So my wedding is a week away and I've just started making the favors. It's been an adventure so far. I'm making strawberry preserves, which I've done before with great success. However this time the preserving/gelling gods are not on my side. The first batch didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. But I think I know the problem! Sugar! Not enough sugar. And I think I pureed a little too much. I used my brand new handy dandy stick blender.
It's awesome but it works too well! I need to learn to harness the power of my blender. I ended up with all liquid and no chunks of strawberry like I always think of preserves as having. So I had to cut up extra strawberries and throw them in the pot to add that extra bit of texture.
Oh well... better luck next time!
Thank you to Joan, Larisa and Lucia for my awesomely powerful stick blender!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Market Day!
It’s market day! Actually it’s the first day of our Farm to SEPTA food share program. We pay $20 every 2 weeks to get a new delivery of fresh produce every 2 weeks. I decided to join to expand my vegetable and fruit horizons. I really end up eating the same things every week so I’m on a mission to try new things and what better way than to have it delivered to me every 2 weeks!
This week we received 1 head of red leaf lettuce, 4 zucchini, 1 carton of mushrooms, 1 bunch of carrots, 1 bunch of red swiss chard, 5 cucumbers, 1 qt of strawberries, 1 bunch of cilantro, and 12 farm fresh eggs.
I am excited to get cooking! I have a few recipes for how to cook swiss chard. But first I’ll tell you what I think of the produce:
The lettuce looks good. I’ve had red leaf lettuce before at a restaurant but I’ve never used it myself so we’ll see.
The zucchini are a bit short but we’ll see what they taste like. I will probably have to adjust my expectations of vegetable size. I’m used to the hormone pumped grocery store varieties. The same goes for the carrots and the strawberries. Actually the strawberries remind of me the type we used to pick at the “pick your own strawberries” places when I was little. Sadly they’re few and far between these days because people pick their own and eat them before they ever get to the register.
The mushrooms look really good. I’m excited about those. I don’t eat mushrooms very often so this will be a good test for me. I usually just throw them into a salad raw. I’m going to attempt to cook them. Add enough butter and anything tastes good right?? (what about getting into that wedding dress?)
I have no idea what swiss chard looks like in the store so I have no concept if this looks better/worse/different or anything. It looks leafy and red and green. It’s pretty plump so I’m sure it’s good
The cilantro smells amazing. I can’t wait to have something to use that in! It is making my office refrigerator smells so much better now!
This week we received 1 head of red leaf lettuce, 4 zucchini, 1 carton of mushrooms, 1 bunch of carrots, 1 bunch of red swiss chard, 5 cucumbers, 1 qt of strawberries, 1 bunch of cilantro, and 12 farm fresh eggs.
I am excited to get cooking! I have a few recipes for how to cook swiss chard. But first I’ll tell you what I think of the produce:
The lettuce looks good. I’ve had red leaf lettuce before at a restaurant but I’ve never used it myself so we’ll see.
The zucchini are a bit short but we’ll see what they taste like. I will probably have to adjust my expectations of vegetable size. I’m used to the hormone pumped grocery store varieties. The same goes for the carrots and the strawberries. Actually the strawberries remind of me the type we used to pick at the “pick your own strawberries” places when I was little. Sadly they’re few and far between these days because people pick their own and eat them before they ever get to the register.
The mushrooms look really good. I’m excited about those. I don’t eat mushrooms very often so this will be a good test for me. I usually just throw them into a salad raw. I’m going to attempt to cook them. Add enough butter and anything tastes good right?? (what about getting into that wedding dress?)
I have no idea what swiss chard looks like in the store so I have no concept if this looks better/worse/different or anything. It looks leafy and red and green. It’s pretty plump so I’m sure it’s good
The cilantro smells amazing. I can’t wait to have something to use that in! It is making my office refrigerator smells so much better now!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Old and New
Old:
I have one more goal for the year. No more cookbooks. I am not buying another cookbook all year. AND... I'm going to use the ones I have! They look so nice on the self in my kitchen, now it's time to crack the spines. Ok that's not true I've actually used my cook books before but sadly not all of them. I have bookmarks all over some of them but have never actually tried the recipes inside. So this is it, the year of using all my new kitchen toys and all my cook books.
New:
Coffee maker! I'm still on the easy stuff :) My new coffee maker is pretty fantastic I am actually more excited now that I have it and have been using it for 2 months. When I registered for it I didn't realize how many awesome features it actually had. It lets you brew less that 4 cups at a time and has a special feature where it heats the water more so the coffee tastes better (I don't know how/why it works but it does). It has a self clean! How cool! You still need to put in the vinegar and make it brew but it will tell you if the maker is clean or if you need to run it again.
Beyond the fun little features it brews a darn good cup of coffee. It also helps to know what you're doing (ok I really have no idea but I have an awesome grinder which helps) There is a very specific ratio of beans to water that all coffee officianatos know but I am no officianto, I have my 2 cups in the morning and that's it. However I like to enjoy my coffee, I'm not one for drinking black sludge in the morning just for caffeine. My grinder tells me how many beans per 4 cups and asks what kind of coffee maker (perc, drip, or press) and it does all the hard work. So for me there is no thinking! It's awesome!
Thank you Aunt Pat and Patty Jackson and Ruth Murphy!!
I have one more goal for the year. No more cookbooks. I am not buying another cookbook all year. AND... I'm going to use the ones I have! They look so nice on the self in my kitchen, now it's time to crack the spines. Ok that's not true I've actually used my cook books before but sadly not all of them. I have bookmarks all over some of them but have never actually tried the recipes inside. So this is it, the year of using all my new kitchen toys and all my cook books.
New:
Coffee maker! I'm still on the easy stuff :) My new coffee maker is pretty fantastic I am actually more excited now that I have it and have been using it for 2 months. When I registered for it I didn't realize how many awesome features it actually had. It lets you brew less that 4 cups at a time and has a special feature where it heats the water more so the coffee tastes better (I don't know how/why it works but it does). It has a self clean! How cool! You still need to put in the vinegar and make it brew but it will tell you if the maker is clean or if you need to run it again.
Beyond the fun little features it brews a darn good cup of coffee. It also helps to know what you're doing (ok I really have no idea but I have an awesome grinder which helps) There is a very specific ratio of beans to water that all coffee officianatos know but I am no officianto, I have my 2 cups in the morning and that's it. However I like to enjoy my coffee, I'm not one for drinking black sludge in the morning just for caffeine. My grinder tells me how many beans per 4 cups and asks what kind of coffee maker (perc, drip, or press) and it does all the hard work. So for me there is no thinking! It's awesome!
Thank you Aunt Pat and Patty Jackson and Ruth Murphy!!
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