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Our acquaintance from the coffee shop has passed on another lovely bag of orange gold. I took four of the persimmons to try the Persimmon Jelly recipe in Stocking Up (a canning book). I was supposed to use “3-4 pounds, about 50 fruit” of the American persimmon. I might use more fruit next time (the full four pounds) because this could have used a little more persimmon flavor.

The way I did it was:

Place a large pot of water to boil with the jars in the jar holder (cage-like thing) to sterilize while I cooked the fruit. The lids went in a small pan of barely simmering water.

Diced about 4 ripe persimmons (mine are Fuyu, and they only had one seed among the lot) – next time I’ll use at least 5 or 6, depending on size. Place in pot with 1-2 cups water (I used 1, book calls for 2. Bring to gentle boil and stir, making sure fruit is covered so it can soften (if you’re using the soft varieties, just mash it and boil 10 minutes), after 5 minutes I started trying to mash it. I had to take it out and cut the fruit smaller so it could soften faster. I then tried to smash the pulp from this through a sieve with a wooden spoon – my old sieve came apart by the time I was done. I also learned that getting a mouli is definitely worth the time save if I’ll be making jams and jellies regularly (and they can be used for baby food).

Once 3 cups of pulp was extracted (I had to give up in the end and add about 1/3 cup filtered water, but I was close!), 3 Tbsp lemon juice (about the juice of one lemon) and a packet of pectin (the kind for reduced/sugar free canning) was mixed in, and the pulp went back into the pot on the stove, brought to a boil and 1/2 cup of honey added. The moment the sheet test was confirmed (probably 5-10 minutes after it actually happened… Directions said 1-2 minutes… “Did it run together?” I should trust that little voice that says “Looks okay” a bit more), I turned off the heat and brought up the jars. The recipe fills 3 half pint jars. I was supposed to only give them 1/4 inch of head space, but didn’t catch that until later. So, I ended up with an extra half jar – yum!

Last part is to cap them – lids on, bands finger-tight, submerge the jars into the hot water bath for 5 minutes. Allow to cool, check seal (press center of lid, it should be stuck sucked down), and label. Who knows how long this keeps because I expect it to be finished by Christmas!

Last week I started the garlic and sauerkraut, and they’re going well. I mentioned I had a Pickl-It container, and that it works well for this. But it’s hard to experiment when I have only one! I ordered a larger size from the website, but they are rather slow right now (probably from Christmas orders), so I haven’t even heard back with affirmation that my order went through (a little odd in this instant age). Without acknowledgment after a couple days, I “liked” their FB page to get some info and that’s where I found they just don’t reply to orders until they’re fulfilled. I also happened across a site – Seasoned Homemaker – which showed how to make a Pickl-It at home! Ben was more than happy to oblige! He has a drill press already, so he just needed the diamond-coated drill bit (5/8″).

I was able to order the grommets through Grainger (“will call” means I called the store to see if they’d arrived – I don’t know if they’re supposed to call me, my phone was dead, but it worked out in the end) for next day service with no shipping fee. The jars are carried locally at Bed, Bath & Beyond. But being Black Friday and all, they didn’t have the large sizes. I had hoped to have a 3, 4, and 5 liter jar to test and see which size(s) were most useful to me… Of course, most recipes are for the 1 1/2 or 3, and I was able to score a couple 1 1/2 and 2 liter sizes. My order is still in with Pickl-It for the big jar.

This is the original Pickl-It that was gifted to us, plus the lids my husband drilled today. Same brand means the lids are all interchangeable. Thank you, Love!

The not-so-local community garden had its family day today. (sorry, no pics: phone broken again) I took the boys and baby to get a bit of fresh dusty air. The big guy, TJ, was a great help. He did a lotto following the Little Guy around for most of the hour plus we were there. The baby was very peaceful, either nursing or napping in the sling the whole time.

Anywho, at the park, the theme today was Seeds. A young woman went on at some length about where seeds are made and what they do. TJ paid attention, but Little Guy quickly lost interest. Instead, he ran up and down the pile of dirt, knocking dust all ways, or ran off to fill watering cans and pour the water randomly near or on the plants. Towards the end, they broke out eh. Acrylic paints and let the children paint pots. The pots were then sprayed with a sealant, then filled with dirt and a few flower seeds. Little Guy tried to eat his seeds.

