November Update

From the desk of Augustine House President, Daniel Macsay Jr.  Last week all of the houses had the opportunity to make jam. Mrs. Smith first discussed the history of canning jam, and how the process was invented to preserve food for the winter months, a time of the year when food sources were scarce. We were then instructed on how to make the jam itself. Cranberries and strawberries all had to be finely cut, and lemon and oranges needed to be squeezed; all of these ingredients eventually going into a large bowl to be mixed with lots of sugar and lemon and orange peels. This was an incredibly fun process, and everyone had a chance to dice, squeeze, and mix the ingredients. Then came the laborious duty of stirring the mix, which was placed over a stove and had to be constantly stirred for thirty minutes under a low heat. After this was done, the jam was filtered and tightly sealed into glass jars. At the end of the day, all of the students were able to take home their own jar of jam! This was a great experience, and a very useful skill to learn, and I’m very proud of the house of Augustine for working so hard. This is just one of the many great activities we’re able to do every Monday!