Winter citrus

A gift of 10.5# homegrown Meyers (thank you J!) is transformed to a base for 1.5L limoncello, 15.5C marmalade, 3C lemon-ginger-honey concoction (not shown) for what ails you and 12 lemons leftover.

It's not paying the rent but it's still of value.

Summer for Winter

4 pounds organic California peaches.

1-1/2 C raw honey, juice and rind of 1 meyer lemon.

9 cups preserves for the winter.

Some things done

Saturday Jun 30: This afternoon dying occurred - turmeric, vinegar, soda ash in a boiling solution onto muslin. The aroma triggered a yearning for curry.

At 11:30pm I opened my eyes wide and realized I had not started my TdF. I found consolation in knowing I had my goal and fiber in mind, so re-affirmed those two thoughts and vowed to spin tomorrow.

Sunday Jul 1: Countless "birds" were crushed, maimed and killed with my sweaty right hand that held tufts of cashmere and merino. At least 3 false starts occurred in getting spun fiber onto the bobbin before my hands and wheel found their balance with this precious short-staple fiber blend.

When I took this picture I intended to stop for the day. But my hands wanted to feel the fiber so I continued, putting aside the desire to eat (or do anything else on my weekend "to-do" list) and spin instead. Hours later, 2 ounces were spun, with 2 ounces of fiber remaining for another day. I don't know if I can spin this fiber in short periods of time - once a rhythm is established it is difficult to stop and re-start without losing consistency of spin. I suppose the consistency will occur with more practice.

Then I went into the kitchen (in the early evening) and saw the bowls of rhubarb and strawberries that I'd prepared a day earlier, to be put into jars. I could no longer postpone this so I just did it.

Recipe notes: 2# rhubarb, 2# sugar, 50g grated ginger, 1/4C lemon juice. 2# cut strawberries, 2# sugar, 1/4C lemon juice and a few shreds of lemon peel. Macerate fruits in different bowls for 2 hours then refrigerate for 24 hours. Bring strawbs to a boil several times, resting 5-10 minutes between each boil. This process gets the air out of the berries. Drain & divide juice & solids for each mixture (yields approx 4C juice, 4C solids for each fruit). Put 1/2 of each fruit's juice in pan, bring to boil until "set stage", skimming scum. Add 1/2 of strawbs & boil about 10min, then add 1/2 of rhub & boil another 5min or until "set stage". Yield 5C for this 1/2 batch (total yield 10C). Process jars.

I'm a bit tired. But I feel like I've put money in the bank.

Warmth

Something about the color, I think.

Whether it's from mutant-kumquat-sour-orange citrus that gets made into marmalade.
(8C peels+juice+water + 2C water. Add equal volume of sugar, of which 20-25% is turbinado/demerara sugar. Total yield is 10C.)

...or it's AVFKW's Slick in Transnational Fury that flows through my hands...

...and gradually turns into Ysolda's Angostura.

Busting some moves

During the past two weeks, gears aligned and a dance to the groove of the times kicked in.

A gift of many large kumquats (could they be calomondins?) was received, thank you IL. They were home- grown and hand-picked about 100mi from the Bay Area. 3Q were washed, soaked, then cooked in a heavy syrup that included honey.

Yields and their composition will be filled in when I retrieve my notes (I hope I took notes). 6-1C + 3-1.5C+1.5&1C syrup. In 2-2L jars: 2.5#+1large meyer lemon+_pinot grigio+_gin+1/2C light rum+_sugar. Cranberry-kumquat sauce in 1L+1Cjar.

Experiments in bag-making were resurrected and came together, complete with labels. I decided to keep one for myself.

These hats were inspired by Wurm on Ravelry and Starmore’s patterns.

Limoncello and cherried brandy have been quietly working their magic for nearly six months, and they were decanted and bottled. The cherries were not going to be consumed in one day so I topped them off with more brandy, of course.

And on Christmas day, the board was presented for the table of 14. Butterflied, brined, and roasted turkey, with potatoes and onions instead of stuffing. Thanks to everyone for their contributions of cured salmon, honey-baked ham, green beans, and desserts.

