tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71987147969280953562024-03-13T10:36:43.098-04:00The Canning DoctorMy adventures with canning, cooking, foraging and do-it-yourself foodiness.Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.comBlogger1158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-67989427034476962502024-02-02T19:12:00.001-05:002024-02-02T19:12:46.313-05:00Sourdough Bread Bowls<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPrceUyIQogpnHaCCGw6N8KHAWa8VhzFSc4kVca-f1qopcM6xIe-MF7XhaFdTM6lSSnecwMCOr2D0H1Nzigb1mxFwmv9bWDQVLxLaRgLDtxqW7zQJOZXh95IbvtX1EA52tCfiVQ-I7vmK1L-pi1KKNEUtCSC5zzuJDJzczBFdjD6m0itejlJLrlwnHxWt/s4032/PXL_20240202_233904559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPrceUyIQogpnHaCCGw6N8KHAWa8VhzFSc4kVca-f1qopcM6xIe-MF7XhaFdTM6lSSnecwMCOr2D0H1Nzigb1mxFwmv9bWDQVLxLaRgLDtxqW7zQJOZXh95IbvtX1EA52tCfiVQ-I7vmK1L-pi1KKNEUtCSC5zzuJDJzczBFdjD6m0itejlJLrlwnHxWt/s320/PXL_20240202_233904559.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><b>I</b>'ve been teaching the youngerchild to cook and one of the things we made this week was beef stew. There was a lot left over, so we decided it would be fun to try to use Legion to make bread bowls. Last night I mixed up the dough:<p></p><p style="text-align: center;">150 g Legion (starter)</p><p style="text-align: center;">6 cups bread flour</p><p style="text-align: center;">3 cups water</p><p style="text-align: center;">1 oz olive oil</p><p style="text-align: center;">1 T. sea salt</p><p style="text-align: left;">After letting it rest for 30 minutes, I pulled and folded it 5-6 times every half an hour for a total of three times. I ended up having to lightly oil the bowl, too, since it was really sticky (maybe do this first next time?). Then I left it overnight to ferment. </p><p style="text-align: left;">This morning I shaped it into three small round loaves and lined three salad bowls with floured cloth. The loaves were placed seam side up in the bowls, covered with the cloth and then put in the fridge. On top of the cloth I used plastic cover them all to help keep the moisture in. </p><p style="text-align: left;">This evening, about six hours later, I flipped the loaves onto baking sheets lined with parchment and dusted with cornmeal, slashed them with a knife, and baked them for 40 minutes at 450˚F. </p><p style="text-align: left;">It's a similar bread to the sandwich loaves I've been making for years but the extra manipulation led to a lighter crumb which was exactly what I was hoping for.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ujyZZ7qs3FSVjdGEL9Rvcu5s092HSUbGc-FY7oF2A4SSSGtkbuMbGRl98AAdNmUdT4VjjFjPpsOfMVTnhHtsOS7GhHTJPIlyme3TcL1548KiwfgRckbJRD-H2PFg3TJ9TOxsZxbVw1f38dwAqKTuBC1j6HDNzro0mxfiQZsYnnh6I0ZYn7zvVI7Gou2J/s4032/PXL_20240202_233553703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ujyZZ7qs3FSVjdGEL9Rvcu5s092HSUbGc-FY7oF2A4SSSGtkbuMbGRl98AAdNmUdT4VjjFjPpsOfMVTnhHtsOS7GhHTJPIlyme3TcL1548KiwfgRckbJRD-H2PFg3TJ9TOxsZxbVw1f38dwAqKTuBC1j6HDNzro0mxfiQZsYnnh6I0ZYn7zvVI7Gou2J/s320/PXL_20240202_233553703.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-32621460920052319922023-10-06T18:25:00.005-04:002023-10-06T18:28:36.282-04:00Buche d'Automne<p><b>F</b>or the elderchild's birthday, I wanted to make something very different. We'd been talking a lot about all the interesting mushrooms that had been cropping up as the weather cooled and I was reminded of making meringue mushrooms in culinary school and how fun that was. So I set about thinking of a project that would highlight mushrooms and yet still be an appropriate autumn themed birthday cake.</p><p>I hit upon a <i>Buche d'Automne</i>.</p><p>First, I made the mushroom parts first with a simple Italian meringue and let them sit in a cooling oven overnight. The stems and shelf mushrooms were white and then I added some brown food coloring to make the tops. </p><p>The next day I made the pumpkin pastry cream, by adding pumpkin purée to a pastry cream recipe and then mixing in cinnamon, clove, allspice, ginger and nutmeg. That was kept chilled until it was time to assemble the cake.</p><p>A day later I made a <i>joconde</i> - a sponge cake with almond flour, cooked in a very thin layer in a sheet pan. This was then soaked with a ginger simple syrup. To make a pumpkin <i>mousseline</i>, I whisked the pumpkin pastry cream and then folded in whipped cream. This was spread over the <i>joconde</i> and then it was rolled and chilled. I also hand painted sugar paper with food coloring and cut out oak and maple leaves.</p><p>Finally, on the big day, I made a maple Italian meringue by substituting maple sugar for white sugar. I frosted the rolled cake with the meringue, used a torch to make it look more like a birch log, and then decorated the cake with the mushrooms, leaves and some fresh daisies. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiT30ChOcIdVMG5VRDrkZVFMx-Cz2FNkKF8oGdEZSnopxK_ksvEjVGJNYWbWOTt2SjGVHuAnYYwENNhskXDs52HmVWald1XC_RDabaITmv35bFPaeRyQe6KiwUGyJIx9HRASi7x4pho-qTKX7zb_nZok0VW3A7By3Ie9MOa9zz-pMsxv1vG9dSPN4aAhQ/s4032/PXL_20231001_204306270.