Dandelion Jelly: We're Back And It's Spring!

First of all, let me apologize for my long absence. Two weeks of it are readily attributable to moving and not having internet access, but the rest is just plain life.

It's great to be back home. There are still boxes acting like decoration in several rooms, but enough has been settled back into its place to make it feel like home again and everyone is functioning well. The emotional transition took all of about 3 days, I think. We've traded the frustration of traffic for the frustration of slow drivers, but I'll take it any day. We've had very nice weather for the most part, and the hammock has been up occasionally. The lawn has had its first haircut, we had a wet, heavy snowstorm (yes, in that order), the early seeds are in (peas, beets, lettuce) even though it's a bit late. They yard needs all kinds of work, but I'm up to the task.

Yesterday, my two young sons picked an insane amount of dandelions in our meadow and piled them in my lap. What's a mom to do? Make jelly, of course! I knew dandelion leaves were edible, so it makes sense that the petals are too. I'd bet you could also substitute violets, since I know they also come from an edible family. I make a very pretty rose petal jam annually which we learned to love in Turkey. I've tried rose hip marmalade, but it was horribly labor-intensive and the recipe wasn't that good. This, too, requires patience or maybe a small party of friends/children to help. But this jelly is actually worth it! It has a delicate, light flavor reminiscent of lemon honey. Makes roughly 4 (6oz) jelly jars. Easily doubled, if you have that kind of time....

Maren's Dandelion Jelly

2 cups yellow parts of dandelion blossoms (no green at all), plus about 3 blossoms' worth for garnish

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

fine zest from 1/2 lemon

1/2 package powdered pectin (about 2 1/4 Tablespoons)

small amount of yellow food coloring, optional

Gather a basket full of the biggest dandelions you can find. Pull the yellow from the green (easier said than done, but you don't want any bitter greens at all). You can process them in batches, freezing what you have till you have enough.

Place half the blossoms in the boiling water. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Strain, then repeat with the other half. Strain very well. If the water no longer measures 1 1/2 cups, add water to make up the amount. To the water, add lemon juice, sugar, pectin, zest and garnish blossom petals. Bring to a rolling boil and stir till sugar is dissolved, then boil hard for 1 minute. Pour into hot jars and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Adapted from a recipe by Mary Fillmore on Recipe Gal website. Recommended listening while working: copenhagencast.com. The Danish you'll learn is just a bonus.

A Little Foodie Quiz- Now With Answers!

I was cleaning out the food storage shelves and a little bottle caught my eye. "Hmmm," thought I as I read the label, "I didn't know that."

So tell me, if you can (without looking in your kitchen or online), what the ingredients are in a bottle of Worcestershire Sauce. Partial answers accepted and bonus points given for the correct pronunciation of said sauce. 

OK, I know you've all been on the edge of your seats waiting for the answer... anyway, here it is. My bottle of Worcestershire sauce lists the following ingredients: distilled vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, salt, caramel color, garlic powder, sugar, spices, anchovies, tamarind, natural flavor. And, yes, whole anchovies are used, all of which disintegrate into the sauce during its 2 year fermentation due to the vinegar content. 

However, the original brand of Worcestershire sauce, Lea and Perrins, lists theirs like this: vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, anchovies, water, onions, salt, garlic, tamarind concentrate, cloves, natural flavorings, chili pepper extract. (The version sold in Britain uses malt vinegar.)

And other brands can include a wide variety of other things such as: lemon oil, soy, coriander, walnuts, brandy, mushrooms, mace, sherry, etc. Author Jason Earls describes some of the surprises he found when he got curious about Worcestershire sauce. "...The overall salient ingredient is something called 'asafetida,' also known as "devil's dung." (You can see why most labels do not list this name, which comes from the spice's foul aroma - when stored in a container, asafetida must be air tight so people don't get nauseous from inhaling it.)

