Preserving Food, and Memories

Whenever I start canning, I think of Virginia Crawford and her deceptively frail hands. That woman knew her way around her kitchen with speed and grace. I have the speed part down, I am working on the grace aspect. I met Virginia back in 1992 in Utah's Dinosaur National Monument Park. We were both vehicle camping with our husbands. They invited us into their little RV for coffee and the next thing I knew we were exchanging contact information and making plans for me to travel up to their home in Manteca the following spring. Virginia knew something I wanted to know. How to can. She told me I could learn it all from the various books available on the subject, but I tend to learn best by watching and doing. So the next year, I flew up for almost two weeks and we hit all the local farm stands for fresh fruits and vegetables. I canned about 5 cases of jams, whole fruit, tomatoes, and green beans. My husband drove up to bring me and my bounty back home. I have been at it ever since.

A couple weeks ago, I bought two cases of organic Apriums. 3/4 apricot and 1/4 plum hybrid fruit. The skin has less fuzz than apricots, and a bit of plum tanginess. I always look forward to starting a canning project, but this one was the biggest I'd done in a while. After the third batch of 7 jars, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed! In the end, I canned up 28 jars of Aprium Butter, and 14 of Gingered Aprium Marmalade.

First things first. Sorting for the ripest, and culling any that have begun to spoil. The aroma from this fruit wafted upstairs, and was a delightful thing to wake up to!

Sometimes a recipe can be wrong. I needed twice this amount to get the yield needed to fill 7 jars. That's where my speed kicked in!

This smelled so good! Just a tiny bit of water and fruit. So simple.

After a brief spin in the blender, back to the pan for more cooking.

Proofing is done by putting a small amount of the fruit butter on a chilled plate. If no watery liquid forms around the edge, it is ready. I got lucky and it was ready the first time I tested it!

The first batch, cooling and though you can't hear it, the lids were popping! Always a good sound!

As this canning season rolls out, I will think of Virginia often. A kind stranger who shared her passion, and ignited a spark in me. I love being able to share my work with friends and family. And sometimes, a stranger. I have new neighbors. I will be bringing them a jar of jam, and a loaf of bread as a welcome gift. Who knows...perhaps a spark will be ignited.

Who ignited a spark in you, and what did you do with it? Have you passed it on? I'd love to know. Leave me a note!

Body and Spirit

I have returned to meditation after a long absence. I began this year with a quest to take better care of my body, but didn't give serious thought to my spirit. I have been exercising nearly every day. I wasn't looking for a group to meditate with, but recently I found one very close to home. For one hour on Monday nights, I take time to take care of me. As I sit with others, I feel the stresses and annoyances begin to drift away from me, and I experience a different kind of lightness. It is a wonderful way to start my week!

Lost in Sendai...?

I don't know about you, but I am still reeling from images of the devastation in Japan. It's like my heart has been torn out. I have never been to Japan, but I feel a deep spiritual connection to it's people, culture, art, and environment.

Both my parents love the Japanese culture too, and our house reflected that in the landscaping and interior decorating. My parents no longer live in that house, but they still have many of the beautiful ceramics, prints, and baskets I remember from my childhood. My mom has added a few things to her collection  here and there, and I have several pieces that are very dear to me.

My mother's hairdresser for many years, and occasionally mine too, was a native of Japan. Eiko was more than our hairdresser though. She was a link for my mom to a land she longed to visit. My mom would book the last appointment Eiko had for the day and afterwards, the two of them would go out for sushi. Eiko would of course order in Japanese. Years ago, Eiko passed on, and it was a shock for both of us, especially my mom. Some people are hard to get over. My most treasured items from Japan came from Eiko.

Several years ago,  we hosted a teenage girl, Saori, for three weeks. Francesca was about 5. They got along so well, and there was so much laughter in our home. We had such a great experience, we did it again the next year with Mayumi. Both of these delightful young women took pieces of our hearts away with them, but left some of theirs with us. That's how it is supposed to work. Now, they are in their late 20's, and I have no idea how to get in touch with them anymore. Letters have gone unanswered, and I don't know if they ever got them. Mayumi lived in Kanuma, Tochigi. It is farther inland and north of Tokyo, so I imagine she and her family are safe. Saori lived in Sendai. I have begun a quest to see if I can locate her and or her family. It won't be easy as they have a very common last name. But I feel like I must know what has become of the lovely young woman who took a piece of me away with her. I have left a message on Google's new "2011 Japan people earthquake finder": http://tinyurl.com/4fh232y 


I have a small flicker of hope, as the main source of communication after the quake and tsunami was Twitter and Facebook. Perhaps by my posting on these sites, eventually I will learn what became of the girl that had her first banana split here.