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiT30ChOcIdVMG5VRDrkZVFMx-Cz2FNkKF8oGdEZSnopxK_ksvEjVGJNYWbWOTt2SjGVHuAnYYwENNhskXDs52HmVWald1XC_RDabaITmv35bFPaeRyQe6KiwUGyJIx9HRASi7x4pho-qTKX7zb_nZok0VW3A7By3Ie9MOa9zz-pMsxv1vG9dSPN4aAhQ/s320/PXL_20231001_204306270.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The elderchild was pleased!</div><p></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-14718985100192311342023-09-22T16:41:00.003-04:002023-09-22T16:41:30.339-04:00How Have I Not Made These Before?<b>I</b> really have no excuse. I have lived in New England almost all my life and, somehow, avoided making whoopie pies. Was I intimidated by them? I can't say. <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ROa6FiGjzJpy8yWE44gu-RMK6f7UFee9rCaqwppH3rcl38tYl9tv6oGw_LBdgF7-XHpFScbPvl6c2pgCBFtkQb8wWyaq5BoEem0SDsnyVBSvbwG5plw5ojOIY37K3domK4Ou3twwZXII3EHb0X5nCvsQb9y_BF6KM_-X0dKCQf1mmrz6PXjLpHic6-Og/s4032/PXL_20230922_201117674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ROa6FiGjzJpy8yWE44gu-RMK6f7UFee9rCaqwppH3rcl38tYl9tv6oGw_LBdgF7-XHpFScbPvl6c2pgCBFtkQb8wWyaq5BoEem0SDsnyVBSvbwG5plw5ojOIY37K3domK4Ou3twwZXII3EHb0X5nCvsQb9y_BF6KM_-X0dKCQf1mmrz6PXjLpHic6-Og/s320/PXL_20230922_201117674.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /></div><div>But since it is pumpkin spice season, the stores are full of pumpkin whoopie pies, and I decided that maybe I could make a batch. Now that I am no longer contagious. I started simple, with <a href="https://handletheheat.com/classic-whoopie-pies/" target="_blank">chocolate ones</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>A few of them didn't come out as pretty but, given that my husband has promised to always eat my baking mistakes, you don't get to see those. You just get to see the good looking ones. </div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-11487936270926639092023-09-11T13:30:00.004-04:002023-09-11T13:30:42.689-04:00A Walk in the Park<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxbza-14kFwFQeo6DUCb88KyiiU7w5Zt0Aph5nrascY_zSB6uHOeRx1W1FDwE4pe_OulSV_tGRdGh_GdpGZPphyQilMaj0xcRihX7XpKupV1igsdXt7loXkbr84Nt3UTmOpv8PMGs91_WRUHJAwmxRnalAev7xbJ5idDBn-AVffhKpjTBGdllHH1O0e7w/s4032/PXL_20230911_143054229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxbza-14kFwFQeo6DUCb88KyiiU7w5Zt0Aph5nrascY_zSB6uHOeRx1W1FDwE4pe_OulSV_tGRdGh_GdpGZPphyQilMaj0xcRihX7XpKupV1igsdXt7loXkbr84Nt3UTmOpv8PMGs91_WRUHJAwmxRnalAev7xbJ5idDBn-AVffhKpjTBGdllHH1O0e7w/s320/PXL_20230911_143054229.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><b>S</b>ince I'm stuck at home, I have some extra time on my hands. I can go for walks so I did that today at the park near my house. To my surprise, I found not one, but two hen of the woods clumps! I brought one home, cleaned it up, and have been freezing the pieces. Once they're frozen they can be vacuum sealed, so I'm sealing them in 2 ounce packages. The whole mushroom was fairly small, about 8 ounces in total. But as I've never seen them in the park before, I'm pretty excited about all this rain. <br /><p></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-74451244562135694602023-09-10T12:18:00.001-04:002023-09-10T12:18:28.661-04:00A Whole Lotta No, and a Surprising Yes<p><b>S</b>everal people asked me recently if I was entering canned goods in the fair - sadly, No. I just didn't can enough things to make it worthwhile. It hasn't been a great year for wild produce. Even the elderberries I have been eyeing all summer seem to have been eaten before I could get to them. </p><p>Then, yesterday, I was supposed to have an in-home macaron making class that I won at a silent auction. I was ready - even though my mixer died earlier in the week, my husband was able to replace the worn out gear in my <i>first</i> dead mixer and get that one working, I had all the eggs, the elderchild was heading home from college to participate. Everything was ready! So I took a COVID test. Just in case, you know?</p><p>Shockingly, it was positive! </p><p>I have been working directly with COVID positive patients since the pandemic started. This is the first time I have ever tested positive, and I don't even really know how I was exposed. Strangely, I have zero symptoms. I'm now just stuck at home for a few days and trying not to infect anyone. (Elderchild turned around and left, without getting exposed, thankfully.)</p><p>So, macaron class? No. For now.</p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-33863367675265934232023-08-31T09:27:00.001-04:002023-08-31T09:27:12.197-04:00Eldritch Horror<p><b>E</b>lderchild and youngerchild teamed up with my husband to make my birthday cake. I asked for Boston Cream Pie. </p><p>They decided that they would double the recipe, so they could have 3 cake layers instead of 2 and therefore more cream filling. The cream custard was excellent. They also doubled the chocolate, which they didn't need to do. Since there still was only one top layer, and all. </p><p>There was a lot of chocolate. </p><p>After coating the cake, the elderchild dubbed the cake an "eldritch horror," so they attempted to give it some character. </p><p>I present to you, my birthday cake, quite possibly the best I've ever had:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzL7vWLQksIzamz1Boo18buhSrIyNZqadLyTb3WMpQVv6YAVsjcX4XJQSZgyZ3SGm2HQWJ6XEMoDMQEWPeMe_oLVdeapxVlvXGTtL0TqLYPER_AwwJRsoKZ3bKxHocvTQDasqLiwVtEXFTFfwxKmC-saec1VmtEbnmH_A7amu7H6CqV8AS39cBO30SPLqm/s4032/PXL_20230827_001856868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzL7vWLQksIzamz1Boo18buhSrIyNZqadLyTb3WMpQVv6YAVsjcX4XJQSZgyZ3SGm2HQWJ6XEMoDMQEWPeMe_oLVdeapxVlvXGTtL0TqLYPER_AwwJRsoKZ3bKxHocvTQDasqLiwVtEXFTFfwxKmC-saec1VmtEbnmH_A7amu7H6CqV8AS39cBO30SPLqm/s320/PXL_20230827_001856868.