Come n' See!

Oh, fun! I've been asked to pinch hit at SF in SF next weekend! That's Saturday evening, July 25 at the Variety Preview Room, 582 Market St. @ Montgomery, 1st floor of The Hobart Bldg., San Francisco. Doors Open 6:00pm, Readings start 7:00pm.

I'll be reading with Kage Baker (oh, cool!). There's a cash bar (if you need that sort of incentive on a Saturday night). The spouse, and possibly Sarcasm Girl and The Boyfriend will be in attendence. Come see them live! Oh, and hear me read.

Now to see if I have anything properly zany and auctorial to wear...

Why Can?

On Saturday I bought five pounds of huge, ripe, gorgeous peaches; three pounds of strawberries, almost two pounds of blueberries, a flat of raspberries (I think it's a flat...six little boxes), and a three pound box of cherries. I love summer fruit. And while I could not eat all this richness myself (and the spouse seems weirdly unmoved by fruit, except for raspberries) I glory in the having of it.

Then I make preserves.

Why? It is doubtless simpler to buy my jam at Safeway, with all the guesswork taken out. Probably cheaper too, at least if I go for Smuckers rather than Bonne Maman. But there's the process thing, which always cheers me. And the smells in the house. And the sense of riches when I see little ranks of mismatched jars filled with stuff I made.

So yesterday I made mixed-fruit preserves with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries. Very good, very sweet; next time I try that mixture I'm going to add some lemonpeel (for pectin) and some lemon juice (for tart). And this afternoon I made ginger-peach preserves (just peaches and ginger and sugar). The house still smells like summertime, and I have a pleasant sense of accomplishment (and am wondering to whom I can gift some of the preserves, since we now have more than I can possibly eat).

Why can? Because I...well, because I'm able to.