tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65239414721925356642024-02-18T17:37:37.762-08:00The Homey EconomicDiscussions, debates, and deliberations about how to stretch every dollar, eat well on the cheap, and make the most of every resource we have.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-20344451957383072582014-04-27T10:12:00.001-07:002014-04-27T10:12:40.787-07:00If I Had a Hammer (and a saw, and a bench pin)Almost spur of the moment, my friend Marisa and I decided to take a silversmithing class at <a href="http://www.danacadesign.com">Danaca Design</a>. We’d taken a precious metal class [embed] last December, and although it was a lot of fun, it wasn’t something I felt like I could use on a regular basis. <br/>
<br/>Silversmithing though, I’ve had some minor experience with—way back in the day in high school. The art department at Chantilly High was pretty impressive and had a great jewelry unit that fired my brain. I’ve puttered with jewelry making since then, mostly wirework and beading, but I always wondered what it would be like to do some real sawing, shaping, and soldering on an ongoing basis. <br/>
<br/>So since we both had the weekend free we jumped on the class. It was Saturday and Sunday, 10 am-5 pm, and although it sounds like a lot of time the hours just melted away. We were left scrambling both days to get our projects done, and on the second day some of the students ended up having a pendant partially finished and planning to come back during some free studio time to finish up. <br/>
<br/>The first day we made a pin out of copper. This project had us working with a single piece of metal, picking a design, sawing it out, using tools to create texture, and by the end of the day, making a pin and soldering it on. I really enjoyed the sawing out of the shape, and was kinda gratified that I was still decent at it, given that it’d been almost 30 years since my last attempt. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTVGjnPPL-wcN0TqXO1o7Nw0kpBIuLrX5lCteY7RHDZyBLp-OHDxRu8yzoRkE-0jBLJZzYDD8-_gyUfytC3UBZUbKd-FHKCPfXLxTVY7BjQLNwQAetzNMW9i8u1O1aenUScc6obqkiuM/s1600/IMG_2468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTVGjnPPL-wcN0TqXO1o7Nw0kpBIuLrX5lCteY7RHDZyBLp-OHDxRu8yzoRkE-0jBLJZzYDD8-_gyUfytC3UBZUbKd-FHKCPfXLxTVY7BjQLNwQAetzNMW9i8u1O1aenUScc6obqkiuM/s400/IMG_2468.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>The second day we worked in sterling silver and each made a pendant, set with a stone and textured as we saw fit. There was a bezel to set the stone, soldered on a prepared background, then additional trim if we wanted it (mine had a wire border), also soldered on. Then the final shape was sawed out, filed, and the edges sanded smooth. A loop was soldered on the back, and finally, the stone was set. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A4MHUDw8t45ZhF7bx83Mx4gmqRhLocU7vOxwV4LNpqAVlmp6DsBotH9u_4UyttOcvjxkKptiJaD_aQp-7JSKRHNhchrJDxf4cLEyKO5aouS3NjRYirAHJGMLFABdlDVI357aQn7d7QA/s1600/IMG_2466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7A4MHUDw8t45ZhF7bx83Mx4gmqRhLocU7vOxwV4LNpqAVlmp6DsBotH9u_4UyttOcvjxkKptiJaD_aQp-7JSKRHNhchrJDxf4cLEyKO5aouS3NjRYirAHJGMLFABdlDVI357aQn7d7QA/s400/IMG_2466.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>The class was great. Very technique heavy—which is inevitable in a skill-oriented class. There wasn’t enough time to do a lot of deliberating on design—I tried to choose an approach rather quickly so I could focus more attention on getting to all the steps to complete the pieces. <br/>
<br/>That class stuck with me, and I started to think, not only about the skills I’d practiced in class, but some of the designs by other students and studio members that were in the gallery. <br/>
<br/>So I bought a few tools to supplement the jewelry ones I had already, and banged out a couple pieces: <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2076oyT6SLrJo6obP3dT_NC9W30BBuf-X819SWHNin0GPlTCp9u9Sic24aunqZVpSpV9Y9EmyDpHNYVVrc9k0LEZKtisCFzf0eROQnSYdWK755PhMYlxfLNdBsbDntfSKlLhVwQa8Ixs/s1600/IMG_2484.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2076oyT6SLrJo6obP3dT_NC9W30BBuf-X819SWHNin0GPlTCp9u9Sic24aunqZVpSpV9Y9EmyDpHNYVVrc9k0LEZKtisCFzf0eROQnSYdWK755PhMYlxfLNdBsbDntfSKlLhVwQa8Ixs/s200/IMG_2484.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmtTO2WqtwenmyR3j3ccKdLRJNK6-ihSgfcbKfzAGM2f6m8lz8cBWFMb0DLdnIhGPSMDvlsnkZAM152B321X7sV4yKgMHoIwgUslcPHwIegvmKQ_hk63l8iWORZ5GxlUqKITWeGrgVdw/s1600/IMG_2485.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmtTO2WqtwenmyR3j3ccKdLRJNK6-ihSgfcbKfzAGM2f6m8lz8cBWFMb0DLdnIhGPSMDvlsnkZAM152B321X7sV4yKgMHoIwgUslcPHwIegvmKQ_hk63l8iWORZ5GxlUqKITWeGrgVdw/s200/IMG_2485.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DW6fO1VV7q0vp2zDHQVqPEIWgPE7KcxVW-dStt-Nhw20AqxLYwfIhVAfcC8zVBXn6ekAhW7M5na9MAZqoTK2i8c2ljm37-wbA4wrBVE566I-i2cLq4eneE6BO0tiWnRt8qJCvTO9dw8/s1600/IMG_2487.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DW6fO1VV7q0vp2zDHQVqPEIWgPE7KcxVW-dStt-Nhw20AqxLYwfIhVAfcC8zVBXn6ekAhW7M5na9MAZqoTK2i8c2ljm37-wbA4wrBVE566I-i2cLq4eneE6BO0tiWnRt8qJCvTO9dw8/s200/IMG_2487.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4CUfHOaglv4Y3myw9-0SLEmcj5BsmE6BnUqOenxog02vxu3h2rvhxUnYOr18_-UftF6ZO31D5JrluxZrs5yd4F70gXd3QavDLBahZeWuSYRJp1l-xlA7gOEoHzVdvaMOcIRxzFMKTOk/s1600/IMG_2498.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4CUfHOaglv4Y3myw9-0SLEmcj5BsmE6BnUqOenxog02vxu3h2rvhxUnYOr18_-UftF6ZO31D5JrluxZrs5yd4F70gXd3QavDLBahZeWuSYRJp1l-xlA7gOEoHzVdvaMOcIRxzFMKTOk/s320/IMG_2498.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3K0WX_u77gciIB4N3oId4CVHs_IhnYuKFcKapR3Cs2Som3nEk4YE312-YsPqp4nCEpoiupSNp531W-_EaRf4qgSjX5zAdNsuflWGD1697J-ZzOH0PKh-fkrQJpLyYUStoqVZK7KojHeA/s1600/IMG_2502.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3K0WX_u77gciIB4N3oId4CVHs_IhnYuKFcKapR3Cs2Som3nEk4YE312-YsPqp4nCEpoiupSNp531W-_EaRf4qgSjX5zAdNsuflWGD1697J-ZzOH0PKh-fkrQJpLyYUStoqVZK7KojHeA/s320/IMG_2502.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>I’m gonna see what else I’m able to do in the weeks ahead. The last thing I really need is another hobby—but then, this isn’t a new one. It’s one of the oldest hobbies I have, and the fact that it’s been nagging at me since the class ended means I’d better pay attention to it. Sooo…we’ll see how it goes. <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-44339675451386730922014-02-23T18:34:00.001-08:002014-04-27T10:25:23.741-07:00Recycled Sweater<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>I took a solo trip to Ireland about 17 years ago. I had several places I wanted to hit on that trip--the Guinness brewery, the town of Ballyheigue in County Kerry where one of my great grandmothers was born...<br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNh-hWxuuspkfEej_WR3dBNU8eP8gqTVLU1WgjrZg8K9NGHYH0hf8dyMrMa7W2oPhWfT5oNUFd-rRdBTiArKs8KM-GFxx-W1e6mE2h1TLpPU8OeKSb2ojxGSQe3bK6FUPEtBqr-QrNMPs/s1600/IMG_2293.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNh-hWxuuspkfEej_WR3dBNU8eP8gqTVLU1WgjrZg8K9NGHYH0hf8dyMrMa7W2oPhWfT5oNUFd-rRdBTiArKs8KM-GFxx-W1e6mE2h1TLpPU8OeKSb2ojxGSQe3bK6FUPEtBqr-QrNMPs/s200/IMG_2293.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4iOFGP5V9ZvSg3xfLA__uqNKq7XLEA_nDpls2AIUVXGYbiq3KSnaehbN2Pl8fUI13yi6bAEJ4l_UYX6sYwOc46pYRprt3MnCmxpgUeUrFK9aGv5eZ7ZcUYzkqtdxpmvg01EtNNugWDM/s1600/IMG_2294.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4iOFGP5V9ZvSg3xfLA__uqNKq7XLEA_nDpls2AIUVXGYbiq3KSnaehbN2Pl8fUI13yi6bAEJ4l_UYX6sYwOc46pYRprt3MnCmxpgUeUrFK9aGv5eZ7ZcUYzkqtdxpmvg01EtNNugWDM/s200/IMG_2294.JPG" /></a><br/>
<br/>And the Aran Islands. I also wanted to pick up a few souvenirs, including an Aran sweater. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_w0suvXm1LqNFBnlIwiy_bYVFxQfNn8Cf7YK2RuyDoAEl-xdcQcFsENTsjYXiJjSbNqWESolUfi7im4BAa9ethnR43hGCyF0MlD8GV3HuO1P_fSDHTSLCwTGX7z8er_PWy_zn9ZnTlo/s1600/IMG_2295.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_w0suvXm1LqNFBnlIwiy_bYVFxQfNn8Cf7YK2RuyDoAEl-xdcQcFsENTsjYXiJjSbNqWESolUfi7im4BAa9ethnR43hGCyF0MlD8GV3HuO1P_fSDHTSLCwTGX7z8er_PWy_zn9ZnTlo/s200/IMG_2295.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1809Cd0QSc5QaRHdQkrMx_mMbx5fXxNzqWkW5B9pYsdKMA9SPnEAGC94pjiJq6UXTawuQZPmLlvWj4g654dCpDJET6M2NAwgOLI2OM8Xbqes-PZu83cW7LaNkyvrAC2sawnBP4goRBt8/s1600/IMG_2296.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1809Cd0QSc5QaRHdQkrMx_mMbx5fXxNzqWkW5B9pYsdKMA9SPnEAGC94pjiJq6UXTawuQZPmLlvWj4g654dCpDJET6M2NAwgOLI2OM8Xbqes-PZu83cW7LaNkyvrAC2sawnBP4goRBt8/s200/IMG_2296.JPG" /></a><br/>
<br/>I found a small store on Inishmore that sold some sweaters. Most of them were huge, but I found one the looked like it'd fit, even thought it was on the bulky side. It was hand knit, a pretty cornflower blue with several intricate patterns. Unfortunately I never took a picture of the sweater in its original state, but here’s a picture of some of the original pattern: <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Y138JcwFYNyZQYRIf88Mui2qJmvd9tpP4xpe1Bz7JUjQ0-j7Oy1Gehru-Sn78eulPJ1bobcc5v8Eoo-RI8gZKzJIEgKWAUJhvHFTDIbFDUs7sy22foa6sp8aISnzmMdkkL4e44kzSrg/s1600/IMG_2231.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Y138JcwFYNyZQYRIf88Mui2qJmvd9tpP4xpe1Bz7JUjQ0-j7Oy1Gehru-Sn78eulPJ1bobcc5v8Eoo-RI8gZKzJIEgKWAUJhvHFTDIbFDUs7sy22foa6sp8aISnzmMdkkL4e44kzSrg/s320/IMG_2231.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAPG4hcpaTDgNysHUqtc1uxNntb1xvYQQEuEz-ZrKUQXogPMqZbWpDcU4aGgL00J8dktjE-_sHy-S6yn7aq5n4mPTlaQsx2E-yFdbS43qyX6ExUleA5rXwob0zzhGLIgEhlIuWRmBD7U/s1600/IMG_2232.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAPG4hcpaTDgNysHUqtc1uxNntb1xvYQQEuEz-ZrKUQXogPMqZbWpDcU4aGgL00J8dktjE-_sHy-S6yn7aq5n4mPTlaQsx2E-yFdbS43qyX6ExUleA5rXwob0zzhGLIgEhlIuWRmBD7U/s320/IMG_2232.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Unfortunately once I got it home I realized the fit was bulky and totally unflattering. I probably wore it once. The rest of the time it sat in a plastic bin under my bed with my other bulky sweaters. I'd look at it every once in a while and try it on, hoping that somehow the fit would be different, but it never ended up being more flattering. <br/>
<br/>Once I started knitting I toyed with the idea of unraveling the sweater and using the yarn for something else. I balked at the idea of ripping it apart, but if I never wore it, what was the point of keeping it? <br/>
<br/>I held off on giving it serious thought until I found a pattern that seemed to be worth ripping it apart over. After ruminating over a few possibilities over the years that never seemed *quite* worthwhile, I finally found <a href="http://www.berroco.com/patterns/aidez">Berocco's Aidez sweater.</a> <br/>
<br/>Pretty, isn't it? The reviews I read said it was a relatively easy knit. After deliberating for a week I finally separated the pieces of the sweater and unraveled them into balls.<br/>
<br/>A user on Ravelry.com had converted the pattern from pieces that all had to be seamed together to something that have the body knit in the round, with the sleeves joined to the body and then the rest of it also knit in one piece. After some swatching I picked a needle size and went at it. It was a relatively quick knit, until I got to the collar. The same user recommended knitting it separately and sewing it on. I chickened out on that--as I'd never done separate collar extensions that then had to be sewn on before. That’s one of my major obstacles in knitting—I dither around for quite a while when confronted with a new technique, and this time was no different. I put the sweater in a paper grocery bag and tucked it aside. <br/>
<br/>Fast forward almost a year later (lame, I know) during a cold snap in Seattle (below 30F, I know a lot of the rest of the country would throw snowballs at me for complaining) I finally pulled the thing out, read the directions for knitting and attaching the collar, and got working on it. I realized partway in that I'd have to knit a longer collar, as there were issues that were created by knitting the sweater in the round instead of in pieces that would make it necessary to make a longer collar. But I muddled on through, and sewed the collar to the body of the sweater without too much trouble. <br/>
<br/>Afterwards I soaked it in Euclan, a detergent that doesn't require the garment to be rinsed. I'd suspected when unravelling the original sweater that it hadn't been washed or blocked, and once I pulled it out and felt the texture of the yarn change and soften, I knew I'd been right. Good thing too, as blocking it makes it harder (although not impossible) to unravel a garment after the fact. <br/>
<br/>I laid it on a towel, stretched it a bit to make the cables open up, and let it dry for about 24 hours. I wove in all the ends and tried it on. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhsxEDnZzDPOHeRf0ssKP8ZKnVKiR-5gdAw_-XIsyNIAkDbonHRbAKmU2bHzJ6OPK6med6TTrTHL5QTT75FUStbU76e3ART8iGDGyULyKf2VZPeJQw3E872sLJkbumSHmBkDx2pnJilI/s1600/IMG_2243.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhsxEDnZzDPOHeRf0ssKP8ZKnVKiR-5gdAw_-XIsyNIAkDbonHRbAKmU2bHzJ6OPK6med6TTrTHL5QTT75FUStbU76e3ART8iGDGyULyKf2VZPeJQw3E872sLJkbumSHmBkDx2pnJilI/s320/IMG_2243.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfWkGyrQGaSeOwRS9DgboqzhQ3QHw9jKNbskfkg5MoZf29HhwyV9gcC3jAORtuikA_0nd7MUxISRaCIi4rRuM7FDh0-xXQJSXsfuxvnzd09Z0CnZB9AdmybPwJpJe8u4xxIixDweZ_G8/s1600/IMG_2248.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfWkGyrQGaSeOwRS9DgboqzhQ3QHw9jKNbskfkg5MoZf29HhwyV9gcC3jAORtuikA_0nd7MUxISRaCIi4rRuM7FDh0-xXQJSXsfuxvnzd09Z0CnZB9AdmybPwJpJe8u4xxIixDweZ_G8/s320/IMG_2248.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>It's a pretty good fit! A tad long, but that suits the style of the sweater. I have a short torso, so that's often an issue with sweater patterns for me. Next time I'll try to bear that in mind when knitting from a pattern. But I'm really pleased with it, and it's very comfortable to wear. <br/>
