creative hiatus

Creativity withers and dies in the shadow of my impending move across the country.  I keep hoping to pick up sticks or make something fun in the kitchen, but sadly, I just continue packing up boxes for Goodwill.

I do want to update that the limoncello is FABULOUS.  I have only managed to drink it straight up *oh the shame* but it tastes divine.  I look forward to making more 'cellos and sampling some concoctions created with this delicious liqueur.

I leave you with my latest offerings.

socks, completed about 2 weeks ago

In different light

Pie for Pi Day!  A blueberry cupcake creation that would have benefited from a tablespoon of cornstarch to soak up the inevitable juice of frozen blueberries.  It was, nonetheless, yummy!

Berry Good

The blackberries I picked up at the grocery store this week were pretty well picked over by last night and I knew one more night out would leave them looking a little rough, so jam it all!  I measured them out and threw sugar over them in 3:2 ratio of berries to sugar.  That is a mathematical PITA when you have just over 2 cups of berries, so I in reality, eyeballed it and put them in the refrigerator overnight to deal with today.

yes, that looks like a lot of sugar, but the berries are winning, honest!

Fast jamming of small batches seems to work quite nicely in my skillets and this being an especially small batch, I took a chance on the 10" skillet having enough room without boil over.  I did some fast stirring but lucked out and it did not foam over.  What an amazing mess on a glass top stove that would have been had I been wrong!  I smushed about 2/3 of the berries with a potato masher to give some body to the jam while still leaving a few whole berries as a nice surprise here and there.

I had 3 sadly whizzled up Meyer lemons in the refrigerator so I juiced those for a little acid insurance (and a zippy taste to my jam).  Once it started to look "jammy" - and really, you will know - I pulled it off the stove to a hot pad and filled my sterilized jars.  To can, they spend 10 minutes in the water bath canner, plus 15 for my special high-altitude location.  I am now wise to the idea of removing the canner from the heat and let it sit, lid off, for 5 minutes before removing my jars to cool unmolested on the counter. 

That's it.  As easy as that and I saved fruit from a white fuzzy death or consumption by the dog, who loves berries and aren't I excited about that for the someday in my future when I get berry bushes. 

Blackberry jam

not your momma's lemonade

My squeals of joy made the produce guy at King Soopers laugh when I found Meyer lemons were back in the bins, neatly hidden by bags of just-not-the-same Eurekas and Lisbons.  I snagged 4 bags and made tracks for home to mix up some limoncello!

Peel 5 lemons, carefully avoiding the pith, which is bitter

Peel an orange as well and add all pith-less peelings to a half-gallon sized mason jar. Yes, such an animal can be found, typically in Ace Hardware or some other place where you are not anticipating mason jars.  Any giant Costco-sized pickle or olive jar from that binge you'd rather not talk about will do, so long as it is well-scrubbed.  Add 3/4 cup of simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar, heated on the stove until dissolved) or more to your sweetness preference.  Juice all of your citrus and add that to the jar.  Top it with 3 cups of 80 proof vodka and give it a gentle shake.

I went with a micro-distillery vodka that is *gasp* gluten-free but you can really use inexpensive vodkas.  The lemon will shine through regardless

Stow your mason jar of fancy moonshine in a cool, dark place.  Swirl it every few days and taste it once a week until it tastes good to you, strain and hide it from your friends!  Once they taste it, everyone will want some!

I've been making things!

My mind has just stubbornly refused to let me commit them to blog!  So...before Christmas, I stumbled across some Meyer lemons for sale at our local King Soopers.  I'd heard so much about them in my canning cookbook perusal - they are the end all and be all of lemons - so into the cart they went.  I pulled out 2 jars, sterilized the bejeebers out of them as this was a "sit on the shelf in a cool, dark place" project, and set to work with gloves on to protect my Colorado-dry winter cuticles from the salt.

oh so pretty!

My recipes, I looked over several, directed me to slice off the ends, quarter the lemons (but not all the way through), pack salt (kosher or sea) in between the wedges and stuff in the jars.  I also added bay leaves - I really need to hit Savory Spice soon and pick up some fresher bay leaves - black pepper corns, and cinnamon sticks.  Cover with more lemon juice and off to the shelf it went!

After several weeks on the "cool, dark shelf" of my basement pantry

Two nights ago, I made dinner with my preserved lemons!  Chicken, Artichoke Heart and Preserved Lemons with Rice.  It was delicious although in the future, I have a better idea of how much preserved lemon to use.  I pulled a quarter out using a clean fork and butter knife (to separate it from the rest of the lemon) and diced it very fine before adding it to the mixture in the pan.  The lemon rind was softened and the whole jar had a clean, salty-sweet smell.  Risotto may well be up next, but I am certainly on the hunt for new recipes involving preserved lemons.

the lemon peel had softened and the overall smell was divine

Givin' Ya'll the Bird

Yes, friends and neighbors, it is the Oven-Door-Blowing Turkey Recipe, or as we say in our house ...Thanksgiving Dinner!  Various members of my family, and even a vegetarian friend, have made this recipe for the last 20-odd years and no one's died yet.

