I miss making things!

Man, I never thought I'd be so out of touch with my own blog.  I've never been a super-regular journaling kind of gal (even when I had an actual diary with a lock and key that I really just drew on--not in), but the last few months (roughly 7, actually) have probably been the most unproductive of my life externally.

Since January, I've stopped my personal chef-ery business, haven't sewn a darn thing (except a rogue bra strap and hook & eye clasp repair on said bra), haven't brewed a single beer, have knitted or crocheted exactly nothing, and barely have the energy to make dinner most nights.  I've planted exactly 4 tomato plants in my garden, and put together a really cute herb garden in a strawberry pot--that's it.

Internally, I'm sustaining an expectant life.  "#2" as we affectionately call him or her is due, ironically, Labor Day weekend.  As he/she/it is literally sucking the energy right out of me, I do a lot of "supervising".  I'm lucky to have an actually helpful 2 1/2 year old and an understanding husband...

But even though I spend most of my days dreaming about making things and plotting what I might be able to make while on maternity leave, I am lucky enough to be reading a ton lately.  In addition to voraciously reading my National Geographics each month, finally catching up on my SKI and 32 degrees magazines (ironic since there's no snow and I'm really not fit to ski), I've re-discovered the awesomeness that "Leisure Reading" section at Temple University's library which is awesomely situated across the street from my office.

If you're interested in keeping up with what I'm reading or suggesting a new book, please link up!  I hate walking blindly into a book without a recommendation and I'm game to read anything.  I'm 99% sure this is my profile.

Until I'm game for making again, here are my current craft-crushes:
The Cutest Darn Thing to entertain your toddler on Two-Many
I need to have this skirt but am too lazy to make it, but I still really want to buy the pattern
Signs I may miss drinking a bit too much

I hope to have more fodder to share with you all soon, but it may just be musings on what I plan to brew for my post-baby hospital bed celebration...I'm excited about that!

Summer Re-cap

I hate bloggers who apologize for not keeping up with their blogs--because blog readers are just glued to their computers waiting for us all to share what we had for dinner, the cute outfit we spent hours laboring over for our kid who messed it up 2 minutes after the photos were taken, or finding out what fun picture frame we fashioned into a completely useless piece of wall "art".

So, I'm not apologizing for not posting anything for almost 6 months--I have a life.  But, I've missed cataloging what I've been up to, so I thought I would do a bit of a photo montage that explains what I've been up to over the last six months.  Enjoy!

Garden:

We finally had a strawberry this year!  It rained a lot, my tomatoes are coming in like crazy (still), I built a vertical planter for sweet potatoes (that died) that seems very well suited for cucumbers, pesto: the elixir of pasta, a squash plant I started from seed and hydrangea. 

Kiddo:

 

Helping me make cinnamon buns with his friend one morning.

 

And thankfully, we had a lot of beach & lake time this summer.

Cooking:

 

I discovered the olive bar at Wegmans's; Mac n Cheese, grilled lamb leg, avocado pasta, pierogies with chorizo(!), the book that started it all, cold-brewed coffee (a revelation), we made baked beans from scratch, this crazy watermelon rum drink with limes and cilantro, Heizenberg special rock candy (just a touch of chili p yo), and the most beautiful fritatta I've ever made.

Beer/Liquor Drinks:

A small sampling what I've been drinking this summer.  Lots of ales and saisons, now transitioning into festbiers and porters.  I haven't brewed since probably Februrary, but I'm enjoying what others are making immensely!

The chill of fall has also reignited the bourbon (me) vs. scotch (my husband) debate in our house.  Here's a fun maple mint julep I made--it's actually better without the ice cubes to take that chill off your bones.

If you have any questions about what I have up here, just ask!  It may make its way into a full blog post one day!

Rural Revolution: How long will home-canned food last?

I had to share this blog post from a blog I randomly came across months ago. 

Now, I don't have a pressure-canning system so I can't can meat, but this is a great example of how great home canning can be!  And don't forget to read the comments.  Some are great!