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It certainly made me laugh the hardest!<br /><p><br /></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-88246141031279649042023-08-25T10:18:00.000-04:002023-08-25T10:18:13.244-04:00Crabapples at Work<p><b>A</b>t my new(ish) job, I get a lunch break. It's still a novelty. I've taken to going for walks. The loop around the building and the parking lot takes about 15 minutes so it's just enough to feel refreshed. The other day, while walking, I discovered a couple of crabapple trees. After work, I went back and picked all the crabapples that looked reasonably okay. They're not as large as the ones I picked years ago which were at an apartment complex and better cared for but they're still crabapples and they will still make jelly.</p><p>Today I took the 7 cups of crabapple juice I extracted and made jelly. I haven't bought pectin in forever and I don't have any currently so I did this the old fashioned way, using the natural pectin in the apples to make the jelly. It seems to have worked. I ended up with eight jars of jelly. For six of them, I placed into each jar a star anise pod, half a cinnamon stick, one clove, two peppercorns, and a dried cayenne pepper. </p><p>In case I do enter them in the fair, here's the recipe:</p><p style="text-align: center;">7 cups crabapple juice</p><p style="text-align: center;">7 cups sugar</p><p style="text-align: center;">1.5 T lemon juice</p><p style="text-align: center;">Boiled until 220˚F</p><p style="text-align: left;">There aren't too many other forage-able things at work that I've identified otherwise, so this may be the only work related project for a while. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-75617030870873443452023-07-22T18:46:00.000-04:002023-07-22T18:46:29.742-04:00Berries!<p><b>C</b>anning season has been a bust until today. Strawberry season at our favorite PYO place lasted all of three days due to the weather not cooperating. The farm share isn't happening this year. We haven't had time to go out as a family to do any of the PYO things we might have done. I haven't canned a thing since March. Our mulberry tree did well and I did make a <a href="https://foragerchef.com/mulberry-pie/" target="_blank">mulberry pie</a> but I have plenty of jelly and syrup already so I didn't make any this year.</p><p>Finally, today, we went to our favorite wild blueberry spot. The weather has not been kind to these berries, either, and it was hard to find good patches to pick. We did see an <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/overview" target="_blank">Eastern Towhee</a>, which I don't think I've ever seen before. In two hours the four of us had two quarts of berries. We came home overheated, hungry and tired. After cleaning up and having a little food, I got to work and made a batch of blueberry jam (with added pectin). There were enough berries for me to freeze two cups for baking later and I ended up with just shy of seven jars of jam. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-1414254073296027642023-03-25T05:28:00.001-04:002023-03-25T05:28:07.585-04:00Boozy Birthday<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcSSfeEJCuUqJ41fw37alhLlR3Bg0uiWyElo2jiQtweA5foE_a_GIWAgNckMBwf21s0hkIXhvGQ52dQ1agTXPp1OEB_tdqqgBzaEuHe1SvWHrhM-z9rrHG3fXF43qaAijZkBigNABlKId8_zy_FJqY8GSUKdidHu2ygXGELcZWUKLN42VlhlSTW_h9g/s4032/PXL_20230325_001133894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcSSfeEJCuUqJ41fw37alhLlR3Bg0uiWyElo2jiQtweA5foE_a_GIWAgNckMBwf21s0hkIXhvGQ52dQ1agTXPp1OEB_tdqqgBzaEuHe1SvWHrhM-z9rrHG3fXF43qaAijZkBigNABlKId8_zy_FJqY8GSUKdidHu2ygXGELcZWUKLN42VlhlSTW_h9g/s320/PXL_20230325_001133894.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>G</b>enerally, on my husband's birthday, I make something with chocolate. This year is no exception. It's a time to test out new recipes that I find, and to play around a little with my baking skills. However, I have actually made this particular cake for him before. Sometimes a recipe is <i>just that good</i>. <p></p><p>This <a href="https://www.eatthelove.com/irish-car-bomb-cake/" target="_blank">Irish whiskey and Guinness cake </a>is just that good. I made the cake part a couple of days ago and refrigerated the cake until it was time to make the frosting. It's easier to cut the cake layers when they are cold. The recipe says to serve immediately after frosting but that isn't necessary. I made the frosting and frosted the cake several hours ahead of time and put it back in the fridge. The cream cheese and mascarpone in the frosting firm up in the cold and it holds the cake together well.