Left The Eelsfoot Inn this morning with a heavy heart. The plan was to drive back and stop at Fowlmere RSPB. We took the route via Minsmere on to Westleton to stop off and pick some wild plums. There are a lot about they are bigger than sloes but smaller than a victoria plum, dark in colour. We very quickly filled a plastic box full. See a later post for the results.
We took a great road which took us via Scole and Diss in search of an Army Surplus store, I need some buckles, webbing, and proper poncho. We found a very interesting store down a housing estate it was the proper thing it had a yard full of green and grey metal junk. Unfortunately shut on bank holidays, mental note to self to make a return journey! (Helen says not with her!).
We soon arrived at Fowlmere after various detours in Thetford forest avoiding traffic. Turns out we had been there before, and did not see much. Today was going to be a repeat. We are in late August and had arrived at mid day, so the odds were really against us. We did the tour round but there was not much to see. The list was Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Heron, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, and Brown Trout! The reserve is very quiet and secluded, great for a gentle stroll.
We left the reserve and said we would stop if we saw somewhere worth while for a bite to eat. What a mistake that was! Bury Lane cafe in the garden centre just north of Royston. We dropped in for a some food and to sample the goods in the veg shop. We sat down and a waitress was there instantly, too quick for us to decide, so we sent her away, 15 minutes later Helen caught her eye and she took our order. Our drinks came first with an apology that the food would be 10 to 20 minutes, I almost walked! When the food finally arrived to be fair it was nice, I had tuna and sweet corn baguette and Helen baked potato and beans which she complimented.
Back in the car we then drove straight back to home and reality. I got straight onto making the jam. I just got rid of the the stones by the squashing method, i.e put between thumb and fore-finger and squeeze/squash out. I add equal amounts of sugar and not water. Give a good stir and wait for the sugar to draw the liquid out of the fruit. Put on the heat and bring to the boil slowly , you do not want to burn anything. Once boiling turn the heat down and wait till it is ready. There are ways to check that the jam is ready, using a cold saucer or a thermometer, but I have found that if you keep it boiling for about 20 minutes the white foam disappears and the jam gets kind of thicker. I just seem to know when it is ready.
The plums were a bit under ripe and at the start I thought it would not work, but after some boiling a really deal purple colour leached out of the skins. The jam tastes great, quite sharp but the plum flavour is really intense.