Asafetida is a bitter spice slightly similar to garlic that comes from a tall plant shaped similar to a carrot. Only a tiny amount of asafetida is used in Worcestershire sauce because of its extremely bitter taste, which lessens with the cooking process. Asafetida is also thought to aid digestion, reduce flatulence, and help with cases of bronchitis and asthma. Strangely enough, wolves like the smell of asafetida; and fisherman also use it to attract pike and catfish. 

But anchovies and asafetida are not the only unusual ingredients in Worcestershire sauce. Guess what else it has? Meat. That's correct. William Poundstone says in his book, Big Secrets, that either beef extract or actual pork liver is commonly added to most brands of Worcestershire sauce. And many of the major manufacturers do not admit this on their labels, although some of the lower brands will. For some reason, the big Worcestershire companies aren't too proud of adding beef or liver to their sauces."

There you have it- and I still think it's a good condiment. Oh, and the bonus answer: WOOS'-ter-shîr, or thereabouts.

Sharing the Love

We have an advent calendar of holiday activities and each day the girls put a tiny ornament on the Christmas tree wall hanging and read a little slip of paper which gives us the day's activity. Some days it says "read a Christmas story book", sometimes it's "sing a Christmas song together". Once it says "visit the gingerbread house exhibit" and we go to the Vermont Folklife Museum. Once it says "Branch Activity" and we all go up to the church for great food, music and company.

Today it said "treat plates". Since it was about 12ºF outside, I left the napping boys at home with Dad and took the geared-up girls around the neighborhood. I carried the plates in a box and we went to most of our immediate neighbors' doors. As I've mentioned before I'm sure, Halloween is tolerable mainly because we get to go to all the houses around and say hello. But Halloween is just about as different from Christmas as any holiday can be aside from this one thing: I get to go around again. It's one of my very favorite parts of Christmas.

Making the treats is fun for me. I like a culinary challenge, so I rarely repeat my holiday offerings two years in a row (except for fudge). Taking the plates around to ten or so neighbors is more fun. There are a few neighbors who invite us inside the door to chat. This time with them is special because it's an education in local culture for the girls and bonding time for neighbors with whom we rarely have full conversations. I notice the little things, like religious sayings near the doorway, holiday decorations and the brightness of people's eyes. Some neighbors stand at the door and smile, accepting the goodies quietly and gracefully. Some aren't home, but will find the offerings as they return later.

Those who receive gifts which are freely given gain not just the gift, but joy as well. This is a concept we discussed last week in the LDS Religious Institute class I teach. We referenced the scripture found in the Doctrine and Covenants section 88:33 which reads: "For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift." This is in reference to the gift of the Atonement and exaltation, but I found that it worked in a small way today as well. Anyone who happily receives a plate of cookies is better off in two ways.

But the receivers of gifts are not the only ones who come away with more. The givers also receive. We spent much of the mid-day high on the giddy feeling which comes from making other people happy without any expectation of reciprocation. In his recent talk on happiness President Uchtdorf mentioned the words of James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan: “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” It's true. Despite the cold and falling snow, our day today was sunny and bright with the essential gift of Christmas: love.

The Sweetest Thing

Tonight I finished the last batch of Christmas cookies. Well, technically they won't be out of the oven until morning, but my part is over. Whew!

Here's what will go on the neighborhood goodie plates this year:

Chocolate Fudge- my best yet
Vanilla Caramels- these may become a tradition, they are so good
Butter mints- yum
Rice Crispy treats- for variety
Chocolate Chunk Pecan bars- like my Thanksgiving pie, but smaller pieces
Orange Spice Peanut Butter cookies- a new favorite
Death By Chocolate cookies- with walnuts, mmmm
Forgotten Kisses- meringues (with coconut and chocolate chips) that "bake" overnight

Sound good? There are some houses for sale on my street!

Pictures to follow when I plate them up tomorrow.

Christmas cookies

Well, the seasonal baking bug finally hit me today, and I am making Coconut Toffee Bars. My sister, however, has been making Christmas cookies for weeks now, and you can visit her blog to sample the daily goodies. Yum!

