Hoopskirts

Peach jam on homemade bread! As summer wound into autumn, I found some end-of-season stone fruit at my local grocery store - peaches and apricots available for a song!   A bit bruised and battered, they were for sale on the produce clearance rack, and, as such, were perfect for making jam.  I made some of each type, but the photos shown are of the peach jam (bet you couldn't tell!). The Recipe- the same for each Fruit This recipe comes from The Young Cook's Assistant and Housekeeper's Guide by  P. Masters (1841, London, The recipe is similar or identical to many others I surveyed.   Working Through the Recipe I have made jam many times, so the concept was easy to me, but let's walk through it. Weighing Ingredients Weighing may seem intimidating, but is by far the easiest way to make this jam.  I purchased an inexpensive digital scale from Harbor Freight, that allow you to weigh in ounces, grams, and pounds. Fruit W...

It's January and that means decreased levels of sunlight, lots of cold, and an upswing in illness across the board.  Christmas decorations are down and put away, leaving surroundings duller and grayer.  It's also peak time for citrus (this assumes you remember when fruits and vegetables were sold seasonally in the grocery stores). We have been eating a lot of oranges this winter.  I have been collecting the peels in a water-filled plastic zip top bag in our refrigerator,  When the bag reaches the desired level, it is time to make candied orange peel.  There is no hard or fast level - it totally depends upon how large a batch you want to make at a time and if you have the time free for candying. Historic Recipe Let's start with the historic recipe (A Cyclopaedia of Six Thousand Practical Receipts, Arnold James Cooley, New York, 1856) How to Make It! To actually make these, I used some modern techniques. Place the orange peels in a heavy-bottomed sa...

Continuing with my harvest of rhubarb, I tackled a new type of preserve Rhubarb Orange Marmalade.  Yes, you heard me right. The Challenge Historical Food Fortnighly Challege 12. In A Jam...or Jelly, or Pickle  (June 3 - June 16)  In a world before refrigeration, preserving food was an important task. For this challenge, make your favorite preserved food - bonus points if it’s seasonal! I have discovered how much I enjoy period jams and jellies made without pectin gelling agents.  They are so easy to make and so delicious!  Strawberries would be the logical seasonal fruit in early June in northern Illinois, but I still have a surplus of the last strawberry jam I made.  Since my rhubarb was still hardy, I thought I should take advantage of its abundance.  And, I have loved rhubarb since my childhood. The Recipe Rhubarb is not the normal stuff of jams and jellies, modern or period.  As I researched, I did start finding recipes for a c...

The Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #8 "It’s harvest time in the northern hemisphere, and springtime in the southern hemisphere. Make something either to preserve that produce that you’re harvesting, or replenish your supply after the winter! Fruit and vegetable jams, jellies, and preserves are the focus!" Northern Illinois in late August and early September has seen some sudden rainstorms with very strong winds  During one of these storms, the crab apple tree in front of our church building was toppled.  While accompanying my husband, who is the congregational president, to look at the damage, I noticed the crab apples had ripened to a brilliant glossy red. I had toyed with the idea of making a historic preserve with crab apples for a long time but it kept getting pushed to the back of my "to do" list.  All of a sudden, it was now or never.  The organic supplies were lying on the ground in front of me in easy reach (our congregation does not spray th...