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Marlborough Pie

Marlborough Pie OCTOBER 31, 2011 ~ CAROLINE I’m still laid up with a busted ankle today.  Hopefully this is the last day of this, but I’m still going stir-crazy in a motel room in town.  I’m going to try heading back to the farm tomorrow, but I’m not totally sure how it’s going to work.  I grudgingly…

Charcutepalooza Lamb Sausages With Garlic Scapes And Mint

This month’s Charcutepalooza challenge was to make sausages in casings. I give you: Lamb Sausages Seasoned with Garlic Scapes, Mint and Lemon acommpanied by a salad of Baby Greens, Roasted Plums and Chevre I still can’t really believe that I made real sausages completely from scratch.  It was a battle.  I manifested something terrible by watching the Texas Chainsaw…

How To Cure Your Own Olives (Because Homemade Pizza Is Better With Homemade Olives)

Months ago, when I was shopping for blood oranges and oysters at the Allemany Farmers Market, I ran into these beauties: Fresh olives! I couldn’t believe it, and grabbed a huge bag of them.  Olives are so delicious, and the thought of curing my own was majorly exciting.  Of course, I had literally no experience…

Honey Sweetened Blueberry Butter

I’ve been trying to write some recipes that don’t use refined sugar.  I really don’t like the taste or how it makes me feel after I eat it….  and it seems like there are a lot of other people out there that are on the same page as me.  I don’t like looking at my…

Failed Quince Jelly Into Orange Marmalade With Quince And Star Anise

When I first started making jam, I would get the occasional customer that would ask if I used added pectin.   At that point, every single batch I’d ever made used commercial pectin, and I had no clue why anyone wouldn’t want to use it. Instead of taking 45 minutes to cook a batch of…

Mother’s Day Watermelon Pickles

The ladies in my family are all preservationists.  My mom never once bought jam when we were growing up- she always had a sweet little pantry in the basement with sour cherry, blueberry and raspberry jam, icicle and bread and butter pickles, and canned apricots in syrup.  When I moved to California, before I started…

Canned Pears In Maple Syrup

I was going to make jam to sell at the farmers market with these pears.  Local bartlett pears are one of my absolute favorite fruits to work with — they’re just so juicy.   So sweet.  I love them.  I started eating a few fresh and then said screw it, I’ve gotta stash away a bunch…

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

Last summer I made the recipe 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.  THE…

Pickled Red Onions Quattro Stagioni Jars

Pickled Red Onions & Quattro Stagioni Jars JULY 10, 2014 ~ CAROLINE 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…

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 day…