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUaZgrsMXlBa4QRQ4MIxKwJG1fhQDZZh26J2o7nvHbEXWdwz2lEZSb-4tJLCZ7wsy8ACNoG-Qywc27rx_4Rh0WtkWyzwoez-dCJORp8THXAekaztlYKMH5RezeKO8CBg69z3gur4GPWIAWW5mMt110RbRnzHmN_cqt42F4PRmrdfqvuM6XMnODGt4sw/s4032/PXL_20230325_004420759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUaZgrsMXlBa4QRQ4MIxKwJG1fhQDZZh26J2o7nvHbEXWdwz2lEZSb-4tJLCZ7wsy8ACNoG-Qywc27rx_4Rh0WtkWyzwoez-dCJORp8THXAekaztlYKMH5RezeKO8CBg69z3gur4GPWIAWW5mMt110RbRnzHmN_cqt42F4PRmrdfqvuM6XMnODGt4sw/s320/PXL_20230325_004420759.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>When I made this cake the last time I did separate the frosting and make part of it with whiskey and part of it with Bailey's. The whiskey was so strong the kids couldn't eat it. This time, I just made all of the frosting with Bailey's. It was still very strong. My husband licked the frosting bowl and felt dizzy for a while afterward. It is a rich, boozy cake that should definitely be eaten in moderation! The Bailey's flavor for the frosting throughout the layers was, in our opinion, a better choice. <br /><br /><p></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-4030095771886319442023-03-12T18:42:00.000-04:002023-03-12T18:42:02.461-04:00Round Two<p><b>S</b>ince I still had more chicken bones in the freezer, I made another batch of stock a couple of days ago. Today I canned it, and now have another nine pints in the pantry. I might make a batch of vegetable stock another day but, for now, I have enough stock to last a while. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-26893787768736199462023-03-07T22:00:00.002-05:002023-03-07T22:00:26.365-05:00Replenishing<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC37sWqh-faTU-iX4x9Zr9HjcnnY139wBP83RFX_ktE-RaCkWR2lW2AoTVfDkSTTmls8KCZ9drnzCy3TLCbZn9m_oMaMdlrBPubHmAMW5LHao6y_MWlX3X5G1BAgvFVYco3NZ9SfXJjaudVCaiytkL1iypqqtT2dChjv4elbpLC9G1LUIMbctiuERp7Q/s4032/PXL_20230204_175054127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC37sWqh-faTU-iX4x9Zr9HjcnnY139wBP83RFX_ktE-RaCkWR2lW2AoTVfDkSTTmls8KCZ9drnzCy3TLCbZn9m_oMaMdlrBPubHmAMW5LHao6y_MWlX3X5G1BAgvFVYco3NZ9SfXJjaudVCaiytkL1iypqqtT2dChjv4elbpLC9G1LUIMbctiuERp7Q/s320/PXL_20230204_175054127.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><b>H</b>appy New Year, a little late!<p></p><p>Yes, there has been a lot of baking - bread, cakes, cookies. I even tried my hand at popovers recently. I made those lovely cupcakes for my mother's birthday and a celebratory cheesecake for the youngerchild's acceptance to college. So yes, plenty of baking, but not much energy to write about it. <br /></p><p>In other news, I found a dairy near where I go riding that sells raw milk and fresh eggs. Sometimes they have cheese and even raw cream, and they also sell meat but I haven't gotten any of that yet. I buy a half-gallon of raw milk every week and it's helped keep my stomach happy. Several of the cows have had calves in the last month. I met two of them, one was only three days old and so very small and cute. I might sometime get enough milk to make cheese or cream to make cultured butter but, for now, just getting enough to drink is fine for me.</p><p>Another update is that the farm is not offering a CSA this year, so I won't be going out to the farm weekly over the summer to gather my share and pick from the fields. I have mixed feelings about this but overall I will miss being out there in the fields picking herbs, berries and flowers. Mocha will likely miss all the kale.</p><p>Today I canned seven pints of chicken stock I made a couple of days ago (I chilled it to remove the fat, then heated it back up again before canning). I'd run out of all the stock I'd made last year, and it was time to start getting my supply back up. I have more chicken bones in the freezer and will have to make another batch at some point, but at least I've started canning things again. </p><p>Who knows what this season will bring?</p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-79853475696662195322022-12-26T10:12:00.000-05:002022-12-26T10:12:36.341-05:00Holiday Recap<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGx6ho6EBBOgOpUcsDRh6myfYOfvAo5vA-7TDTj_Xy_34YhD9TP4FIqiHF-BJDDI6mdYpM-ucyz0oEEJPrJAp4hqV0iNlzIB1E8p19yaOfx327ieMjBAe7o5f9lurEmADRIsbz8eZI3eAEttjCEAfInQckCy41H1O_FWZBFatHzNPSUIYG6d-yR4uFw/s4032/PXL_20221224_155635850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGx6ho6EBBOgOpUcsDRh6myfYOfvAo5vA-7TDTj_Xy_34YhD9TP4FIqiHF-BJDDI6mdYpM-ucyz0oEEJPrJAp4hqV0iNlzIB1E8p19yaOfx327ieMjBAe7o5f9lurEmADRIsbz8eZI3eAEttjCEAfInQckCy41H1O_FWZBFatHzNPSUIYG6d-yR4uFw/s320/PXL_20221224_155635850.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>D</b>ecember is always a busy month and this year was no exception. I've been baking up a storm. Since it wasn't a good canning year, I made a LOT of cookies to give out as gifts. Gingerbread, Linzers, chocolate chip, Nanaimo bars, meringue <i>rochers, damiers</i>, and toffee. I was baking for DAYS. But I was able to bring 4 dozen cookies to my new workplace, drop off cookies for neighbors and friends, and still have plenty left over for the family.