Salad of the Week

Many years ago, we enjoyed a memorable dinner with our friends the Ellsworths of Palo Alto, California. She was a magnificent cook and the dinner was fresh and simple. The salad, as I recall, was topped with walnuts and grapefruit. I was wary, but my courage was rewarded; it was delicious.

My favorite salad this week is:
romaine lettuce
cucumbers
grapefruit sections
candied pecans
(toast pecan halves and anise seeds over medium heat, add maple syrup and sugar, cook for about 6 minutes, cool)

Enjoy.

In Maren's Kitchen: Steak Salad

Salad base: romaine and baby spinach, bell pepper strips, cucumber strips, kidney beans.

Top with: Dave's Fresh Peach Salsa, steak strips, toasted whole wheat pita strips, Marie's Blue Cheese Vinaigrette.

Sides: green beans, Mexican corn and black beans.

Having My Cake and Eating It, Too

I'm looking for creative ways to cut empty calories, sugar and other simple carbohydrates, and saturated or hydrogenated fat from my regular diet. There are myriad ways to accomplish this, it's just a matter of finding some that work for me.

Here's something I'm trying today: Pillsbury's reduced sugar lemon cake and frosting (made with Splenda as well as sugar). I restrained myself from extemporaneously adding uncalled-for ingredients to the batter (a la Anne Bryn). Well, okay, I added some lemon zest. I know what you're saying: boxed cake mix and canned frosting are neither low in calories, free of saturated or hydrogenated fat, nor healthy in any sense of the word or by any stretch of the imagination! Yes, I know. But I'm a devoted fan of desserts. They are, by my definition anyway, not healthy but very, very yummy. Maybe, just maybe, if I constrain myself to these pretend cakes and frostings, I might come to give up on cakes altogether someday. Well, probably not. I would just go back to making the real thing.

After eating the concoction, I can now report. The cake itself is fine. It resembles its full-sugar boxed sister in almost every way. It would be very nice with a dusting of powdered sugar.







The frosting, on the other hand, is disgusting. Now, I'm only authorized to report on the lemon flavored frosting. Who knows what the chocolate one tastes like. But this one vaguely looked and tasted like soft, melted salt-water taffy: a bit too glossy, tacky, and artificially flavored. Again, I know, you're wondering what exactly I was expecting, but that's how I would describe it. Store-bought frosting is not something I normally use, but in this case I was very curious. There, I've done it for you so you can now avoid it.

Summary: it's okay to use the reduced sugar cake mixes if you're into that kind of thing. Don't bother with the lemon frosting- use powdered sugar instead. Happy baking!

Maren's Test Kitchen

Last night I made a rather delicious dinner. In fact, it was touted as "the best dinner I've ever had!" by at least one diner. Every once in a while we all make these kinds of meals when we stop and say to ourselves, "I wonder why I don't have my own cooking show?" Good question. On the other nights, though, it's the same old tired and boring fare. Funny how the genius comes and goes. (Maybe that's why I'm not a celebrity chef.)

Dinner consisted of the following: mini bagels brushed with olive oil and topped with feta, spinach, ham, and rosemary, then broiled. We also had fresh farm stand tomatoes sliced topped with fresh basil and sliced mozzarella cheese, also broiled. Then there was sweet corn on the cob, and chocolate-banana-peanut butter shakes (made with Ovaltine, 2 bananas, a generous spoonful of PB, light ice cream, skim milk, and ice). Totally yummy!

So, what's for dinner over at your place? Made any super meals lately?

Strawberry Season

And when we got home, there were strawberries coming out of our ears, so to speak. We lost some to the rain, but there was still a decent harvest for eating.




Peas are on, red currants are nearly there, we tasted the first ripe raspberries today, and the blueberries will be awesome, barring a bird invasion. Roses are in full glory, too. I have a bouquet on my kitchen island made up of Sweet William, maroon Scabiosa, pink Astilbe, and little Coral Bells. The fruits and flowers of summer are what make this season worth it to me. Otherwise, I think I would wallow in misery, complaining of the heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and rain storm after rain storm. I wasn't made for summer weather. But I do enjoy the good things it brings.

