MMMMmmmmm, butter tarts...
Unfortuanately, my mother was never much of a baker, except for pies. She used to make these thumbprint cookies filled with jam that my dad would eat, but I thought were pretty gross. That got me to thinking about jam. My mom's always made jam, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, gooseberry, all sealed with wax and identified with marker and masking tape on the lid. One year when we were in Alaska, we spent our vacation at Mt McKinley, one of the most beautiful national parks. We found this huge field of blueberries and my mom made us go and get buckets and pick blueberries, until our fingers were purple (as well as our tongues). Thinking about it now, with the large bear population, we could have been seriously invading a bear blueberry buffet. My mom took the berries, along with fresh raspberries, and made the best jam I ever tasted. A while ago, I bought some store jam that tasted awfully darn close and I was back picking those blueberries again.

I fell asleep at 7:30 last night. I woke up a few time in the night, but I think that I am finally well rested.