<br /></p><p>Then it came time for the actual holiday meals. On Christmas Eve we went to visit my parents and cooked lunch for them. I made fettuccine Alfredo and sautéed chicken and shrimp, so that everyone could add their own protein. For dessert we had...cookies!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCYe_c3AOB5ugESD-5IwiOyQ1o4yy4-oO_IhXTRkaNWqFQ53lZ6cKZa3Eod9-ZWKxL7ZTXQrdx0IybDbEicfcBF9KPl29D0LV2Wu9RHBcNltnFI12WiycEWFUlYbAN1O9U5mCLO7X-_4io09bV6V_3d6CK457oHuQYbGsNZnzDuCCueUhwAJcezPH2tA/s4032/PXL_20221225_135125889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCYe_c3AOB5ugESD-5IwiOyQ1o4yy4-oO_IhXTRkaNWqFQ53lZ6cKZa3Eod9-ZWKxL7ZTXQrdx0IybDbEicfcBF9KPl29D0LV2Wu9RHBcNltnFI12WiycEWFUlYbAN1O9U5mCLO7X-_4io09bV6V_3d6CK457oHuQYbGsNZnzDuCCueUhwAJcezPH2tA/w150-h200/PXL_20221225_135125889.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>For Christmas day, the family was greeted with warm cinnamon rolls, fresh out of the oven. I had made the dough the night before and, after its first rise, put it in the fridge. Rolling it out when it was cold was so much easier. I might even make them more often, considering how much easier it was. <p></p><p>Dinner was chicken or salmon <i>en croute</i>, depending on if one eats fish or not. With curried mashed sweet potatoes on the side, yum! I made puff pastry from scratch, and wrapped each piece of fish or chicken individually. I did pre-cook the chicken because I was worried the puff pastry needed less time to cook than the chicken. They ended up being much larger than I envisioned, and we have plenty of leftovers. For dessert, I made creme brulée!</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPyVsYFwB4we-ymF-aNcdW2grh1idsowgCYsHQ5vW76KLW7tWN6A_KAPX9th9Wx9YooiIw8g8j7vUPWVSCK1rwX41499upzfrolhnDSFg8xp9N1Hhrwt7u2qRovcdeNTwJMcnXxOoG1yZn2bqNz0BgjHqD9XrQjjaNr0Jb0ujPG7cReQYNlAvF0WLvaw/s4032/PXL_20221225_232246495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPyVsYFwB4we-ymF-aNcdW2grh1idsowgCYsHQ5vW76KLW7tWN6A_KAPX9th9Wx9YooiIw8g8j7vUPWVSCK1rwX41499upzfrolhnDSFg8xp9N1Hhrwt7u2qRovcdeNTwJMcnXxOoG1yZn2bqNz0BgjHqD9XrQjjaNr0Jb0ujPG7cReQYNlAvF0WLvaw/w200-h113/PXL_20221225_232246495.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken</td></tr></tbody></table>Now I'm very tired and, other that making bread, I think I'll be taking a break. We have plenty of leftovers to eat.<br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZsK_MQdQYLqKpIHRAA_PRmFfLTRcD_rbKHS8ZxLwrA9_IIebcge_S2W64eyCRoFnsHg1QM20vS7_OYY7qzSsxEb2BikLVYtJXWSeU4sjidlaagIPQ3s_op17aYMe9fOJlN-u2F8MkmhYbIdPdH3IpqK1qH_Us2n6eQBwNGRp6_15UzEu67hzNXtuNQ/s4032/PXL_20221225_232239568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZsK_MQdQYLqKpIHRAA_PRmFfLTRcD_rbKHS8ZxLwrA9_IIebcge_S2W64eyCRoFnsHg1QM20vS7_OYY7qzSsxEb2BikLVYtJXWSeU4sjidlaagIPQ3s_op17aYMe9fOJlN-u2F8MkmhYbIdPdH3IpqK1qH_Us2n6eQBwNGRp6_15UzEu67hzNXtuNQ/w200-h113/PXL_20221225_232239568.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salmon</td></tr></tbody></table></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-51569900732550804352022-12-01T10:38:00.000-05:002022-12-01T10:38:01.471-05:00Fried Banana Cake<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-ho9urvKkZTt_I1hDXCi6xUMx6M0jI92yoWYUMRmxche3xz9pekYQt_sGyX8L9VJMYQxGjdlg9l62QkmqekT7rM3OsBGh8BXuNso1kxJXcuyGPZxD2Cvyitg6-TLzcEMPLTtuSoOsb5OFcsylTSxFvYRaH4EcX42SnKZ9irbLUmOyl0oHMeL2kEpiA/s4032/PXL_20221127_145109262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-ho9urvKkZTt_I1hDXCi6xUMx6M0jI92yoWYUMRmxche3xz9pekYQt_sGyX8L9VJMYQxGjdlg9l62QkmqekT7rM3OsBGh8BXuNso1kxJXcuyGPZxD2Cvyitg6-TLzcEMPLTtuSoOsb5OFcsylTSxFvYRaH4EcX42SnKZ9irbLUmOyl0oHMeL2kEpiA/s320/PXL_20221127_145109262.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><b>T</b>he elderchild and a friend made banana cake the other day and brought some back to us. Faced with a whole loaf of banana cake (slightly lighter than banana bread), we made it into a terrific breakfast! Each slice was fried in butter about 2-3 minutes per side and then topped with maple syrup and whipped cream with cinnamon. Mmm.<br /><p></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-8285299918192394032022-10-17T08:59:00.007-04:002022-10-17T10:40:50.538-04:00Missed It<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbd_ujiFm_IKq79atc_5AEfeLLZkPjlCtE-okvwrXN35EpSW8V9hVi8tKy3EblHUXhIfV9Ijt8b6A44wN4MBd6SO8A-FNpzA2MWNho3GK0lYHonDSNlxix7LA-QEQDgfSrvwUWK4NDOSG_SnTGC9BoVvZy1_8He0Zj-DCE6Oa5nsIuv_CJpjSZI5cfRg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbd_ujiFm_IKq79atc_5AEfeLLZkPjlCtE-okvwrXN35EpSW8V9hVi8tKy3EblHUXhIfV9Ijt8b6A44wN4MBd6SO8A-FNpzA2MWNho3GK0lYHonDSNlxix7LA-QEQDgfSrvwUWK4NDOSG_SnTGC9BoVvZy1_8He0Zj-DCE6Oa5nsIuv_CJpjSZI5cfRg" width="135" /></a></div><b>W</b>e missed apple picking season again. <p></p><p>That's two years in a row. I guess I keep hoping both the kids will be free on the same weekend and, while <i>technically</i> they were, one had Covid so we couldn't exactly go anywhere. I still have some applesauce from last year and when I run out I can just buy a bunch of apples and make more, but the outing was always part of the fun. Maybe next year we can plan that better.