The Preserving Begins

I always expect peas to ripen earlier than they really do. Shouldn't I be gathering fresh peas by now? Surely they are late this year.... I can never really remember, which is one reason I am writing this post- so I can get it straight next year.

The early strawberries are on, though. Hooray! I LOVE fresh, warm, sun-ripened homegrown strawberries. There is nothing like that taste! The bunnies and chipmunks left them alone this year- in favor of every leaf of my green bean seedlings. I have hoarded the first three pickings which produced enough for one batch of my favorite freezer jam. The remainder are for eating fresh, but the jam gets made first. My Mom calls raspberry freezer jam "the nectar of the gods", but I have to say the strawberry version is slightly better in my opinion. Slightly. Most went into the freezer, but one jar is in the fridge now.

Now, feeling like Frederick, I patiently wait for the cold, nippy mornings when I get to slather a thick piece of toast with that shockingly red, sweeter-than-anything summer berry spread.

Oh My Darling

It's that time of year again. The time of year when my left thumbnail is constantly yellow. The time of year when scurvy is not a big threat, nor do I worry much about the fiber intake of our family.

It's clementine season.

They appeared first at Shaw's a few weeks ago, then I picked up a supreme box of tiny ones at Trader Joe's down in Massachusetts, and now they are in the introductory display case at Hannaford's grocery store. My excuse for making sure we are constantly stocked is that my 4 year old has just learned how to peel them by herself and will eat them with an eagerness she usually reserves for packaged candy. However, I have to admit that I can peel and eat several without really noticing how many I've eaten. They are a little bit like winter candy here in Vermont. (In fact, I know a local professor who taught a film class last year and brought in unlimited soda, candy and popcorn for his class. About halfway through the term, he started supplementing that with water and clementines, and they disappeared faster than the junk food.)

Clementines are not quite as exquisite as the variety of mandarin orange called satsuma (which is actually the mikan from Japan). Now there's a citrus fruit that could easily develop a cult following. We used to be able to get them during the "winter" in Palo Alto, and they were divine. They are so delicate, though, that they don't hold up well during shipping and thus are not widely available throughout the US. Clementines are a pretty good substitute, especially if the bees don't cross-pollenate them with something else. That's what gives you clementines with seeds: very annoying.

Eating a clementine is a multi-sensory experience. First, before any peeling begins, there's the color. Someone figured out that putting bright little oranges in a cobalt blue box is very eye-catching. And they were right. As I reach for one of these dazzling diminutive fruits, my mind goes wandering through imaginary orchards in Valencia, Spain, and fruit markets in Agadir, near the Souss Valley in Morocco. There's a subliminal connection to a warmer place where people are relaxed. I haven't even peeled the thing yet and already it's a positive encounter.

Next comes the peeling, which is so easy that a small child can do it. Not only is it effortless, but each rip of the pith releases a marvelous air-freshener of citrus oil. Ahhh, that smell! Now I have a small spiral of peel, and it's time to decide whether to separate the segments or just pull it into halves and go for the big juicy bites. That depends on whether this is my first clementine at this sitting, as well as my mood at the time. The first clementine, if I'm quite desperate for fruit, usually goes in a half at a time. This produces an overwhelming burst of delicious brightness, and is enough to satisfy my mouth until I can peel the next one. From then on, I usually segment them to make it all last longer.

As I said, this is an activity that can go on and on, slowing only when I take a look in the box and notice the pile diminishing. Clementines run between $5-7 per 5 pound box and, while this is not excessively expensive for fruit generally, it can add up if you go through too many boxes a month. I may cringe when I place the box in the shopping cart, but I know I won't regret it. The mini Mediterranean vacation and the 50 calorie sugar high and the sweet-smelling kitchen, not to mention the smiles on the faces of my little darlings, is always worth a box of clementines.