Rural Revolution: How long will home-canned food last?: I was cleaning out my pantry a couple days ago when I came across some home-canned jars of meat: beef and ham, as well as lentil soup. No...

The Summer Harvest

Wednesday Night's Haul

The garden is doing so much better this year than last, and I couldn't be happier!  So far this week, I've harvested about 10 lbs of tomatoes, 3 eggplant, and my gorgeous mother gave me about 7 lbs of cucumbers. 

So what am I going to do with all of this?  Since we'll never be able to eat all of this fresh, we're going to have to find a way to make it last. 

I still have about 5 jars of tomatoes that I canned last year in my pantry, so I'd rather not start canning yet.  I'm leaning toward freezer meals/condiments to use up the tomatoes:
-Tomato Basil bisque
-Vodka Sauce
-Ratatouille (also helps to get rid of the bushel of squash I got from my mother)

The cucumbers are a bit trickier, but I have a few ideas:
-Grammy's freezer pickles (so friggin easy, and we LOVE them)
-Tsatsiki

I love that this tomato has a beak!

And on the greek vein, I'm going to roast my eggplants, and make the greek version of babagonoush (must find recipe) which apparently doesn't include tahini.

I'll post some recipes soon, but if you want to get started on canning, take a look at last year's tutorial.  There's even a video on peeling and seeding so you can make all this yummy stuff!

Baby Food Time!

Right around the 4 month mark, I noticed that my little one was reaching for my food.  Of course, at first, I thought I was just seeing things and assumed that it was a symptom of the "my baby is advanced and awesome" syndrome that so many mothers have.  Then, he tried to eat my raisin toast.

When we went in for his 4-month well visit, I mentioned this to his Dr., and she said to try some foods or cereal.  So after consulting with friends, family, and a random facebook group I'm part of, I decided to start with rice cereal, just in case he wasn't really ready for food...

I really expected it to be a disaster.  Spitting, coughing, smearing, and general displeasure and grossness all over the place.  But, boy, was this kid ready to eat.  He ate that first teeny bowl of rice cereal so quickly and eagerly that he started crying for more while I was mixing up another bowl!



We did some banana a few days after that, and MAN!  He ate half of it.  I could also see the sugar high in his eyes...but half of a banana!  And apparently a few days after starting the bananas, my husband ate one in front of the little guy, and he cried and reached out for it.  When they say, the baby will tell you what he wants, they weren't kidding!

Since he ate a whole banana, I haven't gone back to the cereal.  It literally has no nutritional content, and there are so many foods he can try that are good for him!  (And to the folks who say "he'll sleep longer with a belly full of cereal" I say, this kids has slept at least 6 hours at night since he was two weeks old...)

Last week, we tried avocado.  Little guy did not like.  So I mixed it with banana.  Little guy did not like.  So I mixed it with more banana.  Again, little guy did not like.  He ended up looking like a bird pooped on his face, and extremely unenthusiastic.  (As a rule, high eyebrows=happy; low eyebrows=annoyed)

This week, we're trying sweet potato.  I had to add a bit of water to it after mashing; little guy did not like the thickness at first, but thinned out a bit and we were good to go.

On the menu for next week?  I'm thinking pears, but the big guy gets to pick the little guy's next food, so we'll see.

I'm going to try to not go the pre-made baby food route.  I just don't see the point in spending the money on it when I just have to mush up some of what I eat for him now and eventually just cube up some stuff.  I've found some really great resources in friends and websites for ideas, and I realized that everything they're recommending for your kid, is stuff we eat anyway.  And maybe it will help me and my other guy eat better in the process...

Just to be clear: Am I ruling out ever buying/using store bought baby food?  HELL NO!  I'll probably get a few jars from the store for back up and to have jars...

