Peach Chutney

When I have an abundance of something hanging around the house waiting to be 'done with' so we can eat it through the winter, I get brave.

I cook things that normally I wouldn't cook for fear I'd screw it up. Or that no one would like it. Or something like that.

But when you have a million peaches sitting around, you get desperate for something interesting to do with them. Let's face it, you can only eat so much peach jam before it gets to be no fun anymore.

Over at  Food in Jars, I heard about a book by Stephen Palmer Dowdney called Putting Up.  Though the Amazon reviews were mixed, I thought it was worth a look see at the library and I was glad to see they had it when I looked.

It's full of interesting recipes!  I looked for recipes for peaches and sure enough, he had a recipe for Peach Chutney that sounded very good and very doable.

I revised the recipe some to fit my needs.   He makes LARGE quantities and measures in pounds.   I wanted a few jars and I don't have a kitchen scale.    I used measuring cups.  Also, I needed to dial down the spicy heat.   Quite a bit.

It worked fine.  I can't wait to throw a jar of this in the slow cooker with a pork roast. [UPDATE:  We did throw a pint of this in the slow cooker with a pork roast and it was fabulous!  Brown the roast first.   Put it in the pot, pour the chutney over it.  Cook on low until it falls apart.]

Here's the recipe.

Peach Chutney

• 8 Cups peach pieces
• 2 T mustard seeds
• 1 tsp - T red pepper flakes
• 3 Cups sugar
• 1/2 Cup white wine vinegar [I used my own homemade white wine vinegar and it was fabu!]
• 1/4 Cup crystallized ginger, chopped up [That's a handful of ginger pieces, if you don't want to cram it into a cup measure.]
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 Cup raisins [I like golden raisins in this.]

Combine ingredients and cook down.   When the temp gets above 212 degrees, it's done.  Or you can skip the temp watching and cook it until enough liquid boils off that you can drag a spoon across the bottom of the pan and it leaves a dry place for a second before the juices flow again.   I cooked my first batch long because I got busy with something else and it cooked down a bunch.  I got three pints out of it.   I cooked my second batch shorter and watched the temp.   I stopped at 212 degrees, but it was much wetter than a chutney usually is.   I didn't care.   I canned it wet anyway.   I got just over three pints.

For more jam recipes as easy as these, check out my ebook on the sidebar.  A Simple Jar of Jam: 180+ recipes & variations for jam using low sugar pectin.  Every purchase goes a long way toward supporting the blog.   Thank you!

What's that plant?

This is a common plant around here.  The plant stands 18-24 inches high; the flowers are about 2.5 inches and are not quite so pale as they appear in the pics.  They're a nice medium purple.

They bloom profusely if there's been enough rain and this year we've had plenty, so there were a lot of them.    In the fall, the plant turns yellow and really shows up against the darker orange and tan grass of fall and winter. 

Hint:  The cultivated variety is an annual that is one of the most ubiquitous container plants in the midwest. 

Answer below the fold

Blueberry Crisp

Right in the middle of our peach projects [going on about 2 bushels now...] the blueberries got ripe.

I didn't know whether to cheer or cry.    That's a lot of fruit to deal with on top of the peaches.   

I sucked it up and went and picked berries.   They're only ripe once a year!  I believe in making hay while the sun shines.  

We go to Bray's You Pick near Owensburg, Indiana on Hwy 58, between Hwy 45 and Hwy 231.    It's 4 miles west of Hwy 45.  They're usually open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 7 to 7.   Call before you go, because the season and harvest are variable.

It was a glorious, glorious day.   Picking non-thorny berries while listening to the sun rise in Indiana at the end of June is like breathing music.  It's better than chocolate.  Of course, I'm a morning person, so I expect that there are a lot of you who might feel otherwise.    

Anyway.

We got 48 pounds [9 gallons] of blueberries.  Delish!  They're tart this year, so we're adding extra sugar to everything we make with them. 

Like this crisp, which K2 commissioned on the way home from Bray's.  