</p><p>What I have done recently is make a chocolate cream pie, something I have not made before. I followed the <a href="https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/chocolate-cream-pie-recipe" target="_blank">King Arthur recipe</a> and it was fabulous. The pie did not last long! Much more successful than that red velvet cake, I might add. </p><p>Today I am making chocolate chip cookies, using a <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015819-chocolate-chip-cookies" target="_blank">recipe from the NY Times</a>. Lately my toll house cookies have been very...thin. I'm not sure what has been happening but they come out very flat and yet still chewy. Weird. This recipe is fantastic. At least, they look good. We haven't tasted them yet. My new coworkers have been after me to make cookies, since they know I bake. So I'm bringing some in for them. The cool thing about this recipe is that you make the dough and refrigerate it for at least a day. The longer you let it sit, the better it is, apparently. Seems to work. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-84569812564663594922022-10-03T08:50:00.003-04:002022-10-03T08:50:48.140-04:00Fair in the Rain<p><b>W</b>e went up to the Fair two days ago, the weather was rainy but not super windy. It was the little bit of Hurricane Ian that reached New England, I guess. Generally, I prefer to be at the Fair in the rain because fewer people go so it doesn't feel as crowded. </p><p>From the canning perspective, I won first place for sauerkraut and for tomato (pizza) sauce, and second place for the mulberry jelly, raspberry jam, and salsa verde. I didn't bake anything for the baking competition, but I did spend Friday baking a cake for the elderchild's birthday. More on that later.</p><p>One of the most fun parts for us is seeing the rabbits, and this year we spent some time watching the judging of some larger rabbits. There are these little stalls with wire doors that flip up so the rabbits are put in one side and the judge takes them out the other side and examines them. The rest of the rabbits, though, are all trying to get out of the stalls, and so every so often a rabbit's head pokes up above the stalls and a person has to hurry and push it back down before it jumps out. It's like whack-a-mole, but gently and with rabbits. It was so funny to watch!</p><p>After about four hours, we headed home, and I spent the rest of the afternoon frosting the cake I'd made and making chile rellenos for dinner.</p><p>Ah, the cake. The elderchild requested a red velvet cake like the one on this season's Great British Bake Off (the technical challenge). I looked up their recipe and, after making a run up to Saugus to get 6" cake pans which I discovered I needed right when I was about to start preparing the ingredients, followed the recipe to the letter. It SANK. I'm not sure why. So I cleaned up, went back out to the store to get more red food coloring and cocoa, and used a <a href="https://preppykitchen.com/best-red-velvet-cake/" target="_blank">different recipe</a>, which worked. And tasted really good, I might add. I did use the frosting from the GBBO recipe, which tasted great, but it was so runny. I had to put a skewer in the cake to keep it upright while I tried to frost it. There was a lot of cursing. </p><p>Ultimately, the cake tasted fantastic, even if it was not as smoothly frosted as the ones on TV. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyz5hJFmFLnAbllC8muHz9bxdHflZzn59nvHG4pOUSZ3VFp8khds4uFLmy-Xjgc6yPPvljvFFenBB964NtPDryRdjn117OHFUrgUdezBUPWqi1T_Fk8WKpd-Sv15CWsaaJmT-HNo238_NgDz_vbtDTRzToGMm0XoKmE38DOPHoexc1feDdlf5ZaTCmYQ/s4032/PXL_20221002_015530021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyz5hJFmFLnAbllC8muHz9bxdHflZzn59nvHG4pOUSZ3VFp8khds4uFLmy-Xjgc6yPPvljvFFenBB964NtPDryRdjn117OHFUrgUdezBUPWqi1T_Fk8WKpd-Sv15CWsaaJmT-HNo238_NgDz_vbtDTRzToGMm0XoKmE38DOPHoexc1feDdlf5ZaTCmYQ/s320/PXL_20221002_015530021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happy Birthday!</div><br /><p><br /></p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-70519058007584654322022-09-18T17:03:00.001-04:002022-09-18T17:03:06.528-04:00Still Tomato Season<p><b>T</b>his week I was able to bring home another bag of plum tomatoes from the farm. It must have been about 12 pounds! Today I ran them through the food mill, yielding 16 cups of purée. Once it cooked down, I was able to can six pints of tomato sauce. Three pints have Persian spices and three pints are plain. It's a lot of work to get the purée and makes a big mess but it is worth it to have homemade tomato sauce. </p><p>I miss the Jolly tomatoes the farm used to plant - these were nice to can whole since they were incredibly uniform in size. The closest I've seen lately were the weird hybrids mixed in with the Sungolds. When I went back this past week, they'd all split due to the recent rain and there weren't any good ones left. I wonder how many more weeks we'll get decent tomatoes before the weather catches up with us?