**HOMAGE SERIES!**

Rosa — My Mom; this is her birth month, so it’s the perfect month to honor her — time for her tribute in my new Homage Series…

My Mom, Rosa…

Man, I miss her.

In my personal pantheon, my Mom is the Goddess of Strength and Resilience; she may have been small in stature, but she was a mighty woman, and truly a force to be reckoned with… she endured so much – she was the best example of rising up; meeting a challenge, making a situation work.  She was so incredibly amazing.

As children, my Mom raised us alone from the time I was 7 years old.  I had (2) younger brothers, and an older Sister.  Actually, Mom didn’t raise us alone; my Sister was pretty much a 2nd Mom to us, and for us… it worked.  If one of us kids wanted to do something, or participate in some program or activity, Mom found a way to make it work — she made it happen.  At the peak of her providing for us, she worked (3) jobs; to this day, I still don’t know how she did it.  Her strength astounds me.

One of my favorite things to do with Mom was to cook and bake… we’d spend HOURS in the kitchen creating wonderful food, and chatting about all sorts of things.  Every Christmas, I’d go to Mom’s a day or two early, and together we’d knock out all of the baking we needed for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day — it was our thing; my special time with her, and I loved it.

When my Friendship Series started dropping, Mom mentioned how much she loved the flavor combinations, and that I should do something, “that kids would eat, but with an adult twist, so they would eat it too!”  I took her advice to heart with this flavor for my Mom… Grape Jelly, but with a bit more complexity due to the variety of grapes utilized, and the addition of cherries… it’s sweet, and tart, and full of flavor; the grape flavor really comes through — I LOVE this jam, and I think Mom would really like it as well!  She loved grapes, and cherries were one of her favorite fruits — it only makes sense to combine them in a tribute flavor to her.  🙂

Give it a try!!  🙂