20 years

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated 20 years of marriage, but not in what I suspect is a 'normal' way. There were no cards exchanged, no flowers bought, no fancy dinner, no gifts and *gasp*,  no drama! Years ago, I suggested we keep a journal that we could all use for writing sentiments in for Birthdays, anniversaries and such. It seemed like a good idea, but we never did it. We also pretty much stopped buying cards. Once in a while, one will catch my eye, and I'll have to get it, but for the most part, Hallmark makes no money off me. Come on, Trader Joe's has great cards for .99. I set foot in Hallmark about this time of year to add to the collection of plane and train ornaments I have been buying for Michael for about 15 years or so. Someday they may be a down payment for a house for Francesca!

 So, just how did we celebrate the milestone of 20 years? We had our hugs and kisses in the morning and a few phone calls during the day. We had dinner at home and watched  the new Robin Hood movie, and had champagne. We recalled a few of the events that shaped who and how we are as a couple.  We got married in Nevada, with Michael's best friend as our witness. We learned a lot about each other back then by spending 19 days camping in a VW Rabbit in the Fall through Death Valley and Utah. We learned that we really liked being together, but that we needed a bit more space!  February 1991 found us both buying our very first new vehicle, a VW Westfalia. It was our first 'home' and we honeymooned up in the Canadian Rockies next year in it after we had our family wedding in April. (We celebrate both anniversaries, but the October anniv. is the official one!)

Tonight we will celebrate by having dinner at Persia Restaurant, our favorite. The food is fantastic, and very healthy. And they have belly dancers on Saturday nights!

I would like to think that we will be celebrating our 50th in 2040. Yes, we will be much older, hopefully grandparents, and most hopefully, sane.

Embracing Fall

Summer is officially over. Fall has arrived!

I used to dread this time of year.

Fall.

That word alone connotes some disaster, ask me, I know!  Fall, for me, is a time to begin to gather in, as in a harvest. I was thrilled years ago when I found that my name meant 'one who harvests.' It felt right. Living up to my name, I have harvested most of what the garden had to offer this year. The tomatoes were troopers, but they were so confused by the inconsistent weather we had; some days were blazing, scorching, fraking hot,

 others were cool, moist and cloudy. The tomatoes gave up and produced only a few very tasty treats. It was a painful tease. I had 6 varieties, 4 were heirloom and organic, and all suffered and survived the attack of the killer tomato worms. The real winner of the garden this year, and still producing, is the zucchini. That one lone plant has produced more than 40 pounds of food. It currently has 4 squash growing, and I am going to harvest those before next weekend, and then pull the plant out. It is beginning to weaken and will soon attract undesirable bugs.

Fall is a good time to take stock, put things in order, plan and prepare. I will be spending some time tomorrow plotting and scheming for the Fall/Winter garden. I'll plant lettuce for sure, as it will love the cooler days, and I will appreciate it not bolting after the first warm day. Broccoli would be nice too. I will give the compost one more turn and in a couple of weeks, will be able to use it for the Fall plantings.  

 I love the quality of light that Fall brings. It's not as harsh, with the sun being lower on the horizon. The way it creeps into the kitchen in the morning, it's not quite as blinding. When the sun reflects off the back neighbors windows as it is setting, it brings a golden light to the kitchen in the late afternoon. The fantastic sunsets that fill my workroom with a warm glow delay the inevitable moment when I must rely on electric lights to continue working.

I tend to do two major house cleanings a year. In Spring; it's the perfect time for new beginnings, and in Fall; it's the perfect time to put things in order before hunkering down. Plus, our Homeowners Association pays for all the advertising for the twice yearly garage sales that just happen to coincide with my purges. We have a sale coming up in October and I have been hunting and gathering for this event. It is getting harder to come up with things to get rid of, and that concerns me a bit. It either means that I have just about pared down as much as I can, or I am in denial!

Fall is also my favorite time of year to decorate in the house. I love the rich colors; ambers, greens, oranges with hints of red, browns; nature's earthly palate. Every year I add one new thing to my stash of Fall decorations. Maybe one reason I like decorating in the Fall so much is because it tends to be a long season. The dried wheat I will put in a vase this week can stay out until shortly after Thanksgiving. I have already bought pumpkins, but they are to be baked and used for pie. I have a bag of Indian corn kernels that I keep in the freezer in the off seasons, and each year I find a new use for them; sometimes they are used to fill a vase to hold the wheat in place; they have steadied candles in bowls and I have sprinkled them across the table as a runner that can be played with. I have pulled out the Autumn kitchen linens  and will begin to pack up Summer tomorrow.  I may just simmer a stick or two of cinnamon and some cloves to help set the mood!

