I hadn’t planned on this post, but as mentioned in my previous post, I am on a cleaning /decluttering mission. This weekend just gone I was on a mission to clean out the larder… You know those jars of goodies that have been preserved/canned but never used – they need to go? So with much welcomed help from Gary, all jars have been emptied, cleaned and ready for refilling.
It was during this purge that I reached for my vinegar jars, believing that the much neglected mothers would have all dried out and shrivelled up. Ughh the task ahead to clean those jars! Then, low and behold, I found something alive… Ugly? Absolutley! – but I was sooooo excited!
I discovered that the sherry in the jar I’d started twelve months or so ago, and although dramatically reduced, it hadn’t totally dried up – and there sitting on top was the mother, alive and well. Did I mention that I was sooooo excited! I couldn’t believe it. I immediately took the jar to the kitchen, took out the little coffee pot and filter, purchased specifically for this purpose, and started to strain the vinegar away from the mother.
I have already worked out where it is going to live and how it will be espaliered… We were so pleased to be able to give them a bag of fresh local produce – potatoes, beetroot, zucchini, corn, eggs, etc. as well as rhubarb from our garden and some Jalapeno Chili and Sprouting Broccoli seedlings. But after they left I was kicking myself, as I also wanted to give them some preserves from the store! Oh well, next time, they will be returning in March to help with some repairs to our home, and there are some cooking projects on the agenda as well.
