Italian festa

last weekend me and my fiance went for a lovely afternoon in leichhardt, to the italian festa on norton street. it was great. there were lots of street stalls, food and people everywhere. i ended up coming home with a large tub of green olives with garlic and oregano, italian honey biscuits, nougat, and some fair trade olive oil soap from persia... and some second hand books from the big bookshop on norton

Mulberry conserve with vanilla and orange zest

and here it is - the recipe
i had about 1 1/4 kg of mulberries that i had collected off our tree out the lounge room window and i had been freezing them. Don't attempt this recipe if you don't like mess!
i modified the recipe from 'windfalls' for mulberry jam

ingredients

1kg mulberries (stalks removed)
800g sugar
100 ml water
juice of 2-3 lemons
teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
or
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon of orange zest

add the mulberries, lemon juice (and pips, you can scoop them out later and they have pectin) and water to a large pot and simmer until all the fruit is soft and mushy.
Once it is soft, turn the heat down and add sugar. When the sugar has all dissolved, turn the heat up high and bring to a rolling boil.
After a little while the mixture will bubble up really high, at this stage it is getting close to being ready, start testing for set. The bubbling will subside and when it does test for set often. it will happen quickly. When it reaches set point, take off the heat immediately and bottle. While the jars are still hot invert them to create a good seal and sterilise. and voila! delicious mulberry vanilla and orange zest conserve!

mulberry jam...

i have finally made the jam! and its good :)
but first, here's the trees they came from, and a bowl of the glorious purple staining fruit that tastes like childhood