Promises, Promises

Instead of cleaning up the mess my kids made today and washing the dishes, I am going to sit down here with a cup of Turkish Sour Cherry juice (thanks, Kari!) and fulfill a few old promises. Emma wanted the recipe for lemon scones, and I did promise to post that b'stila recipe, too. Buyurun. (Here you are.)

Buttermilk Scones- recipe given to me by my sister Tona in 1999. Original source unknown to me. One of my favorite recipes.

2 c flour
1/4 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp orange or lemon zest
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c butter
1 beaten egg
1/2 c buttermilk (or scant 1/2 milk with 1 tsp lemon juice in it)
optional: 1/4 c raisins, dried currants, or cranberries

2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp buttermilk or milk

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, zest, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles course crumbs. Make a well in center and set aside. In another bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, and raisins. Add egg mixture all at once into the well. Using a fork, stir until just moistened.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Lightly knead 10-12 strokes. Pat out into a 7-inch circle. Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 wedges. Place them 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush the scones with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400º for 12 minutes until golden. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 12 scones.

Lemon version: (similiar to the kind purchased at a favorite bakery in Boston) Don't brush with milk and sugar. Instead, drizzle with a lemon juice/powdered sugar glaze while still warm.
---------------

B'stila B'djej (chicken ba-STEE-ya) by Kitty Morse. I think everyone should have the privilege of tasting this unique dish.

Filling:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
6 chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
3 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
8 threads saffron, toasted and crushed
1 cup water
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Almond mixture:
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

12 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
Cinnamon and powdered sugar for garnish

Ok. There's the ingredient list. Still want to make it? I'll outline the directions. Seriously, one could spend most of the day on this dish (especially if I'm blanching the almonds myself, etc.), but it is SO, SO, SO good.

Cook the first 11 ingredients together till done. Lift out chicken. Add eggs, salt, pepper, and sugar to the pan and cook till scrambled. Shred chicken and return to pan. (This can all be done ahead and refrigerated if needed.)

Grind the almonds (or use Trader Joe's almond meal) and mix with cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

Build the b'stila by layering 12" round phyllo sheets (3 at a time with butter in between each one) in this manner: phyllo, almond mix, phyllo, chicken mix, phyllo, almond, phyllo. Tuck all phyllo edges under the bottom. Bake on a buttered pizza pan for 25 minutes. Garnish with patterns of powdered sugar and cinnamon.

I find that I always have enough chicken mix left over to make another one, so I double the almond mix and the phyllo- or half the chicken mix. You can make this and freeze it (tightly wrapped) for 2 months. Just bake it an extra 10 minutes if it's frozen.

Enjoy!

Hoot

I love fish. And I love Moroccan food. I have a favorite way to prepare fish, and it appears to be common to several Middle Eastern/Mediterranean countries. I first tried the recipe while in college. It was in my cookbook called "Sundays at the Moosewood Restaurant" in the section on Armenia and the Middle East and they called it "Baked Fish Nicosia". (Nicosia is the capital of Cyprus.) The next time I ran into this dish was at the restaurant of a fabulous old stone hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem. The fish was perfect. My most recent encounter with this taste was Saturday night. I made a recipe out of Kitty Morse's Moroccan cookbook "Cooking at the Kasbah" called "Tagine bil Hoot" (tagine with fish). I've made it before and marked it as a favorite, but this last time I was struck by how similar it is to Baked Fish Nicosia. It's all fabulous, and I highly recommend these two recipes for the seafood lover in you. The tastes are bold and memorable.

*Note: any firm-fleshed white fish can be used, like mahimahi, red snapper, sea bass, orange roughy, hake, pollock, haddock, or cod.

Baked Fish Nicosia

Fish:
2 lbs firm white fish fillets
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
juice of 2 lemons (1/4 cup)
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges or slices
Topping:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
salt to taste
3 cups cubed whole wheat bread
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet, add garlic and let it sizzle for a minute. Add cayenne, coriander, cumin, and salt. Stir for a minute more, but do not let it burn. Add bread crumbs and stir so they are blended with the spices and coated with oil. Toast until golden, then add basil, toss for a minute and remove from heat. (Yes, you just made croutons.)

