popular fruit a quince looks vaguely pear shaped but is harder like an apple and is not really eaten raw although some folk-lore suggests Greek brides did so to sweeten their breath. The simplest recipe I have found suggests simply cutting the fruit into small pieces and simmering to soften. Then straining and adding sugar, boiling again until a set is achieved. Other recipes include the rind and juice of a lemon. Anyone had any experience with making quince jelly?</p>

<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning /> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas /> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables /> <w:SnapToGridInCell /> <w:WrapTextWithPunct /> <w:UseAsianBreakRules /> <w:DontGrowAutofit /> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--></p> <p>After a couple of weeks savouring the smell of the ripening quinces it was finally time to trial quince jelly. After consulting recipe books from several decades and of varying levels of sophistication I decided on a very simple version of quince jelly. The absolute basic recipe I found simply boiled the sliced quinces in water with sugar but I adapted my apple jelly recipe instead and added a lemon for flavour and to aid the set.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Slicing quinces is no easy task. It took my heavy duty cook's knife to do the deed and even then I had to lean on it heavily. No wonder they say you cannot eat the fruit raw. I put the whole fruit in as I was making jelly. Added enough water to cover and then let them simmer away until soft. I grated the rind and squeezed the lemon to add but then added the rest as well. Once all was softened I strained the mixture through a jelly bag - no easy task as I discovered it had sprung a hole since last used. Improvised by using a folded piece of damp kitchen paper in the base and only juice got through to leave a lovely pink clear liquid.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Left overnight to strain the next day I added sugar at the rate of a pound to a pint of juice and boiled it all up until setting point was reached. Poured the jelly into sterilised jars and sealed them and the resulting ruby jelly looks wonderful. Worth making for the colour alone. A real jewel of a jelly. (An unusual ruby wedding gift perhaps?). We have tasted the sample pot and as someone remarked in the earlier post the jelly is very sweet but would make a great foil to cheese or meat dishes, rather as cranberry jelly enhances turkey I think.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>At every stage, mindful of the writer's hat, I took photos and made a note of any snags that arose - don't they always - and although this was a fairly lengthy process I think the effort will prove worthwhile and we will have satisfied our curiosity about this historic fruit.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>