A gift from Harvest Song
A jar of Quince Preserve - a gift from Harvest Song to you.
It's holiday time again and I believe each one of us, at any age, can reminisce about these moments from our childhood.
Growing up in Armenia, Christmas and New Year was a true time of celebration. This meant that families would open up their home for 10 days with each household presenting a table full of food from roasted pig to decadent desserts. Friends, relatives and neighbors would visit all day long and the table would always be ready for guests to walk in at any time to make a toast. Since a visit meant true respect and obligation, a visit could be no shorter than 10 minutes as this was enough time to make a toast with Armenian brandy (well, at least for a 10 minute visit and at least for one drink!).
During those days my younger brother, Gevork, and I would sit in a corner and giggle throughout as we waited for certain townsmen to come by knowing that by the time they made it to our home they wouldn't be able to stand up straight for a little too much toasting at earlier home visits. In fact, one year Uncle Tigran was so drunk that he passed out under our beautiful table - guests just ignored him until he woke up and told us that he still had a few more homes to go to.
I remember that my mom and aunts would start preparing from the very start of December. Every home had to use all means possible to present the best table to their guests. After enjoying the roasted pig seasoned with the wild herbs of Armenia's rugged mountains in the center of the table, the cured meats and the different types of holiday rice with dried fruits, there was always another smaller table set for desserts. And In the center of that table would be a large beautiful crystal bowl of quince preserve with homemade cookies and pastries surrounding it.
The whole house also had to be cleaned thoroughly to signify leaving behind the old year and welcoming the new year. Since there was no concept of air fresheners at that time, there were loads of quince, which we used rather creatively. Quince is such an elegant winter fruit that my mom used to wrap them in brown paper for about a month then would remove the paper and put it in drawers between linen sheets - the natural aroma of this amazing fruit would perfume the whole house.
In this fast changing world, my memories still take hold, so I would like to offer you a large jar of Harvest Song's Quince Artisanal Preserve, picked and prepared in Armenia, as a gift from our table to yours with your next purchase during the month of December. From the Harvest Song family, we want to wish you happy, happy holidays and a wonderful New Year.
Sincerely,
Sylvia Tirakian
A gift OF 18.9 OZ QUINCE JAR applies with the purchase of 50.00 or more.
Effective the month of December 2010.
One per shipping address.
Certain zip codes require additional shipping fee as Hawaii, Puerto Rico and international. HS staff will call to advise if necessary.
UPS does not accept P O Box. Make sure to have valid US address.
