Category Archives: kitchen stories

Hot, Hot, Hot

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It’s unseasonably warm here in the “Frozen Tundra.” The Green Bay Packers held their annual shareholders’ meeting yesterday with a major storm in the morning and extreme temperatures in the afternoon. Why would that matter, you might ask, for a shareholders’ meeting? This meeting takes place outdoors in the bowl of Lambeau Field. The shareholders dress in green and gold, and so on, and so on. If you’re wondering, no, I didn’t go. It’s enough to know I could. There are 360,760 people holding approximately 5 million shares of Green Bay Packers stock.

So anyway, it’s more than warm. In my Prep for Winter mentality, I made a new batch of jelly yesterday. It didn’t gel. I’m blaming the humidity and heat, and I’m monitoring the jars to see if they’re just gelling slowly.

It's pretty, though.

It’s pretty, though.

Also in my Prep for the School Year mode, I picked up a couple of new wardrobe elements on clearance at Kohl’s. I saved far more than I paid; that’s Kohl’s and my shopping savvy.

Bored yet? I don’t want to work outside because of the heat, but I set up a batch of sun tea to brew. My formula (recipe, if you insist) is this. 2 quart mason jars with lids; 3 tea bags per jar; fill each jar with filtered water; let sit in the sun until tea reaches desired strength.

It'll need sugar, but not much.

It’ll need sugar, but not much.

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And More Rhubarb – this time, Juice!

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I have a bumper crop of rhubarb again this year. I may have mentioned it. I might have also mentioned that I still have rhubarb in the freezer from last year, as well. When the basic conclusion is Too Much Rhubarb at the O.K. Chorale, there is only one solution: can.

Here’s something I found. It looks very pretty, too. You might know how rhubarb can oxidize after it’s picked and end up looking, well, kind of poopy brown? This mush released the prettiest reddish pink juice! Without further ado, adapted from at least two Internet recipes, rhubarb juice concentrate.

Ingredients

  • 12 cups diced rhubarb, fresh or frozen
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • zest and juice of one lemon
  • zest and juice of one orange

Directions: In large pot, combine rhubarb, water, lemon & orange zests and bring to a boil. Stir constantly over medium high heat. Reduce heat, cover and boil gently until rhubarb is soft (10-20 minutes). Remove from heat.

Pour into dampened jelly bag or strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip for at least 2 hours, undisturbed.

In clean, large pot combine rhubarb juice and sugar. Stir in lemon juice and orange juice. Stir to dissolve sugar and bring to a brief boil. Remove from heat.

Ladle into hot jars. Leave ¼-inch headspace.
Place jars in prepared hot water bath canner with jars completely under water. Process for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and remove canner lid. Allow jars to sit in canner for 5 minutes before removing. Set jars on rack or towel and allow to cool.

Serving suggestions: Mix about 1 Tablespoon rhubarb juice concentrate with 8 ounces of another beverage. Serve over ice. (The recipe suggested equal parts concentrate and mixer; the concentrate is much too strong that way!)

Beverage mixes can include water, iced tea, lemonade, ginger ale, or anything you can think of.

Enjoy!

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Pea Pod Soup – a classic pantry raid

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It was a day full of food prep. I’d picked a large amount of rhubarb and slashed the leaves off the stems. While the rhubarb was soaking in the sink to get the dirt off, I’d been shelling peas. I looked at this huge pile of pea pods and thought about the big pile of pods I’d dumped in the compost last week. You can see where I’m heading, can’t you? There had to be another way to use the pea pods after the peas were out.

Soup broth was an option. Pea pods, green onion, garlic scapes – a decent broth, probably. It had potential. But where there was broth, could I also find soup? I did what resourceful cooks do all over the world; I searched the Interwebs. Here’s the result.

Ingredients:

2 lb. fresh, whole pea pods

6 cups water

4 Tablespoons soup base (chicken, beef, or other)

1 small onion, diced (I had a yellow onion on hand)

Garlic Scapes (I used 5)

2 Tablespoons margarine or butter

1 1/2 teaspoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Wash pea pods. Pull off strings.