Heat oven to 350º. Rinse fish and pat dry. Place, skin down, in an oiled 9x13 baking dish. Spread chopped tomatoes over fish, sprinkle with garlic, parsley, and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper, then cover with the prepared bread crumb topping. Bake, uncovered for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Garnish with lemon wedges or slices. Serves 6.



Tagine bil Hoot

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 Tbs minced fresh cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
8 threads of saffron (she calls for them to be toasted and crushed, but I skip that step)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 lemon
1 1/2 lbs white fish fillets, cut into 4-5 pieces
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coasely chopped (I use a can of diced tomatoes)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs preserved lemon pulp (optional if you don't know where to find it or how to make it)
12 green or black olives, pitted (I consider this optional, since I don't like olives)
fresh parsley or cilantro for garnish

In a large bowl, mix the first six ingredients. Add the juice of half the lemon. Slice the other half and set aside. Coat the fish with this mixture and let marinade for an hour or two, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a little saucepan, combine the tomatoes, garlic and cumin. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to thicken a little- 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Place the carrots in a single layer on the bottom of a Dutch oven, enameled casserole, or tagine. Cover with onion slices. Spoon the tomato sauce over the onions. Cover and cook till carrots are tender, 15-20 minutes. Set fish on top of the vegetables. Spread a little preserved lemon pulp over each fish piece and cover with a lemon slice. Add the fish marinade. Surround the fish with olives (if using). Cover the pan again and cook over medium heat until the fish is flaky- 10 to 12 minutes. Spoon some of the sauce over the fish and garnish with parsley or cilantro. Serve with a crusty artisian bread. Serves 4-5. By the way, this recipe is pictured on the cover of the cookbook.

Grandma's recipes

I'm on vacation this week, visiting my parents in Virginia. Yesterday, my Mom handed me a purple folder which contained a somewhat random sample of pages copied from my Grandmother's recipe binder. Most include notations Grandma Cummings made about substitutions or advice or the recipe's source. These are wonderful, and vividly congure up my Grandma and her unique cooking style.

Included are: the original Tillamook casserole recipe, her mother's breakfast cake, Scottish trifle, Lemon Angel & Peach Chiffon pies, salmon loaf, lefsa, etc., etc. Many of these were from Grandma's Mother or Mother-in-law or Grandmother. It made me wonder which recipes my children will think are important to copy out of my binder and pass on.

What about you? Pot roast? Kung Pao Chicken? Mustard ring? Rivel soup? Cinnamon rolls? Pie? List a few of the most memorable dishes your Mother/Grandmother/Great-Grandmother/Mother-in-law or Father/Grandfather makes or made.
You don't have to give the recipe for them- just a list of faves (or not-so-faves) and who made it.

Rose Petal Jam Revisited

Early summer is when my rugosa roses are at their finest. The tall bushes are covered with magenta blooms that have a great classic rosy smell- it's heavenly! Last year, I tried a recipe for Turkish rose petal jam, as you may recall. It was fun, but the jam itself was rather syrupy. This year, I tried a new recipe, and it's great! Here it is:

Rose Petal Jam
1-3 cups (depending on how bright and fragrant you want the jam) fresh rose petals from bushes that have NOT been sprayed with chemicals
3/4 cup water
juice from 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
2 1/2 cups sugar

1 package powdered pectin (like Sure Jell)
3/4 cup water

Put the first 4 ingredients in the blender and blend really well. Pour into a pan and boil till sugar is dissolved. In a separate bowl, mix pectin and remaining water, then add to boiling pot. Boil hard 1 minute, pour into prepared jars and seal in a water bath like regular jelly. Makes about 3 to 3.5 cups of jam.

It's an acquired taste, but we like it on anything toasted: bread, english muffins, warm lemon scones....

