Getting Saucy

Every year I try to get better at putting food by for the winter. 

We preserve what is in season for when it’s not, and let me tell you, pulling a jar of peaches out in the middle of winter is heavenly. This process is trail an error and each year I learn more. 

We are not big tomato sauce eaters, so that I buy sparingly by the jar from the store. Applesauce on the other hand is a hot ticket item. We all love it and Robert can punish a quart in one sitting.  This year I canned 11 pints and froze 4 quarts. Not nearly enough, but it will do and now I know next year that I should put up more. 

I have a love, hate relationship with canning. I love those gleaming jars on the shelf but hate my glass top stove. So this year the canning was done on the side burner of the propane grill we parked in the front yard for the day. 

I am sure that got my neighbors to speculating. And now that I have the heat source worked out for future endeavors I need to invest in a taller pot, hence the canned pints and frozen quarts. Give me a shout out if you come across one in your thrifting adventures. I know here in Maryland, home of the crab and accompanying giant crap pot there must be one out there for a steal. 

See, every year really is a learning experience.  I hope you are all getting saucy this fall too. 

Blueberry Love

I’m baaaack. We have been battling the mother of all stomach virus’s in this house the past week or so. It was bad, very, very bad. First Lenora, then me and then Grandma JoJo. It just knocks you down, but I am happy to say I can now leave the house without fear, and that is a good thing, a very, very good thing.
 

Summer is in full force here on the sweltering hot muggy east coast. And when summer rolls around I get food on the brain. I start plotting what farmers markets and farms I want to visit and what delicious meals I want to cook.

Delmarva watermelons and tomatoes, it makes me giddy.

So, when the local you pick family owned organic blueberry patch announced open picking we were on it. You have to strike while the fruit is ripe so to say, for you never know when a dry spell or too many fruit stalkers like myself will wipe out the crop. 

I think we hauled in 20lbs this year. Lenora had a blast emptying my berries into her bucket and then into Roberts bucket. There have been lots of blueberry pancakes for breakfast and lots of bags going into the freezer. There may be a crumble in my future, perhaps a paleo version, since I have a stash of almond flour I need to dig into.  

Happy summer picking everyone. 

Strawberry Season

I almost missed the strawberry picking season this year. A short two weeks and its gone. 

As luck would have it we came home from vacation and I was able to squeeze in a few hours of hard core picking on Memorial Day Monday with my neighbor. Robert was the lucky sitter of 4 kids while we did some serious squatting between the rows. My glutes still hurt.

Mount Airy You Pick is 5 minutes from my house and a wonderful family run operation. I was disappointed to hear that next year would probably be the last as they are ready to retire and have no one to take over. It just makes me sad and further fuels my dream of a little plot of land with a garden, some chicks and a safe place for Lenora to run wild in the wild.

Between the 2 of us we picked 36 lbs. Nothing tastes as good as a fresh vine ripe sun warmed strawberry. You just can’t beat it.

I froze most to use through the year and made a bowl of homemade whipped cream for topping the rest.

What a perfect day, great company and strawberries. 

In the Kitchen

When life stresses me out I tend to go into hibernation mode. I want to stay in, putter around my house, cook, eat and then fall asleep. Usually in that order.  I have been doing much of all of these things lately. I takes a constant effort not to turn into a total recluse. The closer I get to my due date the more inward I turn. I know some of that is to be expected but I am not sure complete isolation is the answer either. Oh, the struggle to find balance.

 
 
I have been cooking up a storm these days.

 
I made these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls by Smitten Kitchen. They were delicious but I would have to say I wish they were gooeyer (is that a word). I like my cinnamon rolls all soggy and squishy in the middle. 

 
Then I made this Salted Caramel Apple Pie by Ashley English. Hands down the best apple pie I have ever tasted. We devoured every last slice. I will be making it again this year for Thanksgiving and every year after. It is that good. I did learn this is not a pie you can just throw together in an hour. There are steps, it takes some time, so set aside a day when you can slowly work your way through the recipe. Put on some music and get into it. You will not be disappointed. 

And here I am doing the 2 things I love to do the most, lay in bed and eat home cooking. Can you see the joy?  

Oh yea. Shovel it in. 