<br/>I still have a whole front of the sweater that I didn't unravel. I’m thinking I might try to make a fair isle vest out of it, depending on what other colors seem workable for me, and which pattern I choose. <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-76714461273805837562014-02-04T11:54:00.001-08:002014-02-04T11:54:32.082-08:00Sevilles in Seattle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>Winter is citrus season, and January is when the fruit varieties start to surface in some of the higher-end grocery stores. So I wasn’t too surprised when I saw Seville oranges at Whole Foods for $2.99 a pound. <br/>
<br/>Seville oranges are a sour, highly acidic orange with a lot of seeds. They aren't something you’d want to eat raw or drink the juice of. But they’re a standard ingredient in Cuban cuisine, and are the traditional orange for marmalade. <br/>
<br/>I’d tried marmalade with Sevilles once before, and ended up having a distressing amount of it burnt on the bottom of the pan. But part of that was because I’d tried to use a shortcut in <a href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/02/seville-orange/">this recipe</a> from David Lebovitz. I stood there in the Whole Foods, looking at the Sevilles, and decided to give the recipe another go. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfWucl3aqutoj5LONDeHaISlYLP6Niw975muDHsHyI63r6M1sB88TuuBakzYrVEi9QWE8ctpxaDNzklBLTsOJECuVYq4qLytM3bis0Tq5i41H8fF_fbNqEZ6i8J9Wtx3EQzKUC1D47G9M/s1600/IMG_2156.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfWucl3aqutoj5LONDeHaISlYLP6Niw975muDHsHyI63r6M1sB88TuuBakzYrVEi9QWE8ctpxaDNzklBLTsOJECuVYq4qLytM3bis0Tq5i41H8fF_fbNqEZ6i8J9Wtx3EQzKUC1D47G9M/s320/IMG_2156.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUIzBQfVslU-QcyDqpnGNvNhDPCK38KAo8FXFzIo-yXIdn9mNvwNkNLfYE3E1G-S1AQRPCCgB3jDnATNz124VisbC6o_Qlwj3aifN5brpWrX-hTO9otCpHV6LJjpzKayORKsUmRU-N9k/s1600/IMG_2161.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUIzBQfVslU-QcyDqpnGNvNhDPCK38KAo8FXFzIo-yXIdn9mNvwNkNLfYE3E1G-S1AQRPCCgB3jDnATNz124VisbC6o_Qlwj3aifN5brpWrX-hTO9otCpHV6LJjpzKayORKsUmRU-N9k/s320/IMG_2161.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Processing the oranges takes a fair amount of time. You squeeze out the juice, remove all the seeds and save them, then slice up the rinds as thin as you can, and in small, bite-sized pieces. I tried to keep them all about 1/4-1/2 inches long. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNop0n7k0nNvN_dkwmJfnSX9GLROVPK0jkcOmlFEhWtM7PjmBwo04LA79M1S3nD8bbfZWwXQz4RtN0sxc3Ed9fN7NyQFbLhG2M0psig4cF6ym9kVi3D6QgpXp0NQIEYwZeHVsNRvMPhgQ/s1600/IMG_2157.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNop0n7k0nNvN_dkwmJfnSX9GLROVPK0jkcOmlFEhWtM7PjmBwo04LA79M1S3nD8bbfZWwXQz4RtN0sxc3Ed9fN7NyQFbLhG2M0psig4cF6ym9kVi3D6QgpXp0NQIEYwZeHVsNRvMPhgQ/s320/IMG_2157.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglp-R0Wc0OWqaih_LKms5-55YYFX1UQaz2pCvdNsil2_zjIVguFm4ezOMJlWDxhbceEllA49McOlOoYlE_kJJapbaWuzUu8ah9W1em0lJwg9YtH9pKPp-cbclSKM4lzXY_OAESJxvWTFY/s1600/IMG_2163.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglp-R0Wc0OWqaih_LKms5-55YYFX1UQaz2pCvdNsil2_zjIVguFm4ezOMJlWDxhbceEllA49McOlOoYlE_kJJapbaWuzUu8ah9W1em0lJwg9YtH9pKPp-cbclSKM4lzXY_OAESJxvWTFY/s320/IMG_2163.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>You bundle up the seeds and whatever membranes came out of the orange when you were squeezing or slicing it in a piece of cheesecloth, tying it tight. Then you cook the rinds with water, a little salt, and the cheesecloth bundle for 30 minutes. <br/>
<br/>At this point Lebovitz suggests leaving it overnight to let the natural pectin that’s in the seeds leech into the orange and water mixture. I didn’t do that last time, and in trying to get the marmalade to the right consistency ended up cooking the heck out of it, and burning some. This time I cooled it down and put it in the fridge overnight. <br/>
<br/>The next day I got the canning jars boiling, pulled out the orange mixture and dipped a finger inside. It definitely had a gelatinous quality already. It was liquid, but had a lot more body than an “orange soup” would’ve. I followed the rest of the recipe, adding sugar, putting in a candy thermometer, and getting it to a low-medium simmer. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4nwW38hmMCAQY3AP9AgNZLmVMfmzvNxTKuoMzOh7dnb39IyVe290IYktNRiM7GeKCy1sgKIQ2ZgUOuVUz-lMwZEL8H_0lsTTxbdKGaaANTxB0zcQYvVbTdp-FEW5ae14cvBunNlz010/s1600/IMG_2196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4nwW38hmMCAQY3AP9AgNZLmVMfmzvNxTKuoMzOh7dnb39IyVe290IYktNRiM7GeKCy1sgKIQ2ZgUOuVUz-lMwZEL8H_0lsTTxbdKGaaANTxB0zcQYvVbTdp-FEW5ae14cvBunNlz010/s320/IMG_2196.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>According to the recipe the mixture is supposed to come up to 220 degrees Fahrenheit for it to set properly. The last 10 degrees takes <i>forever</i>, and I was afraid I was going to burn the bottom again. I kept a few spoons in the freezer and as the marmalade continued to cook I tested the consistency of the set. It was thickening, but not enough. I sat in the living room, knitting and puttering around, getting up every few minutes to stir, look at the thermometer, and make sure it wasn’t burning. I checked various marmalade recipes online to see if any of them allowed a gel at less than 220 degrees. Couldn’t find one. In fact some said you sometimes had to go <i>higher,</i> depending on the amount of water in the recipe. <br/>
<br/>The temperature had gotten to around 217 or so when I started to smell a slight tinge of burning. I stirred around and saw that a few rinds were caramelizing, but no burning yet, thank God. So I turned the heat down as low as possible and tested the set again. <br/>
<br/>It was ready. Go time. I turned off the heat and pulled out the last ingredient. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsb6tSKHs1OLB2ioTsrLGvgzznBIwfKlttf92kzGsin3psi8VKZ-7Tij4fkZG74Z6UcgcvZ4sGKLVAJwBVoXKzx9f6jdSC0GLqMMpbl5jGAjEZ68mvyITuMxDbUmAPF9Ng8P8nqmzhY_Y/s1600/IMG_2198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsb6tSKHs1OLB2ioTsrLGvgzznBIwfKlttf92kzGsin3psi8VKZ-7Tij4fkZG74Z6UcgcvZ4sGKLVAJwBVoXKzx9f6jdSC0GLqMMpbl5jGAjEZ68mvyITuMxDbUmAPF9Ng8P8nqmzhY_Y/s320/IMG_2198.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>The Lebovitz recipe calls for a tablespoon of scotch. I had Bulleit bourbon, and figured that would work. I stirred it in and it smelled <i>delicious</i>. Oh my God. There’s nothing like loving the smell of something you’re going to can and knowing it’s gonna be hanging out on your shelves waiting to be eaten. Yay. <br/>
<br/>I pulled the jars out of the water, drained them, and as quickly and as carefully as I could jarred up the marmalade, wiping the rims with a clean, damp paper towel. In the end the set was a tad more solid than I’d like, but I was just grateful I caught it before it burnt this time. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoiTvHSegyjYJV0tE6scn-tYWMY6exH6ilT_d75kAqD5YQzz7TShQdzG5Nbzjx_Pv4BcT27XPNixlRsE_Kpkspnpnn7dGmpwOVvEge_WIMnVOL7cxpuPbdQR_5IhccFiGVNIBhOI6-BA/s1600/IMG_2200.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoiTvHSegyjYJV0tE6scn-tYWMY6exH6ilT_d75kAqD5YQzz7TShQdzG5Nbzjx_Pv4BcT27XPNixlRsE_Kpkspnpnn7dGmpwOVvEge_WIMnVOL7cxpuPbdQR_5IhccFiGVNIBhOI6-BA/s320/IMG_2200.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcr0882_heW4V0WWomAksTLNzER4RgG_8dWJcpNlJZpxVrNwpoz4HZudI27yugt5Kw5lww53wZ268H388fNv-zqnWM8j7__4-mREZXiPuoMq6J57UaQi2RWl4ouazcnHCcmzXwhoC6bI/s1600/IMG_2202.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcr0882_heW4V0WWomAksTLNzER4RgG_8dWJcpNlJZpxVrNwpoz4HZudI27yugt5Kw5lww53wZ268H388fNv-zqnWM8j7__4-mREZXiPuoMq6J57UaQi2RWl4ouazcnHCcmzXwhoC6bI/s320/IMG_2202.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Lebovitz doesn’t can his marmalade, so I looked at other recipes for canning orange marmalade, and ended up processing the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH19z1mBVV55okhoBIBuL7rvdRv0ubeRkp6KY_CHfRxRCz3pYMPjVHnQvtTmTUoASo8JjFPkgZ4dUuvtMVXf1E-BSnBKYcad9VtNtfmHOio_gzHfuT4NQ89Rr50eN_AtoD2w5QOhq_MM/s1600/IMG_2226.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH19z1mBVV55okhoBIBuL7rvdRv0ubeRkp6KY_CHfRxRCz3pYMPjVHnQvtTmTUoASo8JjFPkgZ4dUuvtMVXf1E-BSnBKYcad9VtNtfmHOio_gzHfuT4NQ89Rr50eN_AtoD2w5QOhq_MM/s320/IMG_2226.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGBU9laLQ9ITEeOO5X8W0V-HE30KcN1V6eS8YhUcINs5Yg7EBr4zrcdBQQFbjtGYNP-QPEVZUCxpTxgzMZqEdUf0bqR-22p8E5I-xc30z_mJZ7KL3qashWIgElri0U9-O6WSJ89n_tRo/s1600/IMG_2227.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGBU9laLQ9ITEeOO5X8W0V-HE30KcN1V6eS8YhUcINs5Yg7EBr4zrcdBQQFbjtGYNP-QPEVZUCxpTxgzMZqEdUf0bqR-22p8E5I-xc30z_mJZ7KL3qashWIgElri0U9-O6WSJ89n_tRo/s320/IMG_2227.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Verdict: it’s the best marmalade I’ve ever made. I’ve done other citrus combos since my disappointing first Seville attempt, and those have been good, but this…is awesome. A great level of bitterness, a teeny amount of extra depth from the bourbon, and just sweet enough. I found myself sneaking spoonfuls out of the jar I put the excess in after starting the processing on the marmalade that was being canned. Definitely worth all the effort, especially given how much I love orange marmalade. <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-28030263708270557612014-01-19T15:37:00.000-08:002014-02-04T12:23:33.356-08:00Spinning Some YarnMy dear friend Lisa Chan of <a href="http://www.grippingyarn.com/gywp/">Gripping Yarns</a> showed me some of the basics of spinning with a supported spindle a couple years ago. She’s a wood turner who makes her own, and it was exciting to learn a new skill from her using one of her spindles. Here’s Lisa herself, demonstrating how to use the spindle: <br/>
<br/><iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-UgGkO8f1XQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/>
<br/>I played with it for a while, and enjoyed it, but wasn’t getting the results I was looking for, my spinning was a bit too inconsistent. I put it aside, and kept meaning to go back to it and give it another go, but then got distracted by other things. <br/>
<br/>I was at <a href="http://weavingworks.com">Weaving Works</a> recently and after picking out some yarns I needed I started to dawdle around the fiber for spinning and felting. Some really pretty Meriboo (70% merino, 30% bamboo) caught my eye—it was really soft, and had a lovely sheen. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpT0qM9nDhrJmlmws4s17Afvnp2W9mUVSb6Nu89ilKNambOYweBO89dOFmDFAffsrrLIqNbWflWIzzqAy8B2t-B_qjfMNB-s1aoOvazJ9vFxY-k_bpyEhR1iCNKvRlshSsGFx3ZBDDcA/s1600/IMG_2069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlpT0qM9nDhrJmlmws4s17Afvnp2W9mUVSb6Nu89ilKNambOYweBO89dOFmDFAffsrrLIqNbWflWIzzqAy8B2t-B_qjfMNB-s1aoOvazJ9vFxY-k_bpyEhR1iCNKvRlshSsGFx3ZBDDcA/s400/IMG_2069.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>When I showed it to my husband later it creeped him out just a bit. He said it looked like human hair to him. Which I got immediately, but to me it had the color and sheen of a dark, shiny pencil mark on a piece of paper. The sample of yarn spun from it at the shop was a soft charcoal grey and had the same shimmer present in the fiber. There were 2 shades of grey there. I bought the rest of the fiber they had in the darker shade, and figured I’d give it a shot. <br/>
<br/>The spinning went a lot easier than I’d thought it would. I still struggled with making it even—sometimes it was a fair amount thinner than I’d like, other times it was a bit too thick. But I got to the point where the variation was mild enough that it’d make a usable yarn. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTgkaPC2pXHOaRo08en90YL5VpMXj3h1zDk8TymZpf1bdz2aFG9RAXp0Kkcx72TM9ISgWShUoEjn9xFECYrG1UJEFbdsdqdPbkRKMrKjQP_AZ5Q0EtZvgNpkbQFxdAE7XWq5atBtFx8M/s1600/IMG_2067.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTgkaPC2pXHOaRo08en90YL5VpMXj3h1zDk8TymZpf1bdz2aFG9RAXp0Kkcx72TM9ISgWShUoEjn9xFECYrG1UJEFbdsdqdPbkRKMrKjQP_AZ5Q0EtZvgNpkbQFxdAE7XWq5atBtFx8M/s320/IMG_2067.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgsc_Ku2YqtTLNldnODQF_flxRc3gj3B_0lQC8awnyHdhUAjMg27Spp3v3XTX9JSTmEuP4bKjoBmq0zuykO11Z_RsjmSFZz0UW2yUnXOWAtdVC7Kmb737kcMWh-HKtLNqqVIudsYus9E/s1600/IMG_2084.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgsc_Ku2YqtTLNldnODQF_flxRc3gj3B_0lQC8awnyHdhUAjMg27Spp3v3XTX9JSTmEuP4bKjoBmq0zuykO11Z_RsjmSFZz0UW2yUnXOWAtdVC7Kmb737kcMWh-HKtLNqqVIudsYus9E/s320/IMG_2084.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>As I continued spinning I decided I wanted to make a hat out of the yarn. The <a href="http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2012/9/9/whits-knits-thank-you-hats.html">simple rib thank you hat</a> from the Purl Bee looked like it would be pretty and easy—and would require the least amount of yarn. But I was pretty sure I didn’t have enough fiber in the dark meriboo to make a hat—they’d only had .6 ounces of it left and I bought all of that color that they’d had. So couple days later I went back to Weaving Works and bought the rest of their meriboo in the lighter grey—I think it ended up being about 1.3 ounces or so. I had a decent amount of the darker fiber spun up already, and thought I’d try spinning the rest in a combo with some of the lighter grey, and then spin up the rest of the light grey fiber separately. Then I’d knit the bottom half of the hat in the dark grey, move into the “half and half” spun yarn, and finish off with the light grey yarn—hopefully making a hat with a slightly ombre effect. <br/>
