I am in a mad dash currently. I am speaking at two writers conferences in the next two weeks, so I am up to my neck in preparing workshops, figuring out how to present them online, and learning all the bells and whistles of Zoom.

As. We. All. Are.

So I shall just get the “things” going.

One

First, let me apologize for repeating myself last week. I knew it was going to happen eventually. And it finally did.

One of last week’s Things was a repeat from an earlier week.

Now I am not going to point fingers —because I would have to point them at myself—but the Peach and Pepper Jam is just, well, The Jam. And I had to share it. Apparently twice. So to save you from my over enthusiasm for all things Peach and Pepper, I have come up with, ahem, a hopefully full proof method for avoiding repeats.

I hope.

And if you do decide that I am not insane and that Peach and Pepper Jam might be, your, well, jam, here are my notes on the recipe:

Now you will see that this is not a canning recipe, but I tweak it just a bit to make it canning friendly and so can you–even if you haven’t canned all that much. Just up the cider vinegar to 2/3 cup, and then follow the hot water canning instructions on the sheet that comes with the pectin box for “Peach Jam.” Easy Peasy.

And see, I promised I wouldn’t repeat myself, and here I am, repeating myself.

Two

As we move indoors, (at least those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, thank you for the wonderful reminder from a reader in the Southern parts) I try to find a challenging craft project.

I found this Fall’s challenge by taking on a test knit of this Winden Cardigan for Laura Chau, one of my favorite knitting designers. And while a project might look really, really hard, remember, if you do it one step at a time, one stitch at a time, you will find your way to the finish and learn some things along the way.

Rather like writing a book, one word at a time.

Like that these very complicated looking cables are actually quite easy. What are you going to learn?

Three

Speaking of Fall, one of my favorite cozy foods is Popovers. Another thing that looks so tricky and yet is just easy peasy. And so good. I love them—you guessed it—with jam. Here is one of my favorite recipes for Popovers.

Photo Credit: King Arthur Baking

Four

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Alexain, here I come. Though, note to self: the nearby church bells start at 7:30 AM daily.

Five

Since I know a number of you also write or aspire to write or dream of writing, I thought this week I would share with you a link to a blog post I wrote some time ago, 21 Essential Books on Writing, which is a great place to find a number of books that I’ve loved through the years and I consider some of the best instruction out there.

See a theme here?

Writing, like life, is a craft. Never stop learning.

Have a great week. Learn something new. Then share it.
Repeat.
Elizabeth