There are volunteer days throughout the week, and TJ has spoken interest in “farming” before. The hours are (8:30-12:30 Tu/Th/Fr, 10-12:30 Sat) right now, and they add Wed in during July. So, the plan for July and the beginning of August is to get at least two days of volunteering in most weeks. Then sometime in August, TJ gets to go visit his grandparents.

A family our size presents a number of challenges, a major one being the vast amounts of laundry to wash, dry, fold, and put away. I often hang my delicate items to dry indoors, but I have never gone without using the drier for the other things. I could argue that this is out of convenience, however the piles of unfolded clean laundry that overtake my couch, and perhaps eat small children, would beg to differ. My challenge this summer will be to learn more about the line drying techniques and figure out the obstacles that stop me from trying it, and perhaps to set up a line. I know, not spectacular, but I just had a baby, so I don’t want to overdo it.

Am I supposed to hang the dark clothes in the shade?

Perhaps an odd idea, but I wonder if there are any allergy studies on laundry care. Since children with pets have less animal related allergies, would it make sense if those who line dry have less air related allergies? Since we do have hay fever style issues in the spring, winter, fall(?), would line drying get us “inoculated” against some of the pollens?

Obstacle 1: Laziness, need I say more?

Obstacle 2: Route. My washing machine is in the garage, the line would have to be out back. I don’t like the idea of using the large door to carry the basket out, through the gate, and into the yard – there are too many opportunists that pass along the neighborhood streets (I have had a bicycle go missing when it was left to the side of my garage overnight). So, I would either have to make a path past my husband’s workbench to use the mandoor and gate, or go the circuitous route through the house.

Obstacle 3: Birds. This is a Mediterranean climate, lots of sun, plenty of water (but little rain), lots of birds. Oh, and guerilla squirrels.

Obstacle 4: Little Guy is going to find this fun. How do you keep small children from trying to dangle from your wash or line?

Obstacle 5: Husband. He has no interest in line dried clothes. This will be entirely my experiment.

We’re back online again! Yay! The techy let me see what to do if it stops working again, so maybe I’ll be able to post semi-regularly!

It’s been persimmon month here. Two of our neighbors have Fuyu persimmon trees (the fruit are ripe & edible when still firm) and we have made several yummy treats.

What of the first ones we didn’t eat out of hand were made into jam. The next ones made it into a pie. And of the last batch, a couple made this yummy tart:

I’ve also put some pulp in the freezer for a more traditional persimmon pie for Christmas, at MissA’s request. I kept a couple back to either eat or make the tart again – it was fantastic!

Has it really been nearly 3 months since my last blog post? Sorry! I’ve had technical issues and didn’t take the time to fix it.

Most of February and March have been rainy and I’ve been getting a bit of cabin fever. So, yesterday I walked the children to the park: a nice two mile round trip.

Today, I tackled the weeds in the enclosed garden. Ben had made the right side (near the gate) into a potato patch last year, but I found the proximity to the hedge a continuing issue. Anything planted close to the fence gets major webbing, from the garden spiders, and the gardeners either trim the vegetables on accident or leave the hedges too bushy. So, I’m moving to a central garden with a walkway around it.

I don’t know what plant it is, but the weeds in there are basically a runner with tear drop leaves. It’s as bad as mint for its ability to take over (though my not weeding all the winter doesn’t help, we have a cool -not cold- wet winter here).

Yum. The children weren’t too keen on the radicchio, but best to get them started on bitter young, right?

‘Tis the season & all. MissA, especially, has been asking me for several weeks to make cookies. On Monday, I finally mixed the dough. A friend had mentioned Sunday that she’d like to make cookies with us -keeps the mess out of her house -so I called her up.

They had fun. I had the colored frosting already set aside in bags when they arrived. The children were put right to work rolling the dough and cutting cookies. As the trays were loaded, into the oven they went. Once the last tray was baked, we cleared and cleaned the table, and set it up for decorating. Each child had one cookie to decorate, and once that was done, it was exchanged for a new one until all the cookies were done.