<br/>Combining the fibers together was kinda tricky, especially with my novice spinning skills. But I muddled through okay, and then spun up the rest of the light grey on its own. <br/>
<br/>The next step was plying. Plying involves taking 2 singles, or yarns that I spun, and twisting them together. Lisa loaned me one of her drop spindles a while back, and I used it to ply the yarn together, using this technique: <br/>
<br/><iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UGFp_WVWNS8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/>
<br/>It was a tad tricky at first, but once I got the hang of it the plying went pretty quickly. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ov47J3Vvl15AQcdiw1KtYOna2ZJgnGnZ1TwdpcB6kbqfzKOmqfZ4r_ECebqTdxysZU-4ggfykXxFFV5dlWhHj-pvcaTMVnZUwAH17ZVlwzBkSeYUTQ_e2-KlMhop-7S1d5I_KQZT4Uo/s1600/IMG_2099.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ov47J3Vvl15AQcdiw1KtYOna2ZJgnGnZ1TwdpcB6kbqfzKOmqfZ4r_ECebqTdxysZU-4ggfykXxFFV5dlWhHj-pvcaTMVnZUwAH17ZVlwzBkSeYUTQ_e2-KlMhop-7S1d5I_KQZT4Uo/s320/IMG_2099.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUeOyMt7ZtY_mcooX16Z6tRddnvaaVhMkb9aWIeChFcR20-UuD9ZRPbhyphenhyphen-1J0PKt71wobGYKEu9qaooBlpRWh9XIk7viSqxMHJJYA07iQvM9p7FZ3LzJO6W8UU3zvXF-R_QqYmJuMvWc/s1600/IMG_2103.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUeOyMt7ZtY_mcooX16Z6tRddnvaaVhMkb9aWIeChFcR20-UuD9ZRPbhyphenhyphen-1J0PKt71wobGYKEu9qaooBlpRWh9XIk7viSqxMHJJYA07iQvM9p7FZ3LzJO6W8UU3zvXF-R_QqYmJuMvWc/s320/IMG_2103.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Once I had the yarn spun and plied, the next step was figuring out what size needle to use. So I knit a few swatches: <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6dnFIDYv87HmmFZgcbI70U-DogRuzog-1qmY4iD9WSpJt37zB1QjFnWAPGZPNtnl974RMuqZr60kHM2Qa8fLGFBCnp3Am-FtzJCbQ-f_oQGjlY-ldrdsAND4QXKd8aEVg9nkyXPwsIY/s1600/IMG_2108.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk6dnFIDYv87HmmFZgcbI70U-DogRuzog-1qmY4iD9WSpJt37zB1QjFnWAPGZPNtnl974RMuqZr60kHM2Qa8fLGFBCnp3Am-FtzJCbQ-f_oQGjlY-ldrdsAND4QXKd8aEVg9nkyXPwsIY/s320/IMG_2108.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzQWolO5rw3_Rq5EYIRWseRhAIhEogE2Qi2m2VCwPAJoC7LBuha94ItYU3GrP21CDq8ECcSsXqrgx1ldCG0cIAOEt2BH3yQaGuBtndIArTuzDnbNcfcMvV2K3phNgh6cZKtNcf2dyR04/s1600/IMG_2112.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzQWolO5rw3_Rq5EYIRWseRhAIhEogE2Qi2m2VCwPAJoC7LBuha94ItYU3GrP21CDq8ECcSsXqrgx1ldCG0cIAOEt2BH3yQaGuBtndIArTuzDnbNcfcMvV2K3phNgh6cZKtNcf2dyR04/s320/IMG_2112.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>And then unraveled ‘em (I needed every inch of yarn I’d spun) and started knitting the hat using size 6 needles. Because the pattern was very, very simple, I was able to pay attention to the yarn itself, watching for any irregularities in its thickness in case it became an issue as I knit. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK3z6fyDb3KaK1Oq4DSv4uM3Lp7oBewgUVYQYQElr0CMDySawQpH0xMz6qbKfJ8S1uB1aAbHjd5Me9UdJzF603pM8MlSPPLdGZHmyZE5ST3dEqVFYdPPuXHmTFTE499zAf3iADBRRs_g/s1600/IMG_2121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK3z6fyDb3KaK1Oq4DSv4uM3Lp7oBewgUVYQYQElr0CMDySawQpH0xMz6qbKfJ8S1uB1aAbHjd5Me9UdJzF603pM8MlSPPLdGZHmyZE5ST3dEqVFYdPPuXHmTFTE499zAf3iADBRRs_g/s400/IMG_2121.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>Fortunately that didn’t end up becoming a noticeable problem and I ended up with a soft and very functional hat. I’m really pleased with the way it turned out and will definitely be spinning more for more complicated and interesting hats and garments in the future. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKL0WIlng9DhNGfYqXg4smUQGA2CH_I80BNSITgkRXyurkgWnAcur5jeRBAz5PENkGxs_RLZZl08HJJK7A9THENZni-Ok0PoW4VdKR5m5RAqYji1ePv-98RgZnwjcn-60W9vXOu6xU-4/s1600/IMG_2117.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKL0WIlng9DhNGfYqXg4smUQGA2CH_I80BNSITgkRXyurkgWnAcur5jeRBAz5PENkGxs_RLZZl08HJJK7A9THENZni-Ok0PoW4VdKR5m5RAqYji1ePv-98RgZnwjcn-60W9vXOu6xU-4/s320/IMG_2117.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztilK-UQLSOp5N_FnCXrAqS54okW8-0OF2re1Jy-ptU4orHW2KEZmvcEoEX144maZuwYSRIeAjQB-A75J1Oi4hcH1SKh2MMAJ9zkn5q7w4D_DKiuAQcnIh7EdLRFO0qjgLIg2OjANWiw/s1600/IMG_2119.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztilK-UQLSOp5N_FnCXrAqS54okW8-0OF2re1Jy-ptU4orHW2KEZmvcEoEX144maZuwYSRIeAjQB-A75J1Oi4hcH1SKh2MMAJ9zkn5q7w4D_DKiuAQcnIh7EdLRFO0qjgLIg2OjANWiw/s320/IMG_2119.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Right now I’m working with tussah silk, making a much finer yarn. It’s a trickier fiber to work with, a lot stiffer, and has a fair amount of barklike matter that needs to be picked out as I spin it. But the beautiful golden sheen it has makes all the effort worthwhile. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbWlAzoLN0_LoP_PcR0lI-juKgZkW9dXk5ka3J7bXPH_R3avpsGyt-yORSJJ3o79JpKZkjRwyc7Ksb8IzlHiiyv2l6L4apmJKxxElcMdNDU1Vgl3lrF_D_b-H6cxWJia8_GnIsZ1g0iA/s1600/IMG_2129.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbWlAzoLN0_LoP_PcR0lI-juKgZkW9dXk5ka3J7bXPH_R3avpsGyt-yORSJJ3o79JpKZkjRwyc7Ksb8IzlHiiyv2l6L4apmJKxxElcMdNDU1Vgl3lrF_D_b-H6cxWJia8_GnIsZ1g0iA/s320/IMG_2129.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V6uAFQ_U9sr231a4q3oo6nskAA-TUbpUPvmP587_JI3_DZMZ2HNnm6oLQThaYNoVEJvTLsqnp3jbnyr4DWQcCUN1TeffihbsOdnFbA1kpLZB3VSsPBYS3_1ngcHis5McWzVXJD0WnKg/s1600/IMG_2130.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V6uAFQ_U9sr231a4q3oo6nskAA-TUbpUPvmP587_JI3_DZMZ2HNnm6oLQThaYNoVEJvTLsqnp3jbnyr4DWQcCUN1TeffihbsOdnFbA1kpLZB3VSsPBYS3_1ngcHis5McWzVXJD0WnKg/s320/IMG_2130.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>I’ll probably make a shawl or scarf out of it—it’ll depend on how much yardage I can get out of it once it’s plied. We shall see how it goes. <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-68156940255632152742013-12-28T18:08:00.000-08:002013-12-30T19:14:21.828-08:00Christmas Knitting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Some years I’ve knitted presents for people. One year I knitted for almost every member of my immediate family. It was a bit of a mad sprint at the end, and a lot more stressful than I’d anticipated it being when I started doing it. I took a couple years off of holiday knitting after that. <br/>
<br/>For the most part, knitting handmade gifts isn’t exactly <i>cheaper</i> than buying a present. But there really is nothing like a handmade gift, especially if you’ve had the time (and taken that time) to strategize something that could really suit them. <br/>
<br/>This year I ended up knitting for a couple family members, as well as a few friends who weren’t expecting anything. Christmas for me this year was as much about focusing on giving where it wasn’t expected as it was about décor or decadent food. It was a way for me to remember how blessed I’ve been with friends this year, and I thought about that, sometimes, when I was knitting away. <br/>
<br/>But first off, I made a shawl for my mom, using the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shaelyn">Shaelyn Shawl</a> pattern, which isn’t too challenging a knit but is really pretty. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9XE0VQ9FyEfdGMJYzjGm_6ajLPR-8GFp5IEsylVV4a5QdBPkJtGmLzOKye79AoYsr1VjYeKRPdHYHBzYAyPwsEZCYv86YYJLJQqpKmmYccWNgIxJeGs54zCJeYyg4UaV1ypgLwX55U4/s1600/IMG_1981.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9XE0VQ9FyEfdGMJYzjGm_6ajLPR-8GFp5IEsylVV4a5QdBPkJtGmLzOKye79AoYsr1VjYeKRPdHYHBzYAyPwsEZCYv86YYJLJQqpKmmYccWNgIxJeGs54zCJeYyg4UaV1ypgLwX55U4/s320/IMG_1981.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHmQEUr2cXBffLK95u5LKA-MWTlcMWAdOXM9sc9dWTqpIJ_9xO3wnlW8LShdYotl9smLEgWd24Y0BkHj2Sjs-WkAucn-qzO8hhMxKaPeAvelMDtOnaXM9PVPFjws-1mQr0Z_-lVy88Bc/s1600/IMG_1982.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHmQEUr2cXBffLK95u5LKA-MWTlcMWAdOXM9sc9dWTqpIJ_9xO3wnlW8LShdYotl9smLEgWd24Y0BkHj2Sjs-WkAucn-qzO8hhMxKaPeAvelMDtOnaXM9PVPFjws-1mQr0Z_-lVy88Bc/s320/IMG_1982.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFy-pPp-f9jpA_o2QwGjsmRkxomzQQ_pWrd5WwCJ-o6dBEwZBD24HwzSOabS_AgAtr2B0gIP1m56Izl2n4HbFywPsnfTKAfd5zQGpwDTJUWt0dFqoRaIHRGQ9lgwilJUMcJgaekoJBCqA/s1600/IMG_1983.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFy-pPp-f9jpA_o2QwGjsmRkxomzQQ_pWrd5WwCJ-o6dBEwZBD24HwzSOabS_AgAtr2B0gIP1m56Izl2n4HbFywPsnfTKAfd5zQGpwDTJUWt0dFqoRaIHRGQ9lgwilJUMcJgaekoJBCqA/s320/IMG_1983.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVjAPj6xw0sU4MWfaUCttseBaIQqQUi2H2KwVdlEMDDqFTMqXUDwayzPSCe2CiI1q322jMM4qEBAPOTSVp136i_Irma2hZb_zORuk1LOy_M2AmQFlTcUYSd63P-P-4G23ABK9m_2PY9s/s1600/IMG_1984.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVjAPj6xw0sU4MWfaUCttseBaIQqQUi2H2KwVdlEMDDqFTMqXUDwayzPSCe2CiI1q322jMM4qEBAPOTSVp136i_Irma2hZb_zORuk1LOy_M2AmQFlTcUYSd63P-P-4G23ABK9m_2PY9s/s320/IMG_1984.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>I knitted this with a single strand of Henry’s Attic Zephyr, which is 50% merino wool and 50% silk. It’s a nice, soft yarn with a pretty sheen and is very low on the itch factor. This was a rather fine gauge knit, on size 3 needles. <br/>
<br/>The next shawl was for my friend Alison, using some of the same color I used for my mom’s shawl, but double-stranding it with a green color of the same fiber.<br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKcmgcASL8aSc18eUKXfM51GVi9WzzJv_Z_8J-_5mE-yuyxckm50d2SInY0flDNE0D6GvH5nQgoYVGXYDi6pDIJHSX-DV5m74-qWdDz0hYcHx6FLfwBzlHLsWN20R6fR4ufTLS_C7C34/s1600/IMG_2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlKcmgcASL8aSc18eUKXfM51GVi9WzzJv_Z_8J-_5mE-yuyxckm50d2SInY0flDNE0D6GvH5nQgoYVGXYDi6pDIJHSX-DV5m74-qWdDz0hYcHx6FLfwBzlHLsWN20R6fR4ufTLS_C7C34/s320/IMG_2023.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BtJ491uXAFYX2leOS9z6BSy3u3r_GAudcFnswuFvrGxJBYQURTa0lr6jYaxRjRTUO-j8h1hK-Pak4rPQ3Re7l0puBl_Yh0gnUxjG2AZByd-cJr5nzd6FyT2vct6qBjfsXcgzjqt-LFY/s1600/IMG_2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BtJ491uXAFYX2leOS9z6BSy3u3r_GAudcFnswuFvrGxJBYQURTa0lr6jYaxRjRTUO-j8h1hK-Pak4rPQ3Re7l0puBl_Yh0gnUxjG2AZByd-cJr5nzd6FyT2vct6qBjfsXcgzjqt-LFY/s320/IMG_2024.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>This was a chunkier version of the Shaelyn Shawl on size 6 needles, but just as soft. <br/>
<br/>I made the third shawl using Stephen West’s <a href="http://westknits.com/index.php/pattern/shawls/boneyard-shawl/">Boneyard Shawl</a> pattern, double-stranding the blue and green sections with a grey strand of the same fiber (I was pretty obsessed with this fiber, as you can probably tell). <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZsTCiqZcIHmXedQOpZwGtqvcVuhHPWDW9EpbCVX5Svf4mUNs-rO3ii-tVF7rG2S1VnzH1ojucjx29a-jbPoWtxCF2iXpWyKCmHlvgfeMC654-5XVcTchgid6MmU2jCB-av_vl4O1IjE/s1600/IMG_2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZsTCiqZcIHmXedQOpZwGtqvcVuhHPWDW9EpbCVX5Svf4mUNs-rO3ii-tVF7rG2S1VnzH1ojucjx29a-jbPoWtxCF2iXpWyKCmHlvgfeMC654-5XVcTchgid6MmU2jCB-av_vl4O1IjE/s320/IMG_2020.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qR1xj7cYT1gCushI6E0_o9kQUPOQS1OJ9LU5U_jB5Gr7aLMRAikju3kp1prTRMW43MLenlyumRt08SGvRtYi2g2l95WxO2eXgkLa2TDclZzfsm_t3TV2Eg7LhcSuCzpzNU0p6MTRW3s/s1600/IMG_2021.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qR1xj7cYT1gCushI6E0_o9kQUPOQS1OJ9LU5U_jB5Gr7aLMRAikju3kp1prTRMW43MLenlyumRt08SGvRtYi2g2l95WxO2eXgkLa2TDclZzfsm_t3TV2Eg7LhcSuCzpzNU0p6MTRW3s/s320/IMG_2021.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>This was also done on size 6 needles. <br/>
<br/>Miracle of miracles, I did knit something using another fiber! This is one I’ve loved for years, another Henry's Attic fiber, this time alpaca. I did these for my friend Rob and wanted something simple and in a nice neutral. This yarn is all-natural colors, I assume they strand together colors from two different fleeces. <br/>
<br/>They’re the <a href="http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2010/10/24/whits-knits-ribbed-hand-warmers.html">ribbed hand warmers</a> from Purl Bee. I added a thumb to them, using a 1 x 1 rib on the thumbs so they’d have some texture, and knit them on size 3 double pointed needles. <br/>
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<br/>This hat was done last, for my husband—I had the luxury of knitting it up quick and last-minute, as I could wait until December 25th, if possible, to finish it! I ended up finishing it up the day before. It’s 2 strands of the Henry’s Attic Zephyr (surprise, surprise) and another, slightly lighter red strand of another Henry’s Attic yarn that is 80% alpaca and 20% silk. <br/>
<br/>This was also a Purl Bee pattern, <a href="http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2012/9/9/whits-knits-thank-you-hats.html">the large rib “thank you” hat</a>. It’s a great, quick, and satisfying knit. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkFzErCPWyHs4nYwpsBRAIpvRfvQ07k4L_OORf5KWkBWqNSL5rL_juq6_ju76K_zZ_tsfMLPYKJOuFtD3g8aPvzMjMY95FAdeIrNm1rCEOle6hboyKrfjNnyOo8_xb3ZNHzFnX8-7yVw/s1600/IMG_2046.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkFzErCPWyHs4nYwpsBRAIpvRfvQ07k4L_OORf5KWkBWqNSL5rL_juq6_ju76K_zZ_tsfMLPYKJOuFtD3g8aPvzMjMY95FAdeIrNm1rCEOle6hboyKrfjNnyOo8_xb3ZNHzFnX8-7yVw/s320/IMG_2046.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSYFOA5OSMK4bV1gJtSeuQJPF4np5gfrbMLIJTvRgVUd6VSbPV7PVBgUJ_kcmim47p3o68gjjjbiDruMIOu872lRUKWorSSmHfvt95N_E8Gx_93QpvfT-NCYQmP7klNlmjqmb3FcpoTo/s1600/IMG_2048.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSYFOA5OSMK4bV1gJtSeuQJPF4np5gfrbMLIJTvRgVUd6VSbPV7PVBgUJ_kcmim47p3o68gjjjbiDruMIOu872lRUKWorSSmHfvt95N_E8Gx_93QpvfT-NCYQmP7klNlmjqmb3FcpoTo/s320/IMG_2048.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>I also did this on size 6 needles. It was a slightly tighter gauge but had a nice amount of give and wasn’t too stiff. <br/>
