Sabbath Rest--That Which Is Written in Stone

(I've had to take a break posting to make space in my schedule for a death in the family. I'll be back next week. In the meantime, join me contemplating the parts of a garden that last longer than just a season...)

Apples Aplenty

Apples aplenty! That's what you realize you have, when 20 minutes of work in the orchard becomes 20 hours of work in the kitchen. So many choices for things to do if you picked a versatile variety!

Today I'm taking one more look at jelly-making; this time, using the no-sugar-added pectin option. With especially sweet fruit, you can save on calories by making these jellies. Or, if it needs a little sweetening, use a bit of honey. And speaking of saving, if you've been canning with me through out the summer, you might now have some half-pint relish jars ready to recycle. Don't leave them sitting 1/8 full of vinegar in the back of the refrigerator. Pull them out, wash them and recycle! This is the time when canning actually starts to save you money instead of costing. All you may need to buy as you recycle jars is a box of new lids.


You may need to buy lids and rings--both are available option. Make the decision based on the quality of the rings you have. If they are showing signs of rust (see pic of lid on left as compared to good ring on the right) then you should throw them away. Rust can affect the quality of the seal on the jar in canning.

This sparkling pink apple juice came straight from the apples as per the work of my juicer. The juice combined with the pectin (brought to a hard boil that can't be stirred down) served as the full work of this jelly recipe.
If you are making nothing but jelly and have a juicer like mine, all you need to do is cut off the blossom end of each apple and feed it into the machine. But I wanted to use the pulp for other apple recipe--like apple cake and apple-almond bread, so I cut the apples into chunks and discarded the cores and seeds. Here you see a bowl of pulp that measured about half the pulp I gained from the pitcher of juice shown.

Most boxes of pectin come with a variety of cooking and canning instructions right in the box. You'll find jelly-making is pretty easy if you have a juicer, or if you take the super-easy short cut of simply buying bottles of juice.

If you want to go the most traditional route, the boxed pectin also gives directions for you to make the jelly by simmering the fruit in water and then allowing the "mush" to drip through a jelly-bag overnight; but to save time and trouble while maintaining the freshness of flavor, I bought a juicer. I use it most specifically for my apple and tomato recipes.

That's not to say, though, that I don't have and use a few recipes for healthy juices just for the drinking. In fact, I used the excess juice of about 4 apples and combined it with the juice of 4 carrots and a couple of stalks of celery. This simple juice blend completed a reviving snack when combined with a handful of roasted almonds. (Also left overs from the ones I'd chopped some of them for the apple nut bread.)

While the apple jelly processed in the canner, I perused recipes in an old church cookbook I bought at a garage sale. I found one I decided I have to try. Although it is not an apple recipe, it had too promising a name to ignore: a dessert called the "Better than Robert Redford" dessert.

One thing about the no-sugar-added recipes you should know, they tend to be somewhat runny compared to their sugar alternatives. If you do add some sugar (or honey or Splenda) to give it body, you have to bring the mixture back to a boil and boil it hard for 1 full minute after adding the sweetener--but those directions are likewise included with the no-sugar-added pectin.

A last note, if you feel like making the jelly a little less mundane. Check out the website link for a recipe on apple-rosemary jelly. (It is shown with the regular apple jelly above.) And if the children turn up their noses at herb jelly, say what I say: live a little!


http://www.jellyjamrecipes.com/fruit-preserves-recipes/homemade-apple-rosemary-jelly-recipe/

Self-seeding

We laugh, we cry, we say goodbye...The garden season is ending soon. Friends make the comment, "I picked the last tomato yesterday." Or, "I finally pulled out my cucumber plants today." I, too, and reduced to a mornings picking yielding only the fixings for a single salad. But even as I say goodbye to some of my big-producers, even as they begin their days decomposing into their next state of matter, if you will, nevertheless, I find delightful surprises presenting themselves in my garden.



For instance, I too, considered pulling this cucumber plant a week or so ago but left it a little longer. I went back to it again this week with the same intention. But as I pulled the vine from where it had grown into a patch of marigolds, I found one delightfully full-grown cucumber ready to pick. A last two blossoms made me decide to leave it for yet another week.

And what should decide to pop up in front of the dying zinnias? Baby dill seedlings. I pulled the "intentional" crop of dill weeks ago, but now have new dill to use in seasoning the dilly green tomatoes or dilly green beans I'll no doubt soon make soon as a fast-approaching frost utterly ends the days when things ripen on the vine.




Another self-seed payoff came in the form of baby onions. I left an onion flower lying in the onion patch a few weeks ago...and today I'm seeing new sprouts right between the lettuce and radishes and the mature onion plants. We'll have green onions with the few last salads of the season.




And when I pulled the last zucchini monstrosity, I found under one of its broad leaves a crop of tender new basil plants. I'd let some of the other basil go to flower, and though that parent basil's leaves turned a little bitter, this new basil is the beneficial result!




Taking my cue from the garden itself, I decided to bring that spirit indoors, tucking little vases of wildflowers--some of the last color from the wildflower garden--in nooks and crannies of the house.

Happy surprises!

Much Ado about Apples...

Our apple saga left off last time with a return trip home from the orchard. The story picks up today with a classic lunch menu: peanut butter sandwiches, enhanced with the honey apple butter, a side of garden salad tossed in creamy cucumber onion dressing and a handful of fresh raspberries. As we ate, we perused the cook book for apple recipes.

Garden Helper became Kitchen Helper for the afternoon. His first recipe to make was yet another childhood classic: candied apple rings. (Although we made apple slices.) The recipe calls for a cup of water, a half cup of cinnamon candies (red hots, we used to call them) and a quarter cup of sugar.

Kitchen helper stirred while the candy melted and as the apples simmered, taking periodic breaks to warm his hands "over the fire." The apples should simmer until transparent but not to the point of growing mushy.

We considered other recipes. Kitchen Helper discovered apples are quite the versatile food! But for now, he was ready to change hats once again and become artist in residence.

The apples cooled in the juice, and as they were cooling, the artist took apple rings with the cores intact and used them for apple prints.

Although the exposure leaves something to be desired, I thought I'd include a shot of the "finished work" when the apple prints were complete. Between this one and the large, red apple painting he made, a new season begins on the refrigerator art gallery.

In the end, a tasty jar of cinnamon candied apples is ready to go into cold storage, and we have enough red hots and candy corn left for a dish on the side board. A place of honor, considering the sideboard is usually reserved for homemade bread; but candy trumps bread this time of year anyway!

Next up, we'll use more of the apples...probably in jelly and muffins. Happy peeling!