Presto Pesto Take 2

You are looking at the great basil harvest of 2012. Pathetic I tell you. Last year I had so much basil I was making pesto every week to freeze and had enough to last me until now. 

This year I had enough for one measly batch. Gardening like life is full of lessons. I have learned never to plant your basil next to mint, for the mint will choke the life out of anything it is near. Next year the mint gets its own pot, and the basil too for that matter. 

I guess I will save this one jar for something really good in the dead of winter, when I need just a taste summer. Goat cheese and crackers and pesto. Yummm. Or pesto pizza with mozzarella and grapes. Double Yummm. Or I could eat it straight out of the jar in my jammies, hiding in the bathroom so I don't have to share. 

Fruity

All I can think about these days is food. Good, fresh, yummy goodness. Being pregnant and all, and past the sickie days I just want to stuff my face all day long. I guess nursing a babe and growing a babe makes you insanely hungry. 

I was blessed to find this amazing you-pick blueberry place 20 minutes from my house. Fresh, not messed with, not sprayed, local berries. What more can a girl ask for. I went 2 times before they were gone and picked 10 pounds total. 

This is five pounds. I ate a bunch fresh and froze the rest for eating later. Hopefully they will last until winter, when blueberries are hard to come by and cost a bloody fortune. I have been trying to be better at buying what is in season and storing for the rest of the year. It's hard to judge just how much you need but you have to start somewhere. If 10 pounds doesn't do it I guess I will just have to pick 20 next year. 

My little Lilly is a ham. Always in the middle of my photos.  

Chocolate and Bacon

This is one big bowl of deliciousness.

I wanted to learn to make popcorn the good ole fashioned way, in a big pot with some oil. I just learned how many nasty things are in those microwaveable bags of popcorn and figured this had to be better for you, cheaper and just as easy. 

I had a hankering for something salty and sweet and what better for salty than bacon and chocolate for something sweet. So I made the popcorn with a little coconut oil in a big pot. Its not too hard once you get the hang of it. I did burn the first batch to a crisp. Then I threw in some really crispy fried bacon and shaved dark chocolate over the top. Delish. You know you want some. 

Christmas Cooking

I really enjoyed Christmas this year. I think its because I finally began to focus on the things that felt good to me and not the things I felt I had to do because of other peoples expectations. I really enjoyed taking a few days to spend time in the kitchen whipping up some Christmas goodies for gifts.

I made Rolo Turtles. So easy and so delicious. If you can turn on the oven you can make these. The real trick is to buy the Rolos at Sams Club and not in the bag at the grocery store. If you buy them in the bag you have to unwrap each individual candy, which in MHO is a PITA. If you buy them at a bulk store you only have to unwrap each roll. Recipe is here if you want to give it a go.
I also made Peppermint Bark. I found the recipe here, as directed by Soulemama. BEWARE: this stuff is highly addictive. I ate 2 bags of it for dinner one night. I even tried taking the leftovers to work so I wouldn't eat it, but I ended up hoarding it at my desk and polishing off another bag. Dark chocolate is normally too bitter and white chocolate too sweet. When you put them together with the peppermints, its the perfect combination of Christmas goodness. This treat is on my list to make every year.

I told myself this year I was going to do a 100% handmade Christmas next year and only give gifts that I made myself. Guess I better start now and not wait until the last minute. What did you make this year?

Presto Pesto

I made pesto this weekend. A ton of it. Well maybe not a ton, but 7 half pint jars of it, and considering how many basil leaves that took I am calling it a ton. Just look at all that lovely green goodness. I planted 4 basil plants this year and had no idea just how much they would grow. Since I am trying to make a more concerted effort to know where my food comes from and eat less processed I decided to make pesto and freeze it for use all winter. I already have another huge batch which I froze in ice cube trays then popped out into a freezer bag. This batch went into wide mouth canning jars. I am trying really hard to reduce my dependence on plastic baggies. I feel horrible every time I throw one of those little buggers in the trash or recycling bin. Hopefully it will turn out well and the jars will not crack. They are freezer safe, so says Ball, and I did not fill them all the way to the top, so we shall see.

I could eat buckets of this stuff, on pizza or just plain ole whole wheat pasta. Maybe next year I will try my hand at real canning. I would love to can some big juicy Maryland summer tomatoes to use year round. Each step I take to eat better and reduce what we throw away just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.