Photo Play, Home Made Jam and Quinn the Clown

 Once or twice a year I treat myself to a month of training on Lynda.com. I can always find lots of courses which inspire, inform and delight. Photoshop, of course has almost endless creative potential. When I use it, which is virtually daily, I feel as if I've just begun to scratch the surface of its capabilities, even though I've been a user for about twenty-five years!

One course I took last week, called Dreamscapes, was offered by Bert Monroy, a pioneer in the digital arts, and the author of the very first (and many subsequent) Photoshop How-To manuals. He takes you step by step in the creation of digital paintings and fantastical landscapes using old photographs.

The Paris street above was originally a daytime image with random cars and people in it that I totally removed. It was turned into night and a moon and cloudy sky were added.

I seemed to be most attracted to the projects which featured nighttime scenes. This street in Ghent turned into a dark and stormy night. I particularly like the glowing windows.

This courtyard in the brilliant sunlight of Seville has become a romantic nighttime villa with a tiny apparition.

I combined several photos in this image of the Montmirail countryside and Zinnie to create my own project using some of the techniques I learned from Bert. I highly recommend the course if you have interest in becoming a digital painter. You can, of course find lots of free Photoshop tutorials on YouTube. That's where I learned how to make the rainbow.

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It's jam-making time again. I like to make enough to last for a year of breakfasts, but that's a lot as it turns out. Our garden did produce a good quantity of cherries and strawberries this year but not yet enough to make jars of jam, so it's down to what's available at the market.

Although I've posted this recipe before, I'll repeat myself here, since the process is so simple and the results extremely gratifying.

You measure out your fruit and layer it in a glass or ceramic bowl, by weight using 60% fruit slices to 40% sugar. It's an enormous amount of sugar, but most jam recipes call for 50/50 and 60/40 is significantly tastier and more fruity.

Cover with plastic and leave it overnight in the refrigerator. The sugar and fruit act together to create a sugary syrup.

To cook, separate the fruit from the liquid and heat that up first until it reaches 230ºF on a medium flame, skimming off the impurities as they rise to the surface. Add the fruit and again heat up to 230º F, skimming off the scum. This whole process can take an hour or so.

Ladle the warm jam into sterilized jars, right up to the tippy top.

Invert jars and allow to cool. They will be sealed and ready to store. I have received lots of compliments on my jam concoctions. Store-bought just can't compare. I like mixing up all kinds of fruit together. It doesn't matter at all what you choose. My favorite so far is nectarine, peach mixed with a few raspberries and garden cherries. The flavor is divine.

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Quinn's first summer activity was to take a clowning class from Pépito, a Spanish clown at a circus school not far from his house in Paris. I think he makes a very attractive one!

Making Jam & The End of Summer

I've had a forced vacation from blogging due to a hard disk crash and the slow rebuilding of my computer environment and virtual existence. If you've ever been through this, you'll know how maddening it can be. Suffice it to say, I'm glad to be back.

Our summer was glorious beyond all expectations. When it was still raining at the beginning of July, I began to get a little cranky. But the sun did come out and made up for lost time. We've had long warm and sunny days for weeks on end and I have been able to get my fill of summer. Now the weather has turned a little cooler and a hint of autumn is in the air. The beginning of another season I love.

We use a lot of jam in our Bed & Breakfast business. I made some last summer, but not nearly enough to get us through the whole year. This summer I was anxious to increase my production and put away as much as possible. Crates of peaches, apricots, nectarines and strawberries decorated our kitchen counters.

There is no comparison between jam you purchase at the supermarket and that which you can make at home. I learned that last summer when I discovered a marvelous recipe for jams. It's very easy. By cutting down on the amount of sugar and following a few simple steps, you can create an incredibly tasty jam in minutes which brings the taste of the fruit forward and retains its rich, bright color. One morning when we were making breakfast for clients, we heard the sharp sound of porcelain against porcelain and could not imagine what was being eaten in the dining room, as the food had not yet been served up. We discovered that our client had taken the freshly made apricot jam and devoured it as if it were compote! In fact the taste is so delicious and fresh that it is much more like a fruit preserve than a jam. The compliments have kept coming. I highly recommend the following recipe:

Cut any kind of fresh ripe fruit into small pieces and weigh them before placing in a glass or ceramic bowl (no metal) in layers, cover the fruit with 40% sugar (by weight). I use sugar made for jellies and jams which has a bit of pectin added. When the fruit is all cut up and layered with the sugar, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator at least over night and up to two days.

The next day, strain the juice which has formed out of the fruit, adding as much of the undissolved sugar as possible. Set the fruit aside and put the liquid on the stove in a large pot. Boil very gently watching closely, until the liquid has reached about 230°. The liquid can carmelize or boil away if it gets too hot or goes too fast.  This step usually takes about half an hour. Even if I can't get my candy thermometer to register 230°, I put my fruit in after that amount of time.

Allow the fruit to boil in the liquid until you hear the steady sound of the boiling liquid become a bit more sluggish. It needs to get a bit thick. This also takes about half an hour at a soft boil.

Voila! That's all there is to it. Place the jam in sterilized jars and seal. It will keep for a year or so. Or if you just make a small batch, you can keep it unsealed in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. To some of the peach jam, I added a large vanilla bean. This gives a nice hint of vanilla flavor.

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Life in the garden is winding down, but the end of the summer brings some very spectacular blooms. Our multi-colored morning glory came into its own and covered part of the back wall.

The sunflower seeds sent to us by a friend in California developed into large plants each with a different happy face.

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Last week our friend Amy and her daughter Arwen came to stay at the Maison Conti for several days. We spent one day in the Loire Valley visiting several sites, including Chenonceau, undoubtedly the most beautiful of the big châteaus. The day was fine, and since we chose to go on a weekday after the kids were back in school, we didn't have a fierce crowd, as is often the case.

The interior of the castle is very attractive. There is a long history of women owning and occupying the château and therefore there is much soft charm and grace to the decoration. The gallery, with its black and white marble floors, which stretches across the river Cher, is a gorgeous room. During the war, it was a hospital for allied troops and more than a 1000 men lay on cots up and down the hallway. It seems like a very nice place to recover from the horror of battles.

Out every window are views of the river as it rolls gently beneath the building.

I have posted many photos of Chenonceau throughout the years I have been writing this blog, so I won't add too many more here. This time, however, I really focused on the flower arrangements which are among the most extravagant and beautiful I have ever seen anywhere. They grace almost every room no matter what the season.

They are not small little bouquets either, but arranged in huge pots, requiring an enormous number of fresh flowers. And of course they would have to be changed regularly to keep them looking good, which they always do.

I notice them every time I go and have often wondered who creates these luscious displays, which constantly change.

And how could they could afford so many flowers? I think there must be dozens of such bouquets throughout the house. Even if the arrangements are simple, their size is breathtaking. This is only the smallest sampling.

This year I got part of my answer. We have never before visited the little farm and garden tucked away to one side as you exit. I highly recommend it to you if you visit Chenonceau.

On the garden grounds thousands upon thousands of flowers grow on about an acre of land.

It is so pleasant to stroll through the grounds and enjoy the blossoms of many colors. In the castle kitchen was a beautiful arrangement of gourds and vegetables. There is a small edible section in the garden as well. It's hard to imagine a more wonderful job than arranging flowers for Chenonceau!