In medium saucepan, bring water and soup base to a boil. Add pea pods, onion, and garlic scapes. Return to boil; lower heat, simmer for 20 minutes. When pea pods are tender, remove from pan. Push this mix through a food mill or use immersion blender until smooth. True confession: I did both. Mix flour, salt, pepper, and sugar. Melt butter (or margarine) in saucepan. Gradually add flour mixture until thickened. Add soup mix little by little, allowing soup to thicken. Heat through.

Serving options: Add diced ham or chopped bacon; top with sour cream and chives; add saltine crackers; add peas, corn, & carrots during the last ten minutes of cooking.

Amigo ate all of his. Chuck did, too, and proclaimed it “Not bad.” I was rather pleased at how well I raided our pantry and freezer all week long without hitting a grocery store for anything other than milk or bunny food. On the other hand, our next shopping trip is going to carry sticker shock. The kitchen looks like Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.

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Prepping for winter – or summer – with rhubarb

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I’ve been under the weather for several days, and while I rested and drank fluids, the rhubarb patch grew wild and unruly. When I finally get to it, I will have a lot and I mean A LOT of rhubarb. Frozen rhubarb has good flavor, but the texture isn’t great. I’ll only freeze this bounty if that’s the only option left. Meanwhile, as I was resting, I used the power of the Internet to find more ways to use rhubarb. Here’s a list.

rhubarb jam (of course)

rhubarb jelly (I haven’t really tried jellies yet)

rhubarb cobbler and crisp

rhubarb barbecue sauce (I’ve already put up one batch)

rhubarb juice (now this could be interesting)

I made a trip to the always-fantastic Fleet Farm last night to replace my small hot water bath canner, and as long as I was in the aisle, I grabbed a jelly straining kit. This kit can be part of making jelly rather than jam or straining actual juices from fresh fruit. Rhubarb juice? It’s a possibility.

My thanks to Rhubarb Central for the many, many successful recipes!

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Banana Bread with Strawberries

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Ah, good intentions. The road to you-know-where is paved with good intentions. I planned to share another in-season recipe last week, and the time and the baking got away from me. Here’s a recipe that used to include maraschino cherries. Now it has strawberries, very ripe and juicy, in a classic banana bread.

Banana Bread With Berries

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ripe or very ripe bananas, mashed

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour (whole wheat pastry flour is my favorite)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 to 1 cup fresh, ripe strawberries

Directions:

Combine butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, bananas, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Mix in strawberries and chocolate chips. Add flour; mix well until all is moist. Pour into loaf pan or mini loaf pans (my favorite) or muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees. Large loaf pans: 50 minutes. Small loaf pans: 35-40 minutes. Muffin tins: 25-30 minutes.

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Garden: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

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The good: Garlic is growing well.

The bad: Garlic isn’t full grown yet – no bulbs of multiple cloves.

The ugly: The onions nearby are too small, but seem ripe.

Good: Lettuce is starting to look good!

Bad: Spinach is notably absent.

Ugly: Broccoli has gone AWOL. Bunnies?

Good: We have a family of bunnies in the backyard!

Bad: The bunnies found their way into my peas and beans.

Ugly: We have a family of bunnies in the backyard!

Good: Baby raccoons are cute.

Bad: In a group, raccoons can open the compost bin.

Ugly: The neighborhood raccoon family thinks my compost is lunch.

Good: We have several farmers’ markets in my neck of the woods.

Bad: There’s a bad?

Ugly: A poor garden yield may drive me to the markets more often. More Often? I already go to at least two a week! This could be fun.

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Winter – and Prepping for Winter

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I am a public school teacher. My work schedule coincides with the (arguably outdated) agrarian calendar. I start my school year at the end of August, and I end that school year in the beginning of June. I have my Summer “Off” in between.

In an earlier post, I mentioned a quote I’d heard on a fascinating television show called Unplugged Nation. The expert told the people starting their off-grid trial period that “Off the grid, there are two seasons: winter and preparing for winter.” I’m not off grid, but I can see the sense in this statement. Here at the O.K. Chorale, I spend a great deal of my summer prepping for winter, too.

I prep for winter to make my school year easier on me and the family. My workload, like that of teachers everywhere, is much more than the calendar might suggest. By canning and freezing foodstuffs all summer long, I save money, save time, and provide a better quality product for my family. Here’s an example: rhubarb.