Dessert did not sit still or last long enough to get photographed. Note that next year we will need more lime pies.

The next day, "boxing day," I looked for the small pretty boxes that enclosed gifts. I wondered what to do. Projects were completed yet others waited. I’d finished reading a book, too. The list I make for myself for reference during these unoccupied times suddenly seemed overwhelming.

Eventually I decided to start a small work, adapted from L. Upitis’s Latvian Mittens. I had to rack my memory for the demonstration of multicolored and braided knitting given by B.B.Reinsel several years ago during a Stitches West class. My memory failed me so I went back to basics, held yarn like a 7-year old and slogged through the 3-color portion of the cuff. I kept the floats on the outside and had to consciously remind myself to relax, which is not typically relaxing for me. Ok so it was an exercise. I decided to cut later for the thumb.

This was completed on the 29th and turned out ok, outside and inside. I’m accepting that this may be a unique (i.e. mate-less) mitten without a thumb; it has a lot of thoughts imbued in it, though, and that’s what this is all about for me anyway.

I still had a lot of giant kumquats. So I started chopping them up. In the scale of citrus, giant kumquats are still very small compared to small lemons – maybe 4 kumquats to a lemon, volume-wise. Even with my resolve, chopping these guys became tedious, and I marveled at the number of seeds they had. I had to focus so that I would not inadvertently cut myself.

Eventually I had 5C chopped but the backlog didn’t seem to diminish. So I juiced a lot of what remained. I boiled the peels for 10min and let them soften for a day. The pectin was significant so I added 1C of the squeezed juice and 1/2C water before measuring, adding an equal amount of sugar, cooking to jam state (approx. 20min) and putting up in jars.

Yields 7C with flavor so intense it could go into 4oz jars but not anything larger than 8oz jars.

Happy New Year! It’s time to think of some resolutions and commitments that I can live with.

4 shades of quince

Jam: 4-5 pounds were washed, cut up and cores were composted. Add zest strips from one lemon, add water short of the top, and cook for about 30 min, then run through a food mill. Measure 5-1/2C max at a time, add 90-100% sugar by volume, and 1/4C lemon juice. Cook to jam state for nearly an hour, put in jars with ½” headspace and process in boiling water for 10min, rest for 5min before removing.

Batch 1 (3pints) was a nice red color. Batch 2 (2pints) was lighter, and Batch 3 (2C) was lighter still. Each successive batch was on the stove for less time (was I getting impatient? Yes.) – note to self: cook longer for deeper color.

Colors (from the left): a stack of membrillo, jam batch 1, jam batch 3 on top of jam batch 2.

Blushing in small batches

7 large ones are about 5 pounds. Bought on Thursday, boiled and drained Friday and overnight, jelly Saturday, membrillo Sunday late afternoon and evening.

Jelly: strain through clean dishtowel. 5c juice + 4c sugar + 1/2 lemon juice yields 5c jelly. Test for set on a cold plate. Continues to jell one day later. 10min processing, 5min before removing from pot, 8-1/2c total.

Membrillo (Paste): Run solids through food mill with a coarse disk.
3c solids + 3c sugar + 1/2 to whole small lemon's juice yields 3c.

Bring to boil then cook over very low slow heat for nearly an hour (until stiff). Brush veg oil in hot jar, allow 1/2" headspace, remove bubbles and smooth off the top. 10min processing, 5min before removing from pot. 8c total.

Slow food blushes as it heats up.

Lemons four ways

What would you do with 15 pounds of lemons?

1. Chop them up to make marmalade.

2. Peel the zest and make limoncello.

3. Preserve the smallest ones in salt.

4. Freeze the juice in 4 icecube trays.

Spend 6 hours doing it.

Jul 17 update: Marmalade was jarred today. Limoncello will take several months to infuse. Salted lemons will be ready to use in another month. It's satisfying work, and I feel like I'm putting money in the bank.

Data: 12C chopped lemons + 1.5Q water soaked 24 hrs => 3batches(6+6.5+1C mixture + 5+5+.75C sugar) = 13.5C yield (3pt + 3-12oz + 3-8oz). // 2L: 16 lemons + 1.2L-80proof. 1.5L: 10 lemons + .75L-80proof. // 1L salted lemons. // 1 tray = 16 cubes = 1C juice.

