Last weekend Pim (of Chez Pim) taught a class on Marmalades at Love Apple Farms in Santa Cruz. This was my third Pim class (see also Macarons and Holiday Baking), and my fifth Love Apple Farms class (see Backyard Chickens and Cheese Making Basics). Each time I visit Love Apple Farms, I am again inspired [...]
This week, my favorite local vegetable CSA, Two Small Farms, is delivering another load of tomatoes, maybe the last of the year. As I was encouraging others to participate in the buy, I thought it might be nice to write up the different ways you can preserve tomatoes for the winter, especially since I have [...]
Last Saturday was Tomato Day 2010 in my kitchen. Through the Mariquita Farms Buying Club, I purchased 60 pounds of Roma “Mariana” Tomatoes, a close cousin of the popular San Marzano Romas. With my stash, I canned, sauced and roasted the day away. And the best part was that because the tomatoes were so late [...]
Strawberries Yes, I am jumping on the strawberry jam bandwagon, canning my own collection. Sean at Hedonia had an interesting looking recipe for Strawberry Jam with balsamic and black pepper. Carol at Simply Gluten Free has a nice recipe for Strawberry Jam, Granulated Sugar Free. And Nicole at Pinch My Salt has a Strawberry Freezer [...]
Roasting your own pumpkin for pie this Thanksgiving is not a difficult process. And you will be amazed at the difference in taste. DSC_0882 This week, in preparation for my pie baking marathon Thanksgiving week, I roasted up a Musquee de Provence pumpkin. This variety of pumpkin is huge – the small ones are over [...]
Figs are starting to appear in the store and farmer’s markets, and this recipe seems a great way to preserve the figs for the cold winter. This pickle uses cinder vinegar, sugar, cloves and cinnamon, which gives a deep, hearty flavor to the fruit. The recipe comes from my Grandmother’s neighbor, Mabel, and was originally [...]
For some reason, the pickling bug hit me hard this summer! Every fruit and vegetable that came through my kitchen was eligible for pickling, and most of that is because of my new pickling book, Joy of Pickling, by Linda Ziedrich. The book starts out with a Pickle Primer, going over many of the basics [...]
A few weeks ago, we received the tastiest green beans ever from our Two Small Farms veggie box, but somehow I ended up with a double portion of the beans, and we were going to be gone, so I decided to preserve them for future use. And as I cruised through my garden, I discovered [...]
Sunday I hosted my first-ever jam making workshop for three friends who were interested in learning how to make jam at home, and who were willing to put up with me for 3 hours on a hot afternoon in July! Thank you to Cameron, Shannon and Kelly for being my test subjects, I think we [...]
Zucchinis will soon inundate my garden (probably because between my daughter and myself, we planted about 4 zucchini plants!). So, I must be prepared. And fortunately, I found a an old family recipe in my box for Zucchini Pickles, which use four (4!) pounds of zucchini. That is like one big one. They actually sound [...]
In January, I started the process of making Hoshigaki, the Japanese dried persimmons that Sean and DPaul introduced me to in December. The process was fairly straight forward – next year, I am going to think ahead of time how to set up the drying racks, so that I can preserve more. Step 1 – [...]
Several weeks ago (oh, wow, I think it might have been October!) I wrote about our family visit to Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville. While there, I purchased a bushel of apples, two kinds, Pinova and Golden Delicious. And today I finally got around to making applesauce! With my pressure cooker, it was pretty quick and [...]
