While the crusts baked, they made the pie filling. Fresh strawberry pie was Eden's favorite, and her mouth watered the whole time she stirred the glossy, delicious-looking filling.
"Don't they look beautiful?" Alice said twenty minutes later, as she closed the refrigerator door on the pies. "Now the real work begins."
She set Eden to work at the sink washing and trimming more strawberries, while she punched down the bread dough and pulled out the biggest pots and pans Eden had ever seen.
If Eden thought her back hurt last night after picking strawberries, she was mistaken. Leaning over the sink was ten times worse than picking. She had muscles aching in areas she'd never been aware of before.
When Alice suggested Eden take a break from washing and trimming, she eagerly agreed, until she found herself wiping away beads of sweat from standing over the stove stirring sugar and crushed, bubbling strawberries next to a massive pot that held steaming water. It didn't help that the bread now baked in the oven, heating the kitchen up even more.
Eden had no idea making jam was so much work. Washing, trimming, crushing, and cooking—that was just making the jam. Then they still had to process the jars in the big pot of boiling water to seal the lids, only to start all over with a new batch.
Alice gently corrected Eden every time she did something wrong and patiently explained why every step of the process was important. She had a lot more patience than Helen, Eden’s former nanny.
When Alice declared it was lunch time, Eden sighed in relief. She needed a break. She looked at the clock on the stove, expecting it to be mid-afternoon, but it only said twelve-thirty. It felt like they had been making jam for five hours, not two and a half.
Lunch consisted of leftover roast and potatoes from last night, but the highlight was watching Alice slice into a loaf of warm bread. She placed a slice on a saucer and pushed it toward Eden along with the butter and the jar of jam that hadn't been full enough to process in the hot water bath.
Eden was hesitant to bite into the jam covered bread. It couldn't possibly taste as good as it smelled and looked.
Alice took a bite then watched her expectantly, waiting for her to try the fruits of her labors. So Eden took a big bite. An explosion of flavor filled her mouth. Delicious, sweet, and amazing. The jam easily rivaled the gourmet jam she often bought at the boutique in Spokane, and the bread was equal parts chewy and airy.
It had been a lot of years since Helen had made homemade bread, opting instead to buy it at a high-end bakery. But even when she used to make it, Eden didn't recall it ever tasting this good.
She forced herself to stop after devouring a second slice. Thank goodness Alice put the remaining half loaf away. Eden hadn't eaten this many carbs in one setting for months. She'd have to go for a run this evening.
That is if she had the energy after helping turn the rest of the strawberries into jam.
* * *
A wallof heat and humidity hit Rudy along with the most amazing smells when he walked into the house after work. Homemade bread, sweet strawberry jam—and hopefully, pie—and the rich savory scent of mom's beef stew. Mom always threw something in the Crockpot in the morning before she started canning.
He rounded the corner into the kitchen intent on stealing a slice or two of bread but skidded to a stop at the sight of Eden in a red apron that added some curve to her slender figure. She stood near the stove stirring a large pan that no doubt held more jam. He'd never taken her for the domestic type, but she looked like she belonged in the kitchen.
Wow, that sounds sexist.
He slowed his approach, letting his gaze move around the kitchen. Dozens of jars of ruby-red strawberry jam filled all of one counter and judging by the bubbling and hissing of the massive, unsealed pressure cooker, another batch was being processed.
Eden looked up from the pot she stirred. He hoped for her sake it was the final batch of the day. She looked exhausted, yet she also had an attractive glow about her.
She gave him a hesitant smile as she swiped the perspiration from her brow.
"Where's my mom?" His gaze went back to roaming the kitchen.
"She went down to the storage room for more canning rings."
He nodded his head in acknowledgment as he took in the four loaves of fresh bread already tied up in bags. Mom would kill him if he cut one of those. Knowing her, she probably planned to give a loaf or two to a neighbor. "Aha, there it is!"
Eden jumped and let out a little squeak.
"Sorry. I was looking for this." He grabbed the partial loaf he assumed his mom and Eden had snacked on at lunchtime. He rotated, studying the kitchen again. "Is there an open jar of jam?"
"Your mom put it in the fridge."
With the jars of jam taking up so much space on the counters, the average-sized kitchen felt small and crowded. Rudy was hyper aware of Eden standing at the stove beside him while he sliced himself a piece of bread and slathered it with butter and jam.
"How do you do that?" Eden asked.
"Do what?"