And which I made as soon as we got home.

Because I'm a good mom.   Sometimes.

K2 wanted it with No Crust.   I don't get that, but I wasn't going to argue.   Good crust is a pain.   It's worth it, but it's a pain.

Here's the recipe for her crustless blueberry crisp:

Blueberry Crisp

6 Cups blueberries
1 Cup flour
2 Cups sugar [Use 1 1/2 Cups or less if you have sweet berries]
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the dry stuff together and toss well with the berries in a greased deep casserole dish.  Make sure there aren't piles of the dry stuff at the bottom of the dish - they glue themselves to the dish.   If you've got piles that you can't get rid of, then put a tablespoon of water over all and stir it up again.   That should help get the dry stuff stuck to the berries and not the dish.

Topping:
1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon [Yes, more cinnamon.   It's necessary.]
1 Cup oats

Use a pastry blender to mix up everything but the oats.   My pastry blender doesn't like oats.   I add them last.   If you don't 'do' the pastry blender thing, then use a food processor and dump it all in.    It'll be faster, but not nearly as fun.

Pour the topping on top of the berries.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.    Serve warm with peach ice cream!

Sunflowers

We have a ginormous sunflower that volunteered in our melon bed.    It keeps watch over the melons and is better looking than a scarecrow. 

Pretty, huh!

Photos:  K2

Peach Vanilla Jam

This is what my table looked like when we brought the blue berries home.   And that isn't all of them.  Or all of the peaches, either.    This is just the last of the peaches. 

We kinda have a fruit glut.

I think we'll live, though. 

I'll probably have nightmares about peaches and blueberries and some sort of alien from Dr Who.  I heart Dr. Who.    I wonder if they've done peach and blueberry aliens on Dr. Who.   Maybe I should write and suggest it.

Or maybe I should just stick to jam.

OK. 

I'd read on Food in Jars about a strawberry vanilla jam recipe, but I don't have strawberries and I'm still on that what-new-exciting-thing-can-I-do-with-peach-jam kick.

And I thought that peach vanilla jam sounded kinda good.

Actually, it sounded really good.   Really, really good. 

Have I told you how much I love vanilla?   I'm sure I have.  I love vanilla.  Really love vanilla.

So I made some Peach Vanilla Jam:

Mashing the peaches and vanilla during cooking

1 Cup water
4 Cups peaches, cut up
3 Tablespoons Ball pectin [or 1 pkg]
2 vanilla beans
2 Cups sugar

Put the water and peaches and pectin in a heavy pot and start cooking. 

Cut the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a spoon.   [Just open up the bean, hold it over the pot, start anywhere and scrape, scrape, scrape.]  That's the stuff in the pic that looks like pepper.

It's not pepper, it's vanilla bean seeds.    They smell great.   My hands still smell good.   I heart vanilla.  

Cook and mash until you get the consistency you want.   When you're done mashing, stir frequently until you reach a hard boil.   Hold the hard boil for 1 minute. 

Add the sugar.   Stir until it reaches hard boil again.  Hard boil for 1 minute.

Ladle into jars. Makes two and a half pints.  Process for canning.   [Pints and jelly jars 10 minutes].

Notes:   Notice that in the pic, some of the jars are pink.    That's because I was kind of weirded out by the black specs in the yellow jam in the first couple of jars.   

Since I had an abundance, [an abundance! I tell you], of blueberries, I threw 8 blueberries into the jam at the last minute just for the color.   I didn't want blueberry flavor, just the color.

And I like that color!   A lot!   And it hides the black specs.    I'd do it again.

Raspberries would have worked, too.    Next time I might try them instead. [Update:  I tried blackberries, but they broke apart and didn't color as well.   Stick with blueberries.]

Summer

A few of K2s photos from last week.   She loves getting up close and personal.

Rhubarb Marmalade

In the middle of all the peach projects, I realized that I needed to use up our rhubarb while it was fresh. 

