So the figs are ripening around here…I have no idea what variety they are. They came with the house. I have to head out pretty early to fight off the chipmunks.

I got roughly a gallon over the last few days. The husband loves them, me, not so much. Since no human could or should eat a gallon of figs in a few days, I decided to try fig jam.

I sort of followed the recipe from Pick Your Own. I cut way back on the sugar…ours are pretty sweet as it is. I used 5 cups chopped figs to 1 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice. I don’t use pectin (too cheap to but any!), but if you boil slowly for about an hour or so they gel pretty well. All of this made exactly 3 half pint jars. Sorry for the bad pic, but at least here you can see the speckled a bit. Fig preserves are pretty if nothing else.

We also did more tomatoes the other night. I tried making paste. A LOT of work!! 15 tomatoes ended up making 1/2 pint plus a few extra teaspoons. I think the tomatoes we have right now are too juicy, maybe I’ll try it next time with Roma tomatoes. The stuff tastes amazing, but I am not yet convinced it is worth it.

We went to the Lakeside Farmer’s Market yesterday evening. Right around the corner and I didn’t even know it existed. According to the husband it’s new. Oddly one of the things he covers at the paper is the local farmers market scene. There is quite the soap opera going on right now…apparently someone is trying to pass off produce as Virginia Grown when is isn’t. Controversial Cantaloupes and the like. Community journalists round up a lot of wackos in their jobs.

Anyhoo, we ran into our pal Mike. He and his wife retired to run a pepper farm and now sell at several of the local markets. Things were closing down when we got there and he kindly unloaded all his tomatoes. I got 53 pounds for a mere $20. Let that sink in a minute…that’s $0.40 a pound.

So, back on the home-front, what does one do with 53 pounds of tomatoes? Can, if you can. It really isn’t so hard…lots of boiling, but nothing impossible. My goal is to have at least 40 pints of crushed tomatoes put up by this fall. I am doing just part of the batch today. That’s around 23 pounds. We use a lot of tomatoes, so I am not sure this will be enough, but it can’t hurt.

I am following the guidelines here. They are the from the University of Georgia. The do I wish I had was a hand-held blender. The one from my baby food making days is long gone, but it would give a nice texture.

The only big modification I make is the cutting our the cores part. Frankly it takes to long. After I peel the skin I just crush them by hand into my pot, pull out the core and there you go. Messy, but a lot of fun.
For the record 23 pounds = 15 pints.

As a total side note I have been knitting like mad. We’re in a coll snap…highs only to the mid 80’s! I know, but for here that’s down right chilly. I also want to do a sweater for big sis sort of similar to the one Kit Kitrage wears at the beginning of the movie. I am thinking that Cascade Superwash might do the trick.

We went berry picking on Thursday with my parents. This was so much fun, and I am so sorry we forgot the camera. Between the five of us we got a little over 20 pounds of berries. At $2 a pound this is a great deal.

My jam recipe is about 5 1/2 pounds of berries to 3 1/2 cups of sugar. These berries have been pretty sweet, so it might need adjusting. I do not use pectin, as I don’t mind it a bit runny.

Boil until thick enough for you (I put a plate in the fridge and then put some of the jam on it to cool to see if it has set). Pack into jars with 1/2 inch of headspace, and I process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath for pint sized jars.

The girls dressed up to play Laura and Mary - translation “Little House on the Prairie”. In the background you can see our almost finished kitchen. (Yay!)

And a parenting tip…if you get the kids hooked on the Little House books you can trick them into doing almost anything. We haven’t had a dishwasher since February, and this summer has been heaven… all I had to do was remind them that Laura and Mary did the dishes…viola, new dishwashers.

Ever have one of those weeks where you can’t remember sitting? Definately there.

We did the lemmonaid stand for Anthem yesterday. I am not sure if this happens outside of Richmond, but kids sell lemmonade to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network. The girls had a grand time. I am pooped.

Earlier this week we did Peach and ginger preserves. We now have 5 1/1 pints. Amazing how 17 peaches can turn into so many jars. Today I am doing blueberries. Next week, tomatoes. Our are no where near ready, but my husband frequents the 17th street market downtown and has an in for a bushel of tomatoes. He could talk most anyone into selling something cheap…a scrounge that man.

So this morning I decided to sit at the movies. This morning the girls and I took the grandparents to see Kit Kittredge. A lot of fun, especially the clothes. Little sis had a hard time with the plot, but the clothes kept her interested. Just look at the button on the purple dress!! Here she’s wearing an amazing hat with a rose on it…hard to see, but it would be a lot of fun to try to do.

And does anyone else think the Kit doll looks a lot like my friend Becky from the 70’s? I wish the price was about the same…there really isn’t an affordable doll that looks like a little girls. Babies, yes. Prostitutes, yes. But nothing in between for those of us on a budget. Althought the bratz dolls would be ceap to sew for, not much in the way of fabric needed.

Sweet Potatoes

These need to be started about an hour before dinner. They are baked, not fried so they are a bit healthier.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Wash the potatoes.
• Cut the potatoes into french fry shaped pieces about a quarter of an inch across.
• Toss with 2 - 3 Tablespoons of Olive oil, 2 tablespoons salt and a sprinkle or two of chili powder.
• Spread evenly on a baking pan lined with tin foil.
• Cook for about 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes or so.

Pork Chops

Marinade Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Ginger mashed (I just put it through my garlic press)
• 3 Cloves of Garlic mashed

Once fries are in put pork chops in the marinade and turn so both sides are coated. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. These can be grilled or cooked in a pan over medium heat.

Corn

I boil a few extra ears of corn. After dinner I cut off the kernals and save them for later in the week when we have succotash as a side dish.

