New endeavors

Today's cooking extravaganza yielded:

• vegetable quiche (with homemade crust)
• cucumber and tomato salad with gorgonzola and a dab of Annie's Goddess Dressing
• peach jam (my first canning effort - ever! If you don't hear from me, blame it on botulism...)




A Hard Day's Work: Ross was busy today too. He fabricated this rack for his motorcycle.

• bean burritos from scratch. From "scratch" you say? How can that be? Those pintos were soaked, cooked, then refried (using chicken fat from cooking a whole chicken, along with diced onion, garlic, and salt). I also tucked some delicious heirloom tomatoes in there, along with some avocado slices)
• a roasted butternut squash, to be used later in a bread
• brownies (um, I cut corners a bit and used the "No Pudge" mix from Trader Joe's... But! I did use my homemade yogurt.)
• And that reminds me... yogurt (It takes so little effort that I often forget I made it.)
• Mint cherry tabouli
• Falafel

Wow. So it might seem like a lot. But believe it or not, it's not like I was in the kitchen the WHOLE ENTIRE day. Of course, there's the usual kid watching. There was also part of a movie. We even went to a friend's birthday party.

Can I just say how *excited* I am about the jam? I grew up with my grandmother making the most delicious strawberry jam. Seriously, every year I think she made it. I don't even recall store-bought jam being in the house. And then, when we were cruising, my mom canned all of our meat. But do you think that I paid attention to either of these efforts? No. My concentration was, um, on the eating part of the effort.

But I've been thinking that I want to start canning. Something. Anything. The whole idea of "putting up" some food for the future. To be able to look in my pantry and see those lovely canning jars filling the shelves. Doesn't it just give you goosebumps of anticipation? Ok, maybe that's just me.

So last year Ross got me the Ball Blue Book of Canning (which I inevitably call "The Blue Ball Book of Canning." Seriously, couldn't they see that coming?). It was one of those gifts that you give someone in the hope that they'll start a hobby. "Here, darling. Some knitting needles!" "Oh honey, you shouldn't have! Really."

But there I was, conferring with my beloved Blue Ball Book (ahem), on how to can applesauce. Because this just happens to tie in with my Green Group Challenge of a Buy Nothing (New) Month, which I'm planning on for next month. And it occurred to me that, here sat something that I made, this lovely peach jam. Something that could be, I don't know, given as a gift. Because a certain sister's birthday is in the month of October. Hopefully, with all of the super secret code I've used, she'll still be surprised. If not, Jen, can you just act surprised? Love ya!

(PS: I promise not to send you any tabouli.)

What new hobby do you want to start? What's keeping you from it?