Categories
Idle

Harvest time!

We’ve been jealously watching Trina’s plum harvest and anxiously waiting for the blackberries in our area to ripen.

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The wait is over. This morning I walked Finney down to the trail at the end of our street and it looks like this year’s crop is going to be a good one. Last year we harvested 4 pounds of blackberries and the jam lasted us about 8 months. This year I think we should target 8 pounds so we don’t run out before next year’s jam session.

My mouth is watering, I better go eat breakfast.

Categories
Idle

Labor Day Jam Session

It’s blackberry season again, so Paula and I spent part of our labor day gathering. We netted almost 4 pounds of fruit (which is no small feat considering how many thorns there are on the bushes).

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After tossing in some blueberries, sugar and boiling the whole lot, we came away with a dozen jars of tasty goodness.

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But wait, there’s more… Paula decided we needed salsa too. After grilling a mess of peppers on the barbie, they were cooked down with tomatillos, onions and other goodies before a trip to the blender.

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There’s something very satisfying about making it yourself.

It also makes me hungry. Time for a snack.

Categories
Idle

Microwave popcorn that’s just popcorn

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Think back to the last time you microwaved popcorn. Remember what the kitchen smelled like after you were done? Sure it tastes great, but take a look at the ingredients on the box… it may explain the smell. 🙂

So tonight when Paula and I were craving popcorn we decided to try out Squawkfox’s DIY microwave popcorn recipe (found via LifeHacker). Instead of partially-hydrogenated, artificially flavored popcorn food, we had popcorn. Yes, we ate unprocessed food and it was delicious.

The formula is pretty simple: toss a cup of popping corn into a brown paper lunch bag, fold the top down a couple times and nuke for 3 minutes. When done, season to taste and enjoy.

We found it to be simple and delicious, but have a couple of notes to add:
1. It took 4 minutes in our weak little microwave, not 3 (your mileage my vary, but don’t go too long, you may burn it).
2. One cup of pop corn kernels generated a lot of popcorn (at least 1.5 times what we normally get from a typical bag of microwave popcorn). We’re going to use a half cup next time.

All-in-all, we were super pleased. Paula’s review: "I’m certainly never buying another box of microwave popcorn again!"

I’m with Paula on this, without a doubt. I’m certain it’s better for us. It’s clearly less expensive. And the best part: our kitchen doesn’t smell nasty afterwards.