create
What people are shouting
8/15/07: Oh my gosh! I just had a Bay’s English Muffin with homemade mango jam and I think I’m in heaven! Thank you, Mother Nature.
Sheila:
It is a wonderful thing to preserve the tastes of summer for the rest of the year. I can only recommend you buy some pectin (there are now several types including ‘all natural’) and follow the recipes included.
Last summer I made mango, strawberry, mango-strawberry, blueberry, pluot, muscat grape, jalepano-pepper (ask Andrew about it), and plum. Most of it was given away, which is half the reason I cook, and enjoyed throughout the year.
When I was growing up in the Midwest, blackberry was always my favorite. Probably it’s because we picked wild blueberries ourselves, returning home covered in scratches and scrapes from the thorns. But mmmmm, it was so worth it. Good luck and let me know how it turns out.
All my best, Beth
Hello Beth,
I loved reading about your mango jam and your commitment to seasonal cooking. It is a seasonal pleasure that seems to be slipping away. I’d like to put up some jams as well. Do you have any jam recipes for seasonal fare appropriate to the east coast where I live? Blackberries and strawberries are all growing in abundance this summer and I’d love to still be enjoying them in December.
Thank you,
Slowhand (Sheila)
Late summer is one of my favorite times of year. It’s the best time for fresh fruit and vegetables, and it’s time to start making jam (starting with Mango Jam)! Today, August 11, 2007, is the start of several weeks of tasting, feeling, smelling, and peeling. Fruit, of all kinds, to be preserved in the sweet, sticky splendor called JAM. I’ll be enjoying this time of year for months to come.
I have never canned vegetables, though I want to try. My mom used to can everything; she even made her own pickles. Nothing ever tasted so good as home grown veggies in the middle of winter! We’ll see..
Jill,
Good luck with your vegan adventures. I am not a vegan but have cooked for friends who are and really enjoyed the challenge. Please keep us updated on your progress. I think we would all love to know what recipes your take a liking too and where you have difficulty sticking to your commitment.
-Andrew
Tonight Buttermilk honey fried chicken and Across the big creek corn bread. Yummmm.
..and then there was no lawn.
I have a huge backyard but I simply cannot decide how to design it so after a year in my new home it remains fallow. The front lawn however asked me to let it go so I stopped watering it ten months ago. Then, in the Spring I placed cardboard on the dry grass and began heaping fresh manure from my friend Angies horses who live down the street. After about a month I sowed a slew of Heirloom tomatoes from the Tomatomania sale and various other things such as Ichiban eggplants, Ronde de Nice squash, musk melons, watermelons, ornamental corn and chinese asparagus beans, herbs and lots of flowers. Everything is growing wonderfully and it has been a really interesting horticultural education seeing how well plants grew in this undisturbed “lawn” earth.
My neighbours are more than amused and now very happy to share in the produce.
Can we tawk eggs?
I snuck in 4 hens into my urban backyard under cover of darkness, last Fall. I built a modest little coop from the remnants of my friends large rabbit hutch and lo fresh eggs! One of the four is a Marans that my son and I hatched out four years ago. When I moved I gave my flock to a friend. When I bought my new little house I repatriated one of the girls. She lays the intensely dark brown eggs but because she is French she only lays every other day….in between she smokes Gauloises and has the cackle to prove it. My Russian Orlov has organised a union in the coop and the other two, a Barred Rock and a Buff Orpington just go with the flow.
They are fed Swiss Chard and regular lay mash. Soon I hope to turn them out into my reclaimed lawn-flower veg patch so they can go on bug patrol. The neighbours love them and I keep everyone happy with free eggs.
Start thinking about a few hens in your yard…not that difficult to do.
Here are my top five recipes for a Monday evening.
“Tell me why I love Mondays”
Grilled Figs with Rosemary and Honey (Serves two)
6 fresh, whole figs, trimmed and halved (I used Kadota, but Mission would be great, too) 2 Tbsp. honey..I used New Zealand that my sister sends me. 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
Grill the figs over medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once midway through. Divide between two plates. Drizzle one Tbsp. of honey over each plate of figs, then top each with a Tbsp. of the chopped rosemary. Serve. Eat. Ahhhh.