I heart rhurbarb. 

Mostly because I haven't killed any in Two Whole Years!

Yay me!

I made Rhubarb Marmalade with our rhubarb.   It was so good, that I made a second batch.

Rhubarb Marmalade

6 Cups rhubarb, chopped
6 Cups sugar
2 oranges
1/4 Cup crystallized ginger

Wash the oranges well and cut them in half.   Put the oranges and the ginger in the food processor and process the living haybales out of it.   [We say stuff like that in southern Indiana.   But not often.]

Put the rhubarb, orange juice/ginger goo, and sugar in a heavy pot and cook.   Stir often.   Let it get to a hard boil, then turn it down and simmer it for an hour.  

Ladle into clean, hot jars.   Process for canning.   [Pints and jelly jars 10 minutes.]

Notes:  

I like this recipe because it doesn't require any pectin.   If you like very thick marmalade, let it cook until it sheets off a cool spoon.   That will take more than an hour, especially if you've cut down the sugar...

and you can probably use less sugar, but I like my marmalade sweet.   Try a batch and see what you think. 

Want the recipe for this Marmalade and a whole lot of other terrific jam recipes?   Check out my ebook:  A Simple Jar of Jam  at www.rurification.etsy.com.   You can preview the book by clicking the link on the sidebar.  Every purchase helps support this site.  Thank you!

Winner - Handspun Yarn

A happy 4th of July to everyone! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the blog to look at the yarn.  

The winner of the handspun yarn, as selected by random.org is #5:

Kitten With a Whiplash said...

I think they're both lovely. Blue is my favorite color, but right now I'm drawn to autumn shades. There is some blue in the autumn yarn, so it's the best of both worlds. Thanks for the generous giveaway. 

You're welcome, Kitten!    Email me by July 11, 2011 to let me know which color you wanted and to give me your mailing address.    [robin at morenna dot com]

Peach Pie Filling in a Jar

Every year we put away peaches for pie filling.  Usually we put our pie filling in the freezer, but freezer space is always at a premium, so this year I made a few quarts of peach pie filling to bottle.  

It was easy.

And, it's pretty.

AND we can use it for pancake topping. 

AND it has nutmeg in it and nutmeg is my favorite spice.   I heart nutmeg.

AND the recipe is flexible and you can make a ton at a time, which you can't do with jelly or jam, [ask me how I know], as long as you know how to do math, which you should.

Ahem. 

This is how I did it.   

First I figured the proportions of stuff I needed for a basic single pie:   4 cups of peaches plus the other pie filling stuff.

Then I took my Giant Bowl of cut up peaches and I measured them.   I had 14 cups.

14 divided by 4 is 3 1/2.    I multiplied everything in the recipe by 3 1/2.

All of you experienced cooks are rolling your eyes.   I don't blame you.   To you this is second nature and we love you for it.    This explanation isn't for you.

Nope, this is for all you new cooks out there just figuring out what to do with your Giant Bowls of peaches that you now have because you were smart enough to take advantage of free food when you saw it.   Good for you!

Back to the regularly scheduled recipe....

Peach Pie Filling for 1 pie:

4 Cups cut up peaches
1 T lemon juice
Put this in a heavy saucepan.   Blue pans are the best.   Just sayin'.
 
Mix in a bowl:
1 Cup sugar
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 T cornstarch

Add the sugar mixture to the peaches and heat it until thick and clear.    Put in clean, hot jars and process.  [30 minutes for quarts.]


Now, since I had 3.5 times that many peaches, I multiplied everything by 3.5:

14 Cups peaches
3 1/2 T lemon juice

3 1/2 Cups sugar
7 T cornstarch
1/2 tsp nutmeg [because it was easier than 7/16 tsp.   Really.]

Follow the cooking directions as above.

Note:   You CAN NOT do this with jam and jelly and candy recipes.  Those have to be cooked one batch at a time.   Trust me.

You CAN do it with applesauce, fruit butters, soups and stuff like that.

