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Dill Pickle Relish Recipe: Instead of Paying My Bills, I Spent All Afternoon Chopping Cucumbers

Last summer I made the recipe for dill relish from the Ball Book.  It was pretty delicious.  The original recipe calls to shred the cucumbers with a food processor, though, and I ended up acting like a four year old about it all winter.  (like this: RELISH IS SUPPOSED TO BE LITTLE TINY CUBES OF CUCUMBER….

Pickled Red Onions Quattro Stagioni Jars

Pickled Red Onions & Quattro Stagioni Jars So, I’ve never bothered doing any giveaways with free stuff or contests or any of that.  I like keeping this page more like a journal that I can use to remember good recipes and gardening ideas, and I don’t feel like spending a bunch of time trying to turn it…

Before You Get Your Baby Chicks You Should Read This

During this past week, I’ve been chatting with several people who are interested in raising chickens.  It’s that time of year – fruit trees are blooming, the weather has been beautiful, and if you dare to walk into a feed store, you’re sure to be tempted by the sweet chirp of baby chicks.   The…

Rhubarb is Basically the Best Thing Ever

This jelly was a small-batch experiment, and it came out great.  If you are a pie person, you must make this.  It tastes like, well, it tastes like the gooey stuff in rhubarb pie that’s not the fruit part or the crust- the stuff in between the strawberries and the rhubarb.  It’s tangy and sweet, with a…

Kimchi And A Lot Of Hard Work

The farm has been a whirlwind of activity for the last few weeks. Late May through early June is always characterized by the frantic rush to transition everything from winter to summer. We’ve finally done it, though. Weeds have been wacked. Compost has been hauled from here to there.  Garden beds have been tilled and…

I Cant Stop Fermenting Vegetables Part 1

Raw Sea Kraut MAY 26, 2011 ~ CAROLINE I have been harvesting the last of the winter greens over the last few weeks. It’s summer now, and I need to plant tomatoes and corn, not cabbage. Plus the greens were all starting to bolt, so it was time.  At first I thought I would can some sauerkraut,…

Brandied Cranberry Pear Preserves

Cranberries are one of the things that make me buy non-local fruit.  I just can’t not do it. I love them.  I want to put them in everything I make.   The pears are local! They’re from my friend’s farm in Potter Valley! I drove all the way over there by myself way out into the boonies out…

Vanilla Peach Jam

Have you ever been in that awkward social situation where you’ve bragged to some random person that you know how to sew your own dresses, you make a pot of coq au vin that tastes better than Julia’s, you have a whole garden of award winning rose bushes, and that you make the best jar of peach…

May Charcutepalooza Grinding Honey Biscuits and for Real Homemade Sausage Gravy

My Charcutepalooza project is late. I don’t really care, though, because I was just eating biscuits and sausage gravy, and that’s all that really matters in life. This month’s challenge was a saga, which seems to be the story of the Charcutepalooza in general. I have doubts…  I think I lack the intense love of meat that…

Pomelo Marmalade With Rosewater and Cardamom

Welcome to my shiny new blog! I hope that you keep reading and maybe try out a few of the recipes and projects that will be appearing here. Check back often- 2011 should be a pretty action-packed year. Anyway, enough with the introductions, time to make some marmalade! So, Reader, since we’re just getting to know…