<br/>I gotta admit it’s satisfying to knit up a bunch of presents. It’s fun to pack up some of them and ship them across the country to new homes. And I also like seeing the pile of ‘em before they go out! <br/>
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<br/>In the new year I'm gonna try to start immediately knitting for next Christmas, including a "present project" every 1-2 months. That'll keep my pace regular without making it too stressful. We'll see how that goes.<br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-35001535124368512482013-12-28T17:35:00.001-08:002013-12-29T10:07:00.895-08:00Christmas in Italy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>I made these chocolate crinkle cookies as one of my halfhearted attempts at Christmas baking. I’ve never been able to do a big slog of cookie batches like my mom, my aunts, and my cousin Tine do…but on a good year I’ll do a couple personal faves. Some years it’s cookies, others it’s candy making, which I love as a concept but am less successful at. >These cookies triggered a fun set of holiday memories for me. My mom makes a similar kind of cookie with Sambuca in it. I didn’t remember that until after these were made, but I thought they’d be good with a little Sambuca to sip with it. <br/>
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<br/>It was! <br/>
<br/>A few years ago my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They’d fallen in love with Italy more than a decade before when they’d gone to Europe for the first time while visiting my sister who was studying for a semester in Aix-en-Provence. They went there, and to Paris, but Rome was what really stuck with them. For years after they’d go back and spend a month or so taking Italian classes in a chosen city, eating at little local restaurants or shopping in the markets and cooking at home, and taking trips on the weekends. <br/>
<br/>They’d stayed in Florence and Venice, but Rome was a city they knew particularly well and loved. For their 40th anniversary they wanted to renew their vows at a local Episcopalian church that was popular with expats from all over the globe, and invited my husband Steve and I to go with them. <br/>
<br/>My parents got married on December 22, 1967. So we went over to enjoy the city in the few days surrounding Christmas. It was a strange but lovely time to go. All the churches and cathedrals had beautiful nativity scenes. The city had an intriguing level of hushed bustle, a lot of the restaurants were active, the markets were busy and vibrant. The Parthenon sat like a huge marble phantom in a tiny square surrounded by happy, innocuous cafes and stores. There was gelato <i>everywhere</i>.<br/>
<br/>One afternoon Steve and I had a couple hours to kill before meeting up with my parents for dinner. It was probably a Friday afternoon, and we hit a café/bar right as people seemed to be leaving work and grabbing a drink on the way home. I ordered a Sambuca, and they poured a <b>huge</b> amount in a glass with a lone coffee bean floating rather forlornly in it. I don’t remember what Steve had. But jostling among all the other Romans, sipping Sambuca on a cloudy afternoon, as commuters chattered loudly in Italian all around us, is a seasonal experience I’ll always remember. <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-9182326071777934962013-11-25T19:51:00.001-08:002013-11-25T19:53:46.740-08:00Salsa Verde<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of my fave ingredients these days is salsa verde. As a dip for chips and quesadillas, on burgers, on enchiladas, on eggs, or as an additional flavor in <a href="http://damndelicious.net/2013/09/22/5-ingredient-white-chicken-chili/">soups</a>, I frikkin’ love it. I’ve been making batches close to constantly and so far I haven’t gotten tired of it. <br/>
<br/>The great thing is that it’s really, really easy. <br/>
<br/>Set the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. <br/>
<br/>Gather up the ingredients: 2 pounds of tomatillos, 5-6 cloves of garlic, an onion, 1-2 jalepenos, cilantro, lime, and olive oil. Salt and pepper too, I forgot to include ‘em in the picture. <br/>
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<br/>Next, skin and wash the tomatillos (they come with a papery exterior that peels off), and chop them and the onions into relatively the same size. Separate the garlic cloves. I keep them in a couple layers of <i>their</i> papery skin—we’ll push ‘em out after they're roasted. Spread them out into a single layer in 1-2 pans. Drizzle with 2-3 T of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and put the pans in the oven. <br/>
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<br/>Roast until browned and the tomatillos are collapsing onto themselves. <br/>
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<br/>Separate the roasted garlic from its papery shell, add some roughly chopped cilantro, and puree the whole thing with a stick blender, or in a regular blender. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa0CawLGu_O_rCrtwlqH8f0kBe6ghz5yJ65sJE40siKjtg4a9FbqKv9to0c3d6HrPVPEKVNhyphenhyphen0tRPh9FKXhqbixf5KMy9VehYOO0raOvBel4VkJcoCN1OhKqouDqm4P3hprs-BD7eEhA/s1600/IMG_1866.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa0CawLGu_O_rCrtwlqH8f0kBe6ghz5yJ65sJE40siKjtg4a9FbqKv9to0c3d6HrPVPEKVNhyphenhyphen0tRPh9FKXhqbixf5KMy9VehYOO0raOvBel4VkJcoCN1OhKqouDqm4P3hprs-BD7eEhA/s200/IMG_1866.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhmT0-ek771E_6U6-JE_mPlIkStvDGeCMoPybUdO-khpPGQVILn5G9RlDu0Oy6dmIPlVUKi4LOWbHQ6tPVBSWPu22-99lQ-m-QkE6a0fZfC8YpE9ibF0qpXj4Yk1hvzIjaTQy5MPl_e0/s1600/IMG_1875.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjhmT0-ek771E_6U6-JE_mPlIkStvDGeCMoPybUdO-khpPGQVILn5G9RlDu0Oy6dmIPlVUKi4LOWbHQ6tPVBSWPu22-99lQ-m-QkE6a0fZfC8YpE9ibF0qpXj4Yk1hvzIjaTQy5MPl_e0/s200/IMG_1875.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkHylk3WHjWXFVfyrBJ2UgK2WUOhEk6CklVZ7Amd9ISJtzUYERd9HFW84VdEjwpE7ZHGKDDIawAD7wBBERUvQcwHm6UMyvtK4EyMBSE-lUwTumMGxBEfX03rAqTP8iyTE5OrWQzeag7g/s1600/IMG_1880.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkHylk3WHjWXFVfyrBJ2UgK2WUOhEk6CklVZ7Amd9ISJtzUYERd9HFW84VdEjwpE7ZHGKDDIawAD7wBBERUvQcwHm6UMyvtK4EyMBSE-lUwTumMGxBEfX03rAqTP8iyTE5OrWQzeag7g/s200/IMG_1880.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Add chopped cilantro and several squeezes of lime juice. Delicious! <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-76487671678063928422013-11-25T18:39:00.001-08:002013-11-25T18:41:28.548-08:00Changing Seasons, Taking Stock<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</br>Why bother to make stuff from scratch when I could go to a store and pick everything off the shelf? Why go through the effort of canning food, taking the time to make bread, stock and pasta, floundering around in the garden, sewing clothes, or knitting a pair of socks? </br>
</br>For me there’s a few different reasons. First, I like doing it. They’re all hobbies I’m either still struggling with or am getting better at, and in any of those cases I don’t mind spending the time it takes to do them. Second, I like the feeling of control they give me. I know what I’m eating when I eat something I made myself. I know how much work and mistakes it took to preserve something from the garden, or struggle with a pattern before having something that I can use. I take better care of something I’ve made (usually), and I waste less of the food I make myself because I know what it took to make it. </br>
</br>Now that fall is here I’m looking at what I’ve made out of summer, and thinking about fall cooking, knitting, and sewing. </br>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7C3YrttCCqhr56aGVgOqPduCyyIuDd6lwNsIQeMF38PbxOOdqj_b3LeYn-yu3FZ2QoG7i7QJWMnQD9VC6v4OGbsfMJcLY2C6kg0FJkVsfvy_OREBzwDAUOZsGgaj4i8yahN6rzVFM8A/s1600/IMG_1763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7C3YrttCCqhr56aGVgOqPduCyyIuDd6lwNsIQeMF38PbxOOdqj_b3LeYn-yu3FZ2QoG7i7QJWMnQD9VC6v4OGbsfMJcLY2C6kg0FJkVsfvy_OREBzwDAUOZsGgaj4i8yahN6rzVFM8A/s400/IMG_1763.JPG" /></a></div><br/>
</br>Here’s my canning yield from this summer, one jar each from batches I made. Left to right: Asian shiro yellow plum sauce, blackberry jam, straight shiro plum jam on top of shiro/blackberry jam, pear cardamom jam on top of tomato salsa, tomato jam. </br>
</br>I wish I’d gotten the chance to do some pickling this year, but the timing just didn’t work out for me. Last year I did dilly beans, which were spicy and awesome, and a really good pickle relish. My regular cucumber pickles were kinda uninspiring, not crisp enough. I’ll definitely have to make a point of doing the beans and relish next year. </br>
</br>Now that fall’s here I’m pulling out projects that I’ve knitted or sewn, and working on new projects. Ironically right now I’m working on a very light shawl that’s more appropriate for spring and summer. I’m using a tussah silk yarn that I dyed years ago and never found a good use for: </br>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiei4-kVOmhmVdh-aYHx57ijAbTEbEVKdYn0uczDWNal2Sij9pi14qUGsnhNC7Q1SXC0U0ih13tkmWBzXVn7B5xUzWBz5QvzG8SqQaYwPy2Go5z2VjdW5_6CaNT2CHv5rja0e33_HUyIlw/s1600/IMG_1436.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiei4-kVOmhmVdh-aYHx57ijAbTEbEVKdYn0uczDWNal2Sij9pi14qUGsnhNC7Q1SXC0U0ih13tkmWBzXVn7B5xUzWBz5QvzG8SqQaYwPy2Go5z2VjdW5_6CaNT2CHv5rja0e33_HUyIlw/s320/IMG_1436.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBVxFzOpXv0fsOp8waorTS1rBhz1mGD2vIMc50L1YDT0pRNW10ldrPmmaPgtoRH1AeIDUYfP0MOuxe68mI1bMyeGjnU-K9DYNy8lZM6wC7ZjKrOmYnjwK7cwmf73_vA753QTOMrJVkZk/s1600/IMG_1438.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBVxFzOpXv0fsOp8waorTS1rBhz1mGD2vIMc50L1YDT0pRNW10ldrPmmaPgtoRH1AeIDUYfP0MOuxe68mI1bMyeGjnU-K9DYNy8lZM6wC7ZjKrOmYnjwK7cwmf73_vA753QTOMrJVkZk/s320/IMG_1438.jpg" /></a><br/>
</br>It’s a simple <a href="http://crazyknittinglady.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/on-a-tuesday/">pi shawl</a> that is pleasant for mindless knitting, good for on the bus. </br>
</br>Next, I need to finish up a sweater I started at the end of last winter. I ripped apart a beautifully-knit sweater I got in Ireland 17 years ago and only wore once, because it was a really, really unattractive fit and I finally realized I was never going to wear it, and started to knit up a new one out of the yarn. I’ll blog about that pretty soon. </br>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-71098943054420792562013-10-07T16:45:00.000-07:002013-10-07T16:45:27.714-07:00"Mmmmm, soup!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Chicken bones. They’re something that’s easy to disregard and throw out. But there’s also more to get out of them, even when viable meat has been taken off and used up. My mom used to freeze them until she had enough to make chicken stock, and I routinely do that too. The challenge then is to make sure you use ‘em instead of letting them accumulate in corners of the freezer, but usually I keep tabs on them and convert them into stock before they take up too much room. Usually.</br>
</br>It’s pretty easy to do. You need a few vegetables. </br>
</br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAks3Wm2HzZXUDy2TAOFWels_0QihcVIvhd2maxRewZmsGu_Nb86_00u_s7Fhy509MPxBQulp57i0aYLndzI4ab78RN9WyRdWHqKZp8OR81qA8a26stCpnK7dzn0lmDaku52HjMdCbX9I/s1600/IMG_1714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAks3Wm2HzZXUDy2TAOFWels_0QihcVIvhd2maxRewZmsGu_Nb86_00u_s7Fhy509MPxBQulp57i0aYLndzI4ab78RN9WyRdWHqKZp8OR81qA8a26stCpnK7dzn0lmDaku52HjMdCbX9I/s400/IMG_1714.jpg" /></a></div></br>
</br>Carrots, celery, onion, garlic, some herbs if you have them. Some chunks of ginger can also be good but it’s not necessary. Scrub or peel the vegetables as applicable, chop them into chunks and put them in as large a pot as you’ve got. Put the chicken bones in. If you have whole carcasses from roast chicken take out any lemons or other citrus you might’ve put in the cavity. But you can leave any onions or herbs that roasted with the chicken in the stock pot. </br>
</br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLK69-01K4BpOTmQYPIVM1tClhsp2DPJgzWjWwo8ZZ9050r_Wsu1N2_j3dnYSYE7yRdKLDDIvEJXKurJxN8-D-cQ9KOU7zzln2sqEck9eWr4de_Ac8mkxmH2Aw_PKm-aSNopedesgSos8/s1600/IMG_1731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLK69-01K4BpOTmQYPIVM1tClhsp2DPJgzWjWwo8ZZ9050r_Wsu1N2_j3dnYSYE7yRdKLDDIvEJXKurJxN8-D-cQ9KOU7zzln2sqEck9eWr4de_Ac8mkxmH2Aw_PKm-aSNopedesgSos8/s400/IMG_1731.jpg" /></a></div></br>
</br>Cover with water, add some peppercorns and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. After it comes to a boil simmer partially covered, stirring every once in a while. I simmer it for about 4 hours. </br>
</br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr9MIrSuIEomcXUuXPZSC4bKOKxf6W54sOVHXcMwfDQxjF261XdzSFKGhUMZfTxpUmQtHhbyoud8PwE-I8NuA9lkciA5D9ZGvA-RsadzSIq1gD8Q3H4ura3INQje84XbUPxDeGE2DQmc/s1600/IMG_1737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr9MIrSuIEomcXUuXPZSC4bKOKxf6W54sOVHXcMwfDQxjF261XdzSFKGhUMZfTxpUmQtHhbyoud8PwE-I8NuA9lkciA5D9ZGvA-RsadzSIq1gD8Q3H4ura3INQje84XbUPxDeGE2DQmc/s400/IMG_1737.jpg" /></a></div></br>
