I got a comment on Friday regarding the amount of food I ate that day.  I know this comment was out of concern, not attacking me and it’s so nice to know how much people care. So I thought today I’d show everything I ate, just so you can see a typical day in the life of Taylor’s eats.

Sunday breakfast was 2 scrambled eggs with a dollop of tomato ketchup and a slice of toast with marmalade.  I enjoyed this with a cup of coffee and sharing the Sunday paper with my Dad. I love doing the Sudoku puzzles and of course reading the magazines that come with it.

After breakfast my Mum and I went for a walk around the White Rose Shopping Centre.  This is about a 10 min drive from our home.  We picked up a few more Christmas decorations and I needed some craft items for my homemade cards.

I made this gorgeous salad when I got home for dinner, which included strawberries! (yes you read that right) walnuts, spinach, chicken and natural yogurt as a dressing.

This was delicious, I love the addition of fruit in salads and have seen strawberries added so thought I’d give it a try.  I think it works best when the strawberries are perfectly ripe and you don’t want to add anything with such a strong flavour like onion or peppers.

And for dessert I ate a cashew cookie Lara bar.  I’ve also been asked where I find these from in the UK as they’re not as easily accessible as they are in the US.  I go to a cute little store called “Out of this World” which sells organic, vegetarian, vegan and health foods from all over the world.  So whenever I shop there I always stock up on these beauties

Anyway, after dinner I got on with making the Christmas cards I wanted to send out to close family and friends.

These I thought my Grandparents and Great Aunt & Uncle would enjoy.  The insides are blank for me to add some personal messages.

These are for my other Aunts & Uncles.  I got glitter all over from making these.

And I thought these would be fun for my friends, with sweets for my sweets I did nibble on a few myself too.

So after all that hard work I was craving some carbs, particularly a whole meal bagel with lashings of lemon and coriander hummus, a cuppa tea and an orange Perfection!!

Now I have to write out the rest of my cards for everyone at work. Wish me luck.

Taylor

Ingredients:

• 1 LB       fresh Figs (chopped coarsely)
• 1/4 LB  Sugar
• 2 TB       Lucini Lemon-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 TB       Lucini Fig-Infused Balsamic Vinegar
  

Preparation:

Wash the figs well then chop them and combine with the sugar in a bowl.  Cover them and let them rest overnight.  The next morning transfer them to a pot and cook over medium heat them over a moderate flame, stirring often until they come to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, skimming away the foam occasionally, until thick (a drop of liquid on an inclined plate doesn’t run).  Add the olive oil and vinegar and simmer for 5 more minutes.  Transfer the marmalade to sterile jars, seal them, sterilize them, and when they have cooled transfer them to your pantry.

This piece is titled “DreamCatz: Marmalade”

by Rayna Tamarin

“DreamCatz: Marmalade” The second piece in my DreamCatz collection of virtually dyed cats! Kids love my candy colored cats! For anyone who loves quirky art. =^•x•^= Meowzah!

This is the second installment of my DreamCatz collection of colorfully hand colored cats. They have been virtually dyed, never for real. DreamCatz will become a series of art pieces made by myself in my spare time. They can be purchased as framed prints. Each will be signed by myself, the artist. The sizes of the prints vary depending on the original size of the piece (some can be enlarged and then printed, while some are shown ‘actual size’ only). These will be perfect gifts for children and lovers of fantasy and whimsy all around! Email me at rayna@raynatamarin.com to request your framed, signed print before Christmas and the Holidays. I’ll ship to anywhere in the world. Payment is through PayPal. Price: $45

Unusual as it is for me to compare myself to a domestic goddess (usually I am more slummy mummy than yummy mummy), but this weekend I think I surpassed myself in the domesticity states….but not without the usual minor dramas that keep me on the edge.

 Not really a drama, in fact it was quite exciting, on Saturday morning we woke to find a fine coating of snow covering the hill; late Autumn supper had suddenly turned overnight to a full on winter supper. I guess it made a change from non-stop wind, rain and floods. I wondered for a second if I should be cooking something heartier for dinner than sorbet and salads, but I guessed the warm spiced wine and the roaring log fire would warm everyone up sufficiently. I was actually more concerned about bringing in the diners and had toyed with the idea of cancelling, but that was not something I really wanted to do.

hens in the remaining bit of snow

The dramas began when the other half rang to say he had a flat tyre. He’d only just gone to collect the veg having dragged himself out of bed at about 10. Not exactly on the same level of stress as me yet!

 He reported that John was currently looking for a foot pump. When asked where his foot pump was he informed me it was at home

 “Not much f**king good here is it?” I tactfully responded

 He took the hint and said he wouldn’t be calling me back unless he was desperate and he couldn’t get it pumped up.

 He hadn’t even been to collect the rest of the meat, the olives and the blue cheese yet!!! He’d pushed my little panic button, but this time thankfully all was well. The tyre stayed pumped up and he returned in record time with everything I needed without me having to berate him with hundreds of phone calls.

 I also started a waitress down. The usually lovely Rosie was pale-faced, snotty and snuffly and walked around droopily with her face buried in a hanky for much of the morning.  I initially banned her from interacting with the general public and serving them food, but as the day progressed and she became snottier by the minute I also decided she was far to lurgy ridden to go near food preparation too. She looked dejected “what am I supposed to do then?” she asked….I decided she could be the dedicated photographer for the night, a job which I barely ever manage to do as I’m far too busy.

Hobz and the other half

Ro and Hobz

I was also able to enlist the help of the equally glam Hobz, she is 2 years older than Ro but they have been friends a long time, they are climbing buddies and Hobz is like the big sister Ro never had. She seems to spend her life waitressing and food preparing at every given location in the Bangor area!! The little un was nowhere to be seen all night, happily ensconced in front of the Wii, he only ventured down the stairs for food, which once served he claimed he hated.

“I don’t like that, we have it at school, it’s horrible” he said. Wish I’d gone to the same school as him we all cried!!!

Table settings

The menu for the evening, designed and made by Rosie our waitress

Sadly we again didn’t have a full house but due to a last-minute booking and a couple of people who said they would come but refused to confirm, we set for eight. I’m pretty convinced that it’s down to money and the weather, but it doesn’t stop the hint of disappointment. To be honest I’d rather have a full house and less in the way of donations because it’s not just about the food, but meeting and entertaining new people, good conversation etc.  I’m also not going to bang on about those that say they will attend, but then don’t, obviously we still bought the food, but in the end it was us, the staff that enjoyed a damn good dinner between serving courses!!

 After chasing up bookings we eventually seated six people. One couple had been before but had returned this time with friends. It is such a lovely compliment to have diners returning again and again and to be able to serve them great food that they really appreciate. So may it continue!! One other couple attended but after the first two courses mysteriously disappeared into the night (nothing to do with us or the food I was assured). Well, we are a discrete bunch so will not enter into speculation on the reasons why, but I am very grateful to them for leaving a donation and I only hope that they return again in the future.

