The Supermarket Question

You know when you’re walking down the aisle of a supermarket and you bump into someone you know, its a “Hi!” at first and then your acquaintance goes, “So, what are you doing here?”

Erm, hello. What do you do at a supermarket?

Today morning I bumped into someone I knew – family friend, does not like me and the feeling’s mutual. But, my Mum’s taught me good manners. And apparently, so did hers.

I’ve had my mind set on making a strawberry relish for the last few days and I needed to head towards the fresh fruits section, but I turned out to be too big to slip away through the gap between her and the shelves on my left.

Damn.

My lack of options made me smile at her brightly and say “Hey!”

She went, “Hi! How are you?”

“I’m doing good,” I replied with a sickly sweet smile and then she did just as I expected.

She went on to ask me, “So…what are you doing here?”

Uh…I’m hiding from the KGB, you see.

The forcefully pleasant conversation continued for about twenty minutes. I know.

I excused myself and the fresh strawberries looked inviting, ten times more than what it would have seemed twenty minutes prior to the unfortunate meeting. Ah, never mind. I wouldn’t let that spoil my. Sweet relish, here I come.

I used:

- Two cups of finely chopped fresh strawberries

- Half a cup of water

- Half a cup of plain white sugar

- Quarter of a cup of honey (Mum uses maple syrup though for a different taste)

- Two tablespoons of lemon juice

- A few slices of apple, skin peeled off.

Note: I use apples as a source of pectin, a substance used mainly as a gelling substance in jams and jellies.

Make a sugar syrup out of water and sugar on medium heat. Add the strawberries, apples and honey and cook covered on low heat till the fruits disintegrate. Add the lemon juice and cook on high heat till the mixture reaches a syrupy, jam-like consistency.

Any relish for that matter is versatile. I use mine on tarts, pancakes, ice-creams and mostly just plain out of the container!