Category: in the kitchen

homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons

Preserving Season

 ,

I’ve discovered Preserves this summer. Sure, I’ve been “preserving” for a few years now: freezing, drying, canning, etc. And I’ve certainly preserved fruit before. But a Preserve. It’s not whole or sliced fruit floating in simple syrup. It’s not jam or jelly. It’s somewhere between the two: chunks of fruit in a syrup, often with additional flavors. I know it sounds strange, but I’m finding preserves to be a little bit more flexible, more “ready to eat” than just fruit in jars. See, I canned apricots back in 2010. Almost 20 pints of golden orange yumminess. We’re still eating them. …

homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons

Harvest Time: Apples!

 , , ,

The apple tree in the back yard has gone bonkers this year. I’ve made a first run at the apple harvest, filling this box more than half way. The apples are small and slightly underripe (read: pleasingly tart) and bake into lovely things. Like this yeast-based apple bread, which smells amazing when it’s baking and goes wonderfully with cheeses (we’ve tried chevre and cheddar so far; brie would be delightful). Or these apple muffins. I may have made 6 batches of these for a neighborhood End of Summer community event, and my neighbors may have eaten every single one. And …

in the kitchen, Seasons

Pesto Time

 ,

I admit I have a tendency to over-stock. I routinely add extra fabric to whatever I think I’ll need for a project. I like to have extra time to get from here to there. My idea of what is “enough” food to have on hand is frankly a bit ridiculous. I keep a pantry like I imagine someone might if they lived on a tiny forested island where the nearest grocery store was 100 miles and a boat ride away. If we ever have a real zombie apocalypse, I know of several people who plan to come camp at our …

in the kitchen

Rice Krispies Can’t Fix Everything, and A Favor

 

A few days ago, I attempted some cinnamon divinity. It’s a light and airy candy, just a little on the dry side. It falls apart in your mouth like some after-dinner mints or a meringue cookie. I goofed somewhere on this batch. Possibly, I didn’t beat the eggs whites enough, or maybe I didn’t heat the syrup to a high enough temperature (the recipe said 155 degrees, but the thermometer markings suggest I should have held out for 160 degrees). Or maybe I was worried about over-beating like I did the opera cremes in December and so didn’t beat it …

in the kitchen, Seasons

Valentine’s Leftovers

 ,

Turns out, when confronted with petite homemade cookies topped with cherry jam and Safeway bakery cupcakes with 1.5 inches of frosting, most second graders will choose the frosting. I can’t say they’d choose the cupcakes since many of them licked the frosting off and disposed of the unwanted cake. Too bad I can’t bring myself to just bring cheap frosting and a bunch of plastic spoons to classroom parties. I now have a large quantity of jam-topped sugar cookies. They go really nicely with tea. Does 4pm work for you? Save

in the kitchen, Seasons, sewing

All wrapped up

 , , , , ,

Remember this project? Want to see what it became? These bags are officially tradition now. I made about a dozen (some of last year’s bags were returned for refills) of the tutorial size of Jeni‘s Drawstring Bags, which is the perfect size for several bundles of homemade candy. This year, the fabric bags contained the required caramels and English toffee (from Grandpa’s recipes), as well as salted caramels (which might become a staple), peanut brittle and chocolate dipped marshmallows. I was hoping to also include opera cremes, but that didn’t work out so well. And I ran out of time …