</br>Put a big bowl into a roasting pan. Strain the stock in the bowl and put some ice in the roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with water. This will cool off the stock quicker. Then put the stock in the fridge overnight. You can skim off the fat that rises to the top the next day and toss that. Then you can freeze any stock you don’t immediately use in Tupperware containers. You could also freeze some of it in ice cube trays, then empty the stock cubes into Ziploc bags that’ll stay in the freezer. </br>
</br>The stock is good to have on hand for a quick miso soup, making a dinner soup like split pea (I uses this recipe and add ham hocks or smoked turkey legs) or minestrone, as well as for risotto, which I love. </br>
</br>I froze most of mine and then used a couple cups to make this <a href="http://www.gastronomie-sf.com/2005/09/my_tomato_soup_.html">tomato soup recipe</a> (one of our go-to recipes every fall) with the last batch of tomatoes I got off of our plants. It’s pretty damn easy. </br>
</br>2 cups of stock, 4 pounds of tomatoes, carrot, onion, and basil. </br>
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</br>Chop it all up, put into a pot with some salt and pepper, simmer for 30-40 minutes. </br>
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</br>Then strain it into a large bowl. I do it using a strainer instead of a food mill, but the food mill would probably work pretty well. I let it sit for a bit, poking at it and making sure as much of the tomato and carrot puree gets through as possible, scraping the bottom of the strainer into the soup in the bowl below. </br>
</br>You can serve it heated up with or without the cream that makes it cream of tomato soup. And as the link states, it’s amazing with grilled cheese sandwiches (which I sometimes put a thin layer of tomato jam on). </br>
</br>And now the inspiration of the blog title which has almost nothing to do at all with soup: </br>
</br><iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/voc2eYy_i1s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></br>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-90502130080534386682013-09-11T21:04:00.000-07:002013-09-11T21:04:47.293-07:00Multigrain Bread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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French bread is awesome, but sometimes you want a loaf bread. There’s a ton of different types out there. I’m just starting to make some forays in the bread realm, and this book is a great bread baking primer: <br/>
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The multigrain bread recipe in here isn’t perfect—it makes a small loaf. Sometimes I double the recipe and split it among 3 loaf pans to get a larger loaf. But since I hadn’t made this in a while, I figured I’d just make a single batch to make sure I still had the multigrain mojo. <br/>
<br/>It calls for a soaker of cornmeal, wheat bran, and rolled oats that soaks overnight in about ¼ C of water. Then it’s added the next day to bread flour, yeast, honey, brown sugar, cooked brown rice, salt, water, and buttermilk. I didn’t have buttermilk so I mixed yogurt with milk to get something of a similar consistency. <br/>
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<br/>Mix it up and knead it until it’s pliant, sprinkling in more bread flour as needed. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-u26zlEoVI1bGIRgOGQLuWr8YgnAV0BQZ6GBXIAofSyVrGcAhHF1ohOhApySILGBZhtkYMIpLRneW7fDEmktUBlqahTjlmjmmchiQl3CIf_4aLKxy0HwiWGrYRyYFQ3weeXBdAdlaiA/s1600/IMG_1607.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-u26zlEoVI1bGIRgOGQLuWr8YgnAV0BQZ6GBXIAofSyVrGcAhHF1ohOhApySILGBZhtkYMIpLRneW7fDEmktUBlqahTjlmjmmchiQl3CIf_4aLKxy0HwiWGrYRyYFQ3weeXBdAdlaiA/s320/IMG_1607.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixirf8sO-LLZMi8JkSqnv7WkN2EbApPRcmBhu9hs18u3GkOXTmMyVnqKXzDaJ_fhtZ1mp_weQ2z2wwn0tBc1gvCSyb4Z5BzrRZ8vcE0scbxXTE7WDpl4jn49ZVmitb4kG6_i5o2ASEQIs/s1600/IMG_1609.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixirf8sO-LLZMi8JkSqnv7WkN2EbApPRcmBhu9hs18u3GkOXTmMyVnqKXzDaJ_fhtZ1mp_weQ2z2wwn0tBc1gvCSyb4Z5BzrRZ8vcE0scbxXTE7WDpl4jn49ZVmitb4kG6_i5o2ASEQIs/s320/IMG_1609.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Then let it rise. Form into loaves in greased loaf pans and let them rise again. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0M5mNUc_nkkVYTQkE8jAH3BEOXEDw8Zrag0B4sWGATmY1Fmzh5GjGdnooal8J9d69ACTObzBhsfauBWCfrx-vEyAoQldacH8BRsgxmVx37iKTHw_3-p9GYJWnEJzxLoExv_M0LyDKiIw/s1600/IMG_1619.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0M5mNUc_nkkVYTQkE8jAH3BEOXEDw8Zrag0B4sWGATmY1Fmzh5GjGdnooal8J9d69ACTObzBhsfauBWCfrx-vEyAoQldacH8BRsgxmVx37iKTHw_3-p9GYJWnEJzxLoExv_M0LyDKiIw/s320/IMG_1619.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kGqVR8Hvl38VgYFdNku2sCpJHOb8KPVYe4YBx9sGufXy0ohU6Qo-tJ4BY0VG-wlGIgTxtJQHSLJVR4L0KjdGvTtgXKUmcLuf9FJhXxxlFEtG-FP_xRlDLaeG1zrELzolP9fup0AhSw0/s1600/IMG_1629.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kGqVR8Hvl38VgYFdNku2sCpJHOb8KPVYe4YBx9sGufXy0ohU6Qo-tJ4BY0VG-wlGIgTxtJQHSLJVR4L0KjdGvTtgXKUmcLuf9FJhXxxlFEtG-FP_xRlDLaeG1zrELzolP9fup0AhSw0/s320/IMG_1629.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Then bake in a 350F oven for 30-40 min, rotating pans after the first 20. Once they’ve baked up golden brown, tap them to make sure they sound hollow. Take ‘em out, depan and cool on a cooling rack. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qxok-hzENVLt-EoJXoEvmTtomNClfJHnEin3Hl_BoVfpC_Q6fWSHIcvcxWknkDoS4M9CGvL-sQuItsxqt6qEIDjdfsD4AZSR4LVJdqt9HzppTxAxVXVvgLG348UxCf4Ibyqe3efzsYc/s1600/IMG_1631.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qxok-hzENVLt-EoJXoEvmTtomNClfJHnEin3Hl_BoVfpC_Q6fWSHIcvcxWknkDoS4M9CGvL-sQuItsxqt6qEIDjdfsD4AZSR4LVJdqt9HzppTxAxVXVvgLG348UxCf4Ibyqe3efzsYc/s320/IMG_1631.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmZwd97iakwgJ3Tit6jYmvWGuXC3QfL8w5AntXZZyUa1oIH6jGDaFRQm5ikG_JnwAbsz90O-vixSpHtv6Kbe3Z-aqGCC9jn_J1TBOmZ0nK13fZ2YHb8eLWbwElLbrH_W2Pbj_c92OQPI/s1600/IMG_1639.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmZwd97iakwgJ3Tit6jYmvWGuXC3QfL8w5AntXZZyUa1oIH6jGDaFRQm5ikG_JnwAbsz90O-vixSpHtv6Kbe3Z-aqGCC9jn_J1TBOmZ0nK13fZ2YHb8eLWbwElLbrH_W2Pbj_c92OQPI/s320/IMG_1639.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>The crumb came out pretty good, and it had a mellow crunch to the crust. It makes great toast—probably because of the grains and the honey and brown sugar, it browns up really nicely. I bet it’ll make good BLTs, even though the bread is on the small side.<br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-88525486535283469312013-09-10T21:07:00.001-07:002013-09-10T23:19:35.428-07:00Cocktail Hour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yes, finally, a non-tomato oriented episode!<br/>
<br/>I’ve dabbling in cocktails, mostly when I get home from work and want to have something a little interesting to sip on. So far I’ve been sticking with the classics or variations thereof—although I’ve made a few gin-or-vodka plus seltzer and blackberry syrup drinks…sometimes spiked with a little gingercello.<br/>
<br/>But as the herbs in various pots are starting to founder or bolt, I figured I might as well make some use out of them—so I tried a couple of herbal syrups. <br/>
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<br/>The first is a rather <a href="http://www.chow.com/recipes/10492-mint-syrup">standard mint syrup</a> using a recipe from a former managing partner of Gramercy Tavern. I cut his recipe in half, using 1 cup sugar, ½ cup water, and as much of the mint as I could salvage from a struggling plant. I used some of the flowers as well—I did that in the past when I made chocolate mint chip ice cream a couple summers ago and it worked out just fine.<br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszQ-oQnUrMhN94d58ZPoFSXF4iW8x2qKr6xT_YSLqUuvJ2EYS0oLk1NIJL8vMQUJLNkqkq_VS7iVNMVcUeh7WRLiow3fY-sbdn9B0n-Bca3KoNicVvL5CZtSLpT29AMiLLoRRri_u2m4/s1600/IMG_1526.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszQ-oQnUrMhN94d58ZPoFSXF4iW8x2qKr6xT_YSLqUuvJ2EYS0oLk1NIJL8vMQUJLNkqkq_VS7iVNMVcUeh7WRLiow3fY-sbdn9B0n-Bca3KoNicVvL5CZtSLpT29AMiLLoRRri_u2m4/s320/IMG_1526.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-V-33yN1JIvj-2QstipF-wA0JwQ_qGuJO1mvYw1iH6eKXBwuBgiyr_9-4KgIBF_mT2Q3aobSEAKqXv6VwJADW2_LWheIEGPWMwtTkZBv1HrvFMroDYTyE5rh5QSonvmhdAfO1lOaWq20/s1600/IMG_1529.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-V-33yN1JIvj-2QstipF-wA0JwQ_qGuJO1mvYw1iH6eKXBwuBgiyr_9-4KgIBF_mT2Q3aobSEAKqXv6VwJADW2_LWheIEGPWMwtTkZBv1HrvFMroDYTyE5rh5QSonvmhdAfO1lOaWq20/s320/IMG_1529.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Simmer for 5 minutes stirring frequently, then let cool for an hour and strain into a container.<br/>
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<br/>The second was a <a href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/07/pith-helmet-pimms-cup-cocktail-recipe/#more-13313">lemon-basil syrup</a> from David Lebovitz, using basil leaves, the zest of a lemon, and equal parts sugar and water. The larger amount of water makes for a lighter, less viscous syrup. More subtle and quirky. I doubled his recipe except for the lemon, because the lemon I had was pretty large. I figure this’ll be good with almost any spirit, as well as a prosecco or seltzer-based cocktail. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgux-tXLf7KebW9NrfJJjn8zyQPUPe254LmSjcZYjtPa-PLh4kpmpgqv95DrPjZk_vgfLnpx0hMMdEXXb34Lyh1gVchvL_0Kr7D5GVT6GF2T60wEoA-jAYY-Ngvu_GT4PCkl5JN03AQA-E/s1600/IMG_1533.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgux-tXLf7KebW9NrfJJjn8zyQPUPe254LmSjcZYjtPa-PLh4kpmpgqv95DrPjZk_vgfLnpx0hMMdEXXb34Lyh1gVchvL_0Kr7D5GVT6GF2T60wEoA-jAYY-Ngvu_GT4PCkl5JN03AQA-E/s320/IMG_1533.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywXA_vhif07DtJD3V0Uye0HHbrKreA31FluZ0JCR2OCAVvydy5RcCMZDoxoV6myzkqJBmyss5iOMnWg8V_1bcDmzcaCuJQsITNRJPSzv09fNt73kOZJyCFnlgBJB2z-WsbJyXDwiJbAE/s1600/IMG_1539.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywXA_vhif07DtJD3V0Uye0HHbrKreA31FluZ0JCR2OCAVvydy5RcCMZDoxoV6myzkqJBmyss5iOMnWg8V_1bcDmzcaCuJQsITNRJPSzv09fNt73kOZJyCFnlgBJB2z-WsbJyXDwiJbAE/s320/IMG_1539.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Simmer until it comes up to a boil, cool for an hour just like you do for the mint syrup, then strain through some cheesecloth into a jar or bottle. <br/>
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<br/>Enjoy either of these with tea (iced or hot), seltzer, or any cocktail you choose. <br/>
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<br/>This is a down-and-dirty mint julep. That’s my Grandma De Nys looking on. Don’t know if she ever had a mint julep, but since she was born in 1905, she most likely had a fair amount of cocktails in her day. This was pretty easy: a shot of Bulleit bourbon, a tablespoon of mint syrup, ice, and filled to the top with seltzer. I could’ve gotten away with a little less syrup, but it was pretty tasty nonetheless. I’d have garnished it with mint, but all the garnishable leaves were already used in the syrup. <br/>
<br/>Now these syrup efforts have me wondering what other ones I could make. Thyme could be good. Cilantro? Maybe, although a sweet cilantro syrup might be kinda weird. I’ll need to think about it. <br/>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-5974478748076849572013-09-09T20:32:00.000-07:002013-09-09T20:39:17.690-07:00“Salsa is now the #1 condiment in America.”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>I finally made the <a href="http://growitcookitcanit.com/2012/09/23/lazy-cherry-tomato-salsa/">lazy cherry tomato salsa</a> today. It worked out pretty well. I had 3 types of tomatoes to work with—the chocolate cherry tomato which is herbal and intense, the green zebra which is more delicate in its herbal flavor, and the Japanese black, which has turned out to be a more standard red tomato. <br/>
<br/>The recipe calls for 12 cups of chopped tomatoes. I had no idea what that translated to in pounds/ounces. I posted a comment on the recipe post, and one commenter thought 12 cups would translate to about 4 ½ lbs. I’d already done a general google search that stated that 4 cups translated to about 2 lbs of chopped tomatoes. I did a relatively fine chop, and it consistently came out to 2 lbs of tomatoes for every 4 cups. So that’s what I ended up going with. <br/>
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<br/>I also used 4 different chilis: a fresh habanero, 2 dried cascabels (they had an amazing smoky scent), 2 dried anchos, and a canned chipotle with the adobo sauce rinsed off. The rest of the recipe I kept as written. Gotta say when I put it all together and started cooking it up it smelled awesome almost immediately. <br/>
