Fun in the kitchen again yesterday. Robert relieved Stephanie and Nat of some of their large crop of grapes. It was duly brought back here and turned into verjuice, which is essentially the juice of under-ripe wine grapes I am told. It’s tart for sure, but flavoursome and delicious. It will serve well as a salad dressing or to liven up dishes that need a little acidity.

We’ve preserved it in stubby bottles (in the Vacola) so it will hold well until next season, when it will happen all over again.

On another note, our Elliott has some sensitivities to various foods – primarily dairy and many chemical additives. Often he has to miss out on treats that everyone else can enjoy.

I’d recently been given some delicious, plump Morello cherries, and with these had made little meringue pies for friends on Saturday. There was some of the filling left over.

Now all our children love jelly cakes, so I got to thinking how this cherry filling could be utilised to make something special that Elliott could eat. It could be baked inside the cakes and would serve as an acceptable alternative to the usual whipped cream.

Then of course for the coating, a packet jelly simply won’t make the cut, too many additives, but it was a mere matter of moments to simmer up some more cherries, strain off and use the juice, sweeten a little and then add gelatine.

I am pleased to say that it worked and so Elliott didn’t have to miss out. The cakes could be made gluten free, supposing anyone had that issue to deal with as well, as is often the case.

So the day of preserving and baking ended with a big roast dinner for everyone. The favourite of Jacob and Charly was, very obviously, corn on the cob, fresh picked from Stephanie’s garden, with butter and salt and pepper, simple but fine fare indeed.