Strawberries and the pursuit of happiness

The fabric of the weekend was embroidered with the uncertain thread of the elections in America. This election, marred with so much unhappiness, got me thinking about the second sentence in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The pursuit of happiness got me thinking. Happiness must surely be relative to each person’s situation. What makes me happy does not necessarily make the person next to me happy, and vice versa. I agree that every person has the right to be happy. Towerwater in a sense, is the prime venue for our pursuit of happiness.

The opportunity to enjoy a place where we can create, and dream, brings the happiness that we have worked towards for many years. To find happiness walking through the garden, catching the fragrance of the freshly opened St Joseph lilies in the orchard, or the ripe strawberries in the vegetable garden, is a blessing.

November at Towerwater is heavy with the fragrance of strawberries. In an organic garden, you compete for these sweet delicacies with a myriad of creatures. Although the thrushes are always busy in the garden, I don’t think that they steal the strawberries.

When I think of strawberry thieves, I always think of William Morris’s classic and popular design of the Arts and Crafts period. In 1883 he successfully used the indigo-discharge method to print his design entitled Strawberry Thief. The design is based on the thrushes that William Morris found stealing strawberries in the kitchen garden of his country home in Oxfordshire. I am sure, that for William Morris, the pursuit of happiness must have been one of creating beautiful things. That is why he said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"

Detail of Strawberry Thief by William Morris

Even though the competition for the strawberries in the garden is very stiff, we still manage to pick abundant bowls of the fruit. Bowls of strawberries, allows me to be creative in their use and enjoyment. 

I use them in cocktails. A refreshing strawberry martini is enough reward for a day spent working in the garden. Having such an abundance of strawberries, provided the perfect opportunity to make some Towerwater strawberry liqueur. In this way, I can spread the happiness that the spring garden brings, deep into summer and perhaps even winter.

Towerwater Strawberry Liqueur

Ingredients:

500g fresh organic strawberries

1ml black pepper

750ml gin

200g (250ml) sugar

200ml dry white wine

Method:

Wash the strawberries, remove the leaves and stems, and cut them in quarters.

Place the strawberries and black pepper in a clean sterilized glass jar which has a lid. Add the gin. Mix the sugar and wine in a heavy based saucepan and stir at a low temperature until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for seven minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat and let it cool down. Add the cold syrup to the strawberry and gin mixture. Seal the jar and let it stand in a warm spot for two weeks. Shake the jar twice a day.

Pour the mixture through a clean sieve first and then through a double layer of cheese cloth. Pour the liqueur into a clean, sterilized bottle and seal. The liqueur is ready for use after a month.

I place the jar of what is to become strawberry liqueur in two weeks’ time, in the cellar among the jars of seasonal preserves. Marmalades, olives, pickled lemons, quince chutney, green fig preserve, and many other jars filled with the happiness that each season brings. Our pursuit of happiness at Towerwater is grounded in embracing a simple life filled with the creativity of reviving traditional arts and crafts.

More blog posts about strawberries:

Spring on a plate

Extroverted Strawberries

Daiquiris at Dusk