Preparing Fireweed Jelly

From:
http://www.plaincook.com/fireweed-jelly-Recipe-2008-02-25

Fireweed Jelly Recipe

February 25th, 2008 by alice

INGREDIENTS

1. 2 1/2cupsfireweed juice 2. 1teaspoonlemon juice 3. 1/2teaspoonbutter 4. 1 (1 3/4 ounce)packagedry pectin 5. 3cupssugar

DIRECTIONS
1. For fireweed juice:
Harvest about 8 packed cups of fireweed flowers. Rinse thoroughly and put in 2 quart pot.
Add just enough water to make water level just below top of packed flowers. (Juice should be a deep purple color when finished. If too much water is used in boiling process, juice will be a brownish color. More water can always be added after flowers are boiled to increase amount of juice.) Boil flowers in water until color is boiled out and petals are a grayish color.Ladel juice into jar through cheesecloth to strain.

2. Warm fireweed juice, lemon juice and butter on stovetop.

3. Add surejell, bring to boil and boil hard for one minute.

4. Add sugar and bring to full boil for one minute. Skim top of jelly.

5. Pour into pitcher(makes it easier to fill jars)and skim again.

6. Fill sterilized jars leaving 1/8 inch space at top. Process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Twilight Party Candy Favors

Twilight Party Candy Favors, originally uploaded by enslavedbyfaeries.

Photo note:

" Twilight "blood" flavor sucker favors.

See the "blood" flavor candy label here.

Featured at Twilight Party Food

porcupine_meatballs

porcupine_meatballs, originally uploaded by nochipra.

I'm just listening to Prairie Home Companion, and Garrison Keillor is at the Minnesota State Fair, and he mentioned Porcupine Meatballs. Now, a Northwesterner myself, I'd never heard to these! So, of course, I looked it up.

Photo note:

"Chip's cousin brought this dish to us! Her meatballs fell apart but this what it's supposed to look like.

PORCUPINE MEATBALLS

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. uncooked rice
1/4 onion, chopped fine
1/2 slice white bread
1 can tomato soup
Salt & seasoning salt, to taste

Take 1/2 slice white bread, add 1/2 cup cold water and mix. Add to meat, seasoning, onion and rice. Form into meatballs and place into ungreased, covered electric fry pan or heavy fry pan.
Cover with 1 can tomato soup and 1 can of water which have been mixed together.

Place cover on skillet or fry pan. Cook on medium heat (just so tomato juice lightly boils) until rice pops out like a porcupine. Can also be placed in heavy pan in 350 degree oven (covered) until rice pops out.

Stop by my Squidoo lens at

http://www.squidoo.com/DinnerRecipesTonight

to see other great recipes."

Blackberry Cordial recipe

Two batches of cordial in the window for a picture before they go into the dark for a few weeks.

* * * * *

Lately I've been making lots of blackberry cordial, and sharing this fact with friends. I've had some requests for the recipe that I use, so here it is:


Blackberry Cordial


2 Cups fresh blackberries, washed
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup 100-proof vodka
1 Cup brandy
1Cup light corn syrup
1 Teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Place berries in clean 2-quart jar and add sugar. Crush berries with wooden spoon and let stand for 1 hour. Add vodka and brandy, tightly cap, and shake vigorously. Add corn syrup, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Let stand in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks.

Use a find-mesh strainer to strain out solids. Discard. Transfer liqueur to a clean container and let stand for 1 week. Rack or filter into final container. Cover and age for 1 month more before serving.

Yield: approx. 1 quart

20th Anniversary dinner at home with roses

Our 20th anniversary was a week ago, and as it was on a Wednesday, we elected to stay home and have dinner with the kids.

DH brought home a gorgeous salmon and 20 red roses, and I picked green beans from the garden, and dug up some potatoes. Also, a salad made from fresh peas/pods, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. (See above.)


Oh so good! Simple.




BTW--We *did* go out, but on Friday night, to a great restaurant on 2nd Ave, Downtown Seattle, called Zoe. More on that later.

Boozy Blackberry/Raspberry Cobbler

Boozy Blackberry/Raspberry Cobbler, originally uploaded by JIMWICh.

This is a poem in a baking dish.

Here's what the baker/photographer has to say:

"This pie/cobbler construction took three hours to make. Three woven layers of crust (bottom, middle, top) pre-baked. 24 oz. of blackberries and 12oz. of raspberries soaked for a couple of hours in a cup of peach schnaps, then drained. The sauce was then reduced, thickened, and poured back over them, with a layer over the bottom woven layer of crust. Then the second baked woven layer of crust was installed and the second layer of berries and sauce added. The third slightly baked woven layer of crust was laid over the top, brushed with sweet cream butter and baked.

Finally white chocolate was finely grated over the top. Served with a French vanilla bean ice cream with a splash of peach schnaps."

Blackberry-Blueberry Cobbler

Blackberry-Blueberry Cobbler, originally uploaded by aubreyrose.

Ooh, just one more, and I must head to bed.

Photo note:

"Upland Brewing Co. (http://eatrepeat.blogspot.com/2008/08/upland-brewing-co.html)
Bloomington, In

Fresh Indiana blackberries and blueberries baked with rich pastry topping and served with bourbon vanilla bean ice cream.

