My Grandma now lives with us and we’ve struggled to give her stuff to do. She couldn’t just sit all day and watch television. She loved to read, but there is only so much time that a person can spend with their nose in a book. Knitting and crocheting took up some of her time, but she often became bored with that. I felt very badly for her because she was such an active, vital woman, but I simply couldn’t think of ways to keep her as busy as she wanted to be.

One day while I was unpacking groceries from a shopping trip, she noticed that I had bought several jars of fruit preserves to use on toast and on freshly-baked biscuits. My grandmother started talking about all the hours she had spent in her own home making preserves when she was raising her children. She asked if it would be possible for her to use my kitchen to make preserves for the family. Of course I agreed.

I looked for a supplier of organic food preservatives, found a good one, and went to the store to purchase canning supplies. After that, my grandmother and I visited several farm produce stands and filled most of the backseat of my car with bags of fresh fruits and vegetables. After we returned home, my grandmother got to work. She was happier than I had seen her in a long time.

My grandmother used nothing but the best organic sweeteners in her preserves. We have been enjoying her delicious creations for months now, and she feels active and useful again.