 With the extra help from Hobz we were motoring, tables set and prepared in record time (I know it was only for 8 but it still takes preparation). Also miraculously all the work surfaces stayed clear, the washing up disappeared promptly and the food was all ready without us even breaking into a sweat. With an extra pair of hands we were well and truly sorted. I tend to think that the ‘staff’ were a little underemployed at times on the night. I think this was apparent when one of our dinner guests ended up opening the door to our other guests because the ‘staff’ were so busy taking photos of each other in the kitchen, that they didn’t hear the knock on the door!!! The sackings may begin next month.

Sun dried tomato (front) and olive Foccacia

We started with spiced wine, home-made olive and sun-dried tomato Foccacia, with Organic Balsamic vinegar and Olive oil for dipping. This was followed by Butterbean, leek and parmesan soup (a Jamie Oliver recipe which I’d amended. It originally had chick peas in it but I thought butter beans worked better. Sorry Jamie but I think my dinner guests agreed).

big pot of butterbean, leek soup

I made triple the recipe given here (which is for 4). Remove the green ends of two medium leeks, cut in half and then slice finely. Put them into a colander and give them a good wash. Then sweat in a large covered saucepan with about a tablespoon of butter, two crushed cloves of garlic and a handful of fresh thyme leaves (stalks removed). When softened but not coloured chuck in 1 can of butter beans (or dried butter beans that have been soaked overnight and then boiled for 20 minutes, which is what I did) and 2 medium potatoes peeled and cubed. Pour over 565ml of chicken or vegetable stock (I made my own vege stock) and simmer for about half an hour or so until the potatoes are well-cooked. If the soup ends up too thick add a drop more boiling water. Season well and serve with a glug of good olive oil, an extra sprinkle of Thyme and plenty of shaved parmesan. I don’t reckon it needed anything else and although I offered a bit more Foccacia it was hearty enough on its own.

plating the soup

Leek, butterbean and parmesan soup

Next came the chicken wrapped in Pancetta, roasted with potato slices, cherry tomatoes and olives, served on a lemon dressed bitter leaf salad. The chicken was from Williams the butchers and was fantastic, juicy and succulent. The Pancetta was a bit of a revelation because I set Paul the task of finding me some that was locally produced (I didn’t think he would find any to be honest, but he definitely came up trumps). Yep he said there is someone in Wrexham that does it. Okay it’s not within 30 miles, but Wrexham is a lot closer than Italy (or London, or wherever the supermarkets get theirs). This is actually another Jamie Oliver recipe, its pretty simple to do and the secret is in the ingredients (good quality, fresh makes it i think).

 The chicken breasts were cut underneath the small fillet and filled with about a dessertspoonful of basil butter (just butter creamed with chopped fresh basil and a pinch of salt); they were then wrapped tightly with about six thin slices of pancetta. I used about 2lb pancetta for 10 breasts. I then peeled sliced and par boiled (for a minute or two) 2lb potatoes. They were then drained and tossed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper then spread out on the base of two roasting tins. I then stuck them in the oven (gas 7, 220 C. 425F) for around 10 minutes. While they were cooking I marinated three big handfuls of cherry tomatoes and the same of pitted black olives in more olive oil, salt and pepper. I then chucked them on top of the potatoes and placed the chicken on top of that. Returned to the oven they should then take about 20 minutes to cook. I think mine took longer than that, first because my oven is shit and second because it couldn’t cope with that much chicken to cook. No problem though it cooked beautifully in the end. The chicken was served on a bed of bitter leaf salad (amazing that Pippa and Jon still had some going) which had been tossed in a little olive oil and lemon juice.

cherry tomatoes and olives

chucking the tomatoes in with the potato slices

chicken wrapped in pancetta, placed on top of the toms and potato slices and ready to roast

plated chicken on bitter leaf salad

Now as you will have gathered from my previous posting, I was well impressed with my tarte tatin last week. So I decided to stop playing it safe and within the spirit of experimentation chose to be adventurous this week and make something I’d never made before for the first time on the night (I had intended to try it out prior to supper club but ran out of time). A stupid thing to do you may think, but it sounded nice and thought I would go for it. I was a little nervous I have to say and it could have gone either way. Nigella’s chocolate mousse cake sounded seriously decadent but her assertion that you had to ease off the foil slowly and carefully to avoid the cake sticking to it was enough to make me uneasy. Anyway, the cake was made, baked and left to cool completely (usually I’m too impatient and try to rip off foil or baking paper too soon, not this time). As I nervously came to remove the foil I tugged at a small corner with trepidation. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it came away without any cake, as did the rest of the foil. The cake was in my opinion, perfect (ha! I would say that of course). It was dark and sticky and oozy in the middle and lightly cooked and springy on the outside. With a damp knife it sliced easy and perfectly. I then served it with a dessert spoon of sharp crème fraiche and a small scoop of bitter orange sorbet (which I’d made at some time after midnight on Friday after finishing work at Hendre). It was an amazing combination and one which elicited lots of oohs and aaahhhhs (and that was just the staff!!). At one point I asked them to stop orgasming over dessert in the kitchen. They told me I was disgusting.

chocolate mousse cake, still in the foil

preparing dessert

Chocolate mousse cake with bitter orange sorbet and creme fraiche...Nigella would have been proud!

The night finished with coffee and cheese and as I sat down to chat in the dining room, god knows what they were up to in the kitchen (although I was offered photographic evidence of silliness, which involves the other half  acting the clown for the girls…I may use it as blackmail material first though……no sod it, you can have it now)

less said the better

Other half and I were also very grateful for the glasses of wine offered by our guests. Very much appreciated.

Now we are looking forward to two Christmas supper clubs on the 11^th and 12^th December, both of which will be far more manic than the last two November dates. With hindsight I have enjoyed the calm, before what will be the storm. With fewer guests we have been able to take it easy and chat, most of the clearing was done before Sunday and we were able to return to normality much quicker.

But of course instead of kicking back and putting my feet up on Sunday, I felt the domestic goddess urge fall upon me. Christmas puddings, marmalade, sewing and ironing awaited me. Since Rosie had retreated to her bed for the day and Hobz was doing a 10 hour shift in the local bakery I enlisted the help of the smallest person in the house. In fact this little man made the Christmas puddings all on his own!! I on the other hand embarked on marmalade making. These will make fantastic Christmas presents along with sloe gin, home-made truffles and chutney. Perfect if you want to give something non commercial or if you are a bit skint like me!!

Providing some respite from coffee bean grinding, the little un takes over the kitchen

Aidan's Christmas puds

It was a good thing that the other half had (at my request) bought far too many organic un-waxed oranges at great expense. I didn’t need them all for the sorbet and they don’t keep well but were perfect for marmalade making. I had to add my twist though and chucked in a bit of brandy when boiling and then another glug once the set was reached.