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<br/>After 20 minutes of cooking I pureed it. I cooked for 20 more minutes as stated in the recipe and then started ladling it into the jars. It was really runny. I had a few moments of intense fretting where I struggled to decide whether to keep going or transfer the salsa back into the pot for more cooking. But I’d already tasted the salsa and really liked the flavor—I didn’t want it to end up tasting too “cooked” during the thickening process. So once again I just grit my teeth, finished portioning out the product, and canned those little bastards. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3_DE3KGiCUDmWTZLJI4jsiCxq7q2NcNqGP4A3pEsKIUVtrvQTvMtB0ybMvXI9x4vVoE_0mUC7J8HXfkrziPq5MNR187-ZNtzuKVFau6dUs5sGWpp6u8nviKk4714QAX3uZenlee5v8U/s1600/IMG_1508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3_DE3KGiCUDmWTZLJI4jsiCxq7q2NcNqGP4A3pEsKIUVtrvQTvMtB0ybMvXI9x4vVoE_0mUC7J8HXfkrziPq5MNR187-ZNtzuKVFau6dUs5sGWpp6u8nviKk4714QAX3uZenlee5v8U/s400/IMG_1508.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>I gotta say I really like the flavor on this. Has some bite that creeps up on you, and a nice rounded tomato flavor that stands out on its own. I’ll be interested to see how it ages as the different pepper tastes integrates. It ended up making 6 ½ pints, so I have a half pint in the fridge I’ll eat through. I agree with the original blogger who posted the recipe—I think it’s gonna go great with eggs. But it’ll also do great with corn chips and on enchiladas. It’s good enough that I’ll consider making another batch—if I don’t find other purposes for the tomatoes to come. <br/>
<br/>Because I still have 3 lbs of tomatoes waiting for something. And a lot more on the plants. <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-438004665570929332013-09-08T11:37:00.001-07:002013-09-08T11:37:38.133-07:00Some say Tomato, some say Toh mah to.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>I’ve been “collecting” all of the tomatoes I can so I can have a stash for canning projects for my weekend, which starts on Monday. (I work rotating shifts so my weekends rotate too). <br/>
<br/>We’ve had a lot of rain, 2-3 days of consistent thunderstorms and rain showers, which made me a bit nervous for the tomatoes, but overall they seem to be producing and ripening at a pretty steady pace. <br/>
<br/>These were picked from the plants this morning<br/>
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<br/>And these are from previous picks<br/>
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<br/>Some of those are also from today’s stash, but you get the idea. <br/>
<br/>And I have ones that have split too much to leave out. They are currently in that flavor graveyard known as the fridge. But since they’re going to be the first to go into my canning projects, and I’d rather halt their flavor progress than have ‘em rot and thrown away, I’ve made my peace with it. <br/>
<br/>Tomorrow, plans permitting, I’ll make a batch of <a href="http://growitcookitcanit.com/2012/09/23/lazy-cherry-tomato-salsa/">lazy cherry tomato salsa</a> (obviously with all-kinds-of-sizes tomatoes since that’s what I’ve got to work with) and maybe some more jam. We’ll see. It’s kinda pathetic how excited I am about this, but there you go. I just love the fact that all this bounty is going somewhere with a sense of long-term benefit.<br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-28855377369282112532013-09-05T11:05:00.000-07:002013-09-05T23:50:47.295-07:00Pizza Party<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>The tomatoes are doing pretty well. But oftentimes I don’t get them off the vine before they start to split on me. <br/>
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<br/>So I figured I’d make a sauce out of them and use it on some pizzas. I drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven at 400F for about 30 minutes. Then I pureed it with a hand stick blender. I love that thing. <br/>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP6NAj6MAKX5ciKYXB36Z1p1sOyX6mbuE8KEHx_0cGCaEaCQrv_rHh49WiV_v5hBPG4VaZs6wJmm0xr4Iim4NUuyyLPKTHrjZomPcn-N4C3if2oBWVp2q-Mkw7ytKucx9L1NSjEBqPPiY/s1600/IMG_1416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP6NAj6MAKX5ciKYXB36Z1p1sOyX6mbuE8KEHx_0cGCaEaCQrv_rHh49WiV_v5hBPG4VaZs6wJmm0xr4Iim4NUuyyLPKTHrjZomPcn-N4C3if2oBWVp2q-Mkw7ytKucx9L1NSjEBqPPiY/s320/IMG_1416.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xApPFzQ2BfpHcIp86y-jOK0bLlhA-NHOwY-3AJGCr98HoYm102q468VFe-dFWsiwCzDL7V4KXEFGPCh29SJ4IgYWETnpJlq25xIw3LZbK5IHWKhLM_F2VvYmHnuItJjA2UgLlgeDmvk/s1600/IMG_1418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xApPFzQ2BfpHcIp86y-jOK0bLlhA-NHOwY-3AJGCr98HoYm102q468VFe-dFWsiwCzDL7V4KXEFGPCh29SJ4IgYWETnpJlq25xIw3LZbK5IHWKhLM_F2VvYmHnuItJjA2UgLlgeDmvk/s320/IMG_1418.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_8dt8Rr0yj7yraRVTtmyT6dERrYxBAD2XFU6xuuwM1M0nFUWU3fl20VXcUw066ztiTjvNa7PRaa11wycIxb9TvWiW-9PBgJ7O8flD06ZW8dfNHGx1m_dZdtHTQ99NttznlJm0TVhWgCw/s1600/IMG_1420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_8dt8Rr0yj7yraRVTtmyT6dERrYxBAD2XFU6xuuwM1M0nFUWU3fl20VXcUw066ztiTjvNa7PRaa11wycIxb9TvWiW-9PBgJ7O8flD06ZW8dfNHGx1m_dZdtHTQ99NttznlJm0TVhWgCw/s320/IMG_1420.jpg" /></a></div>
<br/>Then I thought it’d also be good to do a batch of pesto. I usually make it by hand with however much basil I can reasonably get from my flowerboxes without decimating the plants. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-J76AHOcO35-5AARU1dMtD31k2Q5n38lmS_RsmKLRnkT9NkP414SjNRmsC7C6HP4usl7E4H3Hy3p8c3KGjw-hy3LhYK8raICRjbld6mdk9IVF6fdsVn5ITEBFiL0u3Wl_fRcdDmhfQY/s1600/IMG_1448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-J76AHOcO35-5AARU1dMtD31k2Q5n38lmS_RsmKLRnkT9NkP414SjNRmsC7C6HP4usl7E4H3Hy3p8c3KGjw-hy3LhYK8raICRjbld6mdk9IVF6fdsVn5ITEBFiL0u3Wl_fRcdDmhfQY/s320/IMG_1448.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>That’s basil, garlic, a few walnuts, olive oil, and pecorino romano cheese. Pignoli nuts and parmesan cheese are more traditional, but I use whatever I have in the house. I chop up the basil and mash the hell out of it in a mortar & pestle with the minced garlic, broken apart walnuts and a bit of salt and pepper. <br/>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5NbSYPXogcoQRPjAwwZxLgAon5OdBpS_1xPKOEMUK9LBGaRRj82xBGaAKu0HOrJ_0fUb9MU4LA_7b2gOXh-WoR2xfmD_A7tpKI_NMAQzRRxPV_Uot1uagUwgEjkw9Z5HIcvREaxAFvDc/s1600/IMG_1450.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5NbSYPXogcoQRPjAwwZxLgAon5OdBpS_1xPKOEMUK9LBGaRRj82xBGaAKu0HOrJ_0fUb9MU4LA_7b2gOXh-WoR2xfmD_A7tpKI_NMAQzRRxPV_Uot1uagUwgEjkw9Z5HIcvREaxAFvDc/s320/IMG_1450.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1PB_QBUNBldibM_jw134ez8BgfkiLRYw9ZdmcK_nqXHZ3lBqBOFo4tJP4J3NM_PZzJkqmc2xhYiREY9xpbARfvTjSyrzAaAcJs909pWnA73mXixKLS1K8kjpuK3KA_R84xP7ayqfDeg/s1600/IMG_1456.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1PB_QBUNBldibM_jw134ez8BgfkiLRYw9ZdmcK_nqXHZ3lBqBOFo4tJP4J3NM_PZzJkqmc2xhYiREY9xpbARfvTjSyrzAaAcJs909pWnA73mXixKLS1K8kjpuK3KA_R84xP7ayqfDeg/s320/IMG_1456.jpg" /></a>
<br/>Then I mix in some olive oil, add however much grated cheese seems to make sense taste-wise, add more olive oil to make it spreadable or sauce-able. <br/>
<br/>I made another batch of French bread dough to use as a pizza crust. This time I let the second rise happen in the fridge overnight so I could take it out the next morning when I had the time to make the pizzas. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1FutuczzuvPqrE-wjbl39828tHjAZ3j88IifO-1l4RqCRlERQMw9fde1o8YScpA4Gym2G3n6_13NGON70EYl7_L3RTh5stdNmBQRV5LZulCSoCcPvATykuokAP6mbmD_WIjE15BZTz8/s1600/IMG_1460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1FutuczzuvPqrE-wjbl39828tHjAZ3j88IifO-1l4RqCRlERQMw9fde1o8YScpA4Gym2G3n6_13NGON70EYl7_L3RTh5stdNmBQRV5LZulCSoCcPvATykuokAP6mbmD_WIjE15BZTz8/s320/IMG_1460.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take pictures of me pulling the dough into pizza shapes, as I need both hands to pull the dough! This link shows kinda-sorta-a-little bit of what I do—I haven’t formed a lip like he does before, but will definitely try that next time. And of course his technique with his hands helping gravity to pull the dough out is infinitely better than mine. <br/>
<br/><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GtAeKM_f2WU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/>
<br/>So after the crust is formed and put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and the ingredients are all prepped.<br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluJ4Ag4NE-fMOwlB5mYqvc1Ajl8zKnV3oKgeNnOgN20_4zetUBQI7xfbiWn8p3dAsFNgDORBfAjjNXIypILPVX2h_mp189j3bkAbW49y30Dc6Wx2_PLVJnPiXZRN_u8mTABhgjVEQ6ew/s1600/IMG_1463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluJ4Ag4NE-fMOwlB5mYqvc1Ajl8zKnV3oKgeNnOgN20_4zetUBQI7xfbiWn8p3dAsFNgDORBfAjjNXIypILPVX2h_mp189j3bkAbW49y30Dc6Wx2_PLVJnPiXZRN_u8mTABhgjVEQ6ew/s320/IMG_1463.JPG" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>That little dish on the upper right is a few cloves of garlic I roasted and mashed into a paste. That lump of cheese below it is goat cheese. I love goat cheese on pizza. All the tomatoes are from the garden. So pretty! <br/>
<br/>I assemble the pizzas. Always go on the light side with the ingredients. <br/>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGlh__w4dZLmfNis80wUMMuROoQ-r_fURqHKmF6THIQg88WTqvf78fEvZXChuzvh3_-TZ7KrzGQ8Nd0vg8Yyz0CBwEWFjPaygft78VK8fLqz3R1uzc_YOoIXqbJi1KM6aWFkWEpM5R3s/s1600/IMG_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioGlh__w4dZLmfNis80wUMMuROoQ-r_fURqHKmF6THIQg88WTqvf78fEvZXChuzvh3_-TZ7KrzGQ8Nd0vg8Yyz0CBwEWFjPaygft78VK8fLqz3R1uzc_YOoIXqbJi1KM6aWFkWEpM5R3s/s320/IMG_1470.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXCOJdmtC0ZCgrNxEiRGt7b_txugmhpfQWraNsup1P2_Tb0DXRbu1E3if5q_1LN_kDkezaYkGzcdJ-LADDa77JgvqJl_fWhXOc2n-83GHUAQFip7NJypGii3JqpfYjzXpdeMdoeru0jE/s1600/IMG_1475.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXCOJdmtC0ZCgrNxEiRGt7b_txugmhpfQWraNsup1P2_Tb0DXRbu1E3if5q_1LN_kDkezaYkGzcdJ-LADDa77JgvqJl_fWhXOc2n-83GHUAQFip7NJypGii3JqpfYjzXpdeMdoeru0jE/s320/IMG_1475.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pTrP7wKn4i2v5IZ3igRIepfmXBe-F_KvOTk1eslycZ5HWKeCtisnojSp49TKYYOf5XRF1Ct_dOZ9PrjasmovMdt22loKYRVvq7cZOzLlYFn4K8I74ZELUUeFMz5jDd9bz9-KgEmgMMA/s1600/IMG_1477.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pTrP7wKn4i2v5IZ3igRIepfmXBe-F_KvOTk1eslycZ5HWKeCtisnojSp49TKYYOf5XRF1Ct_dOZ9PrjasmovMdt22loKYRVvq7cZOzLlYFn4K8I74ZELUUeFMz5jDd9bz9-KgEmgMMA/s320/IMG_1477.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdhYSmWeH0ZrtXSNUfycZ0dripgQ7KKiPCfGodeklsI5eW-CrzCidq8vGRg3JqQdSEEKjYe_1smx76awZtZegN2dZ2GuKJcDG4Ug0b79jh1B2gfJVqLTpDdr20d2zgpkaMInBF_UrpS0/s1600/IMG_1479.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdhYSmWeH0ZrtXSNUfycZ0dripgQ7KKiPCfGodeklsI5eW-CrzCidq8vGRg3JqQdSEEKjYe_1smx76awZtZegN2dZ2GuKJcDG4Ug0b79jh1B2gfJVqLTpDdr20d2zgpkaMInBF_UrpS0/s320/IMG_1479.JPG" /></a>
<br/>Then bake in a 450-500F oven until done. <br/>
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<br/>Yum! Cool them on a wire rack. I slice it up and take it to work for a quick and tasty lunch. The sauces can be made days ahead, dough is also made ahead. So day of it’s pretty easy to assemble and bake. I usually put prosciutto or pepperoni on these as well, but I had enough tomatoes and cheeses from the garden to not feel the need to bother with those. This time. <br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-23421034631857156652013-08-29T11:20:00.000-07:002013-08-29T11:21:24.906-07:00Tomato Jam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZKYu_SDtBWJE1cGXN_yalOPGMHqnaWP2STqiAotAwXC9nvTfD89Yk3dB-x-ff9g0x-jQ6vzVrJb1wiLLiDKm-e2oBZFyCg3QqNmRL4DlS7R00xQ6mpYNMG1nSmz4YZmurxByPtLtumk/s1600/IMG_1307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZKYu_SDtBWJE1cGXN_yalOPGMHqnaWP2STqiAotAwXC9nvTfD89Yk3dB-x-ff9g0x-jQ6vzVrJb1wiLLiDKm-e2oBZFyCg3QqNmRL4DlS7R00xQ6mpYNMG1nSmz4YZmurxByPtLtumk/s320/IMG_1307.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>So I made a couple jars of <a href="http://foodinjars.com/2010/09/tomato-jam/">tomato jam</a> from my chocolate cherry tomatoes over the weekend. I'd been picking them as they ripen, using a few in salads, roasting some in olive oil to have over pasta, and holding onto the rest until I had enough to make a half batch of the recipe. It's got a spicy kick to it that I like, although if I make it again I'd like it a little more savory and a teeny bit less sweet. I already cut the sugar a bit, but I think I'd scale it back to 3/4 of a cup. I think I'd also cut down on the cinnamon and add some cumin to nudge it a little more into ketchup-ish territory, while still allowing it the kind of sweetness that works for meat glazes and on sandwiches. But overall I'm pretty pleased with it.<br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQPgmWLv6im8zAJ4vhW-OMBrPTAcHp_yHy8YuQBDyFurPzKrhvoACh6KFpKcWVFG450-ExJrOutlVNkaucEelGusBDTq7fwAjmavJatLNsHeryvLVjxbWSxAWXoAcv8xHBSlQNZYVVqY/s1600/IMG_1388.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQPgmWLv6im8zAJ4vhW-OMBrPTAcHp_yHy8YuQBDyFurPzKrhvoACh6KFpKcWVFG450-ExJrOutlVNkaucEelGusBDTq7fwAjmavJatLNsHeryvLVjxbWSxAWXoAcv8xHBSlQNZYVVqY/s320/IMG_1388.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>I spread some on a baguette with mozzarella cheese, and nuked it a bit in the microwave to melt the cheese, and it was really tasty. I also think the flavors will marry and age well over time. I was pretty excited about this, even though it only made 2 jars, with a little extra in a bowl in the fridge. It's the first time I've had a garden with enough yield in it to can anything.<br/>
<br/>I've always been a small batch canner because with a 2-person household there's not much reason to can massive amounts of product. I don't have many chances (or reasons) to buy 20 or more pounds of anything for canning, or to have a dozen jars of pickles or preserves of any one type in my pantry. I make just about enough for our uses, with a few extra to swap with other people for their canned product, or as little gifts.<br/>
