In a jam?

Flipping through my 1972 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook today, I found these pages.

I don't remember trying to make jelly, but the evidence is there. It must have been a heck of a mess. The sugary fruit apparently erupted from the pot like lava out of a volcano. 




I probably fussed and used words my mom would have tsp-tsk'ed about.
 Clean up must have been sticky and arduous. I bet I whined about it to my friends. And I don't remember making jelly ever, so it must have convinced me to never try again. 

My recent trials can be catalogued as disgusting and expensive (termites swarming indoors--yuk!), and annoying and more expensive (a brief hospital stay.) But before long, they won't be much more memorable than the jelly mishap. 

So next time you find yourself in a jam, sooner rather than later, don't be disheartened.  It will probably fade from memory quicker than these splatters.