Mixed fruit jam

I had some apricots and peaches that were quickly spiraling down the path to spoilage.  I cut them up and parked them in the fridge for the night. 

My family was in town from Washington this week, and my dad brought me a bowl of his home-grown raspberries.  We enjoyed a bunch in yogurt and over ice cream, and then I added the rest to the peaches and apricots. I also threw in some local strawberries that need to be used up. 

I went searching for Pomona's Pectin, but couldn't find any at the time (I later found some at a garden store and in my own cupboard..*eye roll* I should look more closely next time).  Since I couldn't find any at the time I decided to try making jam without pectin. I followed the guidelines I found on the Food in Jars website for small batch jam.  I ended up cooking the fruit in two batches so that I was more assured of getting it to gel. I added in a sprinkling of lemon balm leaves, but they discolored in the final product so I think I will leave that out next time. 

I am grateful to my grandparents who passed down this half size canner to me last month because I have a stove with an attached oven right above it and I can't get my big canner under it and still be able to put stuff in or take stuff out of the canner. This half size canner made it possible for me to can. 

And the finished product!  I like to can jam in smaller jars because we don't go through it that quickly, and if you give it as a gift you can give several small jars that way there is a variety. I also have two of the little jars in the fridge to use now. I made some thumbprint cookies that the jam goes well with. 

I will put up pictures of the greenhouse later- it looks amazing. First I need to go figure out what to do with several pounds of pie cherries.  Oh, and I will have the farmers' market post and a garden update later as well. 

Knitting and reading

     I'm knitting the one thing I know how to knit- a washcloth with only knit stitches, which I think (?) is called garter stitch. The yarn is a mix of some of my favorite colors. 

     I'm reading a book I got at the Mother Earth News Fair where I heard the author, Stephanie Tourles, speak (and she passed around some of these concoctions- it smelled amazing in that room!). It is about herbal topical remedies. Herbs are one of my favorite topics and this is chock full of good recipes. It is organized by condition so you can pick cold and flu, burns, etc and there will be remedies for that ailment. If you are interested in herbal medicine like I am I also strongly recommend anything by Rosemary Gladstar.  I've been hearing good things about "How to Move like a Gardner" by Deb Soule so I will be trying to check that out soon.  Stephanie Tourles has a few other books as well, a couple of which I have and couple of which I would like. This one is by far my favorite of the ones I have. 

Joining Ginny's yarn along today.

Scrambled

It has been hot. Simple and quick meals are in order. This can work for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Most of the ingredients are local as well. 

I went to the farm stand today and the only eggs they had left were 4 turkey eggs. I thought they would be interesting to try. I picked some lambs quarters, basil, sage, rosemary, chives, and one pea. I sautéed all of that in butter with green onions and young garlic that I had chopped and frozen. Then I added salt, pepper, and some local raw milk cheddar cheese. I toasted some new to me gluten free bread and then rubbed it with garlic and a little butter. Added some fruit (local strawberries) to the mix and it was a yummy, healthy 5-10 minute meal. 

Homemade Butter!

When I was in Kindergarten, I remember Mrs. Lively taking us all into the kitchen one day, giving us a container with a milky substance in it, and telling us to shake it. And, shake it some more. And, more.
Then, all of a sudden the milky substance became clear-ish, and there was a lump in that container.
I re-lived that experience today, almost 20 years later.
Here is my lump:

All it took was a little heavy cream, a clean canning jar, and about 20 minutes of shaking.
Once it separated into butter and the (real) buttermilk, I poured the buttermilk into the bread dough I was starting, and rinsed the butter blob in cool water until it ran clear. Then, I put it in my butter dish and sprinkled it with sea salt. Now I'm just waiting for my bread to finish rising and bake so this beautiful butter can be enjoyed slathered on a warm, fresh piece of bread. Yum!

In the process of making the butter, it first turned to whip cream, and I don't think I will ever use a machine to make whipped cream again! It's just too much fun to shake it, and the clean up is easier, in my opinion.

Now, I just have to get my hands on some of the rich, yellow colored local cream from the dairy down the road and try this again...