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rewinding back to june (an entirely different season), i signed up for a jam-making class with the ladies of anarchy in a jar at the brooklyn kitchen (a great little spot for pretty much any and all things related to making, eating, concocting and learning)... on a side note - i had previously attempted a freezer jam but that result was pretty gross and less than desirable for consumption. so when the opportunity came to take a proper jam making class, i signed up!
the class started off like any informative class on jam-making should - the ladies (laena & liv) intro'd us to pectin (the stuff that makes the jam "gel") and demystified some concerns about canning and botulism that being you can't really get botulism from canning fruit for jams/jellies/conserve etc. the class started off with mashing some strawberry fruit while learning about the difference between commercial and natural pectins and cooking and jarring jam.
from there, the mashed strawberries were thrown into a large pot along with a few cups of sugar, some lemon juice for some tartness (of course all these things can be adjusted to your tasting) and some natural pectin (for this class we used pomona's). the mixture was heated to a nice simmer over the stove. while that was going on - a bunch of jars were getting sterilized in a large pot of nearly boiling water. they were removed and let to dry on some towels. in the meantime the jam was tested to see if it was ready for jarring. to test: place a few drops of the jam onto a very cold plate, tilt the plate a little bit - if the syrup doesn't run and gels up a bit, it's ready... if it runs down the plate, let it simmer longer).
once the jam was at the proper consistency for jarring, it was ladled into individual jars, sealed and then placed back into the hot pot of water used to sterilize the jars initially. we were advised to make sure at least 2 inches of water covered the lids of the jars. the water and jars were brought to a boil for 10 minutes, then transferred out and onto a rack to cool. as the jars cooled, a loud "pop" would sound from the tops of the lids - this was an indication that the jars were properly canned. there is definitely something satisfying about hearing that loud pop, it's like an affirmation that you did something right! you can also check by making sure the lids did not buckle when you pressed on top of it.
the class really demonstrated how easy making jams were and were an encouragement for me to take on the task again. plus it didn't hurt that i got to take home a jar of this awesome goodness...
at the end of august i embarked on the lirr to east hampton to visit my lovely buddy seth and to witness something i've never seen before - the firing of a kiln. seth, a man of many talents, had agreed to help out an amazing ceramist, ted tyler, with keeping a kiln fired up for a few days. keeping the kiln fired up meant feeding the kiln's firebox with wood every 20 minutes so that the pieces in the kiln would bake properly. the temperature of the kiln had to maintain a specific temperature at certain points in order for the pottery to achieve the proper texture/color/hardness... therefore it meant that seth, along with several other guys, worked in 6-hour shifts, hanging out by the kiln and feeding the fire.
although i'm sure these gents are quite adept at handling a task such at this - i was really impressed at how they managed to do this for about 4 days in a row. and from what it appeared, these guys usually averaged no more than 4 hours of sleep in between their shifts. upon arriving on a friday afternoon, i toured around ted's lovely home which was possibly one of the most impressive and loveliest of properties i've seen in a while. it was nice to leave the city and most definitely even better to arrive at his home. the weather was cool and cloudy - actually quite perfect for an activity which consisted of hanging around a hot kiln heated at about 2000 degrees F and feeding a firebox which would blast out about that much heat...
forgetting that i'm no longer in college, i attempted to pull an "all-nighter" by hanging out with the guys who had the 6p-12a shift and with seth who had the 12a-6a shift. let's just say that by 3a, the tired hit me and i ended up crashing on ted's floor. i had a great time photographing all the activity that took place that night. not only did i learn a little bit more about the process of ceramics and appreciate the beauty of pottery, i also had the opportunity to throw some wood into that firebox and seriously i'm surprised that all these guys still have their eyebrows intact...
(l-r: a ted tyler piece in the rain and dean hanging out in the garden)
(ted designed his home out in east hampton! another tyler piece)
(cleaning out ember that collects on the bottom of the firebox)
yes. what the heck is a cardoon? this over sized stalk of a thing which reminds me of an overgrown bok choy is actually a cousin of the artichoke... after some research on what to do with the 2 stalks i received from my friend amy's csa, i found a basic recipe on fried cardoons - cus honestly, what doesn't taste good fried? (no don't answer that)
one has to be a bit careful with the cardoon. it's a bit prickly on the sides of the stem and the only real edible part of the cardoon is the stalk itself - the leaves are really really bitter and not advisable for eating. prepping the cardoon stalk wasn't painful: get rid of the leaves, trim off the thorns on the sides of stalk, peel off the stringy bits with a peeler. i cut the stalk down to bite-sized pieces and kept them soaked in lemon water (like the artichoke, the stalk begins to brown).
i dredged each piece of cardoon in plain flour, then egg and lastly coated it a mixture of italian-style and panko breadcrumbs with some parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. the cardoons were then thrown into a batch of hot canola oil and deep fried until golden brown.
i'll admit that the final result wasn't that impressive. there was a slight sweetness but was generally bland and had no flavor profile that blew my mind out of the water. if the cardoon falls upon my lap again in the future i might attempt this bread pudding recipe from gourmet.com. the recipe seems promising in using the cardoon to its fullest potential, plus i've been enjoying bread pudding these days...
when i was 21, i fell in love with scotland and it's been pretty much the one and only place in this world that i can say i love. but that love affair is currently being rivaled by montana, particularly the western part. though i've only been here for three days, i find myself comparing montana to scotland (like i would to any other country/state/city i visit) and where most other countries could not live up to scotland's beauty in landscape and energy, i admit that montana is fast approaching as another place claiming a spot in my heart...
i've another few more days left here and honestly i wish i had more time... but for now i'll enjoy what it is i have now and the next few days... oh montana - you've definitely shaken things up for me...
i don't think i have posted up anything which demonstrates my sewing skills (yes, i sew - did i mention that i have a lot of interests?)... so kids, here ya go. you'd figure as someone who bakes and cooks fairly often i'd actually have an apron already hanging around the apartment but alas i didn't. i had this mccalls pattern (#3979) for a while and when i found amy butler's daisy chain fabric in this turquoise blue i wanted to make it - sometimes all it takes is an awesome fabric pattern to make you wanna sew! i'm super happy with the way it turned out and the contrasting red trim was a fun twist and also ingenious! the first thing i made wearing this apron was a batch of red velvet cupcakes and if you look closely you can see that some of the red dye actually got on the apron - an apron definitely doing its job...
