Fourth of July Jam!

Fourth of July Jam!, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

Last weekend, I decided to visit a nearby farm that had fresh berries to pick. I came home with three baskets full of black raspberries, red raspberries and blueberries.

All week we have been enjoying the fruit. It is yummy on cereal, yogurt, or just to sample as snack food straight out of the fridge. I made a batch of muffins.

I used the remainder of my handpicked raspberries to whip up some Old Fashioned Raspberry Jam this morning. I thought it would be great hostess gifts for the parties we will be attending today! It was a cinch to make, here is the recipe:

Old Fashioned Raspberry Jam

4 cups (1 liter) granulated sugar
4 cups (1 liter) raspberries

1. Place sugar in an ovenproof shallow pan and warm in a 250°F (120°C) oven for 15 minutes. (Warm sugar dissolves better.)

2. Place berries in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat, mashing berries with a potato masher as they heat. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3. Add warm sugar, return to a boil, and boil until mixture will form a gel (see tips, below), about 5 minutes.

4. Ladle into sterilized jars and process as directed for Shorter Time Processing Procedure .

Tip: To make a small boiling-water canner, tie several screw bands together with string or use a small round cake rack in the bottom of a large covered Dutch oven. Be sure the pan is high enough for 2 inches (5 cm) of water to cover the jars when they are sitting on the rack.

I found this on EPICURIOUS.COM here:

Make a Salad!

Make a Salad!, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

Organic Arugula
So easy to grow!
Just fill an old crate (or container) with some bagged garden soil. Plant the seeds. Keep moist. Until the seeds germinate, I just leave the box on my back porch - getting indirect sunlight. Once the seeds pop through, I move to a sunnier location - but not too bright at first. After the plants are established, they can take full sun. I also planted baby leaf spinach the same way.  

Once you have a good crop, just pick the baby leaves and throw in your salad.  Tonight we had Arugula, Romaine Lettuce, Dried Cranberries, Pecans, Asagio Cheese and some Balsimic Dressing.  YUM!

chives in my herb garden

chives in my herb garden, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

What will I do with them? How about some
Creamy Chive Salad Dressing
175 ml (3/4 cup) non-fat buttermilk
50 ml ( 1/4 cup) reduced-fat mayonnaise
75 ml (1/3 cup) finely chopped fresh chives
15 ml (1 tbsp) chopped fresh parsley
15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice
15 ml (1 tbsp) Dijon mustard
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, chives, parsley, lemon juice and mustard. Season with salt and pepper.
Full article found here.
How did I process this photo? I used a photoshop cross-processing action found here.