I've been too busy preserving to post!

The orchards and gardens are bursting with goodness. Thankfully preserving is much easier now than it was in the 1930s, and my days spent making fruit jellies & jams, drying herbs, fermenting vegetables and smoking fish & meats are much more fun than they are failure.

Please stay tuned...I'll be back soon with plenty of inspiration and photos!

(In the meantime, you might want to look through the topics in the righthand column to find ideas from past blog posts.)

Double your Mint Apple Jelly fun!

Here are my two versions of Mint Apple Jelly.

The jar on the right is for puritans. It has no food coloring.

The one on the left? I'm going to fess up and tell you right off the bat: it's not-so-pure. It had help turning green. It's for the people who once in awhile throw caution to the wind and add a couple drops of food coloring to make something look more like the stuff they remember from childhood.

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Perfect Blueberry Preserves

 For as long as I can remember I've been telling anyone who will listen to me: "If I ever win the lottery, I'm buyin' a blueberry farm!" 

I'm positive I'd want to spend my pay-dirt on a farm, and it seems to me that blueberries might just be the perfect thing to grow.

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Bread & Butter-style Pickled Jicama

Advance warning: Cellphone photos! Some taken in a hurry, therefore blurry.

I learned many things during my time spent in Utah, where I was being certified as a Master Food Preserver.

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I'm getting my Master Food Preserver Certification!

 You probably don't know me in person, but you don't have to know me to see how excited I am to be in class this week. I'm in the historic and oh-so-pretty little town of St George, Utah achieving a goal I've had for many years: to become certified as a Master Food Preserver! 

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Even Pugs Love Rhubarb

ShuMai loves rhubarb, but she prefers to wait until it's in a jam!

Sorry for the delay in posting these past couple weeks. I have so much traffic on my blog lately and I hate it that my last blog post was about the glitch in my website....who wants to read about something unpleasant like that? No one, that's who.

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Oh no, I have a glitch in the system!

Please hang in there...

...I'm working like crazy to fix it.

I've had a few people email me to let me know something isn't quite right with my blog formatting and I really appreciate them for letting me know. I'm been quietly making changes to some configurations and I guess they weren't all successful. Oops.

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"Dried fruit is nature's candy!"

 When I was a little girl, I'll admit I was disappointed when my grandmother said those words to me. I wanted c-a-n-d-y. Something full of sugar and coated with chocolate like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. She handed me a box of plain ol' raisins instead.

Turns out she was right, of course.  

Now I crave fruit straight from my dehydrator, including wacky stuff like  Watermelon Jerky. 

I spotted this cute produce bin at Jay's Farmstand in Shelton, Washington and had to snap a quick picture. 

I hope this photo brings back naturally-sweet memories for you as well. Happy snacking!

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Another use for jam...as a layer between cakes!

(I apologize in advance for using my phone's camera to take the photos posted here today. The photo quality isn't the best, but sometimes a gal just has to leave the big camera at home.)

Of all the ways we can enjoy our lovingly-preserved jams, spreading it on as a layer between cakes might be my new favorite and for good reason.

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Pickling Workshop at the Mother Earth News Spring Fair

I'm excited to share some news with you: I'll be leading a pickling workshop on Sunday afternoon, June 3rd at the Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup!

When Mother Earth News recently contacted me about leading a workshop I didn't hesitate to say "You bet...I'd love to be a part of your Fair!" I grew up reading Mother Earth News magazine and this Fair will be like seeing their fine magazine come to life.

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Felt Fruit. Not exactly fresh, but still lots of fun.

Today I found something adorable on the Internet, and I feel like I'm the last one to the party.

Food made out of felt.

More specifically, fruit made out of felt. 

  

Peach slices: LisaJHoney's Etsy shop

Where have I been?

How have I not seen felt fruit before now?

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Pear Jelly Candies

I love St Patty's Day.

No, I'm not Irish - not even a wee bit - but that doesn't mean I don't have a few favorite Irish traditions. 

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