I left my heart in Pizza A Go Go

I'm a big fan of pizza. It's so simple, efficient, doesn't require utensils, not to mention it's delicious! You can get most of the food groups represented without much effort, and it lends itself to creativity.

Pizza was just pizza, though, until I tried the BBQ chicken selection at Pizza A Go Go in Palo Alto, California, 8 or 9 years ago. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it seriously changed my whole outlook on pizza. Mmmmm! It's simply this: bbq sauce, chicken, red onions, and cilantro. See? Simple. Delicious.

At the time, I worked at a multi-function lab called PhotoTime. It was a great place to work and I had good friends there. When I left for Boston in 1999, they gave me a pizza send-off complete with my favorite, plus a gift for my expected baby- a little yellow Pizza A Go Go onesie. I'm sure it's a collector's item by now.

We moved back to Palo Alto in 2000 and left in 2001, only to move back again in 2002. (Long story.) By this time, Pizza A Go Go had merged with (and was now called) Pizza My Heart out of Capitola/Santa Cruz. We tried the new place, but it wasn't quite the same. It had grown up a bit and lost some of its geekyness. The pizza was still pretty good, and they still made the BBQ chicken, thank goodness. This time, I bought myself a t-shirt which I wear when I'm gardening.


Why am I telling you all this? I'm starting a new "What's for dinner?" thread. Tonight I made my version of the BBQ chicken pizza, which I served with watermelon. It was all about triangles. If I'd been really on top of things, I would have made cherry turnovers for dessert. Anyway....

Here's my recipe for the best California pizza ever: Spread your favorite pizza dough with your favorite bbq sauce. (Tonight I used Sweet Baby Ray's honey chipotle.) Next, sprinkle on some feta cheese if you have it. Add chopped or shredded BBQ chicken (I save some from a bbq chicken dinner, but you can cook up some chicken in sauce if you want or use some deli rotisserie mixed with sauce). Next I take a big red onion, slice it up and cut half the rings into quarters and half into bits. The bits get several handfuls of chopped cilantro mixed in. The larger onion pieces get caramelized in a little water, a tablespoon of butter and 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar. Add caramelized onion to pizza, then top with some shredded mozzarella cheese. Finally, add the cilantro/onion mix. Bake till done. Inhale.

What's going on in your kitchen?

Stock the Fridge

I've noticed an interesting trend around here. No matter how much food I put in the pantry or the fridge, if there are no granola bars and no yogurt then certain members of my family claim there is nothing to eat. Apples? "Too much work." Cheese? "Requires a knife." Crackers? "I'm not sure where we keep them."

For someone else I know, it is meat. If there is no beef or pork, etc., in the freezer, then it's time to go to the store. Me? Well, I guess it's milk. If we have no milk or bread, then there's really nothing to eat. Not that this is what I always have for a snack, mind you, but it can be an indicator of how well stocked the fridge is. (I remember a moving day many years ago when the last two items in the fridge were bread and cottage cheese. Yes, I had a cottage cheese sandwich that day.)

I'm going to assume that we all have an item or two like this. What is it for you- or people you know?

What's for dinner?

It's the question we all ask ourselves every day. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to ask someone ELSE that question, but it has to be answered one way or the other. I'm feeling out of ideas, and maybe you are, too. Please take a moment and list your dinner menu in the comments box. Feel free to come back and list it every day, if you'd like. I will post my menus as well and maybe together we can build up some cool- or at least different- ideas of what to make for that obligatory evening meal.

Rosy project

This year my rugosa roses bloomed well before the arrival of the rose-eating japanese beetles. They look wonderful and smell fantastic, and I thought maybe it was a good time to make rose-petal jam, a Turkish specialty we learned to love there. I have two recipes for it, so I tried one. It was quite fun, although the final result is rather syrupy. It might take some experimenting to find the right balance for a real jam. However, it's delicious and the kids now ask for "butter and rose petal jam" sandwiches. I'm anxious to make lemon scones to try it on, too. Maybe in the fall I'll tackle rose-hip marmalade....