I went to Maui last week to visit my BFF of 58 years. We both celebrate our birthdays in July and this was a big one. We celebrated our birthday dinner with 8 friends at Mama's Fish House. It was a super fun night; no surprise as we always have a blast when we get together.  I brought a bag of old pictures and letters with me so we popped some Champagne and giggled over the hairstyles and clothes, but when we got around to the letters, we could only get through a few. They made us cry! The two girls who wrote them and read them so long ago are different people today and we got too emotional going back in time. I packed them away for another day. Maybe.

I choose my travel knits carefully and decided on the Alpine Hat, a free pattern from Blue Sky. I used leftover Woolstok neutrals from my stash and a newly purchased bundle of mini skeins in cool colors. I made a hat on the flight to Maui, a second hat while in Maui, and the third hat on the flight home. This is the first three of 8 hats I hope to make for Christmas gifts. Links:

Before I left for my vacation I made two batches of plum jam. My neighbor has a giant plum tree in her front yard and every year she sends out an email when the tree is laden with fruit. It's a beautiful sight and it's so big, you can literally pick boxfuls and not make a dent. If you've never made jam, this if the time to dispel the notion that making homemade jam with all that fresh fruit is somehow healthy. Nope, it's loaded with sugar and there's no getting around it! Because I make this every year, I don't follow a recipe but use equal amounts of chopped fruit and sugar, squeeze in the juice of a few lemons, then boil and stir until it hits 220F on a candy thermometer. For the first batch I used about half tart fruit and half fully ripe fruit and that batch was the best. The second batch was almost all fully ripe fruit. I'm hardly a jam expert, but it seems to me that plum jam likes a good mix of ripe and unripe. Ill try to remember that next year. Are you making any fruit jams this summer?

Herb butters are perfect for finishing sauces, making croutons, scrambled eggs--the list is endless. Now is the time to make them to capture maximum flavor and potency. They freeze well and are delightful to pull out in the middle of winter to bring summery goodness to the table any time of the year. Herb butters are easy to make, they are gorgeous and freeze well, so make a few extra to enjoy during the holidays.

Pictured above, clockwise from top, chives and their pretty lavender flowers, common green sage and the princely purple sage, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and dill. In the middle are the peppery nasturtium flowers and below the lemon and garlic is thyme.

Here's how to make herb butter: Harvest unsprayed herbs and gently swirl them in a large bowl of cool water to remove dirt and dust. Gently shake off water and place on cotton towels and fully dry in a shaded, indoor location. Stem and finely chop herbs. Mix room temperature butter with chopped herbs. I add approximately 4 tablespoons herbs per 1/4 pound butter. Mix well, refrigerate, and when cold, roll into logs. Optional; press herb sprigs into the finished logs or roll in cracked pepper. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. To freeze, wrap butters three times; first in plastic wrap, then foil, then freezer paper. That may seem like a little bit of overkill, but if well-wrapped they will keep in the freezer for 6 months.  

I made 7 herb butters:

rosemary and garlic

thyme with lemon (juice and zest)

nasturtium flower with cracked pepper

oregano with toasted crushed pine nuts

sage with marjoram (I made three of these to make sure I had enough for Thanksgiving)

chives with chive flowers

dill and garlic

Airy as an art gallery!

A bed of Hedgehog!

Penguono!