<br/>I've got a lot of other tomatoes that are ripening (including a lot more of the cherry tomatoes). I'll probably make some of those into a salsa, and maybe a few jars of tomato sauce, depending on how much of them we want to eat fresh. I gotta say, just putting up a couple jars from the garden is motivation enough to get me planning in earnest for a cool weather fall garden, and to contemplate planting for the spring.<br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ImkRyxIa0BO8BstIZws32ZwFdO5fihQXw28hQ4c_3cnj8TH7XrOV7ldsq19DlOwFVdF7uGJ901-XBpDagm-ZxlrJOXNTOwYQFy88onZSYOkg-ra3L3ZcceeIrjYbEvA3A0g2aN9Vctc/s1600/IMG_1392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ImkRyxIa0BO8BstIZws32ZwFdO5fihQXw28hQ4c_3cnj8TH7XrOV7ldsq19DlOwFVdF7uGJ901-XBpDagm-ZxlrJOXNTOwYQFy88onZSYOkg-ra3L3ZcceeIrjYbEvA3A0g2aN9Vctc/s320/IMG_1392.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>In the meantime I'm enjoying tending the plants I have, and watching our natural bug repellers do their work.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-85146260410934313102013-08-26T22:11:00.000-07:002013-08-29T12:42:38.094-07:00French Bread<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg47Nnp08PRIIaqcY2lvRueuvdE2C5an6RA8KPuecehQ0ZdXJdFKEjA0G92N_TIfdX-87xUu3hnxH9-dQFcvX-XmAhWHFYMFXIfDAA5b4kq__EPeVkNQMXpEs0c9Khwx7qdU5udKpfebnc/s1600/IMG_1358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg47Nnp08PRIIaqcY2lvRueuvdE2C5an6RA8KPuecehQ0ZdXJdFKEjA0G92N_TIfdX-87xUu3hnxH9-dQFcvX-XmAhWHFYMFXIfDAA5b4kq__EPeVkNQMXpEs0c9Khwx7qdU5udKpfebnc/s320/IMG_1358.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>One of my early childhood memories is sitting in the living room with my mom watching Julia Child. Her voice, her easygoing manner, and her “can-do” attitude powered my mom through a lot of her kitchen adventures, including yogurt-making, canning, and baking—not to mention making practically every dinner we ate, at least for the first 10 years or so of our lives. My dad got better at that as we were teenagers. <br/>
<br/>So when a couple of Julia collections came out on DVD we snatched ‘em up. Some of the recipes are a little mystifying. I have no desire to coat anything in aspic, and some of the veggie preparations seem a bit dated to me. But when it comes to French bread there’s no one who inspires confidence quite like Julia. The ingredients really couldn’t be simpler: AP flour, water, yeast, and salt. Time and Technique are the other two elements that turn those basic ingredients into French bread. <br/>
<br/>It was pretty humid out today, so the dough was particularly wet, no matter how much I kneaded it. That’s part of why the rolls came out rather amoeba-like. But they’re still crusty and tasty.<br/>
<br/>Mixing the dough: <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSPhSSyIged2yTNvuHH4wwal_ImfVoQJbqTNC5wPREkfsfqefRR_d8z_Azvxph6zwstgj1KidpaPmo1dJoLMYTg1-NJe1lknm5FKPiNjaNfP1TxzM6aflwHHwwsBK1ew9yV9MYDkeorQ/s1600/IMG_1329.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSPhSSyIged2yTNvuHH4wwal_ImfVoQJbqTNC5wPREkfsfqefRR_d8z_Azvxph6zwstgj1KidpaPmo1dJoLMYTg1-NJe1lknm5FKPiNjaNfP1TxzM6aflwHHwwsBK1ew9yV9MYDkeorQ/s320/IMG_1329.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKCADsmbNheSkrRYoud2-1zBIchcswr9v2XsyJQm11YKEU5fZp51UzN-wt5Vo4FmKJ1122Hlw3NXmg9frV2gNA2252wlTL1eEL8vhAvevb52Yg1gk5UYTzge1fc2Qmm7twMruz_aYFYk/s1600/IMG_1335.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKCADsmbNheSkrRYoud2-1zBIchcswr9v2XsyJQm11YKEU5fZp51UzN-wt5Vo4FmKJ1122Hlw3NXmg9frV2gNA2252wlTL1eEL8vhAvevb52Yg1gk5UYTzge1fc2Qmm7twMruz_aYFYk/s320/IMG_1335.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionJZkoKPVgCciEmtxZXvnTfotQxNaNl8XfBxQa6tmutqktHVkiN_e6kKigClom2WsFhKgyXNRiEl_x_V_uFwEnz3W__KUajJeCqz_d8TSYXmmEmCDm3HP5EXHJtzwT0Ozgmm7SPxOAj4/s1600/IMG_1336.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionJZkoKPVgCciEmtxZXvnTfotQxNaNl8XfBxQa6tmutqktHVkiN_e6kKigClom2WsFhKgyXNRiEl_x_V_uFwEnz3W__KUajJeCqz_d8TSYXmmEmCDm3HP5EXHJtzwT0Ozgmm7SPxOAj4/s320/IMG_1336.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Kneading: <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-GgBH1nXiRXLcjpnkV_T5RgMNjczKt2QVOIRnQpac5d5cx1PYTCUzqJvjxq4FQx5AxmZATqMAWohnFnnQYapUuJxoo8UT7WuDV7pDqkZLgU98SqgmjBkJVpwFIbPHYVbnAZeX1uzaXtg/s1600/IMG_1339.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-GgBH1nXiRXLcjpnkV_T5RgMNjczKt2QVOIRnQpac5d5cx1PYTCUzqJvjxq4FQx5AxmZATqMAWohnFnnQYapUuJxoo8UT7WuDV7pDqkZLgU98SqgmjBkJVpwFIbPHYVbnAZeX1uzaXtg/s320/IMG_1339.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLtqaItMUMrVF32ihOXDb6h52nQcTANl7oEitUUHdtPfzEnSLqDde7DpeYVNld9Ipm9RY7YY0uEpzq_OKv5ndo57FYghhmGc4XJcTdv1b8h8l3OfufGe_G4WWi_rqnHmoVgV5grcYp8U/s1600/IMG_1344.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLtqaItMUMrVF32ihOXDb6h52nQcTANl7oEitUUHdtPfzEnSLqDde7DpeYVNld9Ipm9RY7YY0uEpzq_OKv5ndo57FYghhmGc4XJcTdv1b8h8l3OfufGe_G4WWi_rqnHmoVgV5grcYp8U/s320/IMG_1344.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Rising: <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHk1eZwXaJLnD-moVhYAvCyW7k7MPum_2NyjMISsEoJXoeRVVK4ycb_yQHoRNax00ttQNAAN6ciRTHdXjC4i6MZcfAEc69q1-R2goQyZJqpQe4dQwHvcHJHvD9hORHH9An1pEuTCJdfM0/s1600/IMG_1347.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHk1eZwXaJLnD-moVhYAvCyW7k7MPum_2NyjMISsEoJXoeRVVK4ycb_yQHoRNax00ttQNAAN6ciRTHdXjC4i6MZcfAEc69q1-R2goQyZJqpQe4dQwHvcHJHvD9hORHH9An1pEuTCJdfM0/s320/IMG_1347.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4roJGtg4zFrNXiYTAQTXMA7_LG4_ak2ZCuenaRMQpOOG7xq1asyPFrXOmlt6b0hMoV2jxg_tBGIzUwzcl6567GflQZ1xQtepwXiqEps376Z5dsPAa_dGlodFn3pbeLjZn7gi1KGrcyrg/s1600/IMG_1348.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4roJGtg4zFrNXiYTAQTXMA7_LG4_ak2ZCuenaRMQpOOG7xq1asyPFrXOmlt6b0hMoV2jxg_tBGIzUwzcl6567GflQZ1xQtepwXiqEps376Z5dsPAa_dGlodFn3pbeLjZn7gi1KGrcyrg/s320/IMG_1348.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>Molding the rolls and letting ‘em rise: <br/>
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<br/>I forgot to take pictures when I scored the rolls. Given how wet the dough was the scoring looked pretty messy. <br/>
<br/>After the baking was done: <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzguBior_PYoA3rN7Q0ZxndKkgwd_q2PRWKKPvbaloxhL9al2jzCegv7XZvvs7I3e635MCoE2ggYT4uC3PhEb6yQ4EabyXCwoDx-5pFTw8NZLs85E5pGYRkkPIMHNz6Uy1FN2oRmEx3xI/s1600/IMG_1369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzguBior_PYoA3rN7Q0ZxndKkgwd_q2PRWKKPvbaloxhL9al2jzCegv7XZvvs7I3e635MCoE2ggYT4uC3PhEb6yQ4EabyXCwoDx-5pFTw8NZLs85E5pGYRkkPIMHNz6Uy1FN2oRmEx3xI/s320/IMG_1369.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>I use Julia’s method pretty consistently to make sandwich rolls with a couple of changes: I let the rolls rise on parchment paper, covered by damp paper towels. If the towels have dried and stick to the rolls when rising I spray 'em with water (with a spray bottle bought for that purpose) and the moist towels life right off. I score the exposed side, I don't bother to turn the rolls as Julia does, and then I spray them before putting them in the oven.<br/>
<br/>This might seem like a lot of effort for a few sandwich rolls, but for me it's worth it. I love the crunchiness of a good crust for cheese and prosciutto sandwiches. Sometimes I’ll sauté chard and have it in a sandwich with goat cheese and tomatoes. This bread is pretty forgiving for all kinds of odd fillings, and is a great way of taking advantage of the bits and pieces in the garden and the fridge. <br/>
<br/>You can also do this partway, making the dough, kneading it, and letting either the first or second (or both) rises happen in the fridge, and then form the loaves, rise them and bake them off on another day. It also makes a great pizza crust.<br/>
<br/>Here’s the full episode. There’s some prime moments in here, my fave being when she visits a French bakery and the baking assistant is seen standing next to Julia, watching her skeptically with his hands on his hips and wearing dark sunglasses indoors. Mon dieu.<br/>
<br/><iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9iH3hjDUhWw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-65854042616225517032013-08-26T17:06:00.000-07:002013-08-26T17:06:32.009-07:00Garden Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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So things are going pretty good in the garden. The lettuce is in a couple different stages of "bolting" or flowering and going to seed.<br/>
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<br/>The left hand picture is red leaf lettuce, and the right hand that looks like baby dandelions is romaine. I've harvested some of the seeds and replanted them already--I'm hoping to get 1-2 more crops of lettuce before winter hits hard.<br/>
<br/>I've also got about 2 pounds of chocolate cherry tomatoes off of our plant so far.<br/>
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<br/>With a little luck I'll be able to make a half batch of this <a href="http://foodinjars.com/2010/09/tomato-jam/">tomato jam</a> to can tomorrow. It calls for 5 pounds of tomatoes, so hopefully I can cut in a little of our japanese black tomatoes to bump it to a full 2 1/2 pounds of tomato for the half batch. The Japanese black tomatoes are disappointing thus far. Pleasant enough, but not much of a robust flavor. I might have to sit tight and let them ripen longer even though some of them feel ripe enough and have a ripe texture when they're cut into.<br/>
<br/>And I've been able to harvest some chard and tomatoes for a pasta stir fry with garlic and chard--oven roasting the tomatoes separately & then folding them into the pasta.<br/>
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<br/>It's a small yield, but I'm making it work.<br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-43598124440997135662013-08-12T20:20:00.000-07:002013-08-12T20:23:03.374-07:00Dollars and Sense<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>So my husband Steve got a couple of t-shirts at <a href="http://www.threadless.com">Threadless</a> recently. I’ve sometimes done the same, and when I saw Steve’s new shirts I thought “I want some new shirts too.” And then I remembered that I’d gone through my clothes recently, reorganizing them, and marveled at how many t-shirts I have already. <br/>
<br/>Bottom line, I really don’t need any new t-shirts. I have plenty of them. I’m good on clothes too. Any of the things I’m buying at this point are extras that expand my wardrobe and give me something to play with—they aren’t things I truly <i>need</i>. And that’s something I’ve noticed over the past few years out here—how much I can be coaxed into buying things I don’t really need. When we first moved to Seattle we were watching every penny we spent. I didn’t go shopping for new clothes at one point for a good year or so. I got out of the browsing habit, of coveting after novelties. When we did go into a store I was sometimes struck by how much extraneous stuff was being marketed to me. It’s so easy to be bombarded by images and messages of what we should buy and what we should want, sometimes almost fetishizing the experience of acquiring new things. <br/>
<br/>As is obvious, I like getting new things as much as the next person. I enjoy shopping, trying on stuff, enjoying new food, having new experiences. But I’m trying to be aware of when my desires are swayed by exterior messages, and not by what I truly want or need. <br/>
<br/>That being said, I am pretty hooked on browsing Seattle Goodwills on Mondays—when everything with a specific color tag is priced at $1.29. One week it’s a blue tag, the next week a pink tag, the next week a red tag. My guess is that they use a specific color of tag for almost all the items that come in for every few days or a week, and the longer that color is hanging from the racks, the closer it gets to its $1.29 day—it keeps the inventory rotating. This week it was everything with a green tag. I flipped through the aisles, looking for viable green tags, and also grabbed a few other things that were either pretty enough or weird enough to try on. The strangest was a “Western Boot Cut” pair of Levis corduroys. <br/>
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<br/>The inseam swooped out at the cuff, the front and back pockets were pretty bizarre, and the waistline dipped just a bit at the front center. <br/>
<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYGctXeoHESag5qWdVjMU9mtOjBdl6BqfzeyI_Eeanhl-08F6ICaqEUmShnsDG_qOmQX6dQH4AZdmKpUSNVXbjgqoxMAOEDibulbEf7BdC5kmFZiwdhg7FtuF5-7dRi7AlIucBXEhR68/s1600/IMG_1173.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYGctXeoHESag5qWdVjMU9mtOjBdl6BqfzeyI_Eeanhl-08F6ICaqEUmShnsDG_qOmQX6dQH4AZdmKpUSNVXbjgqoxMAOEDibulbEf7BdC5kmFZiwdhg7FtuF5-7dRi7AlIucBXEhR68/s320/IMG_1173.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGGra_29GlobtlHYuGjsvHiQSmibY02JEP1XX8vqIcj50wT7zll8tgRVlEoSf2Vixhv7woBUyKSN3UhXMcjT4Gx1rNIqIj2dHbNwptf53Zqri-kEW2EkuRNXbJKIvrJYlpR9neZGUOdY/s1600/IMG_1176.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGGra_29GlobtlHYuGjsvHiQSmibY02JEP1XX8vqIcj50wT7zll8tgRVlEoSf2Vixhv7woBUyKSN3UhXMcjT4Gx1rNIqIj2dHbNwptf53Zqri-kEW2EkuRNXbJKIvrJYlpR9neZGUOdY/s320/IMG_1176.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>They were only $5, (not a green tag) and I was tempted to get them just because they were so strange, but I had a hard time imagining wearing them much, so I put ‘em back. <br/>
<br/>I did love the zippers though. <br/>
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<br/>I ended up buying one shirt…a linen knit t shirt from Zara.