Ice Cream and Berries

Ice Cream and Berries, originally uploaded by Laurel Fan.

Photo note:

"Raspberries, freshly picked Magnuson Park blackberries, vanilla ice cream, and cashews."

Cashews! Okay, something else for me to try. . . This looks very nice.

Blackberry "Slump" with Ice Cream

Blackberry "Slump" with Ice Cream, originally uploaded by spacekadet.

This looks pretty darn close to what I had for dessert this evening.

The photographer says:

"Check out the Recipe!"

http://smarterfitter.com/blog/2008/08/31/seasonal-recipes-blackberry-slump/

Blackberry ice cream

Blackberry ice cream, originally uploaded by one ordinary day.

Oh, most beauteous - the color created by the humble blackberry.

Colorful Dumplings, Detail @ 東北人, Shanghai

Colorful Dumplings, Detail @ 東北人, Shanghai, originally uploaded by yusheng.

I just couldn't resist! Here's another pic from the same photographer:

"8RMB/US97¢ for 16. They have 19 varieties of dumpling fillings here, all available in any of 7 colors. These had cabbage and pork fillings.

These were good. They were bite sized and better than most dumplings in NYC. The skins were chewy, yet not too thick. A good balance of meat and dough. But I mean, c'mon, they were 97 cents TOTAL for cryin' out loud. How picky can you be for that price? Plus, look how puurdy they are!

Dong Bei Ren Restaurant, Shui Cheng Road No.555, (021) 6233-0990"

These look really intriguing. . . makes me want to try them!

Ice Cream @ Häagen-Dazs, Shanghai

Ice Cream @ Häagen-Dazs, Shanghai, originally uploaded by yusheng.

I had a little vanilla Haagen Dazs tonight, with a blackberry dumpling. Very simple, and a good complement to that just-out-of-the-oven dessert, make with berries that line our driveway and support the ancient little shed that was there before built the house, and well before we bought the property.

But, I digress. The blackberry concoction I made tonight was an altered version of Strawberry Dumpling, and when I pulled it out of the oven 20 minutes later, it was bubbling quite nicely. This is the reason for the ice cream.

So, I went in search of ice cream. Here is a gorgeous plate, and the notes to go with:

"79RMB/US$9.55. Häagen-Dazs' approach to the Chinese market is very interesting. They are going after the super luxury highend. Their shops are really fancy, with prices to match. You hear this joke a lot: In Shanghai, when you want to impress a girl, take her to Häagen-Dazs.

The name of this ice cream platter in Chinese is 冰雪天堂 (bīng xuě tiān táng)... I forgot what they called this in English (the menu was bilingual as befitting such a "high-end" place), but roughly translated, the name is "icy snow heaven"... Indeed."

Ice Cream poetry

Bleezer's Ice Cream

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
there are flavors in my freezer
you have never seen before,
twenty-eight divine creations
too delicious to resist,
why not do yourself a favor,
try the flavors on my list:

COCOA MOCHA MACARONI
TAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY
CHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW
CHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW
TUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO
TUNA TACO BAKED POTATO
LOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN
MOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN
ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI
YAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI
SASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH
SUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH
BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE
POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL
PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM
PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
BROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER
CHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER
AVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT
PERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT
COTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD
CAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD
ONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP
TURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP
GARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA
LENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA
ORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET
WATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
taste a flavor from my freezer,
you will surely ask for more.

by Jack Prelutsky

Twilight Cake

Twilight Cake, originally uploaded by Kell's Kreations.

Photo note:

"I was really excited to do this one. I planned it months ago. When my friend told me her daughter was really in to Twilight I begged her to let me do this.

The cake was a vibrant red velvet with my mascarpone cream cheese filling. Very popular flavor with my friends and family. The flavor went hand in hand with the theme."

School Cafeteria - a poem

As it is Back-to-School time in our household I've been thinking a lot about school lunches, once again.


www.clipartheaven.com/.../ school_lunch_1.gif

It's always a challenge to come up with the perfect solution. It seems once we fall into a groove with food that works, boredom kicks in and a strong resistance is built up. Now what? Really, what's a mom to do?

I remember back to when my grandmother made my lunches for me. Often she'd fall into a pattern of sending me with buttered Saltines and a cut-up apple. Anything to get Picky Me to eat, and anything to avoid buying School Lunch, which is often really what I wanted.


** Question of the day **

When was catsup officially declared a school lunch vegetable?



Here's a poem for the day, and for all of you with kids returning to school.



School Cafeteria
by Douglas Florian

Nothing is drearier than my school cafeteria-
The food there is really the pits.
The bread is as hard as a brick in a yard;
The cake is all crumbled to bits.
The rotten old cheeses can give you diseases;
The pudding is rancid and runny.
And if you should dare to bite into a pear,
The taste is so bad it's not funny.
The chicken and rice are served cold as ice;
The soups could send groups to the nurse.
The carrots and peas make you whimper and wheeze;
The broccoli comes with a curse.
The pizza, I'm told, is covered with mold;
The salad is pallid and stale.
The dried-out roast beef fills your belly with grief;
They're taking the cook off to jail.
The citrus fruit cup will make you throw up;
The cookies are made out of clay.
The mere thought of lunch
Makes my weak stomach scrunch-
But it's still the best part of the day.