What the widow wrought

Reaped

Rhubarb + Ginger: 6C

Solstice celebration: preserve the flavors of rhubarb and ginger!

Macerate 1.2 kg chopped rhubarb for 24 hrs (knit while waiting) in 1.2 kg sugar and juice of one lemon. Cook juice to gel state with 50g shredded ginger and juice of another lemon. Add rhubarb pieces and cook 10-15 min. Pack and hot-water process for 10 min. (Knit again while waiting.)

R n R

It's June and unseasonably cool. It rained last week and again this weekend. The star jasmine which usually blooms in April is just beginning to bud. The lavender which typically scents the air in May is starting to show color in its buds. Spring's arrival is slow and prolonged.

Rhubarb is available. I've never prepared it before, but I knew exactly what I wanted from it, thanks to C.Ferber's "Mes Confitures".
This recipe takes less effort than many others in the book: just macerate overnight, then cook it in the morning. Need to remember to have fewer distractions next time, though.  I knocked a jar over towards me while filling it, and I immediately leaned forward in a lame attempt to salvage the spill, yet much of the hot mass glopped onto the floor. Gah.

Rhubarb and Rosemary Preserves, 5C instead of 6C

I paused to think about priorities. Then I finished filling the jars and I put them in the water bath before I started to clean the drippy mess on me and the floor.

The flavor combination is incredible.

Defiant blood oranges

2.5 lb CA blood oranges plus one lemon (8c total) plus 7c water plus 1c+8.5c raw+white sugar yields 10c marmalade. Damn the lack of electricity and the lack of other things. I have water and gas and a third-world connection from the fridge to the neighbor's outlet and I am making something fantastic and heating the kitchen and myself in the process.

When life gives you lemons...

...transform them into something grand.

Last week I received lots of homegrown Meyer lemons - tart, bitter, sweet, and very juicy. Thank you, K.

So I added salt to some, and preserved them thus.

Marmalade on L, Preserved on R.

And I added sugar to some more.
Specifically, I cut up one grapefruit and many lemons to make 12C, added 1.5Q water, soaked, cooked and added 1C+9C raw+white sugar to yield eight-12oz plus one-10oz jars marmalade.

Oh yeah, THAT's what I'm talkin' about!

Diospyros update

Autumnal color.

This past weekend I received 12 beautiful Fuyu persimmons from the family tree and processed 7 of them into 5 pints of brandied persimmons.  Added my own mixture of flavors: star anise, cardamom and lemon.

Persimmons: Diospyros

Persimmons, aka "fruit of the gods", originated in Asia and are centuries old. I am fortunate to have access to homegrown and lovingly tended Fuyu persimmons from a family tree which produces a bumper crop of HUGE fruit every two years.

3 large crisp-ripe Fuyu persimmons yield three 12oz jars of brandied persimmons.
This post will be updated as production increases and images are developed.

The Sacred Golden Apple: Quince

The quince is a very old fruit. It was cited around 600BC by the Greeks and Romans, and it is a component of middle eastern cuisine. The raw quince fruit is very fragrant, but the flesh is dry, astringent, and very hard. It is transformed with heat and becomes supple and edible. A little sugar doesn't hurt, either.

5 large quince is about 1kg gross and yields 6C quince and ginger.
6.75 large quince is about 800g net, and yields 5C quince, orange and cardamom.
1.25 large quince yields 2C quince jam.

Inspired by Christine Ferber and Claudia Roden.

Confiture: Pumpkin (warm circles)

Modelled and inspired by Mes Confitures by Christine Ferber.  The kitchen scale is indispensible.  1-2/3 recipes yields 7 cups.

Peeled and finely diced pumpkin macerates overnight with sugar, lemon, and honey. Have you ever tried to peel a raw pumpkin without slitting your thumbs open?

Simmer - the sugar permeates the pumpkin. Then macerate overnight AGAIN.

Lemons are prepped and candied in caramelized sugar.

Tres cher.

Sugar, pumpkin, honey, sugar, lemon, sugar and time.