canned
At 8:40 this morning The Husband came into our bedroom and woke me up by saying "Hey, weren't you supposed to go somewhere this morning..?"
Yes, of course Pippa would pick this morning, the one morning a week where I'm supposed to be OUT THE DOOR at 8:30, to sleep in. All other mornings she's up by 7:15 at the latest, but not this morning! And since I didn't set another alarm clock, I slept in as well.
Through supreme force of will I got us out the door by 9 and it didn't end up too badly. I was going to my "Seasons of Food" class, which is supposed to start at 9:30 but doesn't usually start until 9:45, so I ended up being more like 15 minutes late than 30 minutes late.
It was so interesting! I was about to say that it was really fun, but it wasn't fun precisely. Enjoyable, and educational, and I felt accomplished at the end of it. We made pepper pear salsa, and applesauce, and then canned it. This was my first time canning and I'm so glad I did it with an instructor to demonstrate and help me out. I've done a lot of reading about canning, but there are a few things that I had misunderstood in my reading that only a live person could correct me on. For example, what it means for a jar lid to be "fingertip tight". My interpretation of this ambiguous phrase was MUCH tighter than the lids are actually supposed to be. They're actually supposed to be tightened just to the point where, if you have the jar on a table, and you're spinning the lid, the jar starts to move with the lid.
We also got to sample a variety of jams and preserves. They had a jar of peach freezer jam that I thought was amazing. Best peach jam I ever tasted. It tasted so fresh! The instructor explained that this is because freezer jam pectin requires much less sugar than other varieties of pectin, so you get much more of the fruit flavor. I now want to make freezer jam, but I just don't have enough freezer space to keep up a supply. I'm thinking about making freezer jam as gifts for Christmas. The instructor says that the opened jam will keep about a month or so, and I could definitely finish off a jar of that peach jam in a week, lol! And I'm not even much of a jam eater!
I was also surprised by how easy it was. It's definitely more on the sciency side of things, more like baking than cooking, with a need to be precise in measuring headspace, balancing ratios of acid, etc, but somehow I actually enjoyed it more than baking. Perhaps because it felt more like being in a chemistry lab, with bubbling water and tongs! Also, much less messy and less to clean up than most of my baking escapades. I can't seem to bake without needing to change the tablecloth and my top. (The kitchen counter is too awkward to do baking tasks like kneading and rolling on, so I do most of my baking prep in the dining room.)
Anyway I am excited to try canning by myself soon. I want to make my own Branston pickle. For the price of one or two tiny jars of the commercial stuff, I could make over 2L of it, and set my husband up in pickle for a year. That would be awesome.
Next week the topic is winter gardening and extending the growing season, which should be exciting. I've been meaning to do a postmortem on my own garden. In brief, the lettuce was an unqualified success; cucumbers were good until the drought and my inability to keep up with watering killed them; I planted the tomatoes too late, such that I didn't start to get a real harvest until just now, and they all taste blah like winter tomatoes because it's so cold; my artichoke never produced, because I didn't give it enough space; beets never got beyond baby size; brussels sprouts killed off by cabbage fly; zucchini didn't produce too well, but was free, so I'm fine with that; rhubarb robust and unkillable; chard did fairly well; hot peppers fun, but cost of plant is greater than value of peppers produced, and the same story for the edamame; bell pepper plant produced one single pepper the entire season.
Biggest thing I want to do next year is plant much earlier, like late May, rather than waiting til practically July. Lettuce, definitely, and I would like to do a greater variety; tomatoes, sure, but only if I do start them earlier; I'm skipping all members of the cabbage family as cabbage fly eggs are totally gross; undecided on zucchini; yes chard, and maybe kale and collards as well; no peppers or edamame. I'd like to try to do lemon cucumbers or a heirloom variety instead of regular cucumbers.
mentalguy sent me a link to a page that claims you can regrow celery from the cut off bottom of a stalk. I would like to try this, as The Husband loves celery, but we never seem to be able to finish off a whole stalk before it goes limp and sad. If I could break off a piece or two from a living plant that would be ace. Plus I always hear that celery is one of the worst veg for pesticides, so I'd feel better about eating it out of the garden.
Oh! I also made an excellent spread off the cuff today. I can't give amounts precisely, but I put ripe avocado, pumpkin seeds, raw chard, herbs, and salt into the food processor along with a little white wine. It tasted really good, although the color was a rather unappealing brown, and gets even nastier looking after being in the fridge. Not something I would put out on a buffet. We ate it as a sauce on whole what linguine but it also works well as a dip or spread on crackers. I'm just having some now with Triscuits.
