More fruit-related news ...
I made a huge blackberry crumble during the week (plus custard - the weather was so cold it felt like the right thing to have!).
Mr S and puppy dog went out picking again this morning while I was at church, and this afternoon he made a lovely blackberry and apple pie (Mr S, not the dog). A very successful first attempt at making pastry, even though a lot of swearing was involved in the preparation!

It's a good year for blackberries this year, so we decided to make some jam yesterday. Problem no. 1: the kitchen scales decided to stop weighing things, and problem no. 2: the jam thermometer seems to be resigned to stopping before the jam reaches the setting point. Problem no. 3: problem 2 didn't occur to us until we started to realise the fruit had been cooking for a considerable length of time.

Blackberry sauce, anyone?