Everyone had a nice time!

I woke about 2:30 this morning and haven’t been able to get back to sleep. I changed LG’s diaper and nursed him back to sleep, but just couldn’t get the zzz’s going for me.

The husband will need lunch. Visions of salad danced in my head. He’s generally a healthy eater, but I’m not sure how well just a big ole salad will satisfy him. After all, he likes his sandwiches. So, I grabbed the Laptop Lunchbox; the PB&J was made and boxed with some carrots & Craisins. There’s a cookie for good measure.. But, the salad sounds so good! I grabbed a slightly longer container, half filled it with the lettuce and moved his lunch over.

Lettuce (per cup): 4 Cal, 0.6 g carbs
Craisins (2 Tbsp): 49 Cal, 12.5g carbs
Pecans (2 Tbsp): 94 Cal, 1.9g carbs, 1.2g protein
Caesar Dressing (2 Tbsp): 160 Cal, 2g carbs, 1g prot
Tangerine: 50 Cal, 15g carbs, 1g
Carrot: 25 Cal, 5.8g carb, 0.6g prot
Sandwich:
Bread x2: 200 Cal, 40g carbs, 6g
Natural Peanut butter (1 Tbsp): 100Cal, 3.5g carbs, 3.5g prot
Preserves (1 Tbsp): 50 Cal, 13g carbs
And a cookie: 69 Calories, 8.9g carbs, 0.9g prot

To give a grand total of:
801 Calories, 98g carbohydrates, 13.6g protein
The sandwich alone carries 350 Cal, 56.5g carbs (!), and 9.5g prot. I recently read that high carb intake is a great part of what keeps fat on the body. I can eat a huge salad (2-3 cups of lettuce, a handful of nuts & cranberries, and a slosh of dressing) and still have less carbohydrates than that sandwich. And, it’d be fabulous with some roasted chicken on it.

So, here’s a start. I’m working on balancing the meals well. Maybe I’ll toss in some cheese, too!

What a lovely Thanksgiving!

Our families are out of town, and the closest set of grandparents were unable to have us over this year. We were hoping to host and have them over, but the drive will be too much this year (hoping she heals well). So, we invited friends who also have no local family.

Monday, I was up early and did most of the shopping.
Tuesday, Ben had the car.
Wednesday, I did a quick trip for the last few items and took the children to piano class. I figured that I could get to the mall, pick up some dishes, and be back in two hours. The drive was great, I parked really close, I found the dishes we liked (yes, I was SMSing pictures to Ben to be sure), then I got in line. I think I moved 10 feet in 30 minutes. And I waited till the last minute, and my phone died. Then, I set my boxes on the closest shelf and left. We were 10 minutes late from the traffic on the way back.. And then I was reminded we had scheduled 90 minutes, not two hours. So, I was 40 minutes late picking up the older two.

From lessons, we picked up Ben. Earlier, we had discussed going to pick up flatware he liked at a store nearer work, so we headed there. We didn’t find enough of the one he liked best (brushed steel, for the matte finish), but they had a similar one in regular stainless (polished look) that he liked. From there, we went to the mall. Again.

I got in line and pointed out where I’d left the plates. Ben brought them over and then took the children to eat while I waited in line. By the time they finished and were back, I was third in line!

I had been hoping to do the prep work on Wednesday, but all we got done at home was to brine the bird and wash the dishes.

Thursday was actually calm and fun. Ben was up before I was. He was a huge help with prep work, moving tables, chairs, children. He practically took over the kitchen.

We used the Alton Brown recipe (Food Network), starting the bird at 500F, and cooking at 350F, but we cooked it breast-down. After the bird was in, I started the rolls, prepped the stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, all those lovelies. We made our candied yams with orange slices. So good. So, so good. All but the stuffing were dairy-free, one of our friends is allergic to milk. The potatoes were of the Gold variety, boiled in water, then mixed with roasted garlic, chicken stock, olive oil and some salt. I really liked them.

The children enjoyed a big meal and lots of gaming time. Mr and Mrs S- taught us a card game: Shanghai. They brought dessert and Mr C- brought the drinks.

All in all, a day of blessings to end another year to thank our Good Lord for so much that we don’t deserve.