A Wedding Gift

My good friend Alicia married her Parisian beau and I wanted to give her something that was special and unique for her.  She is not someone who I imagined swooning over creating a registry and I thought that I could gift her something handmade.  Our friendship started out as photographer (me) and model (her) and  I thought she would appreciate the gesture.  

Alicia is not a collector of things in the same way I am, but we both share a passion for food, and spent most evenings cooking together in my small apartment in Bordeaux.  Over the course of a year abroad we had many conversations about food, flavor and texture. After some reflection I decided I would make 8 jams made from some of her favorite ingredients. The first and most important being Strawberry Rhubarb...  Some jams and preserves are of the traditional variety, but I also included pickled watermelon rind, kumquats in spiced syrup and kiwi fruit.

For the presentation I embroidered linen with silk ribbon and capped the jars. A wrap of twine and yarn created the look.

I had dinner with Alicia on Friday. The meal she prepared was delicious, French in inspiration, and the conversation was even better. When I opened the fridge there were several of my jams, half empty, on the top shelf. I think it was the perfect gift I could give a friend to wish a lifetime of love and good food!