Singing for my Supper…

Words. I find them interesting, and subscribe to a daily email service which supplies a new word every day. In English.

But foreign phrases also interest me. Like Quattro Stagioni. From my Latin lessons of the previous century, I recognised the “quattro” as being related to four or fourth…

(Above): With the fast-disappearing days of autumn, as winter starts extending its icy tentacles into our lives, we had the last batch of home-grown tomatoes to convert into relish preserve. And, on the preserving jar, I spotted the embossing “Quattro Stagioni.”  Quite obviously there are four brothers in the Stagioni family, and they own a glass bottle factory in Italy.

Professor Google, however, disagrees with me. He says that we need to thank Mr Vivaldi for the term, translated into English as “The Four Seasons.” and Bormioli Rocco S.p.A. has used the term as the trademark for their glass preserve and canning jars and bottles.

 

The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a set of four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, composed in 1723, The Four Seasons is Vivaldi's best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces in the classical music repertoire. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. For example, "Winter" is peppered with silvery pizzicato notes from the high strings, calling to mind icy rain, whereas "Summer" evokes a thunderstorm in its final movement, which is why the movement is often called "Storm".

1: Concerto No.1 in E Major, RV 269, "SPRING", Allegro / Largo / Allegro (Pastorale dance)

2: Concerto No.2 in g minor, RV 315, "SUMMER", Allegro non molto - Allegro / Adagio – Presto – Adagio / Presto (Summer Storm)

3: Concerto No.3 in F Major, RV 293, "AUTUMN" , Allegro (Peasant Dance and Song) / Adagio molto (Sleeping Drunkards) / Allegro (The Hunt)

4: Concerto No.4 in f minor, RV 297, "WINTER" , Allegro non molto / Largo / Allegro

The words for Concerto No.3 Autumn, reads as follows:

Allegro
The peasant celebrates with song and dance the harvest safely gathered in.
The cup of Bacchus flows freely, and many find their relief in deep slumber.
Adagio molto
The singing and the dancing die away
as cooling breezes fan the pleasant air,
inviting all to sleep without a care.
Allegro
The hunters emerge at dawn,
ready for the chase,
with horns and dogs and cries.
Their quarry flees while they give chase.
Terrified and wounded, the prey struggles on,
but, harried, dies.

Jam of Plum. Yum.

 
After considering the large stock of ripe plums harvested on Sunday by Tyler and Brynn (some of the very ripe ones have already been consumed), the ladies decided to take the plunge, get the sugar and other secret ingredients, and to convert them into Jam.

Two pairs of dextrous hands and a couple of sharp paring knives later, and the tray of innocent shiny plums was soon converted into two pots of dissected red-bodied fruit ready to be married to a 1:1 sugar relationship.

The preserving jars were subjected to the sterilising process, with final heat treatment in the oven. Meantime, back on the range…

The cooking process of the jam mix was underway. Bubble, bubble, yummy plum jam on the double. Careful – no finger-taste testing here – this is hot-potato temperature stuff, and I have a scalded index finger to prove it.

Testing… testing… At last, the jam mix reached the gelling point at which the product thickens. Using a makeshift disposable funnel (made from the top of a milk bottle), here the mature jam is filled into the preserving jars.

After filling the allocation of jars, the remainder of the plum sauce filled the white gravy boat, destined for indulgent consumption at the evening dinner table. Yum.

Three large and four half-size preserving jars stand filled with first grade organic plum jam, cooling after a couple of hours of effort. Well done, ladies: your work will be rewarded by the plum jam sandwiches we will be eating. Thank you.

The indulgent pudding course after supper was ice cream with a generous serving of our newly-made plum jam/jelly.