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<br/>Also not a green tag—it was also $5. But I liked the way it draped too much to resist. Oh well.<br/>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-84576677727850170912013-08-12T19:36:00.000-07:002013-08-12T19:41:44.433-07:00Fig Fail, Jam Prevail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There’s an enormous fig tree in the front of a house a few blocks away from me. I had my eye on it last summer, when I put a note into house’s mailbox, introducing myself, and saying that if they didn’t have plans for the fruit I’d be happy to pick it for jams and pay them in finished jars. I didn’t hear anything, so I figured they wanted the figs for themselves. Fair enough. <br />
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So last week when I passed by the same house I was excited to see a realtor’s sign posted. I peeked in the windows and saw that the house was empty. I called the realtor number on the sign and asked if I could pick the figs. She said yes. I was soooo excited. I ran over to the local hardware store, picked a “fruit picker” (a glorified claw on the end of a metal rod) and picked about 6 lbs of figs. The ones I figured were ripe were the ones that basically fell off the branch when I nudged them. <br />
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<br/>I was so psyched. I researched my recipes (a balsamic fig jam and a chipotle fig jam), got all the ingredients together, started sterilizing my jars. I pulled the bag of figs out of the fridge, washed off a few, and cut them open. The perfume was lovely. <br />
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And then I tasted one. It was tannic, slightly bitter, and unripe. A total disappointment. <br />
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I’ve had fresh figs before—that were the same color as these. These didn’t taste remotely like those tender, fragrant, delicious fruits I remembered. They definitely weren’t going to perform well in the recipes I’d pulled up, which really needed the vibrancy of a fresh, ripe, luscious fig. <br />
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Why didn’t I taste it sooner than moments before I was about to plunge them into the jam frenzy? I should have as soon as I picked the first one. It was stupid. But I’d never had this kind of issue with fruit before when picking it off the tree. I guess I figured they were ripe because they were literally rotting off the tree, and I was picking ones that practically fell into my hand. <br />
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So I turned to google. Apparently…having them fall from the tree without truly ripening was a common problem, especially in cooler climates like Seattle. Okay then. What should I do with these, if anything? I found a recipe for pickling them that required lye. Not appealing to me. Others were candied in syrup…but I read mixed reviews of the results. <a href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com">David Lebovitz</a> suggested to a reader that unripe figs could possibly be jammed…but he warned that it was often impossible to get true fig flavor out of an unripe fig. He suggested cooking some in sugar and seeing what happened. So I chopped about 5 or 6, tossed in some sugar and lemon juice and cooked them down. <br />
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It was….okay. Not what I’d want to spend a couple hours working over and putting up multiple jars of. And with just a hint of the fig flavor I’d been looking forward to. <br />
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So…I tossed the figs, let my sterilized jars wait on the stove, and went to Magnusson to pick blackberries. <br />
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I picked 4 ½ pounds of blackberries in 2 hours. It was a gorgeous day. <br />
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<br/><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkCP4JUoWRGzAEv8ZoSGZcqPL3_6UpfvMostqU747OYNc7BoF3gGOoeRajtA7mXXEa6V1wrCWdRPhG1bVTTB1T7WX9j7y6PWYi29M1cDRtR8HwgkkPoeE_WUZ9qUSEWybHDZIejtuBDY/s1600/IMG_1150.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkCP4JUoWRGzAEv8ZoSGZcqPL3_6UpfvMostqU747OYNc7BoF3gGOoeRajtA7mXXEa6V1wrCWdRPhG1bVTTB1T7WX9j7y6PWYi29M1cDRtR8HwgkkPoeE_WUZ9qUSEWybHDZIejtuBDY/s320/IMG_1150.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxV137Zbwm9CLRuSo8WndYr0NDZfRKZ_dY64h6uauRo9BEJzO7zYaTYfbcX0tn6lV_cACzo0xOVOW30m_YLJm9mIa0wZADc7LQ6CXrsqnosOQMXA1pCVXbhtF13f_TkVJA9zHkXVavw9U/s1600/IMG_1159.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxV137Zbwm9CLRuSo8WndYr0NDZfRKZ_dY64h6uauRo9BEJzO7zYaTYfbcX0tn6lV_cACzo0xOVOW30m_YLJm9mIa0wZADc7LQ6CXrsqnosOQMXA1pCVXbhtF13f_TkVJA9zHkXVavw9U/s320/IMG_1159.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/> And then I made jam with some and froze the rest. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhtbTWqUBq1d-sZU9KbHsIVjqDEpj_gsKYWJohLC89A3RD4cgiOqKxZ1LGLJjh-JPcCdEk2LWRukM9k7SgmyCDgeQvDrhFdUvVAlykXpilJKfFUMX72xsR0PwwaHVqneRDWzkB5d7Hk0/s1600/IMG_1165.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhtbTWqUBq1d-sZU9KbHsIVjqDEpj_gsKYWJohLC89A3RD4cgiOqKxZ1LGLJjh-JPcCdEk2LWRukM9k7SgmyCDgeQvDrhFdUvVAlykXpilJKfFUMX72xsR0PwwaHVqneRDWzkB5d7Hk0/s320/IMG_1165.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xc8LqdueCUt6IfstZo4FHGPMVL8W2g-ITrBGI0p1ZFRixS2cE6akAhmf50JrWlknXvyInagDx2vUCCb1RoTTBQtNKrgedLF4RWwRhbqGfJTmjT-upx_dRU_rAEArU4hEeFHhR9FHLRI/s1600/IMG_1205.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xc8LqdueCUt6IfstZo4FHGPMVL8W2g-ITrBGI0p1ZFRixS2cE6akAhmf50JrWlknXvyInagDx2vUCCb1RoTTBQtNKrgedLF4RWwRhbqGfJTmjT-upx_dRU_rAEArU4hEeFHhR9FHLRI/s320/IMG_1205.jpg" /></a><br/>
<br/>I think I’ll make some blackberry lavender jam later this week, and maybe some blackberry ginger jam as well. </div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-79299252614802104732013-08-10T18:38:00.000-07:002013-08-10T18:40:33.973-07:00Novice Gardening<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>This was my first year trying to garden in our new house. I got started late—there were several things distracting me during the time I should have been planning a layout, choosing things to plant, and starting some seeds. So when the Seattle Tilth plant sale came around in May, I realized I was way past time getting some stuff in the ground.<br/>
<br/>These strawberries are from plants I bought last year. I kept ‘em in pots over the winter and they’ve regenerated pretty well. I think next year I’ll give them more room, but they’ve been giving forth some decent berries as well as making new plants:<br/>
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<br/>I’m freezing most of them—I’ll probably make some strawberry rhubarb tarts with them, and maybe a jam.<br/>
<br/>I bought some tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale. They’ve grown really well, although they’re being a little slow in the ripening process. Or maybe I’m just impatient. I’ve got a green zebra (one of my faves), a Japanese black and a chocolate cherry. <br/>
<br/><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCK0vLlYXknnA9lFe4ChmoEA0WZQeDm4mYSMUXcCKmzBBgHNZ_RR36XlcuUfi8bd6dNndFCyKO_KB7Bp1eQzS74tVj1ueyqIPFN_EHYmTmC8gkR28K93y3jaEK_I8frXxZJYdbMgunOcc/s1600/IMG_1077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCK0vLlYXknnA9lFe4ChmoEA0WZQeDm4mYSMUXcCKmzBBgHNZ_RR36XlcuUfi8bd6dNndFCyKO_KB7Bp1eQzS74tVj1ueyqIPFN_EHYmTmC8gkR28K93y3jaEK_I8frXxZJYdbMgunOcc/s320/IMG_1077.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBA6ha7KoDCy4e1E8W1lpkx7O7C61kYN1h9B4-hqWaziszYPWwE_mAqNEUPxXS4OeHQrk_wl-CJFCv_SEnqejAQK9csnoCwoIzNnUjPS-pBUqJk2pvyUFeRlyJqWme0S32H1KoGTUrzBg/s1600/IMG_1078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBA6ha7KoDCy4e1E8W1lpkx7O7C61kYN1h9B4-hqWaziszYPWwE_mAqNEUPxXS4OeHQrk_wl-CJFCv_SEnqejAQK9csnoCwoIzNnUjPS-pBUqJk2pvyUFeRlyJqWme0S32H1KoGTUrzBg/s320/IMG_1078.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
<br/>A few of the chocolate cherries are starting to ripen—I ate a couple yesterday and they were really good—very herbal in flavor as well as having a rich tomato taste. Here’s my minor harvest from this morning—I’m trying to pick ‘em off as they ripen so that the bugs don’t get them.<br/>
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<br/>Part of the point of this blog is to see how I can do all this stuff and save money. Given what a novice I am it’s not going to be a net gain this year on the gardening front. But another factor to consider is not only of cash spent, but quality of the yield for the money and time and effort expended. We’ve eaten a lot of lettuce from the garden, and it’s some of the tastiest salad you can get. It’s bolting now, so I’m waiting for it to go to seed, see if I can plant them and get another crop out of the plants before it gets too cold. The basil is doing well. It's been an added boost to our salads, and has made some great pesto for sandwiches and pasta. I’m hopeful about the tomatoes—but only time will tell.<br/>
<br/>And there’s always next year. This season has familiarized me to the sunnier and shadier parts of my yard, which will inform my next round of efforts for a fall/winter garden, and for spring planting starting in February or March.<br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-30162967350793067552013-08-09T00:05:00.002-07:002013-08-09T00:05:31.426-07:00A Decent Canning 101<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A friend Brian asked for a primer on canning. I'll put up some thoughts of my own on the subject, but Alton Brown does a great job of the basics of canning in this episode. Enjoy!<br/>
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Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-74457594495872567482013-08-06T12:30:00.002-07:002013-08-06T12:33:29.077-07:00Thrift Addiction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br/>I love clothes. But I've always felt a bit of a tension between getting things I loved and being fearful of spending too much money on them. I've often been thrifty to the point of miserly, and sometimes that made me pass on things I should've bought, or buy certain things because they were both cheap and a "sure thing." Sometimes this tendency has kept me from taking too many fashion risks.<br/>
<br/>I've spent the bulk of my adulthood in New York City. It's a hub of American fashion and no mistake, but it also can be incredibly expensive, even when thrift shopping. The Goodwills and Salvation Armys I went to back then were okay, but nothing special. There was an amazing warehouse of a thrift shop in Williamsburg in the 90s called <a href="http://nymag.com/listings/stores/domseys-warehouse-outlet01/">Domsey's Warehouse</a> . I still remember the old school air pilot leather helmets with goggles that were on sale one day when I went that I passed up. Sigh. Domsey's vanished when the real estate got too expensive.<br/>
<br/>But for the most part the stuff I craved was at little house designers on East 7th St in the east village, or at consignment shops. As a rule I'd hit those when there was a sale, or when I had a big occasion to shop for. I still treasure the Mark Montano dress that my friend Rob urged me to try on and buy (alas, MM no longer designs clothes). I also hit Daffy's pretty frequently. Sadly Daffys too is no more.<br/>
<br/>During our first couple years of serious shoestring living in Seattle I took note of the city's particular style. Lots of girls in boots, everyone in beanies, & a lot of vintage clothing and a lot of flannel shirts 15 years after the height of the grunge era. I started trolling thrift shops more regularly, as much for entertainment as anything else. But for some reason the selection out here is a lot better. I've gotten a lot of good stuff in the last few months, and I'm starting to take more risks with the items I buy, veering toward slightly trendier things. At the same time, I'm 42 years old, and don't wanna look like I'm struggling to look like 25 when I obviously don't. But when thrift shopping out here I can take some risks without worrying too much about the expense.<br/>
<br/>Fit is also a factor. In the past I've often chosen clothes that are loose on me, because I didn't want them to be "too tight". In many cases I now realize that I was actually veering away from a true fit on my body. As I buy more clothes and play around with the sizing, I'm getting a better idea of what will work for my body type.<br/>
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<br/>This is a perfect example of "fit discovery." I'm short-waisted as it is, and this skirt has a <i>very</i> high waist compared to what I'm used to.<br/>
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<br/>But it does fit me properly. It flares over my hips at the right spot precisely because it has as high a waist as it does.<br/>
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<br/>Plus it has pockets!<br/>
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<br/>I'd usually never buy a suede skirt, but for $1.29 how could I say no? With the right sweaters in the fall I think it'll work out well.<br/>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-91118479405515289362013-08-04T14:39:00.000-07:002013-08-04T15:01:41.288-07:00Plum-tastic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Seattle has a lot of lovely trees on its neighborhood planting strips—that strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street. A lot of those trees are fruit trees—plum, cherry, apple, pear, quince, fig…it still amazes me how easily they grow out here, and how many of them there are. Last year I wrote out a few notes introducing myself, including an email address, and asking permission to pick the fruit off of those trees if they didn’t have plans for them. Some people responded, and I got a lot of fruit to try canning and drying.<br />
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Canning is definitely more my forte—the prunes I tried to make were lackluster at best. So when I reached out to a nice lady who has a very densely fruited shiro plum tree on her planting strip, she encouraged me to go right ahead again this year and pick the plums. <br />
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I got 17 pounds of plums this year, and it barely looked like I touched the tree. There is <i>tons</i> of fruit on this tree, it’s amazing. So far I’ve made a <a href="http://www.freshjuice.ca/yellow-plum-sauce/r/13010" target="_blank">yellow plum sauce</a>, which is nice n’zesty:<br />
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And a straight-up plum jam, just made with fruit and sugar in the proportions advocated by the lovely people at Under the Tuscan Gun: <br />
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I deliberated a bit on how much to cook the jam. I made the same jam last year from the same plums, and like a lot of my jam endeavors it came out with a very solid set, something that hovered around the consistency of a gumdrop. It was spreadable, but not as luscious as a softer jam would be. I also like mixing this with soy sauce to made a plum sauce for Asian dishes, and making that with a harder-set jam is a bit of a struggle. So I took it off the heat when it still looked too loose for my liking, grit my teeth, and canned it. <br />
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It is a <i>bit</i> softer than I would optimally like, but I made the soy/jam sauce last night for a friend’s mu shu pork dinner and it mixed together much more easily—and with a more vibrant plum flavor, I think. So overall it was a win. <br />
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Now I need to figure out what to do with the other 8 or so pounds of plums I still have. This is giving me some ideas:<br/>
<br/><iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kMJMpxLDeuc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523941472192535664.post-76412424218956601232013-08-04T14:09:00.000-07:002013-08-04T14:15:14.327-07:00Blackberry Syrup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Blackberries are poppin' all over the place right now. Unfortunately the wild ones that are the easiest to get are Himalayan blackberries, which are seedier than some of the cultivated varieties. But they're delicious in jams, and with the right sieve it's possible to get most or all of the seeds out.<br/>
<br/>I've done blackberry jam several times in the past, and might do another batch this summer, but I saw this recipe for <a href="http://honest-food.net/veggie-recipes/sweets-and-syrups/blackberry-syrup/">blackberry syrup</a> and thought I'd give that a try.<br>
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<br/>It was about as easy as can be, to be honest. I was psyched to try it in a drink a couple days later, and it was very fresh and tasty. This had gin, club soda, and syrup with some ice. Can't get much simpler than that. I might try it with tonic sometime soon though, add a bit of complexity.<br/>
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<br/>I made this using the same ingredients shown in the video. The exact proportions can be found here:<br/>
<br/>http://underthetuscangun.com/featured/40-limoncello/<br/>
<br/>I did it last year with 100 proof vodka and that was very good, but using grain alcohol makes a slightly more potent, have-to-sip-slowly, drier beverage that is a lovely way to end the evening. A true digestif, although I’ll also be trying to use it in cocktails.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06836049491049129170noreply@blogger.com0