freezer jam

So yes, after yesterday's excitement in the kitchen I had an itch to do some more.  Blackberry freezer jam.  Yum.

canning

My Mom puts up tomatoes every year from her garden, but the result is something so much more than 'canned tomatoes'.  It's heaven in a jar I tell you.  I crave it something awful.  Once in a while she'll send a jar in the mail and it's the highlight of the year.  She sent some to Jenny a couple of Christmases ago and all of the jars broke and it ruined everything else in the package too.  This was quite depressing for everyone involved.  I've wanted a chance to learn how to make the magic mixture, and yesterday I had my first lesson.  Canning is so cool!  Nobody does it anymore (at least people of my generation) and I fear it's becoming a lost art.  It turns out that Ty's Mom was also putting up tomatoes from her garden yesterday - I love how resourceful our Moms are!  It is very time consuming, and I understand that it's basically an impossibility for most people these days, but I have to say, the rewards are so great.  I can only imagine what it feels like for my Mom - because she's actually producing all the ingredients as well as doing the labor.  I was only a helper in the kitchen and I still felt good about the whole thing.

Anyway, we used a recipe that was handed down from my Grandma Brown, with a few tweaks and adjustments that my Mom has made over the years.  Rather than just tomatoes, it's essentially a 'base' that can be used for many things.  I like it right out of the jar for soup, but it's pretty darn versatile, and chock full of goodness and healthy stuff.  We were able to get 24 jars filled - the most my Mom has ever been able to produce with one batch.  Pretty exciting stuff.  The bonus was that it was just a fantastic day, spent with Mom in the kitchen.

fry bust

A little embarrassing to admit, but true, Mom, Dad, Ty and I started something a few years back which we call a 'fry bust'.  Patterned after the 'corn bust', it is a meal that consists only of fries.  But they aren't just any fries.  We HAVE to go to Dylan's, and we have to chase the fries with one of their selections of Lime fountain drinks - whether that be a Lime Rickey (something to be discussed in it's own right - why don't they have these other places?), a Fresh Lime, a Cherry Lime or I forget what else......Anyway, the reason we have to go there is because we believe their fries are superior in a way to others.  The criteria being:  extra crispy, crinkle-cut (great for dipping, and they do have fry sauce there, which also puts this place over the edge) and properly salted.  No soggy numbers, and not heavily greased.  All the stars have to be aligned for the fry bust to happen.  None of this is really talked about, yet somehow understood.  It only happens once a summer (more than this and we would probably be pretty shame-filled) and we generally have to have done something to 'earn' it (past things have included yard work or swimming).  

On a side note, I have spent the rest of today in a bit of a 'fry coma'.  

birthday boy

Ty turned 41 yesterday.  I tried to win him over with food.  I made him a breakfast which was a little something I like to call 'Ty's 41st Birthday Scramble' - a sort of mash of fried tortilla bits, eggs, bacon, cherry tomatoes (from our plant!), red onion and cilantro.  We had the family over for cake later, and he had requested German Chocolate.  I think it turned out pretty well, although it makes me crazy how cake recipes CONSISTENTLY don't allow for enough frosting.  I know this by now and still didn't listen to the little voice in my head telling me to make more.  It was supposed to be a 4 layer cake, and I had to take one off because I barely had enough for 3.  Ah well, still plenty of fatty, sugary goodness to indulge in.  I put trick candles on the cake, which I remembered having on a cake once when I was young.  Of course Ty had us all cracking up as he tried to blow them out.  It was a great night in the new home, spent with loved ones.  Happy Birthday Ty.

favorite meal of the week

Mom gave us some tomatoes from her garden last week, and I have to say, there's nothing like a Utah-grown tomato.  You can actually understand why tomatoes are so wonderful - it's the only time I want one on it's own.  This is my favorite though:  sliced, with a tiny drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, a bit of crumbled feta and a big glass of milk.  (Adding a stale bit of bread, toasted and slathered with butter isn't bad either.)

breakfast and lunch

scottish oatmeal (never had it before - great find), banana, brown sugar, pecans, milk

greens, tomato, cow's milk feta, sunflower seeds, basil vinagrette 

the power of a porch swing

I really want to be on this thing all the time.  There's just something about it.....

So, the swing is done, as you can see.  Had to get a few shots in - one of the detailed beauty of the refinished wood and metal that Ty and Mom and Dad worked so hard on and definitely a long shot of the porch which gives you an idea of what a lovely place it is to spend a few hours.  The house is really starting to come together.  So much fun.  The summer continues to fly by.

perfect sunday

Sitting on the front porch with The New York Times, chocolate-banana-keffir smoothie and whole wheat toast slathered in butter and homemade raspberry jam.  Does it get any better?  I think not....

Made the raspberry jam with Mom last week.  I swear, it's like little jars of gold.

Making some progress on the house, though some days it doesn't feel like it.  I feel like I've been painting trim for days and it's still not done.  Maybe I'm just really slow?  I think I finally finished the bay window (please oh please) - I guess we'll see tomorrow when I take the tape off.  Ty is working on getting paint splatters off some of the exterior brick - real pain-in-the-ass-type job.  The swing is finished - just needs to be hung.  Will post a photo when that happens.  

My oven is still not working (and the repairman who was supposed to come look at it today didn't) so this makes me feel like I should be using this time to practice non-baking-but-still-loaded-with-sugar-and-fat type items.  Working on a batch of vanilla bean ice cream right now......we'll see how it goes.