This is totally for my own record keeping….it is the first meal plan I’ve worked out for summer. Feel Free to ignore.

The order is set to help with meal prep. So I cook an extra couple of ears of corn on Sunday and cut off the kernels. That gets used later with the succotash. I also try to put the quick salads on days I know I have a lot going on.

Sunday: Grilled Pork, Sweet Potato Fries and Corn on the cob

Monday: Black Eyed Pea Salad

Tuesday: Pasta with meat sauce

Wednesday: Pinto Beans and Rice

Thursday: Stuffed Green Peppers and Succotash

Friday: Broccoli and Pasta Salad

Broccoli and Pasta

Shopping List:

(Assumes you have Olive Oil, salt, etc.)

• Corn on the Cob (5 or 6 ears)
• 2 large Sweet Potatoes
• Carrot
• Medium Onion
• Bunch Green Onions
• 3 Green Bell Peppers
• Head of Broccoli
• Pint Grape Tomatoes
• Fresh Basil
• Fresh Garlic
• Fresh Ginger-small piece
• 2 Cans Pinto Beans (or dried)
• 2 Cans Black Eyed Peas (or dried)
• Small Can of Black Olives
• Baby Lima Beans
• 2 boxes pasta-penne, bow tie, elbow…
• Pork Chops
• 1 LB Ground Turkey
• Turkey Breakfast Sausage (optional - See Friday)
• Brown Rice
• Barley
• Blue Cheese (optional- see Monday)

When big-sis was a baby I got rather overwhelmed in the dinner department. The husband was working as an obituary reporter - every bit as glamorous as you imagine. Problem is that the reporting of the daily dead happens at night, so it meant I was left to fend for myself. At the end of a long day teaching I was too spent to manage much beyond a bowl of frosted mini wheats. Not exactly a well balanced meal.

Then I remembered meal rotation. This isn’t a new idea…I am sure that I am not the only one that grew up in a household where Monday night = baked chicken and carrots, Tuesday night = pasta and salad, etc. My mother hardly ever strayed from this…as a kid I hated it, but now that I have people waiting for me to produce food I totally get it.

So rotating I went, with one adjustment. I really can’t see eating the same thing every Monday. So I try to have around 2 to 3 weeks planned out. Generally my family never notices that every third Tuesday is Broccoli and Pasta. I try to set it up so we can cook ahead…like cooking extra rice one night so you can have stuffed bell peppers later in the week, or chopping two onions one night. Along with this I came up with a shopping list for each week so I could quickly check if we had the necessary ingredients. As we all know shopping with small people is almost as fun as writing obituaries.

When I stayed home with the girls I gave it up, and I am trying to reconstruct the system. I am trying to stick with seasonal vegetables, which means there will need to be summer/fall/winter variations. We’ll see if I get that far…

Egad, we’re almost there!

Gifts are made and wrapped. My sister just flew in from LA (yay!) Kids are nestled in bed, if twitching and awake from all the excitement. Sata’s going to be getting here late this year.

I just finished making breakfast for tomorrow. Over the past few years I have learned it needs to be a holiday for MOM too, so I bake ahead. Here’s the recipe if anyone’s interested. Merry Christmas!

Pumpkin Bunt Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt6 eggs
• 16 oz pureed pumpkin, fresh or canned
• 2/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a bunt pan.
• Mix the first 6 dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
• Beat the eggs until foamy.
• Add the pumpkin, butter and brown sugar and mix until blended.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix.
• Pour the batter into the bunt pan. level the top of the batter so it is evenly distributed in the pan.
• Place in the oven and bake for 60 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a butter knife into the cake. If it comes out clean the cake is done.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

You can glaze it or serve as is. Enjoy!

This photo is totally for me…it is our downstairs bathroom in a rare state of clenliness. This is the one the girls and guests use. Here it’s clean and shiny, a Christmas miracle!

We’re finally getting some chilly weather here. Lots of hope for snow this winter. Last year, after the move back from Florida we got about 3 flakes, so my little flakes really do not remember what snow looks like.

We’re starting to work on our Christmas list. Last spring I made the girls a Family Memory game. I think we might duplicate this for their cousin in Williamsburg. The girls have love this, and it’s been a fun way to remember everyone.

We’re also starting to think about teacher gifts. This is a hard one for me personally. I teach, and the last thing I want is to saddle someone else with a bunch of “apple-crap”. I am also on a public schoolteacher’s budget, and like the idea of hand made.

So we’ve been working on a hot chocolate recipe, and think we’ve hit the final formulation. Little-sis likes to play Top Chef when we do our taste testing which is pretty funny. The plan is to put this in small cellophane bags and put this in a holiday mug.

Hot Chocolate:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Put in small jars or gift bags.

For the tag:

Mix 2 teaspoons with 1 cup of hot milk. Stir and enjoy.

OK, this in no way supports our less-sugar theme this week. I am probably thinking about this kind of recipe more since we are off the “sauce” for a while. I’m revampint the front page, and this is something I’d posted there back in the spring.

We use Soy Milk because the husband is lactose intolerant. This also works with milk, or leftover egg-nog.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

* 3 large eggs
* 1 cup vanilla soy milk
* 2 Tablespoons sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon almond extract
* 12 slices stale bread (potato bread works well)

Note: The bread should be very dry. Leave it out overnight or toast it lightly.
Directions:

1. Mix the first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl. One at a time dip the bread slices into the mixture, coating both sides thoroughly. Let it soak in the mixture for a few seconds.
2. Cook over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet. Let the first side brown, then turn over.
3. Serve with syrup or honey.