How I'm making little guy's food right now:
-mashing up soft things (so far no food processor needed)
-introducing one new thing a week, while continuing to feed him the previous weeks' items as well
-once I know he likes something, I make a bit of it a time.  For example, after I realized he likes bananas, I mashed up a few in little bowls since it takes about as much time to it for three bananas as it did for a half of one.
-starting next week, I'll probably have to start freezing my mashed up bits in ice cube trays.  More than three items at one sitting might be a little too much for either me or the little guy to handle.
-I have not purchased any special "baby" eating items like a little spoon or plate.  I use a custard cup and a normal teaspoon.  Again, I don't see the point in the extra expense, but to each his own.

I found this website through a recommendation.  It has great lists of what's good to try at what time, and even some recipes, though I have not explored that part.  Of most interest to me has been (and probably will continue to be) the food preservation techniques (freezing, etc.).

I'm really excited to see what little guy will eat as our garden starts producing things he actually CAN eat.  Right now our options are non-options (rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries), but I've got squash, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant and I don't even remember what else for him to try throughout the summer and fall.  I might even try to through a melon in there real quick before it gets too late...

Canning: Tomatoes in their own juice

I was so happy to come home last night and find that my tomatoes had started to ripen!  This year has been a particularly bad season for tomatoes (really hot so that the flowers wouldn't fruit and then super cold so they won't grow and ripen in addition to fighting the birds for them), and before last night I'd only gotten maybe 5 tomatoes off of my 4 vines so far this year!  Here's last night's haul:

Don't adjust your screen--they are yellow with a few pink (Brandywine I think) and purple guys (Black Kirin?) in there, too.  Yellow tomatoes tend to be sweeter than red or pink tomatoes, and carry a higher sugar content and usually a lower water content. Purple tomatoes tend to be the most tart tomatoes.

Since I knew we'd never be able to eat all of these before they started rotting, and I just killed the last jar of last year's tomatoes when I made a chili two weeks ago, I knew these needed to be canned.  I use Ball's Blue Book of Preserving as my guide for all canning matters.

If you're interested at all in canning or freezing or dehydrating or even just some fun chutney recipes, I highly recommend getting acopy of Ball's Blue Book.  I think I paid $7 for mine a few years back, and refer to it constantly when I have a surplus of fruit or veggies.  I took a picture of my copy since it's relatively new; I would imagine the edition hasn't been updated yet...

The tools:
For this many tomatoes, I'm only going to get 4-5 jars going, so I don't bother using my huge canning pot.  I use a large sauce pot for skinning the tomatoes and a 5 qt stock pot for the sterilizing and processing of the tomatoes.  I fill them with water and set them on the stove (with lids of course) to boil before I tend to the tomatoes.

I also assemble my jars (5 in this case, but I only used 4 ultimately), new lids, rings, jar tongs (not sure what the real name is), canning funnel (not shown below), measuring/air removal tool, lid retrieving magnet, stainless tongs, and measuring spoons.

You'll also need an ice bath (I used a large bowl) and colander set up.  You can also do this in your sink if you like, but I like the be able to have the ice bath mobile.

It's also a good idea to get out the bottle of lemon juice and kosher salt at this time if you have the counter space.

So the first thing I do is is wash the tomatoes, take off the green stem if it's still there, and then mark an x in the bottom.  This really helps with skin removal.

Once the smaller pot is boiling, place a few (3 or 4) tomatoes in there.  This won't take but a half minutes tops to get the skins to start waving in the water.  Once the skin starts to separate, move the tomato to the ice bath you set up.  You don't want to wait, or you'll start to cook the tomato; you'll lose some of the flavor to the water and the mushiness will make the peeling difficult.

I made a video of how quickly this part goes, just in case you don't believe me


Once the tomatoes have cooled enough for you to handle them, start peeling.  Don't forget to take out the core, any blemishes, and as many seeds as you can muster.  I just put 4 or so slits down the side of the tomato and scoop of the seeds with my fingers.  The cleaned tomatoes look something like this:

Now, that you've cleaned and skinned all of your tomatoes, I bet the water in your processing pot is boiling.  Now's the time to sanitize your jars, lids, measuring tool, canning funnel, and stainless tongs.  I always put the jars in first as they take the longest and you'll need them first.  You can put the tongs in so that just the ends (that which touches the tomatoes) is in.  Leave them to process for at least 1 minute, and retrieve with the jar tongs.

