what's for dinner - sunday, june 7th

[fizzgig]

we're going to dad's for family dinner, so it's going to be roasted chicken, mashers and asparagus. i'm sure dad will suggest steaming the asparagus, but since i'm cooking, i'm going to roast it as i am so over steamed veggies.

i'm making the husband take me on a drive in the mountains so i can take some pictures. it's been a month since i've been able to get out (lousy weather every weekend in may) and i'm getting itchy.

happy sunday

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad.

A sort of picnic-y dinner for a warm summer day.

I finished up another micro-batch of the cherry-almond jam, bringing the final total for this season to 4.5 pints of that. Tried some on toast, and it was delicious, so I'm hoping that bush gives even more fruit next year, and I'm giving serious thought to planting a few more around the yard, even if they won't fruit for another half decade. Even considered cutting down one of the cherry trees (whose fruit mostly just rots) to allow more light back into the yard and give more space for full sun plantings like the cherry bushes. I've got an apple (roter stettiner) being grafted up this year that should arrive next spring to plant, so it would be a trade off, a new tree in one part of the yard as a replacement if I do decide to take a cherry down.

[fizzgig]

2. that's one of my favorite meals

and i am super jealous of your jam. i love anything cherry.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. Well, you could always buy some cherries and make some.

It's one of the simplest jam recipes I've got.

Pit and dice your cherries, measure them, toss them in a big non-reactive pot with about twice as much sugar (by volume) as cherries, a teaspoon of almond extract for every 2 or 3 cups of cherries you use, a teaspoon of margarine to keep the foaming down, and heat over medium heat, stirring fairly constantly until it turns soupy and hits a rolling boil, count for a minute, stir in a packet of liquid pectin per 3-4 cups of cherries, count for another minute, remove from heat and spoon or ladle into sterilized jars. I then do the melted wax and seal em, not the water bath route, and I eat my jams and jellies up to 2 years after canning, never had any go bad on me. I did these batches with sour cherries, and it's still lovely, but you could do sweet cherries too.

[fizzgig]

4. you're working on the assumption that i'm not a lazy turd

maybe i can talk my sister into making this a family affair.

[NJCher]

5. LOL

Hey, that was super-easy, wasn't it?



Erich has megatons of energy and ambition. I marvel at the stuff she pulls off on a routine basis.

Erich, I was curious about how you introduced the almond flavor, so now I know.

I wish I could have sweets. I would make a day trip out of picking some cherries at one of the U-pick-its by Princeton. That is always a fun time, however, I am currently inundated with my own garden produce. I have lemon balm tea to make, catnip to dry, leeks to parboil and freeze, and lettuce to cut and eat/give away. And that's just for starters.

Anyway, here's what I have made for tonight: tomato-spinach tortellini soup. It has carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and herbs in it. Oh, and it has sausage in it, too. I put in a whole package of Jimmy Dean's, which even the RG admits is outrageously good (he, however, will be unable to enjoy it, as he is in Hawaii). I will top it with parmesan cheese.

Maybe a salad on the side, or possibly rosti.



Cher

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

6. Erich is a he, thanks ;)

My older sister is named Erika; The parents weren't exactly dynamos when it came to thinking up names

I also end up giving away most of the jams and jellies I and my housemate make. We couldn't possibly down all of those calories ourselves, we'd be beach ball shaped. We use the black raspberry with a chicken dish we like, and she'll use some of the strawberry on toast, and I think going forward, I'll keep some of the cherry for me. But I was also thinking maybe I'll see if there are some Christmas cookie recipes that call for jams or jellies I could make, since we already give our veterinarians' office a dozen jars of jam and a large plate of cookies and chocolate dipped strawberries every year. Most of the rest of jam goes to housemate's cowokers, both our families, close friends and a neighbour who occasionally brings me local honey from a friend of his.

Our lemon balm has developed some sort of blight this year, as has the peppermint. Lots of black dots on both, I'm not sanguine about using them now.

I saw a black raspberry syrup for sale at the local ice cream place, and I'm thinking I'll set aside some of the crop this year to try making that, it should be great over ice cream or as a coffee flavouring. I need to dig out my old hand-crank ice cream churn as well, before the summer gets too far along.

[pinto]

7. Have a great ride and dinner fizzgig! It's cod chowder for me tonight.

The basics - cod, potatoes, onions, celery, butter, milk, etc. The cod is left over black peppered broil, so it may be interesting how it all comes together.

[Galileo126]

8. Chowder for me too

Picked up some rather large cherrystones today, so chowder it is. I'll skip the requite clam cakes ( ie - fritters) because I'm not in the mood for fried food today. (Don't tell anyone in Rhode Island, I'll get my arse kicked.)

[pscot]

9. If you're really hungry

you'll eat it, then worry about what it was.

[grasswire]

10. 91 degrees here!

So it's chicken salad made with curry powder, dried cranberries, cashew nuts, celery, granny smith apples, fresh basil, mayo, orange zest and juice. That and a loaf of green olive rye levain from the farmers market.

Dessert? Cherries.

[NJCher]

11. great minds

I saw a recipe for chicken salad that is very similar to that, and it's on my list of things to make for next week.

I don't know what levain is, but I do have a recipe for Paleo olive bread that I've been contemplating. Sounds like a great combo.



Cher