On this last day of May, I’m sending out the announcement for our great new 13 oz. Mason jars. I also just instagrammed the whacky odyssey of our beloved globe jars, en route (supposedly) to Bethel,  CT, where I normally pick them up from the warehouse without issue….

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The last week of April was a little all over the map on the personal plane, but on the les collines plane it was a banner week of activity and productivity.

So delighted that les collines can now be found at the wonderful Nejaime’s Wine Cellars at both their Stockbridge and Lenox locations, including a first outside the holidays– our little guy sample size, the adorable 1 2/3 oz that everyone loves, perfect for Tanglewood picnics!

In the kitchen this week, we were cookin’ and jammin’ and just about any other pun you can cook up…over 200 jars in one day, a record (may never be repeated!): two batches of rhubarb preserve with vanilla bean & Earl Grey, and though these are small batches they were fairly big ones; two smaller batches of quince preserve, with the very last quince of the season, sniff; a batch of Meyer lemon rosemary jelly; and a batch of sour cherry preserve. Just one jar of our proposed new size (13 oz, shhhh!), then lots of 8 oz and the little ones. We were on a roll.

The rhubarb preserve is the least pretty color-wise of les collines, but the flavor more than compensates. Here, the Earl Grey tea, very strong and well-steeped, has just been strained and is ready to add to the rhubarb for a long simmer. 

The quince took on a deeper hue, due perhaps to it cooking a bit longer as it awaited the rhubarb ahead of it! But funnily, the first batch, which cooked for slightly less time than the second, was the darker. Go figure.

The Meyer lemon, so fragrant, so light and sunny in color, and the sour cherry, Fourth of July in a jar. The latter we paired with Midnight Moon goat gouda and an Italian Falanghina from Campania for a lovely apéritif. On a soft spring evening, perfetto.

Closing out the week the weather turned wet and chilly, we had a fire going most of the day. But outside the birds were in full spring mode, and our nesting bluebirds may have some hungry babies as mama and papa both seem to be zooming in and out quite a bit. Timid as they are I managed to catch papa resting on the fence in all his blueness. Happy May Day xo

 

This week at les collines, spring has been ramping up…yeah, a partial pun as ramps are locally coming in, though not yet in the les collines repertoire! Anyways, spring is in the air, broke 70 here today, the buds are close to popping– those that survived the cold snap and snow two weeks ago, at least. Fingers crossed for the apples and all other affected crops.

We are still quite a ways out from local rhubarb, our first spring fruit, coming in. But in the kitchen this week, a few lasts-of for their seasons: summer 2015 Shiro and red sugar plum juices combined for a new favorite color and flavor, and, the last of autumn 2015’s beautiful quince juice for that very special quince jelly. Also a batch of Meyer lemon rosemary jelly that almost wasn’t– a close call with near burning after the second sugar addition and a moment’s near catastrophic distraction, yee gads– and, another thankfully event-free batch of sour cherry preserve. The plums and the sour cherries from wonderful Samascott Orchards in Kinderhook; the quince from individual sources in Berkshire County, MA and Dutchess County, NY.

We are looking forward to a week of several near 70’s days, buds opening to flowers and more and more bird songs in the dawn hour. And hoping from here on out for only good news for our local farmers and orchards xo

Here at les collines we get excited by all the possibilities for our gems and jewels of locally-sourced, small batch jelly & preserves. The savory applications as well as the sweet. The new meat and cheese pairings that we find or come our way– Concord grape preserve with bleu de Bresse, mmm. Scots bitter with a young Pecorino, who knew. Quince preserve with Basque salami and Idiazabal (thank you, Tivoli General!)

But always good to get back to the touchstone of our earliest experiences with preserves, like on a piece of hot buttered toast. Here, sour cherry preserve, a les collines classic, on the wonderful Ella’s Bellas of Beacon’s gluten free sourdough, a revelation itself. A spread of unsalted Cabot butter in between, always appropriate. What more do you need, for breakfast, or in life? Not much. A decent cup of tea, and you are good to go xo

 

Almost halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, we were back in our new Hillsdale space producing two flavors from spring and one from fall. On an early February day that could easily have been pulled from late April at nearly 60 degrees, funnily enough frozen Kinderhook rhubarb– our first fruit of spring– was on the stove in two forms. Juice, for beautiful pint jars of jelly, and chopped stalks, for our preserve with vanilla bean and Harney Earl Grey Supreme tea. And, the near-last of autumn’s garnet crabapple juice.

The pint jars of rhubarb jelly were destined for the Vischer Ferry General Store in southern Saratoga County, where chef Anouk Booneman will be using the jelly in her creations there. The jelly is our only flavor that has proved to be somewhat ephemeral, losing color and flavor over time. It begins as a lovely pale guava color, then fades to a sort of light golden. Perhaps, on this weekend of valentines, a bit like capricious love. Best to savor when fresh xo

Hello, Hillsdale!

We have moved our production from Craryville to Hillsdale. Officially just before Christmas, but our first full production day was this past week. Seems a fitting spot to land, as our name, after all, means hills….

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January 17, as written here before, is Christmas on the Julian calendar, Old Twelfth Night. Wassailing was traditional on or around this day and still is in some parts of England….

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2015 continued the trend of a few years now, bringing many changes and challenges on the personal and professional planes. Status quo is but a distant memory….

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Our abundance of quince led to a first time branching out into quince jelly. Lovely in color, and ever true to its quinceness, fragrant and unique in flavor: a keeper.

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