UPDATE:   These will keep on the shelf beautifully for 6 months.  

I've seen books that say that you shouldn't can with corn starch because it separates on the shelf.    I watched these bottles pretty carefully to see if that happened, and when.   They were just fine - and very delicious - for 6 months.    I opened the last one at 8 months and it had started to separate some clear liquid out from a gelled mass.    It was still delicious.    I'm doing more next year.

Peach Maple Jam

We're still working on using up those peaches and of course, summer is when  rural mom's heart turns to ... jam.

But you knew that already, didn't you.

I love peach jam, but this year I wanted to do something a little different with it.    As I was looking around to see what might pair nicely with our peaches, I spied some of our home-made maple syrup.

He-LLO!   I think we have a winner!
Mmmmmmm!

I played around and tried a couple of different versions.  Eric and I had different opinions on the best version so I wrote them both up and you can pick the one you like better.   I like the light version, Eric likes the dark version.

Peach Maple Jam Light:   This has a subtle maple flavor.  The peaches are the star of this jam.

Peach Maple Jam Light on vanilla wafers with a blueberry. 

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups cut up peaches
• 1 T lemon juice
• 3 T Ball pectin [or 1 pkg]
• 1 Cup maple syrup
• 1/2 Cup sugar

Directions:

Puree the peaches.   Put the peach puree, lemon juice and pectin in your favorite jam pot and boil it.  Stir frequently.   After it reaches a hard boil [that you can't stir down, when stirring constantly], continue stirring for 1 minute.

Add maple syrup and sugar.   Stir well.   Return to hard boil.   Hard boil for 1 minute.

Ladle into clean, hot jars.   Process for canning.   [10 minutes for pints and jelly jars].

Peach Maple Jam Dark: The maple and the peaches share the spotlight in this jam.  This recipe really shows off good maple syrup.   The chunks of peach really show up against the dark glaze. 

Ingredients:

• 1/3 Cup water 
• 3 Cups cut up peaches
• 1 T lemon juice
• 3 T Ball pectin [or 1 pkg]
• 1/2 Cup maple syrup
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar

Directions:

Put the water, peaches, lemon juice and pectin in your favorite jam pot and boil it.  Stir frequently.   After it reaches a hard boil [that you can't stir down, when stirring constantly], continue stirring for 1 minute.

Add maple syrup and sugar.   Stir well.   Return to hard boil.   Hard boil for 1 minute.

Ladle into clean, hot jars.   Process for canning.   [10 minutes for pints and jelly jars].

Notes:
Remember, not all pectins are the same.   Follow the directions for your pectin.   If you need help converting the recipe, contact me.   robin at morenna dot com.   I'm happy to help out.

Peach Ice Cream

This year the peaches on my mom's tree were plentiful and early.   And it's a good thing because I love peaches.

First out of the gate on our race to do as many things as we can with fresh peaches is Peach Ice Cream.

Seriously delicious!

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups milk
• 2 1/2 Cups sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 eggs beaten
• 5 Cups heavy cream
• 3 Cups peaches cut up

Directions:

1. A day ahead:   Make a custard by heating milk in heavy saucepan until hot but not boiling.   Stir in sugar and salt.  Take out 1/4 of this mixture and stir it slowly into the beaten eggs to warm them up.   Return egg mixture into saucepan.   Stir constantly.   Cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.   Chill overnight.

2. To freeze:   Puree the peaches.   Add puree, custard and cream to ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions.  

Giveaway - Handspun Yarn!

I'm giving away this beautiful handspun yarn just for you!   

Most of the fibers were dyed by me and all of the spinning was done by me.

Yep. I made it myself.   Just for you!

I have two colors because I know that some of you like blue summer colors and some of you like autumn colors better.    The winner gets to choose which s/he wants. 

Bundle #1:  Misty Summer.   460 yards total.  
3 ply yarn [loosely plied] in silk and silk/angora.  Sport/DK weight.

