Lime Curd

After discovering how amazing Meyer Lemon Curd was, I decided that I would do a third challenge for January. I made lime curd and it did not disappoint! It is just like a key lime pie in a jar. I used the recipe in Marisa's book (shown in the picture above) but there is not a link to it on her blog. This recipe seems very similar but does not include the canning information. The curd can be canned in a hot water bath by processing it for at least 25 minutes and is shelf stable for 2 months. That said, at 2 months it begins to separate but is still fine to eat. Freezing your jars is the best method for long term preservation.

Restore Organic Law

My trip to the farmers market this weekend yielded three wonderful pints of organic wild blueberries. I promptly vacuum sealed them and put them in my freezer, for a winter full of yummy berry dishes for the family. Each quart of blueberries came with a sticker on it that identified that they were certified organic by MOFGA, picked on Arthur Harvey's blueberry farm in Hartford Maine, and packaged by Betsy’s of Maine. But the most interesting tidbit on the small sticker was the link to this website where I discovered the danger organic standards are in. In essence, lobbyists allowed the inclusion of non-organic substances to be allowed into foods that can still be labeled as organic. Harvey, a 72-year-old organic blueberry farmer and inspector, then sued Agriculture Secretary, alleging that the National Organic Program was overstepping the bounds of the Organic Foods Production Act. This change in the standards of organic foods and processing, "is to allow synthetic ingredients in manufacturing foods to be labeled organic. Prior to this change the words quoted above served as a firewall for organic products, preventing the addition of synthetics. But now, only the discretion of USDA will determine which synthetics are used---mostly without being named on the labels." If you are interested in preserving the purity of organic foods, please go to the website and see what you can do to help. A sample letter that you can send to law makers can be found here. Another website to visit is Organic Consumers. One thing I know for sure, I am proud of who and where my blueberries came from!

Preserving the Harvest

I just received this book as a birthday present from Ms. Judy. I am SO excited to use it. I find that my Ball Blue Book is getting worn and is also limited in terms of my options. I am really looking forward to putting this book to good use! THANKS MS. JUDY!!!! And thanks to Carol Costenbader for writing it!

Saving what you have...reusing

This post has more to do with my recipe post than not as it is a by product of my cooking. However, I truly feel that you should use as much of what you have as possible. From animals you hunt to the by products or wastes from cooking, everything can be used or even reused especially if you compost! In this case, I have saved the stock from a roast and frozen it in ice cube trays. Alongside at the older stock cubes saved from a leftover in the fridge. In either case, freeze it in ice cube trays, one cube equals one ounce. We discovered this when making baby food and that is a perfect way to measure.

Halloween Candy

How many other countries celebrate Hallows Eve like we do? Last night as I walked the darkened streets of our small town last night, I saw littered amongst the leaves at my feet, colorful wrappers of eaten candy. I wonder how much litter does Halloween actually create? It wasn't until we got home and poured out the collective pillow case of candy that I realized the sheer volume of candy my three children had gathered. It wasn't all candy seeing that we did also brought home rings, pencils, play dough, bubbles, glow sticks and even fortune cookies. Yes, in our small town we trick or treat at the Chinese restaurant. As I sat and drank coffee this first Saturday of November, I tried to wrap my brain around what to do the mountains of candy on my table.

What am I going to do with it all?

Step one: Grab my daughter and have her help me sort it. I need to inform you however, that she was a ghost last night and has not had a shower yet. This means that all that white hair spray we drenched it with yesterday afternoon is not only still there, but it has also been slept on and not brushed once since. Consider yourself warned!

She got to the table and knew what to do."We're going to sort it!" was the first thing she said. Apparently Dad had told her about it already. She set right to work!


We vigorously sorted. The old Easter egg candy and anything unwrapped went in the garbage. I noticed certain things we had a run on this year, which to my dismay did not include Butterfingers. We made a bowl or all things suckable - from the smallest ones unsafe for the baby, to the gum filled Lollipops unsafe for the 10 year-old's braces. We sorted the family favorites into the plastic jack o'lantern. My daughter made her own little basket, gleefully filling it with all the chewy sticky stuff not allowed on braces. She tried to keep SP's tootsie rolls, but I put a stop to that.



The best piles we made were the piles for the freezer. The freezer you ask? Yes I am freezing candy and here are the reasons why:
1. Who wouldn't want a few Snickers in the freezer?
2. Broken Jolly Ranchers can be melted into windows for gingerbread houses.
3. M&Ms make great additions to any cookies!
4. Assuring that we always have the essential chocolate for s'mores.
5. To make sure that I can make more than rice crispy treats with all those candy corns!



But there was one special bag that was not meant for the freezer. We made it for SP.

SP spends a lot of time traipsing through the woods. It takes a lot of energy. What a better quick fix than a Snickers, or a Milky Way, or some malted milk balls? Of course I through in some Dots and Tootsie Rolls since he loves them. But the biggest reason I made this bag, was because hunting season opened today. The poor man needs something other than rifle cartridges for his hunting vest. Maybe that extra pack of peanut M&Ms I grabbed from the family stash will keep him from falling asleep under some tree while he waits. I hope the deer are drawn to the scent of Reese's peanut Butter cups or else that one Butterfingers I gave up for my beloved SP.

The Last Beets and Broccoli

Autumn is turning to winter, and the the garden is just about finished. This is one of those pictures I have been meaning to get up on my blog because it is based on the food we have grown and now stored for the winter. One Saturday afternoon over a week ago, I went to the garden and pulled the past of the beets and clipped the broccoli for what just might have been the last time. The beets surprised me in color but yielded less than I anticipated, so I had to compensate with some store bought so that I could make roast beet salad (recipe and pictures on other blog). The broccoli is in the freezer. We added a bunch of meat from a good sale this weekend. I'm proud that our freezer looks the best it ever has!