Thursday, August 29, 2013

Make Me Swoon

Oh Ryan, you sure do know how to make a girl blush.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Thai Basil Pepper Jelly (with pics)

As promised, I'm posting some pictures of my delicious Thai Basil Pepper Jelly. This year I made quite a bit, so a lot of my friends and family will be getting some of this yummy jelly for the holidays.

But first, I want to show you how easy it is to make the Thai Basil infused vinegar. All it takes is some Thai Basil, vinegar, and time. Just chop it up (about 2 cups per quart) and add regular distilled white vinegar. Let the jars sit in a dark, cool spot on your kitchen counter for two weeks, then strain the Thai Basil out of the vinegar.


Follow the recipe to make the jelly and this is what you end up with. Isn't it beautiful? My husband and I agree that it looks like a piece of amber. It looks like Christmas in a jar.


This jelly is especially good with a creamy Chevre or even cream cheese on toast or crackers.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Whoa, Mama!

This Saturday, hubby and I went to a small, local farm to pick raspberries and left with over a bushel of tomatoes, peppers, garlic, lettuce, and even a few tiger melons!

The farmer had all this produce wasting away and he didn't want it to go bad so he gave it to us for FREE! He only wanted payment for the raspberries, but we paid him more of course!


The tomatoes alone weighed in at over 60 lbs. All of this loverliness was turned into 7 quarts of tomato juice, 9 pints of salsa, and 5 quarts of pickled hot peppers.

The tiger melons were the most interesting (they're in the bin on top of the tomatoes by the lettuce). I had entertained the thought of growing them this season, but after some research, I read that they didn't have much flavor. Even the farmer who gave us these said they didn't have much flavor. But after sitting on our kitchen counter ripening for 3 days, they were the perfect blend between cantalope and papaya/mango. Exotic and beautiful, just like me! :-)

Busy, busy, busy! Seems like all I am doing this summer is canning, and it feels like it. But whoa, mama!
 

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