</p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-35244526205380140262022-09-16T12:58:00.000-04:002022-09-16T12:58:01.342-04:00Spicy Gifts<p><b>F</b>or the past two weeks at the farm, the hot peppers have been in full swing. Since I could get 20 each time, I ended up with 40 Hungarian Hot Wax peppers to make hot sauce with. This is the recipe from my brother-in-law, which uses mustard, vinegar, sugar and hot peppers to make a spread. It's thickened with a flour and water mixture which, while not the preferred thickener for canning, works well as long as it's used quickly.</p><p>This batch made about 19 cups of the sauce, and I put 10 cups into 20 half-cup jars to add to my gift stash. I don't really know how many jars I need for the stash this year, but this gives the stash a significant boost. </p><p>Sometime over the weekend, I'll take the next round of plum tomatoes and make more tomato sauce. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-55067335544806745432022-09-12T19:51:00.002-04:002022-09-12T19:51:56.597-04:00Tomato Sauce<p><b>L</b>ast week the farm share was still flush with tomatoes. I grabbed as many plum tomatoes as I could carry and let them ripen for a few days on the counter. Tonight I processed them through the food mill, getting 13 cups of purée which I then cooked down to 6 cups of sauce. Each pint has a sprig of basil, some lemon juice and salt. Maybe there will still be more this week? It's been warm enough and there were still plenty of green ones on the vines. Having a lot of tomato sauce around has been really handy. </p><p>In the row of sungold cherry tomatoes, which I love, I found a single plant that appears to have been some sort of cross between a larger red tomato and sungolds. Or something. It might have been a random heirloom seedling that got mixed in. Anyway, these tomatoes were about 1.5 inches across, deep greenish-red, and flavorful. I made a tomato tart out of most of the ones I picked. Yum.</p><p>Thanks to the elderchild, I've been introduced to a YouTube series called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/pastagrannies" target="_blank">Pasta Grannies</a>. They're incredibly inspiring. I may have to start making more pasta by hand!</p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-87535242495422026632022-09-04T16:34:00.000-04:002022-09-04T16:34:18.792-04:00Unlimited Tomatoes<p><b>T</b>his past week at the farm, we were instructed we could pick unlimited tomatoes. Turns out, the limiting factor was how much I could carry. Between the plum tomatoes I've frozen from prior weeks and the tomatoes I lugged across the field, I had enough purée to make a full batch of pizza sauce. 13 cups of purée, 1/2 cup lemon juice, spices (I used <a href="https://curiospice.com/collections/signature-blends/products/ferla-spice" target="_blank">Ferla Spice</a>, salt, pepper, and garlic powder) and time. I ended up with four 12-ounce jars and four 8-ounce jars. I followed the recipe in the <i>Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving</i>.</p><p>After checking with the woman who runs the canning competition at the fair, I will enter this in the "Tomato Sauce" category, rather than the "Spaghetti Sauce" category. </p><p>As of today, I have five things to enter. Last year I had four. The maximum a person can enter is ten classes (it used to be fifteen, I am not sure when that changed). I think I'm done, and can spend the next few days getting everything labeled correctly. They need to be dropped off on Saturday. </p><p>If there are more tomatoes next week at the farm, I will try to get some to make a batch of regular tomato sauce, as I've been out of that for a while as well. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-87645605978602099472022-09-03T11:01:00.004-04:002022-09-03T11:01:47.407-04:00Disappointing<p><b>W</b>e've been picking raspberries at the local farm for years. In the past few years, they have taken out most of the raspberry bushes in favor of expanding to a more broad selection of crops and a farm stand. Which is fine, but that means fewer raspberries. Recently they've taken to limiting the amount of raspberries a group can pick. This morning three of us went, and we were only able to pick three pints.</p><p>What that means is I was unable to make raspberry jam without pectin and had just enough berries to make a batch of jam with pectin. There were no berries left over for snacking. I guess it'll have to do. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-17960391593461935482022-09-02T17:31:00.001-04:002022-09-02T17:31:23.323-04:00End of Summer<p><b>S</b>chool has started for the kids, and the farm share has gone into high production mode. Considering how dry it has been lately, it's surprising how much I brought home yesterday. Time to get canning!</p><p>Today I made five half-pint jars of salsa verde, with the intention of entering it in the fair. I think my proportions might have been a little off because it was fairly watery, so I strained out some of the liquid before canning it. Likely the tomatillos had more water in them than I was expecting.