 So as the temperature dips (3 degrees it was this morning) and I finalize the menu for Christmas we shall all cosy up for a week…well that’s until next Saturday when I will be making and donating soup to the Bangor Free shop…but that’s another story

Denise x

I have to say at first when I made this I was a little intimidated by the whole jam making process because of the sterilizing process. I watched an Alton Brown video on Food Network’s website first, before I started making marmalade. It was very helpful, although it would have been nice to have that gadget he had for taking out the jars and everything. That might be going on my Christmas list. Speaking of Christmas, this marmalade is a nice little gift to give to someone. It would be good over some pork I think.

Cranberry Orange Marmalade

Ingredients
3 1/2 pounds navel oranges (about 6 medium)
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar, divided
1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries

Preparation

Carefully remove rind from 3 oranges using a vegetable peeler, making sure not to get any of the white pithy part of the rind. Slice rind into thin strips. Peel all oranges; cut into sections. Combine rind strips, sections, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1 cup sugar in a medium saucepan; bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add remaining 2 cups sugar and cranberries to pan. Simmer 1 hour and 30 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and cool completely. Cover and chill.
Nutritional Information

Calories:80 (0.0% from fat)
Fat: 0.0g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)
Protein:0.3g
Carbohydrate:21.5g
Fiber:2.2g

OMG OMG OMG! I actually deep fried something well! Woah! This is huge!! Remember when I was an absolute failure at making everything deep fried? Well I can do it now!!

Now that I’ve gotten the excitement out of my system, lets move on to the actual way this worked. I used a candy thermometer and heated the oil to 350°F. I’ve discovered that the secret to making it happen well is to make sure that the oil is at a constant temperature and that you use a whole pot of oil and not just a pan with a small layer.

I used precooked frozen de-veined shrimp and defrosted them. When you deep-fry the shrimp, the crust will fry and the shrimp won’t get too overcooked because they’ll be cold to begin with. They’ll just heat through. Frozen shrimp go on sale often so you can just buy a bag and keep them until you’re ready for this recipe.

There is a 3-step process to creating the coconut crust. First dredge the shrimp in flour so it has a thin coat on it. Then dip them in egg with salt and pepper. You can just whisk the egg with a fork quickly. Finally dredge the shrimp in an equal parts mixture of shredded coconut and Panko bread crumbs. Panko bread crumbs are Japanese bread crumbs that are lighter than most other bread crumbs. They’re becoming popular in American cooking, so you should be able to find them in your local supermarket. The coconut was on sale this week, which is what inspired this dish.

Then put a few coated shrimp in the hot oil. You can do about 6 at a time. If you add too many to the oil the temperature will drop too much. After the crust has browned use a metal strainer to pull the shrimp out of the hot oil and put them on a paper towel to drain. Continue in batches until all the shrimp are done.

For the sauce, mix together vinegar, orange marmalade and hot sauce. Start with a little bit of hot sauce and add more until it is as spicy as you want.

Currently Cooking To:

Wale – Chillin (ft. Lady Gaga)
Wale – Nike Boots

I remember when I discovered Nike Boots a few years ago and I’m so glad that Wale has finally broken onto the mainstream music scene because he’s wonderful. Also, just the combination of Wale and Lady Gaga is bound to be a great song. And P.S. It’s pronounced like Wall-A and not like Whale.

The good news: It worked! I gelled a batch of marmalade!

The bad news: I have no idea why it worked.

I did put the seeds in a little cheesecloth baggie, and boiled with the rest, as some recipes suggested. But there weren’t very many seeds, I can’t imagine it was that. I also let the boiled till tender peels and everything (pre-sugar adding) sit overnight to “develop” the pectin, as some other recipes suggested. Was that it? Or was it that I made a smaller batch? One recipe did say it was hard to get a big batch to reach temperature…

Whatever it was, I sure was excited when the roiling, boiling mass of orangey goodeness started to look right. And just so’s you know, even on a plate that had been in the freezer, a dab still looked a little too soft when it was, in fact, ready.

A good trick for busy mamas:

By the time it had finished cooking and was ready to jar, it was late, all I wanted to do was go to bed. And anyway I hadn’t made it to the hardware store to get the smaller jars. So I let it sit overnight (also gave me the opportunity to see how gelled it had really gotten) then the next day reheated it and poured into my sterilized jars.

Bad trick: letting it burn a teeny bit while reheating. It doesn’t really need to reach a boil. It sterilized last night, and if you covered it, should still be sterile, besides it’s packed with sugar, I doubt this stuff is capable of supporting mold. So don’t overdo it whilst simultaneously eating lunch, oblivious to stirring, as some people might have done. That said, the little bit of burny didn’t make a bad flavor at all.

So, now that you have jar upon jar of marmalade, dear girl, what do you intend to do with it?

For starters I’ve discovered I like marmalade way better than milder fruit jams. I was never a huge jam fan. It’s fun to make (quite easy to make too much, in fact) and I do enjoy stirring it into yogurt, and the occasional PB&J. But I’ve always found jam to be either too sweet or too bland. Wasn’t till I tried my homemade marmalade that I realized fruit you would eat out of hand just doesn’t have enough flavor to carry the sugar it takes to make jam as sweet as I want it to be. But take something like orange peels, add a ton of sugar and you get something with real gusto! Wowza. Zing-orama!

Saw on another blog in my marm research that one woman’s family called it Mama-lade, because she was the only one who would touch the stuff. I like that, and suspect it will be true in our household as well. It is a very unusual taste to an American taste bud. We do tend to scorn the bitter.

In addition to smearing it on homemade toasted wheat bread with butter, I think it’s going to rock for cooking with.

For starters, I followed Riana’s non-recipe for Moroccan Chocolate Tangerine Tart. I love how she cooks exactly like I do, and is therefore incapable of conveying a real recipe, because anyway you’d have to have on hand whatever weird concoction she pulls out of her freezer to substitute for whatever she doesn’t have on hand. It’s impossible to imitate truly resource based cooking.

I did her non-recipe justice by paying very little attention to any part of it, except the concept– bittersweet whole orange puree (I just used marmalade whizzed up in the food processor), thickened with egg, on a pastry crust, with chocolate on top. I made mine bars, cuz I don’t have even a pie dish here, let alone a tart dish. They are intriguing little numbers. Exotic. I added cinnamon to play up the Moroccan flavor, and vanilla. I wouldn’t say they’re my new fave, the bitterness of the marmalade is kind of overpowering in such quantity, but well worth making.

More than star attraction cooking, I’m thinking the marm will be a good ‘punch up the flavor by the spoonful’ addition to lots of yummie things. It’d go great in almost any dessert. How about marm replacing a few tablespoons of the sugar in a chocolate cake? Stirred into the filling of an apple pie? Marmalade ice cream? But savory things too often benefit from a little sweetness– spaghetti sauce? (I once knew a real slimeball who, after asking me if I was a dancer and reading my palm made me spaghetti by his grandmother’s “secret” recipe, which included a big spoonful of grape jelly… I was young.) How about stir fry? It’d be a fab glaze for any kind of meat or fish, I can hardly wait to try it on one of our lovingly brought from Cordova salmon fillets.

