Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies

Marmalade class got a nice little ditty stuck in my head. It also got me back to something I like and something I excel at.*

There were a baker's dozen of us, including the Marmalade Queen herself. She is so lovely. Very British but in an Americanized and lives in Berkeley kind of a way, if you know what I mean. She makes the most amazing products and can spot a 'machine cut' preserve at 100 feet.

It was very fun to hang out with Initial Girl again. I do miss her. It's a bit funny because when you're not with someone as often as you once were, certain things come rushing back to you that you don't remember until you're back together. Personality things. It just takes a bit of time to readjust, which is kind of sad.

These classes are a nice mix of folks. People who have been canning and preserving for years and some (like me) just starting out. Several folks brought their own marmalades for tasting. One gentlemen brought his own fruit from his backyard. Many of us grow organic Meyer lemons and other heirloom citrus. It is California, after all.

Near the end of class while the marmalade was cooking off (it had already cooked down), I got to talking with a woman I'd taken a conserve class with last summer. We got onto the subject of food blogs. I shared a few of my favorites. She asked if I had a blog. I told her I did, but it wasn't a food blog. She said she'd love to read it. I told her it was pretty bitter and depressing and that it wasn't related to food at all. She asked what kind of blog it was so I simply said "an infertility blog".

She asked if I was dealing with infertility and I said I was. She then said "it's so very hard and no one understands just how hard it is unless they've been there."

Yet again, because of being a tiny bit open, I found a sister. We shared a lot more. I thought we just had a love of cooking in common but there's another bond, a stronger one. We talked for a bit about adoption and all sorts of other things. She talked about how hard it was when she was pursuing treatment. Her oldest daughter is adopted.  Even though it had been many years she still understood the pain. I guess it's true you never really resolve your infertility, you just deal with it.

She asked for my blog name and I gladly gave it to her. Here's to PP and marmalade skies.

*Taking classes, you silly people I'm soooooo good at school. Making things? Not so much but I love classes.

Comments

[Suz]

Welcome, PP.

And I'm jealous about your marmalade class. It just sounds so very cool.

[linda]

Oooohhh the Marmalade Queen sells her wares locally at the Los Gatos Gourmet! I will be swinging by to grab a jar. The variety of products she makes is simply amazing and you can see she is popular by how many items are sold out. Yum!

[beagle]

The class sounds so wonderful! But meeting an IF sister was a real bonus!