recipe-a-week #21: strawberry jam & strawberry fields forever

We went to a local strawberry farm's u-pick yesterday. It was soaking wet and plenty of fun. We drove through a serious rainshower on our way there, but the rain held off while we picked. It seemed to take forever to fill our boxes since the berries were quite small, and because Phillip isn't exactly helpful yet.

We wanted him to see where strawberries come from, and he did, commenting all the while. "The lady fixed her shirt!"
"Mama's picking, picking, picking."
"I can see the strawberries!"
"Strawberries, Mama! For us to eat!"
All of the berries are tucked nicely into the freezer now, some whole, some sliced, and some in jam form. One thing I regretted about last year was that I made too much jam (we don't eat it terribly often) and didn't freeze enough whole and sliced berries (which we use all of the time, mostly in smoothies).

Here's the jam recipe: go to the grocery store and pick up a packet of the freezer jam powder pictured above. It makes amazing freezer jam that tastes like strawberries, not sugar. All you need is:
4 cups finely chopped berries (I used a pastry blender)
1 1/2 cups sugar
Packet of Club House freezer jam stuff pictured above (there aren't any scary things in it)
One packet makes 2 standard-size jars, and they last beautifully in the freezer. It takes a total of about 20 minutes to make a batch, and you can totally have several on the go at a time. We're on the last jar of 2008 jam right now, so it's nice to have more in the freezer.


If you need a way to use up some extra berries and don't want to go the jam route, make this strawberry dumpling. It's super easy, quick, and fun to make! Not to mention delicious, and excellent for sharing. The more cream the merrier. We had friends over, and four of us ate the entire batch in ten minutes or so.

I will be off on a little holiday for awhile - I'm excited for some reading and relaxing. Try not to miss me too much - I've got some recipes and home brewed experiments to share when I get back. I can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs, too.

In the meantime, go and make these butterscotch brownies. You will not be disappointed!

recipe-a-week #20: mustard

I made mustard! It was the easiest thing imaginable. It is HOT. Not the burn-your-tongue-and-make-your-lips-sizzle kind of hot, but the it's-burning-burning-burning-the-lining-of-my-esophagus-and-all-the-way-down-for-half-an-hour-and-even-yogurt-won't-do-anything-to-help kind of burn. So I haven't figured out yet exactly how I'm going to use it all... any suggestions? I bought my mustard seeds at Yarmouth Natural.

The original recipe is from Gourmet magazine, and is posted here. I picked up the June 2009 issue at the library, and was pleasantly surprised. It's not as fancy-schmancy as I had thought it might be, and it has recipes for this mustard, as well as ketchup and relish, which are next on my list to try. Oh, the lists of things to try! Sometimes it's overwhelming.

Homemade Mustard

Makes about1 1/2 cups

• Active time:10 min
• Start to finish:2 days (includes soaking)

From Gourmet June 2009

Mustard couldn’t be any simpler to make. Soaking the seeds before puréeing gives the finished product body and mellowness. It’s a great accompaniment for our ultimate burger.

• 1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 1/4 teaspoons sugar

• Soak mustard seeds in vinegar and water at room temperature 2 days. (If seeds are not submerged, add just enough additional water to cover.)
• Purée mixture in a food processor with sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt until almost smooth, about 2 minutes. Thin to desired consistency with additional water and season with salt.

Cooks’ note: Mustard keeps, chilled, 1 month

Sherrie's note: I added approximately 1/2 cup of water to thin it at the end, and used a large measuring cup for the whole process; using a stick blender to puree it at the end. Enjoy!

rose

You must read this post.

Oh, and here's a way for me to use some of my jars! (The ones that I didn't fill with freezer jam today, that is.

When I have my soap studio, these will be on one of the walls. And this wallpaper, in the bathroom.

Here's a recipe for English muffins.

Happy Tuesday!

goutweed

I can't stand goutweed; it's an invasive plant that takes over the garden, with deep roots that are very difficult to extract. It's right up there with bindweed in garden evilness on a scale of 1-10. But, being the eternal optimist that I am, I found something beautiful about it. The flowers are incredible - each tiny cluster of minuscule flowers is like a smaller version of the whole flower head. Quite lovely, really.