Bundle #2:  Autumn.   404 yards total.  
3 ply yarn  in silk, alpaca and superwash wool.  DK weight.

The Rules:

Leave a comment on this blog post.  [Also, out of the goodness of your heart, I'd appreciate it if you'd follow the blog.  You don't have to follow to be eligible for the giveaway.]  If you want something to talk about in your comment, tell me what you're thinking of making with this yarn.

Giveaway ends Sunday, July 3, 2011, at midnight.  

I'll post the winner sometime on Monday so you can email me with your address and stuff.   Winner must contact me at [ robin at morenna dot com ] by July 11 to claim prize.   Don't forget to check back!

Lavender Wands

I need more magic in my life.   

Mostly I need a magic wand.    I want a magic wand that I can wave to rid our property of all of the blasted multiflora roses.  And the autumn olive.   And the poison ivy.   And that I can wave to mow the lawn.    And bush hog 10 or so acres of brambles.  And make my mudroom bigger on the inside, like the Weasley's tent.  And wind skeins.   And finish a dozen house and property projects that have been lingering for far too long around here. 

If I had a wand that would do all that, then I'd have more time to blog.   And weed.   And cook.   And bake.  And can.   And dye.  

It's not that I don't want to do my work.   It's that I have too much work to do.  

I need a wand! 

Sigh.

In the absence of the Magic type wands, I've made some Lavender type wands. 

And since I know you need a wand or two or ten, here's how:

What you need:

• Lavender with long stems in bundles of 9 or 11 or any odd number that you want.   I like 9.     I try to pick my lavender just when the first blooms on the plant begin to open and before the bees really find it.   You'll see good color on the buds and they'll smell fabulous. 

• Ribbon.   I like using 1/4" satin, but I've seen some folks use the 1/8".   I like the 1/4" because it weaves around very quickly.
• Scissors

Here's the step by step:
1.  Cut your lavender with as long a stem as possible.   My favorite lavender plant for this is Impress Purple.   Super long stems!  Clean off the leaves and little bitty flowers on the lower stem if necessary.

2.  Cut about a yard of 1/4" ribbon [It might take 1.5 yds of the 1/8" since you have to wind it around a lot more.]

3.  Tie the stems in a bundle just under the flower heads.   Leave a tail of about 8 inches or so on one side.   The other side will be a lot longer.   Pull tight and tie a square knot.

4.  Turn the whole thing upside down and bend the stems down over the ribbon tie - all around the flower head.   You're making a stem cage around the flowers.

5.  Leave the short side of the ribbon in the center with the flower heads.  You'll need it later to tie off with.  

6. With the long ribbon, start weaving over and under the stems all around the flower heads.  Push the ribbon up snug around the heads next to the previous rows of ribbon.   Once in a while, a little flower will try to pop out.   Loosen the ribbon if you need to so you can tuck and keep the buds inside. Then pull the ribbon snug around the head and continue around.

Work all the way around and down the flower head bundle until you cover the last flower.

7.   When you have covered the last flower, do one more row around, then pull the short ribbon out of the center and wind the ends around and them tightly around the stems.  

Voila!   

Let air dry in a place with good air circulation. 







 What can you do with these?

• Drop one in a drawer to use for a sachet.   
• Put several in a vase.  
• Leave a long loop in your last tie and loop it over a hanger in your closet.  
• Tuck them in with your sheets.   
• Wave the wand three times clockwise and it will clean your house for you.

OK.   I'm really not too sure about that last one.

Brownie Cake with Raspberry Filling

K2 has been baking!  [I love it when she bakes!]

This week's delight is very simple:   Brownie Cake with Raspberry Filling.  This is what you need:

2 Cups sugar
1 Cup butter
2 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
1 1/3 Cups flour
1 Cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1 Cup [or so] Raspberry Jam for filling

Directions:
Mix all cake ingredients together [Not the jam!].   Pour into 2 greased, round cake pans.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Don't let it over-bake. 