So many ideas, and plenty of marmalade to try them all! The neighbor just brought another bag of Satsumas, so I’ll be on to my fourth batch. I’ll figure this thing out yet!

There are two things that we know to be true of Jaffa Cakes.

1. They are cakes – but we forgive them

2. They are round

You can only imagine my abject horror when, on the 8th of October, I saw a post on this venerable blog concerning the introduction of oblong Jaffa Cakes. I quickly surmised that this could only be the work of either Satan and all his little wizards or The Mad Arab and the Elders of Cthulhu.

Turns out, it was the Germans.

Obviously, further investigation was needed if I were to work out what those ruthlessly efficient, Teutonic devils were up to. So, bravely, I arranged for a box of the un-round terrors to be sent my way.

I waited, both in nervous anticipation and in a rather fetching Brown Derby hat which I wore at a jaunty angle.

Eventually they arrived and it quickly became apparent that these were not the Jaffa Cakes I had been used to. The box, for example, is a slim stylish looking affair and the name – Bahlsen’s Messinos – tells you immediately that something foreign is afoot.

Intrigued, I decided to open them and see how these square cornered Messinos would compare to my beloved circles of orangey goodness.

The first thing that struck me was how thin they are. This was most disappointing as I was expecting something more akin to the thick sponge of our native Jaffas. But maybe there was more to them, after all the Messinos main selling point is its orange centre which, they tell me, goes all the way to the edge.

It does too. And it appears to be a horse of an entirely different shade of orange. It’s stickier, than the Mcvitie’s jelly centre and orangier too. Bahlsen describe it as a marmalade. It goes right to the edge of the thin sponge giving them a surprising moistness.

Does this make them better than our own lovable Jaffa Cakes? No, it does not.

Our beloved Jaffa Cakes are thick and robust and can take a decent dunking if they have to. They are a great example of how a cake can become a favourite biscuit. The Messinos are more cake like, but they have their place.

If, for example, you are a Jaffa Cake lover and find yourself inviting your posh neighbours round for coffee and you wanted to show them how posh you were but still be able to serve your favourite biscuits/cakes, then the Messinos will fit right in. They are a posh Jaffa Cake. Stylish to look at, delicate to hold and with an orange centre that says, “I’m posher than you.”

It’s just a shame that they are entirely the wrong shape.

Mr Uku

The Future is Oblong

Oh yes, you read me right. I’m quite excited about this one. For some reason it took me more than a month living here to realize we lived one and a half blocks from a monastery. I guess in my life up till now, monasteries are the stuff of fairy tales. Maybe they really exist, in Tibet or some such equally fairy tale-ish place. But not just down the street!

Our neighborhood monastery has a big gate that’s usually open, with a sign that says Monastery Gift Shop, as welcoming as an iron gate on a ten foot tall brick wall can be. We kept meaning to check it out, but hadn’t.

Anyway, two days ago walking back from the park I saw some strangely bulging trash bags, right next to the trash can out back of the monastery’s tall brick wall. The strange way they were bulging said to me– oranges! Or maybe, grapefruit. Unless they were throwing out three bags full of softballs…. I ripped one open. Indeed some kind of citrus, but what? Yellow and sourer smelling than grapefruit. Whatever they were, surely I could marmalade them! I marmaladed a big box of limes from the dumpster once, so I know that it’s not just for oranges.

But I couldn’t do anything that involved the peels until I found out if they had been sprayed. I had to venture past the iron gate, into the mysterious, walled off lair of the monastery. Would there be nuns or monks inside? Would they be adorably kind and gentle, or tight lipped, harsh and in need of a good lay? Only one way to find out.

With my Toddler and Babe in tow, brandishing my wedding ring like a shield (in case they should suspect my virtue), I entered the iron gate and scaled the wide marble steps to the open door. Inside it was, predictably, completely silent– all dark wood and effigies. There was a sign that said, “for gift shop, ring bell” (the bell was, sadly, just the push button type). I rang and waited. A few moments later a deep-set wooden window opened. I suddenly wondered if I had anything to confess.

It was a woman. Not in any penguin outfit, but nun-looking none-the-less. Older, and definitely the sweet variety.

I apologized for the interruption (of course I imagined she’d been deep in prayer, but more likely she was just balancing the books and contemplating how to lure more shoppers into the gift shop) and then explained myself. Her eyes lit up when she understood my question. She said they were lemons. That they’d had the tree for years, for grafting onto, but never did. The lemons weren’t very good, though they’d gotten better in recent years. No, they hadn’t been sprayed, and yes, I could have as many as I wanted.

I left with a gleam in my mind’s eye. Behind that tall wall was a lemon tree. All the lemons I could want (well, how many lemons can a person want anyway?). But what else? What else were those industrious nuns growing for God back there? What other secrets did they have to discover? I found myself burning with obsessive desire to see behind the wall. I had an instant little fantasy, where I bring them back a jar of their lemons turned marmalade, and they invite me in. They give me tea. They show me around to all their unused fruit. Trees. They let me pick their lemons.

Yikes! Let’s get back to the marmalade!

The bags, which I collected the next day with my bike trailer, were full of lemons, yes. But these were the fallen fruits. They were almost all split open on one side, and having sat in the sun for a day or two, soft and fermenty around the split. I took a few in the house and cut them in half, the good half was still perfectly firm and fresh. I juiced them and tasted the juice, as delicious as lemon juice straight up can be! I foraged online for a recipe, and trialed a batch of marmalade. Unfortunately, since I didn’t have a scale, I didn’t actually follow the recipe, just the technique.

Okay, not really the technique either. I’m one of those notorious recipe disregarders. I always look at two or three recipes when I’m cooking something new, I write at least one down. And then proceed to completely disregard it. It’s like a dysfunction. I always have excuses. ‘I don’t have a scale’ or, ‘But these lemons are only half good, I can’t boil them whole.’ Sometimes I get arrogant and second guess the recipe writer. Or I combine recipes heedless of the importance of one ingredient to another.

For a dysfunction it’s fairly functional. I occasionally have disasters, but most often things work out fine. Not perfect, but good enough. I do learn things. Like why you should follow recipes.

At any rate. My first batch of lemon marmalade candied. Maybe I added too much sugar, or not enough liquid. Either way I let it boil down too much, and got a very soft ball stage. I got a combo of syrup and candied lemon peel. I whizzed it up in the food processor to get a somewhat better texture. It’s actually surprisingly good. I had some on my toast this morning.

In the middle of making my second batch, I willed into reality our neighbor bringing by a big bag of Satsumas. These little mandarins are ubiquitous here this time of year. I personally find them too sweet to be very satisfying. But I had dreamed that the best marmalade would be made from both satsumas and lemons, for a perfect balance of sweet, sour and bitter.