Eating in season and eating locally means harvesting and cooking while it’s ripe. I make rhubarb desserts and rhubarb jams and rhubarb barbecue sauce each and every June. Any rhubarb left after that gets diced and stashed in the freezer. If you have a source of rhubarb growing like a weed in or near your home, here’s the rhubarb barbecue sauce recipe with a few Daisy twists.

Ingredients

8-9 cups of chopped rhubarb (approximately 9 pounds)

1 cup chopped sweet onion

1 medium jalapeno pepper, diced and seeded

2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup honey (local, of course)

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground or crystallized ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large pan and cook over low-medium heat until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Allow mixture to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning. Blend gently with an immersion blender until mixture is smooth.

Ladle sauce into clean, hot pint jars, leaving at least 1/2 inch head space. Add lides and rings on pint jars. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the jars to rest in the boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes. Remove the jars to a safe place (for example, on a towel at the back of the counter) to cool. Label and store after 12 hours.

To use rhubarb barbecue sauce: pour over a pork or beef roast in a slow cooker. Simmer all day until meat can be shredded with a fork. Serve on buns. Heck, serve any way you wish!

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The Garden Begins!

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The magic date for planting in my zone usually falls on Memorial Day. The forecast has been cooperative lately, so I started quite a bit already. I’m waiting a few more days with the tomatoes and peppers; they didn’t start well from seed this year. Better soil or better starter pots might be the answer – next year. For now, they get a little more time in pots on the deck before I measure the grid and insert the seedlings into the soil.

Square foot gardening gives me a lot of food in a relatively small space. So far, I’ve planted lettuces, spinach, parsley, peas, broccoli, and root crops: carrots, parsnips, radishes, turnips. It sounds like a lot – and if all of it comes up, there will be a lot of fresh vegetables around the O.K. Chorale.

The plot behind the new garage is restarting, really. I have a small parsley bed back there (bunny food!), and the raspberries are coming back nicely. In a year or two, I’ll have a significant raspberry patch again. I(hopefully!) protect the seedlings from the wild bunnies.

The onions and garlic that I planted last fall are coming up well. I finally figured out which was which, too. The garlic is almost ready to harvest. I’ll definitely do this again next fall: plant the bulbs, and then let them lie dormant during the winter and grow as soon as the ground thaws in the spring.

I just heard a grizzled old off-grid guy on television say, “When you live this isolated and off grid, there are two seasons: winter and getting ready for winter.” Here in the city neighborhoods, we do some of that preparation. I don’t need to chop wood, but I do grow and can and freeze a lot of goodies during the “Getting ready for winter” season. The big difference here is how relaxing and enjoyable the prep time can be.

Pictures, you ask? Later. I promise.

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Random Thoughts at the Grocery Store

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Years ago, when I successfully canned my first batches of jams, I was warned. “Jam is the gateway drug for canning. You’ll never be able to stop.”

It’s true. My home-canned inventory grows every year. Part of the joy of canning is getting downstairs to bring up a jar of cherry-rhubarb jam or home-grown salsa instead of writing it on the list and shopping for it. Another pleasure in the canning world is walking down the grocery store aisle and thinking, “I don’t need to buy that. I make my own.”

Let’s see. I had that thought as I walked past…

  • jams and jellies
  • pickles
  • salsa (but we still buy the chips)
  • applesauce (and pear sauce! yum!)
  • tomato sauces
  • herbs (I don’t can them, but I grow and dry them)
  • soup stocks (not canned, but homemade and frozen)
  • frozen vegetables (I grow them or buy them at the farmers’ market, then freeze them)
  • “fresh” strawberries and other berries (again, I freeze them in season)

Meanwhile, I kept distracting myself from the actual shopping trip by thinking about spring and summer. Organic more expensive? I’ll grow it in the backyard. No problem. Chuck getting picky about breads? I’ll make some in the bread machine. He’ll eat it. What kind of ice cream should I make? Well, I still have a few strawberries in the freezer and a small amount of cherry concentrate. This could be delicious.

On further review, the rhubarb is already coming up, and I have quite a bit in the freezer. I must find a way to barter this rhubarb for something I don’t have. Ideas, readers? What do you do with too much rhubarb? And furthermore, was jam the gateway drug for you?

 

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