</p><p>I have many pounds of plum tomatoes to run through the food mill tomorrow, so I can make a large batch of pizza sauce. I am not sure I will enter pizza sauce in the fair partly because I don't know if it falls into the "tomato sauce" or "spaghetti sauce" categories, and partly because I'm not sure if I even want to sacrifice a jar because this is one of the things that gets used up quickly.</p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-30115284946970648472022-08-22T12:17:00.001-04:002022-08-22T12:17:28.617-04:00In Between<b>A</b>s in, I am in between jobs. After just under three years I left my most current position providing urgent care and will be starting a new job in a pediatric office, with better hours and fewer weekend shifts. (About the latter my family says, "It's about time!") It will take a little while to finish all the credentialing and get oriented, so that leaves me some time for canning. <div><br /></div><div>Today I checked the sauerkraut, and it was tasty, and the pH was <4, so it was ready. This time I hot packed it as I'm tired of cracking jars and losing product. The difference is that since the sauerkraut is already heated up, it takes less time in the canner to process. 10 minutes, instead of 20. Works for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 7ish pounds of cabbage and 2 leeks made almost 6 pints of sauerkraut, once it was all packed down in jars. I even have enough that I will enter some in the fair. Maybe I can pull some more things together in the next few weeks to have a respectable entry. It would be weird to miss it!</div>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-21535902900561425382022-08-10T20:51:00.004-04:002022-08-10T20:51:42.094-04:00Maybe I Have More Energy?<p><b>I</b>t's been a long, slow summer. The heat hasn't helped. Not only has there been a drought impacting the farm share and the local PYO options, but it's also made me not very excited to stand next to a stove. Or really do much of anything!</p><p>But today, since our summer travel is over, I started a batch of sauerkraut. Last year's batch didn't ferment for as long as I thought it should, so I got rid of it. Just in case. From the farm, I had four heads of cabbage and two leeks, about seven pounds worth of produce. I sliced everything thinly and mixed it all with 4 T. of salt and packed it in my crock. Tomorrow I'll see if I have to add some brine, it may be necessary. After that, as long as I keep the water seal refreshed, it should do its thing with minimal fuss. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-26675229832515743302022-08-09T20:50:00.003-04:002022-08-09T20:50:23.868-04:00Mixed Bread and Butter Pickles<p><b>T</b>his week we have the farm share to ourselves, and there were <i>almost</i> enough cucumbers to make a half-batch of bread and butter pickles. But not quite. So I added one small, cucumber sized zucchini and that was perfect. With the onion and Hungarian hot wax peppers I also got at the farm today, I was able to make four half-pint jars of bread and butter pickles. Which is good, as I think we ran out about a month ago.</p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7198714796928095356.post-87507487588587178112022-08-07T10:24:00.001-04:002022-08-07T10:46:14.884-04:00Peaches<p><b>L</b>ast week, we visited family in Ohio. As with the prior year's trip, my in-laws got two big boxes of peaches from the Georgia Peach Truck. I had ambitions to make pies, crisps, jam, and other peachy things. But chaos ensued, as it usually does. I couldn't find a rolling pin so rather than a pie I made one crisp. And one batch of jam. But since my in-laws weren't sure where the canning pot that I'm positive we bought on a prior trip ended up, I did the "flip the jars over" thing to seal them. It worked, and it won't take them long to work through the 5 and a half jars of jam I made for them. </p><p>Because I didn't have huge amounts of time I intended to bring home enough peaches for another two batches of jam, thinking I could make some to enter in the fair (and seal in a boiling water canner, the preferred way). But the peaches got bruised, and even though we put them in a fridge at the B&B we stayed at en route, the next morning we discovered they were starting to rot. </p><p>We managed to find 5 good ones which we left with our lovely hosts and they kindly threw out the rest for us. I felt badly that didn't work, but we still had a lot of time in the car to go and it was almost 100˚F outside and the trunk wasn't as cool as I'd hoped it would be. So they really wouldn't have made it the rest of the way. </p><p>Speaking of the Fair, it's really snuck up on me. I'm not done with the shawl I'd hoped to enter. It turns out, you have to actually knit in order for knitted items to be completed. Who knew? But I haven't gotten to it in a while. I only have the mulberry jelly to enter, having missed strawberry season and not having any peach jam. I haven't even made any pickles as the farm share hasn't had as many as prior years. So between the lack of produce and my general lack of energy, I'm not sure I'll manage to get anything else made by the time I have to enter. </p>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997895540586043266noreply@blogger.com0