Satsuma Love

The proof will be in the pudding. I have some bubbling away on the stove, and some in the crock pot (I’ve been using the crock pot for canning type projects which need a low simmer for a long time. Works great, and there’s less waste heat) I did have one taste when I tested for sugar content, and wowza. Yu-um!

Marmalade is all about peel. The original definition in fact was just a preserve thickened with pectin from fruit peels. Many fruits have pectin in the peel and seeds. Now marmalade is generally considered to be just citrus, but the antiquated practice of using the peel for pectin remains. It’s a real old school jam!

I worked off of three recipes. The most complete and thorough from Delia Online (I don’t know who Delia is, but the recipe sounds British). This was the one where you boil the whole fruits first, and as I mentioned, that was not an option for me. It was also specifically for Seville oranges, the traditional British marmalading fruit.

Here is the recipe for lemon marmalade from Local Foods, that I more or less attempted to follow. With both batches now done, I can say I don’t know why the hell mine would not gel, and didn’t look remotely “creamy” as the recipe promises. True I didn’t weigh my fruit or measure my sugar, but the recipe gives a fairly large range for sugar, implying it’s not so critical…

And lastly, here’s a recipe and cute blog post from Pots and Pins about Satsuma marmalade.  I might try truly following this one next. If I can manage to.

And yes, as you may have gathered, my second batch is now done. I can tell you that marmalade is not exactly easy. But it depends on your standards. What I got is not like a jelly, it’s like soft sweet peel in a thick syrup. You have to use a spoon, but really the toast sucks up the extra moisture and it works just fine, and tastes… wow.

Actually, I had hardly ever eaten marmalade before and I think I might have a new obsession. I can imagine it’s not for everyone, at least not the stuff I made. It’s quite bitter. I don’t normally go in much for the bitter flavor. I always wish I would, since many wild greens are bitter. But the marmalade is bitter-sweet. And this is somehow incredibly alluring, seductive. Like the monastery itself, I feel this marmalade has a secret I am compelled to discover.

And I will, oh, I will.

I’ve had this poem by A. A. Milne (creator of Winnie the Pooh) going round my head for days now, so you may as well share in the fun:

The King’s Breakfast

The King asked
The Queen, and
The Queen asked
The Dairymaid:
“Could we have some butter for
The Royal slice of bread?”

The Queen asked the Dairymaid,
The Dairymaid
Said, “Certainly,
I’ll go and tell the cow
Now
Before she goes to bed.”

The Dairymaid
She curtsied,
And went and told the Alderney:
“Don’t forget the butter for
The Royal slice of bread.”

The Alderney said sleepily:
“You’d better tell
His Majesty
That many people nowadays
Like marmalade
Instead.”

The Dairymaid
Said “Fancy!”
And went to
Her Majesty.
She curtsied to the Queen
and
She turned a little red:
“Excuse me,
Your Majesty,
For taking of
The liberty,
But marmalade is tasty, if
It’s very
Thickly
Spread.”

The Queen said
“Oh!”
And went to his Majesty:
“Talking of the butter for
The royal slice of bread,
Many people
Think that
Marmalade
Is nicer.
Would you like to try a little
Marmalade
Instead?”

The King said,
“Bother!”
And then he said,
“Oh, deary me!”
The King sobbed, “Oh, deary me!”
And went back to bed.
“Nobody,”
He whimpered,
“Could call me
A fussy man;
I only want
A little bit
Of butter for
My bread!”

The Queen said,
“There, there!”
And went to
The Dairymaid.
The Dairymaid
Said, “There, there!”
And went to the shed.
The cow said,
“There, there!
I didn’t really
Mean it;
Here’s milk for his porringer
And butter for his bread.”

The queen took the butter
And brought it to
His Majesty.
The King said
“Butter, eh?”
And bounced out of bed.
“Nobody,” he said,
As he kissed her
Tenderly,
“Nobody,” he said,
As he slid down
The banisters,
“Nobody,
My darling,
Could call me
A fussy man -
BUT
I do like a little bit of butter to my bread!“

( A. A. Milne)

Wonderfully rhythmic! The last line is the killer, although i always remember it as: “I do like a little bit of butter on my bread”. Say it out loud and hear the percussiveness:

“I do like uh litt-uhl bit-uhf butt-uh to my bread.”

You have a rhythm created through the shwa vowel sound (uh) and another created through the repetition of the consonant ‘b’. The doubling of  short “i” in “little bit of” causes you to instinctively read that part more quickly creating an internal half-rhyme; and then finally you have the contrast between those two short “i” sounds and the wider, heavier vowel sounds that remain.

The magic of Children’s verse! Actually, it’s even better with pictures – something all Children’s literature should have in my opinion. There’s a page with what look like they could be the original illustrations here, although it’s been too long since i saw them for me to be sure. To be honest, i’d forgotten the poem itself till i ran out of soya milk:

I do like a little drop of soya milk on my muesli.

No. Doesn’t really work, does it.

Last week , i had a trip to Jakarta .
i had to go there because i got some invitation for seminar , but of course i didn’t go to Jakarta only for seminar .
i had a full 2 days culinary trip~~~~

so i will share some of the photos here in my blog 8D

this is my first stop for breakfast haha , i ate porridge and bbq pork , it was really delicious.

a delicious bbq pork , you should try it if you had a chance to go there ^^

porridge with bbq pork dish.
after i ate those , i went to hotel for check in , and i just remember that i forgot to take photo of the hotel . >.<

in the afternoon i went to Grand Indonesia for the seminar, this photo is in the inside of Grand Indonesia , i think it is called dancing water . I think it is imitating from Las Vegas .

invitation card…

this is how the room for seminar looks like .

i don’t know that in seminar you can see someone playing music XD

i had a break , so i went to eat BK , when i read this . i wonder is it that different if you cook it with flame grilling and just a ordinary tools to cook ?

pasta de waraku, a japanese pasta restaurant . All pasta that i have tried in that place is delicious~~~

this is how pasta de waraku looks in the inside.

bird cage cafe , i didn’t eat anything in that place . but i think this cafe has a nice ambiance .

food court in one of the mall in jakarta , i think it is in plaza senayan .
Do you ever go to this place ?

this is how plaza indonesia looks like , actually Jakarta is a nice place if you want to go for shopping or eating . but the traffic is not really good . in everyplace there is a trafficjam

in plaza indonesia i went to eat a dessert , actually i am not really a dessert man .
which one do you prefer ? main course ? dessert ? or appetizer ?

Fat burger ?? have you ever tried this burger ? it is really delicious .
there is a XL size for the burger , it is really big .
and a day before i came to that place , there is a competition , if you can eat 2 XL fatburger you can win a prize .
btw , usually how many burger can you eat ? 2 ? 3? 4?

Brunch is always nice to have during the winter months and there is nothing better than nice warm marmalade muffins, the ultimate feel good food and Paddington bear’s favourite treat.

