At the risk of sounding downright un-Australian, I'm not crazy about summer. The three months from December to February are a bit of an endurance test for me - a marathon of sweat and sunscreen. It's not all bad though. This time of year offers up many wonders as well, so sublime they make you forget all about the 42 degree (that's 109 Fahrenheit) day Sydney served up last week. In no particular order here are my top five: swimming in ocean pools, daylight saving, good movies (a brilliant excuse to get into some air-conditioning), the cricket and, last but certainly not least... stone fruit. Nectarines, plums, peaches, apricots, cherries... summer fruit is the best. Before this weekend, I'd never made jam, but the idea of sealing up my favourite fruit in a jar for me to enjoy on a future cold, dark winter's morning spread on a piece of toast was hugely appealing.
So on a bright, hot and blustery mid-January's day, I headed down the Hume Highway to a friend's beautiful, new, air-conditioned house. I found a recipe. She found some jars. We split the cost of a bag of cherries. I pitted, she chopped, we took turns stirring, and a couple of hours later we had jam that was darkly delicious, sighingly sweet, and bursting with the flavour of the season.