So, do you have any Fall rituals? What do you do to mark the change of the season? I'd like to know!

Zucchini

If you have ever grown zucchini, or had a neighbor who grew it, most likely you have experienced zucchini abundance. I was not going to let that happen to me, no way. I was going to be an attentive gardener, checking on my plants every day. I was going to learn how to cook the baby zucchini with the delicate flower still attached, like the expensive restaurants do. I was not going to be the kind of gardener that walks into the garden looking for a few tender zukes to add to the evening meal, only to find vegetables that could be used as weapons of mass destruction. So imagine my surprise when this past Saturday I ventured out and found three zucchini, proudly crowding the space with their collective weight of 7 pounds.

 What's a Farmgirl to do? I am not a big fan of stuffed zucchini. I prefer them julienned in a pasta dish, or ruffle cut, lightly steamed and served with parmesan cheese. I have been dehydrating a lot of what is comes out of the garden so that I can cook with it in the winter, and to have on hand as part of our long term food storage. But to dry these behemoths, I wasn't sure. The centers aren't as dense, and the seeds are large. So, I cut the center out, cubed the outer edges and dried them separate of the centers.

This is what 7 pounds of dehydrated zucchini looks like. 

 I tend towards thriftiness, so I cubed and dried the centers too. Then I ground then up in the blender to make a powder that I can add to dried soup mixes. I love that the flavors of dehydrated foods are intensified. The powder is sweet, and I like that it will only take a small amount to add a lot of flavor.

This half gallon jar holds what was 12 pounds of fresh zucchini. (I admit, I had a couple of beasties earlier, and swore I'd pay closer attention...)     This could last me all year!

While I don't really want any more mutant squash, I won't let any of them go to waste. I love my dehydrator! I am afraid that my neighbors won't be opening their doors to see anonymous donations  on their steps, and my family won't be finding me trying to disguise it in a variety of meals. We eat them fresh when they are of a manageable size, and the rest get put up for the future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go pick a couple small zucchini.

Tomo, the Wonder Dog

I love dogs. Specifically, I love my dog. I think he's the best canine I have ever had the pleasure to live with. Tomo was 9 months old when he came to live with us, and I am forever grateful that he arrived completely housebroken. We did have a few incidents of chewing, but nothing of any real value was destroyed. I had read horror stories of Shiba Inu's chewing through drywall, ripping up carpet, and generally re-arranging the house when the owners were away. My buddy turns out to be somewhat of an anomaly, in that he is very calm. Could it be he likes his name and identifies with it? "Shizuka no Tomo Dachi" means "calm friend" in Japanese. His breeder had originally named him "Hooligan." He is a far cry from a hooligan, thank goodness!
Michael had grown up with cats mostly. There had been a bad experience with a Beagle in his early childhood. I can relate. We had a Beagle, briefly. They are nothing like Snoopy in the  Peanuts comic strip. They are loud, nippy, hyper dogs.
When our daughter was about 4, I began to press for a dog. It had been 13 years since I had one, and I really wanted that companionship again. I also wanted our daughter to experience a relationship with an animal that would be affectionate in return. After nearly a year of research, and a few failed contacts with breeders, we found the perfect match.
Tomo came to us from Tennessee. I was very nervous about him being traumatized by the flight, but he did fine. It took him a while to be able to travel in the car without literally turning green. Poor guy! Now, he is a seasoned traveler, and he is oftentimes with me in the car. I have had to leave him at home or at a kennel a few times, and I hated it.

We did obedience training, working up through the levels, and have numerous trophies to show for all our hard work. He earned his Canine Good Citizen Certificate after I had been training him for 4 months. That was pretty amazing for a Shiba! We trained to be a therapy team and volunteered for a couple of years at our hospital and a nursing home. It was fun and rewarding work, and he loved it.
He turned 11 this year and he is showing some signs of aging. He is getting the 'goggle' look around his eyes as his hair whitens. He gets up a bit slower, and his eyes are beginning to look a tad cloudy. But then when I least expect it, he will race around the house with a wicked grin and seem to be laughing at me.

Mid bath

Post bath


Did I say that I love my dog?! As I sit here typing, he is laying next to me. He is my constant companion. If  I get up and leave the room, he will find me and lay down in what ever room I am in.
The life expectancy of a Shiba is 12 to 15 years. So, I am treasuring the time we have left, and considering introducing a puppy into our home before Tomo departs. I think we could all use with a bit more joy in our lives, and nothing does that quite like a puppy. For now though, I am happy to have just Tomo. He is the BEST dog I have ever had, and I love him so very much.