What you need:

250g self raising flour , 150g wholemeal flour, 1 tsp baking powder , a grind of salt , 1  egg, 250ml milk , 1/2 squeezed orange juice, 75g melted butter , 150g thick-cut marmalade.

Preheat the oven at 220c.

First in one bowl with the melted butter, add the egg and orange juice. Whisk until light and frothy. In a second bowl add the flours and baking powder, sieved. Make a well in the middle and add your egg mixture. Beat together until thoroughly combined. Then stir in the marmalade until broken up but make sure it is still streaky and looks like a marble effect. Spoon in to muffin cases and bake for 20mins, or until light brown. This recipe should made 12 muffins.

Perfect for brunch or a nice snack.

Yield: 3 cups
              

• 1 lb Can jellied cranberry sauce
• 10 oz Jar Smucker’s Simply Fruit    -Orange Marmalade
• 1/4 ts Ground ginger
• 2 c  Fresh cranberries; each     -sliced 2 or 3 pcs horizont.
• 1/3 c  Walnuts; chop fine

  in 2-quart saucepan, over medium-to-low heat, use   rubber bowl scraper to stir together jellied sauce,
  marmalade and ginger until melted, about 6-8 minutes.   Add the sliced cranberries, keeping sauce on low. Stir  often. Continue cooking and stirring often until   cranberries are no longer white and taste tender to
  the bite (not soft, but not too crisp). Stir in  walnuts. When cooled to lukewarm, refrigerate, covered
  and use with a week to 10 days. Should freeze well to
  be used within 4 months.

Yield: 3 cups
              

• 1 lb Can jellied cranberry sauce
• 10 oz Jar Smucker’s Simply Fruit    -Orange Marmalade
• 1/4 ts Ground ginger
• 2 c  Fresh cranberries; each     -sliced 2 or 3 pcs horizont.
• 1/3 c  Walnuts; chop fine

  in 2-quart saucepan, over medium-to-low heat, use   rubber bowl scraper to stir together jellied sauce,
  marmalade and ginger until melted, about 6-8 minutes.   Add the sliced cranberries, keeping sauce on low. Stir  often. Continue cooking and stirring often until   cranberries are no longer white and taste tender to
  the bite (not soft, but not too crisp). Stir in  walnuts. When cooled to lukewarm, refrigerate, covered
  and use with a week to 10 days. Should freeze well to
  be used within 4 months.

An etrog is a very interesting fruit. You never really hear of it except for during Sukkot, and even then nobody eats it; we just shake it. It doesn’t help that they’re really expensive, and not that easy to eat.

This was my first experience cutting into an etrog. It’s a citrus fruit similar to a lemon, but you can’t squeeze the juices out. I guess you can use the outside like you would lemon zest, but it would be much harder, since the surface isn’t very smooth.

Jewish superstition connects etrog jelly to pregnancy and fertility. I have heard that it eases labor pains, helps a woman get pregnant, and can be eaten any time during pregnancy for health and luck.

There are so many seeds in an etrog!

Anyway, I remember making etrog jelly with my 2nd grade teacher, Aaliyah. Upon googling etrog recipes, this seemed to be the most popular way to use an etrog after the holiday. I read a bunch of these recipes, combined them with my knowledge from my previous jam experiments (raspberry and fig-strawberry), and came up with this:

Ingredients:

• 1 etrog
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange marmalade

1. To prepare for your cooking-with-etrog adventure, soak your etrog in for a week changing the water ocassionally.
2. After the week is up, chop the etrog, and remove the seeds. Discard the ends (and the pitom, gasp!), but keep the peel! Then grind it in a food processor.
3. Simmer the etrog pieces in water for about 30 minutes and strain.
4. Put the fruit back into the pot and heat on high. Stir in orange marmalade. Add the sugar, 1/3 cup at a time, mixing until it is incorporated. When all of the sugar is added, continuously stir the mixture until it boils and you can’t stir it away.
5. Place the mixture into a jar (I used a cleaned-out applesauce jar), seal, and let sit and set in a cool, dark place.

What is your favorite post-sukkot etrog recipe?

Smart kids get parents to commit to the outrageous when they are not listening. I vaguely remember my daughter Danielle telling me about some birthday party and blah blah blah on Saturday. Sure I said as long as I’m not involved. Some more “blah blah” she says and I said OK.

Well those oks were that she would be sleeping over the night before the party and arrive at noon to receive guests at 1. As Murphy’s Law would go, things went wrong and Danielle did not get home until after the first two guests arrived. That was how I got to do all the things I had blocked out not hearing the blah blah blah’s.

Thank goodness I have some true and tried recopies. I made my Olive and Chilli BBQ chicken in the oven, home made fries, a slew of dips to go with the chips and veggies.

I only have two pieces of chicken to show as the vultures had the entire pan.

Their comments; “Mrs Spencer that was the best chicken ever”, “I had five pieces” “Wow my mom does not make chicken like that”…on and on.

Nadine’s Olive & Chilli BBQ Chicken
1 large pack of chicken drumsticks
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Add one grated onion and 6 pieces crushed garlic.
mix in 1 cup Chaloner Olive and Chilli preserve and 2 cups Q Gourmet Smokey BBQ Cooking sauce

if time allows let sit overnight in refrigerator (minimum time to marinate 1 hour is ok)

Bake at 350 in covered roasting pan for 1 hour (after hour drain off excess sauce, I usually save for sauces at a later time freeze till required.)

In a separate bowl combine 1 cup Chaloner Olive and Chilli preserve and 2 cups Q Gourmet Smokey BBQ Cooking Sauce and slowly brush on chicken.

Put in oven un-covered for half an hour allowing sauces caramelize on chicken.

Enjoy!

Tastes even better the next day if any left.

… when boiling sugar always to keep an eye on it. Turning away for two seconds is long enough to set the hob alight.

In my effort to decrease my Christmas consumerism, I’ve been making marmalades (as I may or may not have said in my last post). Today I decided to try and combine said preserve with my favourite substance ever – tea.

To get a festive sort of flavour, I opted to use chai tea – a spicy, Indian variety that in recent years has come to be very popular in latte form. Basically, I just brewed a giant cup full, using a saucepan and sieve instead of teapot and strainer. I added some citrus juice to freshen it up a bit, and hopefully add a little pectin to help the jam set, and then poured in my preserving sugar.

There I was, diligently stirring away, when the phone rang. I gave my pot one last stir, noted the whole sugar granules, grabbed the phone and then turned round to-

- just in time to see a huge plume of smoke, towering out of my pan. In the few seconds it had taken me to turn round, the jam had not only started boiling, but had boiled over onto the red-hot hob. I had no idea what to do. I couldn’t remember if sugar fires are one of the ones that you can’t put out with water so in desparation, I prodded the saucepan out of the way and tossed a dampened cloth over what looked like a sticky, black honeycomb of smouldering sugar.