Let cool completely.    Place one round  upside down [flat side up] on cake plate, cover with raspberry jam.  Stack other round on top, right side up [flat side down] and frost with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
1 Cup butter - softened
1 tsp vanilla
4 Cups powdered sugar
3/4 Cup cocoa powder
4 Tbs milk - add 2 T at a time.

Mix until well blended.   Spread on cooled cake.

For those neato chocolate shavings on top:  Freeze your favorite chocolate bar.  Make chocolate shavings by using a vegetable peeler to grate the edge of the bar.  

Trixie has the Blues

K2 loves her ducks.  A lot.

So it was very upsetting to discover that Trixie had suffered a fly strike.    We think it was a combination of grooming herself for her nest and being a drake magnet.   The boys won't leave her alone.   And it's been damp.   And she's been setting.   And she hid her nest under a daylily, next to some siberian iris in the lower flower terrace.   It's cozy there, but not much air circulation.   The flies found her. 

I won't describe what K2 found.    Eew.   It took an extremely strong stomach and a lot of courage for a 12 year old to gather Trixie up and bring her to me.

Trixie had a large active area on her lower back and a smaller area under one wing.  We washed her and washed her and washed her.   Then K2 did some internet research.

Can I just say right here that I heart the internet?  

I heart the internet.    Seriously.

K2 did the preliminary investigation and then I followed up with the technical stuff.  There are wonderful posts out there about these kinds of problems.   Backyard Chickens forum is a fount of excellent information.  

After some reading, we decided to spray her with ProZap to kill the rest of the flies.  We did that for a couple of days, then we sprayed her down with Blu-Kote as an added antiseptic to help her heal.   We've kept her penned up, away from the others and out of the water so that she'll stay dry and so the boys won't bother her.    [They've been hanging out right next to her pen.]

I find it professionally ironic that both of these medications dyed her blue.   She's gorgeous!   The light blue is the ProZap, the darker is the Blu-Kote.   Yes, her beak is blue.  Both medications are safe. 

I almost wish we could keep her this color.

Seriously.

Mohair and Ribbon Triangle Shawl

I've been playing a lot with simple pattern ideas for ribbon yarns.   I especially like ribbons combined with yarns of other textures - like mohair - so I knitted up a very quick triangle shawl to show both yarns off.

This is all you need:

Needles:  11 or larger [The bigger the needles, the bigger the shawl]

Yarn: 

• 1 skein Mohair/Rayon Duo, 150 yds.  $25. Color: orange/tex-mex.   www.robinjedmundson.com 
• 1 skein Frost, nylon ribbon, 200 yds. $12.  www.robinjedmundson.com 

The pattern is simple:

Cast on 3 with both yarns held together. 
Row 1:  Knit across with both yarns, increasing 1 stitch at the beginning and the end of the row. 
Row 2: Knit.
Row 3-4: With ribbon yarn only, repeat rows 1-2. 
Rows 5-6:  With mohair/ rayon yarn only, repeat rows 1-2. 

Continue on until you are almost out of yarn.  Bind off very loosely.  Cut and weave in ends.

Road Trip - Michigan: Wetland

Every morning, a very large bunch of turtles slides up on the shore of the neighbor's sea wall to sun.   They stay there all day unless there's a lot of boat traffic back and forth along the channel.

The only thing I love as much as birds is plants.    And I especially love wetland plants.   It's a texture thing.

Lilies in a garden pond

Lilies in the lake

Path along the lakeshore

Lakeside pool

Lake house side yard

Cattails in high water pool

I could look at these all day long.   Some day, I'm going to have a lake house and take long walks every day and sit and paint what I see and I"ll fill my walls with the paintings and be happy just looking at them.

Road Trip - Michigan: Water birds

I love birds.  

Ducks in a row

I love water.    

Swans on the lake

I had a field day with the camera on vacation.     

Mirror, mirror...

Especially with the swans.

Oh, yeah.

Lucky shot

This is my favorite one.