chickies/canning/camping
Juneau has been Sunny and Beautiful for most of the month. You guys down south get to take that for granted. We do not. We have an entire town of people who cant be asked to cook or do their laundry because they can't be asked to come inside. You can walk down any street around dinner time and smell yummy grilled food because noone can handle being in the kitchen.
That said, I managed a few hours of kitchen time, but I did a lot of outside time to get there. I made spruce tip jelly and strawberry rhubarb jam. I am not sure if they will gel the way i want them to so I will hold off on posting recipes.
Rhubarb is a weird thing. Supposedly, the leaves are poisonous and the stalks are edible. Since it is the same part of the plant, I don't see how that works. Everyone plants it in their yard and few people actually use it. I take advantage of this. I have a small yard and rhubarb is a big plant, so I ask people if I can harvest their rhubarb that they dont have the time to deal with.
Spruce tips are weird. Its kind of like the dandelion wine I made last year in that the best description i can give it is that it tastes like springtime. I am sure this will be fabulous in say February when its cold and snowy. You have to pick them when they still have a little brown sheath covering them. Then they taste mildly of tree and heavily of sour. If you pick them when they are too big, they just taste like turpentine.
The chickies are beautiful. If you give them worms, they chase one another around. Its all very sweet. Perhaps I should try to get some of that on video. They are still little girls, but we borrowed a guinea pig cage to keep them in until we are ready to put them outside, so they have quite a bit of room to run around. We named them agnes, harriet and gertrude. of course, agnes is a little bigger than the others and her comb is coming in more quickly, so she may be an agnew, in which case, he is fried chicken in a few more months.
Now I am off to take advantage of this amazing weather and go camping. I have my hammock, I have my book. I need a rest, but more likely, I will find that one of my favorite berries has ripened in the unseasonable weather and spend the weekend harvesting. :)
I love my life. I LOVE ALASKA!
That said, I managed a few hours of kitchen time, but I did a lot of outside time to get there. I made spruce tip jelly and strawberry rhubarb jam. I am not sure if they will gel the way i want them to so I will hold off on posting recipes.
Rhubarb is a weird thing. Supposedly, the leaves are poisonous and the stalks are edible. Since it is the same part of the plant, I don't see how that works. Everyone plants it in their yard and few people actually use it. I take advantage of this. I have a small yard and rhubarb is a big plant, so I ask people if I can harvest their rhubarb that they dont have the time to deal with.
Spruce tips are weird. Its kind of like the dandelion wine I made last year in that the best description i can give it is that it tastes like springtime. I am sure this will be fabulous in say February when its cold and snowy. You have to pick them when they still have a little brown sheath covering them. Then they taste mildly of tree and heavily of sour. If you pick them when they are too big, they just taste like turpentine.
The chickies are beautiful. If you give them worms, they chase one another around. Its all very sweet. Perhaps I should try to get some of that on video. They are still little girls, but we borrowed a guinea pig cage to keep them in until we are ready to put them outside, so they have quite a bit of room to run around. We named them agnes, harriet and gertrude. of course, agnes is a little bigger than the others and her comb is coming in more quickly, so she may be an agnew, in which case, he is fried chicken in a few more months.
Now I am off to take advantage of this amazing weather and go camping. I have my hammock, I have my book. I need a rest, but more likely, I will find that one of my favorite berries has ripened in the unseasonable weather and spend the weekend harvesting. :)
I love my life. I LOVE ALASKA!