The jam, I am pleased to say, is fine*. As is the vast majority of my kitchen. The only real casualties of the incident were the hob – which now has a lovely matt finish – and my fingers. A small price to pay, I feel, for combining two of the more incredible substances in the world.

Another successful day of self-employment, though I’m not sure how much longer this will last in its current form.  I want to continue working as a freelancer, but perhaps not exclusively. I went to a job interview yesterday in a bid to earn enough money to justify having the ding removed from Charlie Micra’s bumper. I’ll find out on monday if I have it or not, but I’m crossing fingers.  I wouldn’t mind the little imperfection on by gorgeous car had it been central, or on the opposite side to the exhaust, but as it’s on the same side, the back-end looks a little off-balance and it’s bugging the hell out of me.

Anyways, I’m off to make stovies. For those of you who don’t know what that is, look it up and try it.  Just bear in mind that you should leave it cooking until the tatties disintegrate and form a grey sort of soupie stock. That’s how you know it’s done.

*The jam is something of a masterpiece, actually. It tastes like really sweet tea, and has the consistency of honey rather than conventional jam. I daresay a spoonful dissolved in hot water with a slice of lemon would do someone with a sore throat the world of good.

The mad rush is starting already, and it isn’t even November. I think there should be a law banning people from advertising Christmas merchandise until after Hallowe’en. We know that Christmas is coming – that we’re going to spend December and January financially recovering on a diet of lentils and baked beans – we don’t need reminding how utterly miserable we’ll be every time we check our bank balance, thank you.

I decided to make a stand this year – not least because my current fiscal situation demands it – and to opt out of being a total consumer whore. I really love Christmas – or rather, I used to when I didn’t have seventeen thousand relatives to buy for. Christmas with my Mum and Dad was magic, and my favourite Yuletide memory is of the year my parents made a train set for my brother. The fact that they produced the gift themselves, that it was unique, made it all the more precious, and though D- is now 20, he still has said train set tucked away in his room.

My gifts this year will be things I’ve created myself, or things that I’ve managed to purchase for a minimum fee – ideally second hand. Not only does it mean that everyone will be getting really individual presents, it means that if something has been bought for them, I’ll have done so with a great deal of thought. In previous years, like many other people, I’ve fallen into the trap of making a last minute grab for any old item, just so that I can hand over a present. I wonder how much money has been wasted in that way over the years – how many people have smiled politely, accepted the unwanted gift and put it on ebay as soon as the giver was out of sight.

So far, I’ve been making lots of jams and marmalades, and I’m finding the process incredibly addictive. Not only can I invent new and interesting flavours, but whilst boiling up my sugar, I get a huge buzz of achievement and excitement. I can’t wait to hear what people think when they spread it on the homemade oat cakes that I’m going to produce nearer the time, and the knowledge that I’m giving my friends something that no one else possibly could, is an incredibly nice feeling.

It isn’t even November yet, but I’m already really looking forward to the holidays – something that I haven’t done for a good long while.

Apples, potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, etc., if stored in bins or barrels, should be picked over every week. The defective should be thrown away, and if there be any signs of sweating, the good should be spread out on the floor for a day or two to dry before they are repacked. Fruit should be handled with care. Bruises are incipient decay.

Particularly fine fruit-apples and pears-should be wrapped, each separately, in soft, unprinted paper, and, when packed, covered with fine, dry sand. Thus protected, they will keep plump and sweet for months, and need no overhauling meanwhile.

When practicable, keep vegetables in large quantities elsewhere than in the cellar under your dwelling. Putrefying roots, cabbages and apples were responsible for much of the winter and spring diseases that puzzled our forefathers and mothers. Even now many farmhouse reeks with “cellar smells”, as subtle and dangerous as sewer gas.

Keep eggs in a cool place, yet not where they will be liable to freeze. If you store them in large quantities, pack in dry salt, the small end down. As an additional precaution, grease the shells, and pour melted lard upon the topmost layer of salt.

Dried beans and peas should be kept in wooden or tin boxes with close tops.

Have canisters with tight lids for coffee and tea, and keep them shut. Coffee loses strength and flavor when exposed to the air. Tea softens and molds.

In buying crackers give preference to those packed in time cases. If they come in paper boxes, set these in tin receptacles, or in stone crocks with snugly fitting tops. Never throw away a tin cracker-box. It is always useful.

After cheese is cut, wrap in tin-foil, or in soft, unprinted paper, and keep in tin or in stoneware.

Crusts, bits of toast, broken crackers and stale slices of bread should be kept in the kitchen closet until perfectly dry; then set in a moderate oven for an hour before crushing them with a rolling-pin. Keep these crumbs in a glass jar with a close top. They are invaluable for breading chops and croquettes, and for scallops.

Brown flour by the quantity, and when cool put into glass jars ready for use.

Salt cakes and hardens in damp weather. Store it in your warmest and driest pantry. In very wet weather mix a little cornstarch with that you put into the table salt-cellars.

Flour cannot be kept too dry, nor can Indian Oatmeal, and all kinds of sugar. Pulverized sugar is as susceptible to humidity as salt. Tin boxes are absolutely necessary for keeping it tolerably free from lumps.

Spices, pepper and dried herbs must also be shut up closely, and never be kept in open receptacles. Some brands of baking powders actually effervesce when exposed for days at a time to the open air. All are injured seriously by such exposure.

For all these staples and ingredients, have closely-fitting lids-and keep them on!

Store dried fruits in stone jars with covers; canned fruits and pickles in glass jars; tumblers of jelly and marmalade should be kept in the dark. The light acts chemically upon the contents. If your storeroom be light, wrap jars and tumblers in thick paper tied on with strings.

As soon as meat comes home from market remove every bit of the brown paper enveloping it, and lay upon a clean dish near the ice-never on it. Fish does not suffer from contact with ice. Meat does, becoming flabby and viscid. If your refrigerator is so arranged that you can hang the meat up, that the air can get at all sides of it, it will keep far better than when laid on a platter.

A good meat preserver is a box, as large as you can make room for in the refrigerator, the top and bottom of which are wood, the sides of wire netting. Stout hooks are screwed into the inside of the top, and one of the netted sides is hinged, like a door. Meat hung in this box will remain untainted and sweet much longer than when hung upon the side of the refrigerator. If you have a cool cellar, keep the meat box, thus prepared, upon a shelf in the darkest corner. The netting excludes insects, yet allows the air to enter, and by drying the surface forms an impervious coating which will keep in the juices.

Get large tin boxes for bread and cake. Scald them frequently, drying thoroughly in the sun, and have clean, dry clothes in which to wrap each fresh batch of cake and baking of bread and biscuits.

It is an excellent plan to make cotton bags in which to put lettuce, celery, tomatoes, spinach, and other green things you wish to store in the refrigerator. The shelves and ice-box are kept clean, the esculents fresh. Many housewives have adopted the expedient within a few years, and none has abandoned it after a trial. The bags are of coarse, light cotton cloth, or of cheese-cloth, and go into the weekly wash.