I usually put the jars on a towel to cool for a minute (don't touch the lip or inside of the jars!) and then start preparing them for the tomatoes.  Don't sanitize the lids for too long, or the adhesive ring can melt and be ineffective.  These should be retrieved with the lid magnet, and left to dry face up on a towel or counter.

First, add at least 1 Tbs of lemon juice to each pint jar (use 2Tbs for a quart size jar), and a dash of kosher salt.  For these tomatoes, I used 2 Tbs per pint jar because they're sweeter tomatoes than most, and the acid must be high enough to ensure good preserving.  Also, use bottled lemon juice for this step and not fresh--bottle lemon juice has a constant level of acid (they make it that way on purpose) while a real lemon's PH level varies widely depending on variety, age, time of year, etc.

Now we start to add our tomatoes!

Put the funnel in the jar and stuff the tomatoes in the jar until you have about an inch (usually about where the screw top rings start on the jar).  Use the measuring tool's flat side (or a sanitized spoon or butter knife) to work any air bubbles out around the side of the jars.  Usually after I do this, I have to add at least a half tomato more to get to an 1/2 inch of head space (the measure between the lip and the top of the tomatoes) needed for effective processing.

Each one of those little stairs is a 1/4 inch!  It's really a great tool to have if you plan to start canning a lot.

If I need a bit more tomato to meet my head space requirement, I use the juice left from the tomatoes in my cleaned tomato bowl. Sometimes there's not enough, and then I'll grab a Tbs or so from the boiling processing pot.

Now we start to put the lids and rings on.  Make sure the lip of the jar is clean before you put the lid on by dabbing a towel in the boiling water and wiping the lip only, being careful not to touch the inside of the jar.  Place the lid on top (shiny side up), and then tighten the ring so that it just closes.  You don't want to tighten it too tight or air can't escape from the jar while boiling and will interfere with the vacuum needed for a good seal.

Put the jars in BOILING water.  Once all the jars are in, make sure you have about one inch of water above the tops of the jars.  I keep a hot kettle ready sometimes to help top it off and keep the water temp pretty close to boiling.  Bring the water back to a strong rolling boil and start your timers for 40 minutes (for pint jars like mine).

Be very careful when putting the jars in.  I don't want anyone getting burned.

After forty minutes, use your jars tongs to retrieve the jars, and set them on a towel or trivet or something that won't melt to cool.  They will need a few hours to cool down completely, but you might start to hear the lids popping after only a few minutes!  It's pretty fun even after a few years to hear them pop.  You may also hear a weird sucking noise as they begin to cool--and that's a good thing!  That means your vacuum is working.

One thing to look out for before putting the jars of tomatoes into storage:
*The lid didn't suck down all the way.  If you can press down on the lid and it pops back up, you'll have to reprocess the jar. (Use a new lid, wipe the lip down again, and boil again).

Two things to look out for before using the jars:
1. The lid pops back up. (I don't recommend reprocessing if the jar has sat for longer than a day.)
2. Any weird colors that pop up.  Black, purple, brown, green are not supposed to be there.  That means you got some bacteria or yeast in there.
Toss these jars immediately.  The $1 or $2 you save by using them is not enough to warrant a night over the toilet or poisoning your family.  Some icky things can live in improperly processed jars...

I've stored tomatoes for a full year with no problems and made some great dishes with them, too.  Store them in a dark, cool , dry place--your pantry!

Time requirements:
For newbies, set aside a few hours to get this all done for sure.  You might want to give yourself at least 4 hours.
I got this all done after I got home from work at 6pm, went into my garden for the tomatoes, canned them, cleaned up from it, and made dinner all the same time, all before 9pm.