Buy A Big Bird (seriously here, the biggest bird you can find) and a huge bottle of red wine.
Stuff It (the bird, people, the bird!)
Rub It Down - (again, I am referring to the bird, but what you do in your own household is your own dang business) It's gonna be eaten, for the love of God.  Let it go out in style!

The Rub
melted butter
shots of A1
garlic
thyme
marjoram
a little red wine
salt/pepper

Roast It
525F uncovered 30 minutes
sip a glass or 3 of the remaining red wine.

Haul that turkey out of the oven and douse it well with red wine. Soak a linen towel with red wine and lay it over the bird.  Douse it with more red wine...this bird feels no pain!  Cover it with most of a normal sized roll of tin foil.  Think "air-tight,"  sealed for the apocalypse, metallic fortress.

Shove Big Bird back into a 450F oven for 90 minutes.  Offer whoever is sitting with you some wine and wait for the oven door to blow open and flames to shoot out.  Look smug as your guest spills wine all over her shirt.  After 90 minutes, turn off the oven.  Do not open the door.  Not even for a peek. Kick the bottle, making threats of bodily injury to anyone who may open either the oven or bedroom door while you sleep.

The next morning, drink a large glass of ice water.  Look suspiciously at the dog to ensure she has not developed opposable thumbs and opened the oven door in the night.  Choke down aspirin and don sunglasses.  Take Big Bird out of the oven and pry off the darkened tin foil.  Strip off the towel.  Baste the birdie and re-cover with the tin foil.  He goes back into a 400F oven for 1 hr.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Snow Day for Moms!

Rumor has it you can make jellies from peach peelings and pits, so I had to try it out.

Happiness is a day of picturesque snowfall that covers the grass but leaves the roads clear so the kids go to school!  I did some deep cleaning in the kitchen and finally got to those peeled peaches, peels, and pits that had been residing in my refrigerator since Sunday.  Thank goodness for Fruit Fresh and lemon juice!

After boiling for 30-45 minutes until the skins are somewhat translucent, I strained the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer and several layers of cheesecloth.

I boiled and strained on Tuesday night while making dinner, putting the whole mess in the refrigerator overnight so it could continue dripping.  What you see here is about one cup of juice.  There was not enough peach on the peels to rate any kind of food mill action so they were tossed out.


Wednesday, I looked at several jelly recipes and decided that one cup of juice plus 2 tablespoons of pectin and one scant cup of sugar would work.  I hate cleaning candied fruit juice off my glass top stove (hate my glass top stove, too, but that's another story!), so I used a pot far larger than would first come to mind.  Thank goodness for that, because memory served me right and it did boil up pretty spectacularly.  I brought the juice and pectin to a boil, then added the sugar and brought it back to a boil for one minute before pulling it off the stove to a hot pad on the counter.  Last time I left jam sitting on the burner, it burned - have I mentioned I hate glass top stoves?

Excuse the blur, I just had to show the color!

The end result was three 4 oz jars of a mild-tasting peach pit jelly, exactly half the amount of peach jam created from the same batch.

3 cups of chopped peaches, scant 3 cups of sugar, two tablespoons of lemon juice, boil 'til it looks right

I've made the pectin-less peach jam before, in a more peach preserves form than jam. Same skillet technique, only this time, knowing I was not going to try to reach an impossible gel point!  I could just eat it with a spoon right out of the jar!

One peach pit jelly already in sample mode

After a successful jam session, I shared my thrifty preservation with a friend who asked innocently, "Aren't peach pits poisonous?"  This sent me racing to both my garbage can and Google where I found that, Yes, Virginia, peach pits do indeed contain a form of cyanide.  Sigh.  Fortunately, a careful investigation revealed no cracks or loose pits were involved in this canning experiment.  For the record, I would have automatically tossed them had they been cracked or broken, but it never hurts to be sure!

Sticks on a Plane!

I enjoy knitting, the act of taking sticks and string and turning them into something beautiful.  There are so many beautiful yarns and needles that look like pieces of art.  So many patterns.  So many combinations of yarn, needles, and patterns...so much of my knit time looks like this.

Piles of yarns and patterns, rummaged through randomly until I settle on something

I scroll through Ravelry, I sift over mountains of magazines and pattern books from my home and the library, I...procrastinate.  Until finally, I pick up sticks and work on something!

I have given up finding a new pattern and instead gone for the instant gratification - such that it is with sock knitting - of using a known pattern that will yield wearable socks!

I am fascinated by the mechanics of making a sock and have successfully completed 2 pairs.  Of course, the first pair had to be given away to a friend with slightly larger feet because I cannot measure properly.  And the second were resumed after a 6 mos break, which meant that I managed to make one sock a different size than the other, but they both still fit!  This time, I am fool proof.  I am making a different version of the second sock pattern - Ann Budd's His and Her socks - in the size that fits me best - child's size for my tiny feet.  I plan on wearing them before Thanksgiving!

sticks on a plane!

Thank goodness TSA does not view knitting needles as deadly weapons!  Despite space limitations flying coach, I did manage to knit up a respectable length of sock while airborne.  The flight attendant behind me was also knitting during her spare time on one leg of the flight.  I was even afforded some extra minutes of non-flying knit time while we were trapped in the plane on the tarmac for 15 or 20 minutes.  They were looking for an FAA-approved nut for the left wing.  We were in DC...it shouldn't have taken that long to find!