Table butter, wrapped in dampened cheesecloth squares, keeps sweet and firm. These squares are as large as a child’s pocket handkerchief, and hemmed to prevent raveling. Half a dozen will last a year, unless the “hirred gurrel” takes them for dish-clothes.

Butter, made into balls for the table, should be kept in a bowl of cold water in the refrigerator, and the water changed every morning.

Keep in your own mind, and so far as you can, impress upon the conscience of servants, that whatever has been once refrigerator(ed) must be returned to cold storage, unless used. Meats soften and taint, butter turns rancid, fruits and vegetables decay when this precaution is neglected.

roserawe

A number of people have noted that, now that we are about halfway through the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, they have hit a wall. It’s not that they want to quit the Challenge; they just don’t want to bake for a while. Just the opposite happened to me this week. I got my baking and canning mojo on big time. I had a long weekend, and from Saturday to Monday, I managed to make and can apple cider jelly, apple butter and 4-citrus marmalade, and to bake pumpkin gingerbread, pain a l’ancienne, pain de compagne and straun.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This was not a typical weekend for me. In fact, I have never even come close to being this productive in the kitchen before. I don’t know what came over me: I just felt like baking and cooking.

On Saturday morning, I made pumpkin gingerbread, which was the October BOM (bread of the month) for the Facebook Artisan Bread Bakers group. And it was, indeed, the bomb. Check out the recipe if you want to try it for yourself.

In the afternoon on Saturday, we went to a local farm market and came home with lots of goodies, including apple cider. I made apple cider jelly in the evening. I think it will be really good as a glaze for tarts or grilled chicken.

While the jelly was cooking, I also baked a half recipe of BBA pain a l’ancienne. This is a rustic bread, crusty, full of holes and definitely homemade looking. I especially enjoy what I consider to be real artisan breads (sourdoughs and those breads containing flour, water, salt, yeast, and little else), so I was looking forward to this recipe. It was a very slack dough, due to the high hydration.

This made it somewhat challenging to work with. But the loaves came out looking really nice.

And the crumb was beautiful.

And the taste? That’s where the letdown came for me. I didn’t exactly dislike it. But I wasn’t crazy about it, either. It was sort of bland and lifeless. Ah, well. Maybe next time (which wouldn’t be a very long wait for me this weekend).

Sunday morning saw the continuation of the canning craze, as I made my first-ever batch of apple butter. Here are a few pictures: before cooking, after cooking, and after straining.

I went kind of light on the cinnamon and nutmeg, and was really pleased with the results. Several people at work said they don’t normally like apple butter, but they liked this.

While the apples were cooking down, I started on my next BBA bread: pain de compagne. This was a fun bread to make, as it lends itself to all kinds of creative shaping. I opted to try my hand at an auvergnat (cap), couronne (crown), and epi (wheat sheaf). As you can see, I had somewhat mixed results. I liked the couronne and epi. But the auvergnat looked a bit like a stick figure head wearing a graduation cap.

These were really flavorful loaves. My 5-year-old and I kept tearing the nubbins off the epi and eating them. And the auvergnat tasted much better than it looked.

On Sunday evening, I started the 4-citrus marmalade. I began with my citrus marmalade recipe, which I altered by reducing the lemon to 1 and adding 2 limes and about 3/4 of a grapefruit. The citrus marmalade has a great flavor — tangy and sweet — and I thought the addition of lime and grapefruit would enhance the flavor and add a lot to the visual appeal as well.

After boiling the citrus, I added the sugar, covered the pan and let it sit overnight. By Monday morning, there was a lot more liquid.

I cooked it down for several hours, then canned it.

I will have to write up this recipe, as it was all I had hoped it would be. I can’t wait to give it away for Christmas.

For those of you keeping score, I had one more bread to go. The end of my baking adventure was straun. I used Peter Reinhart’s multigrain bread extraordinaire recipe in BBA, but I doubled it since one loaf just wan’t enough the last time.

After I had baked my first batch of straun for the BBA Challenge, I realized I had King Arthur 12-grain flour in the freezer, which seemed like a natural addition for this bread. So this time, I replaced about 1/3 of the bread flour in the recipe with the multigrain flour.

And I added more (and different) rice. I had to go to the store to buy rice, so I picked up three bags — brown, red and forbidden (black). I cooked them all together using Nicole’s foolproof method. It is, of course, impossible to cook a few ounces of rice, and I didn’t even try. Instead, I used 1/3 cup (dry) of each rice to make a nice-sized batch. After I measured out the rice for my straun, I wrapped the remaining rice mixture in 2-ounce packages (about 8 in all) and froze them for later use.

And I will use them. I love this bread. In fact, it may be my favorite BBA Challenge bread so far. It has incredible depth of flavor. With polenta, bran, oats, rice, etc., how could it not? And it’s great plain, as toast or for sandwiches. I think the next time I make straun, I will try baking it in my pain de mie pan for a true sandwich loaf.

Thus ended my crazy canning and baking weekend. Even though I had a lot of fun making so many things, I was kind of glad when Tuesday came and I had to go back to work: after all, I needed to catch up on my rest.

Ingredients 

1. Arugula (12 oz)
2. Marmalade (1t, heaped)
3. Olive Oil (1/3 cup)
4. Balsamic Vinegar (4T)
5. Pesto (4t)
6. Pine Nuts (1/4 cup)
7. Croutons (1 cup)
8. Eggs (2)
9. Black Pepper (1t)
10. Cardamon

Preparation

1. Hard boil 2 eggs and if you are not buying ready-made croutons, dice some bread and toast them into croutons in a toaster oven.
2. Spoon the marmalade and pesto into a bowl that will hold the dressing and microwave for 15 seconds to soften the marmalade.
3. Add the olive oil and vinegar, plus 1t of black pepper, a pinch of salt and a pinch of cardamon (optional, you can leave it out if you don’t have any). This completes the dressing.
4. Put the hard boilled eggs through the egg slicer 3 times, each in a different direction. On the third time, each egg will literally fall apart, so do it over your salad bowl containing the arugula to catch the little egg bits. In anycase, have all the egg end up  in the salad bowl when you are done.
5. When its time to serve your salad, drizzle your dressing into the arugula and eggs and then toss. When the yolks have melded into the dressing, add the crutons and pine nuts and toss lightly a second time.  Serve immediately to keep your arugula crisp.

Notes

• On occasion I also use baby spinach and it works well, and that results in a different look. I only used arugula in this recipe because its supposed to (actually it does) pair nicely with fruit and nuts.
• I’d recommend heavier breads like farm bread for the crutons, so they stay crunchy longer.
• If you are using coarse-cut marmalade, cut the pieces of peel into tiny bits.
• In smaller portions, you can also use this salad as decorative side-salad on your main dishes or hot appetizers.