Yes, of course Pippa would pick this morning, the one morning a week where I'm supposed to be OUT THE DOOR at 8:30, to sleep in. All other mornings she's up by 7:15 at the latest, but not this morning! And since I didn't set another alarm clock, I slept in as well.
Through supreme force of will I got us out the door by 9 and it didn't end up too badly. I was going to my "Seasons of Food" class, which is supposed to start at 9:30 but doesn't usually start until 9:45, so I ended up being more like 15 minutes late than 30 minutes late.
It was so interesting! I was about to say that it was really fun, but it wasn't fun precisely. Enjoyable, and educational, and I felt accomplished at the end of it. We made pepper pear salsa, and applesauce, and then canned it. This was my first time canning and I'm so glad I did it with an instructor to demonstrate and help me out. I've done a lot of reading about canning, but there are a few things that I had misunderstood in my reading that only a live person could correct me on. For example, what it means for a jar lid to be "fingertip tight". My interpretation of this ambiguous phrase was MUCH tighter than the lids are actually supposed to be. They're actually supposed to be tightened just to the point where, if you have the jar on a table, and you're spinning the lid, the jar starts to move with the lid.
We also got to sample a variety of jams and preserves. They had a jar of peach freezer jam that I thought was amazing. Best peach jam I ever tasted. It tasted so fresh! The instructor explained that this is because freezer jam pectin requires much less sugar than other varieties of pectin, so you get much more of the fruit flavor. I now want to make freezer jam, but I just don't have enough freezer space to keep up a supply. I'm thinking about making freezer jam as gifts for Christmas. The instructor says that the opened jam will keep about a month or so, and I could definitely finish off a jar of that peach jam in a week, lol! And I'm not even much of a jam eater!
I was also surprised by how easy it was. It's definitely more on the sciency side of things, more like baking than cooking, with a need to be precise in measuring headspace, balancing ratios of acid, etc, but somehow I actually enjoyed it more than baking. Perhaps because it felt more like being in a chemistry lab, with bubbling water and tongs! Also, much less messy and less to clean up than most of my baking escapades. I can't seem to bake without needing to change the tablecloth and my top. (The kitchen counter is too awkward to do baking tasks like kneading and rolling on, so I do most of my baking prep in the dining room.)
Anyway I am excited to try canning by myself soon. I want to make my own Branston pickle. For the price of one or two tiny jars of the commercial stuff, I could make over 2L of it, and set my husband up in pickle for a year. That would be awesome.
Next week the topic is winter gardening and extending the growing season, which should be exciting. I've been meaning to do a postmortem on my own garden. In brief, the lettuce was an unqualified success; cucumbers were good until the drought and my inability to keep up with watering killed them; I planted the tomatoes too late, such that I didn't start to get a real harvest until just now, and they all taste blah like winter tomatoes because it's so cold; my artichoke never produced, because I didn't give it enough space; beets never got beyond baby size; brussels sprouts killed off by cabbage fly; zucchini didn't produce too well, but was free, so I'm fine with that; rhubarb robust and unkillable; chard did fairly well; hot peppers fun, but cost of plant is greater than value of peppers produced, and the same story for the edamame; bell pepper plant produced one single pepper the entire season.
Biggest thing I want to do next year is plant much earlier, like late May, rather than waiting til practically July. Lettuce, definitely, and I would like to do a greater variety; tomatoes, sure, but only if I do start them earlier; I'm skipping all members of the cabbage family as cabbage fly eggs are totally gross; undecided on zucchini; yes chard, and maybe kale and collards as well; no peppers or edamame. I'd like to try to do lemon cucumbers or a heirloom variety instead of regular cucumbers.
mentalguy sent me a link to a page that claims you can regrow celery from the cut off bottom of a stalk. I would like to try this, as The Husband loves celery, but we never seem to be able to finish off a whole stalk before it goes limp and sad. If I could break off a piece or two from a living plant that would be ace. Plus I always hear that celery is one of the worst veg for pesticides, so I'd feel better about eating it out of the garden.
Oh! I also made an excellent spread off the cuff today. I can't give amounts precisely, but I put ripe avocado, pumpkin seeds, raw chard, herbs, and salt into the food processor along with a little white wine. It tasted really good, although the color was a rather unappealing brown, and gets even nastier looking after being in the fridge. Not something I would put out on a buffet. We ate it as a sauce on whole what linguine but it also works well as a dip or spread on crackers. I'm just having some now with Triscuits.