I was in Portland with my parents, sister and nephew all last week and it was just about the best thing ever. The weather was beautiful, Emmett is cutest kid around (those curls!), and it was just so good to soak up time with these people I adore and don’t see nearly enough.
There was also plenty of good food, meals with friends, backyard blackberries, and couple of very fruitful thrift store outings. Truly, the only hitch in the whole trip is that instead of being at home now as planned, I’m stranded in a motel room in Chicago with no flight out until morning. Still, it seems a small price to pay for such a magical visit. Now, on to the links!
- Next time my CSA offers unlimited u-pick basil, I’m getting enough to make this jelly.
- Have you guys seen this? Homemade ice cream flavored and sweetened with jam.
- A reminder that watermelon pickles are awesome and you should make some soon.
- Skip the jelly and make grape jam instead!
- Comparing frozen green beans to pressure canned ones.
- How to tell whether the lids you’re buying are the new BPA-free ones or not.
- Fermented ketchup. Dip your fries probiotic-style.
- Maple bourbon peach butter. As my dad would say, sign me up!
- Cherry preserves with plums, adapted from Saving the Season.
- Towards the end of this post, Julia explains her approach to making drunken apricots and apricot liqueur. Oh yes.
- Even though I’m not really a paleo eater, I sure do like the sound of these chocolate nut date bars.
Thanks to everyone who entered the Pie Box Kit giveaway. The winner is Sharon, who said that her favorite thing about pie is, “Eating the flaky layers of crust, with the wonders of the great tasting fillings!”
If you didn’t win the giveaway, MightyNest is offering all Food in Jars readers 10% off on the Pie Box and the serving kit. Just enter FOOD10 at check out (and if you spend $50 or more, you get free shipping too).
Oh my gosh, I am trying out that basil jelly recipe *today*. It looks amazing, and I have an overgrown basil plant just begging to be defoliated. Thanks for the link!
Its blueberry season here in northern Michigan, and I am about to try your recipe for blueberry jam from your book.
I have not made jams or jellies since my childhood on the farm, but have gotten excited about trying my hand again.
Thanks for your great Food in Jars book.
Oh, those blueberries, look wonderful. My boy really discovered fresh blueberries this yr. And is quite upset I cant get more now the season is over. Next year I’ll have to freeze him some.
Thanks for the mention about the BPA-free lids!
Thank you for the Basil Jelly link love! And sign me up for Maple bourbon peach butter, too – that sounds fantastic!
(Follow-up: I made basil jelly! It smells and tastes delicious. I was nervous when the juice started out a sickly brown color, though it greened up quite a bit in the cooking. It’s still not the pretty green color that you got, but I’ll take “the-aliens-are-here-for-your-planet” yellowish-green over brown. Maybe I had a few off basil leaves in the batch?)
Has anyone had luck with the Basil Jelly? I am using glass as directed and keep ending up with brown basil water after 15 minutes. I have gone through 6 cups of basil now and am really sad about it.
I figured out the problem. For whatever reason, the Basil Jelly recipe absolutely does not work with Genovese basil. It is also unlikely to work with Holy Basil since the dried form of the leaves, while still green, also produce a more brown than green liquid. I would love it if someone could explain the chemistry behind this since I just lost 8 cups of perfectly good basil. I am not sure why one green leave would steep green liquid and another green leave from an extremely similar plant would steep brown liquid 🙁
Nicole, so sorry that you had so much trouble with that recipe. Since it’s not one of mine, I really don’t know anything about it. But I’m glad you solved the mystery!
Thanks Marisa! I realized it wasn’t yours, but you have smart readers so was hoping someone knew. I posted on the original as well. Hopefully this will at least save other people some hassles. Thank you!