What to do with Onion Marmalade

I managed to recover from the recipe test session sufficiently to actually have an appetite. What a great feeling!

The 16 year old was nagging for a snack so I thought I'd test out some marmalade on him... I put some cheese and onion on rice cakes. I got a grunt and "it's good" which in the world of the teenager is quite the positive reaction!

Saturday night was burger night (again!) and we all had cheese and onion toppings (or bottoms depending on who was assembling!)

Best Berry Jam

I have been lucky enough to grow up in a home with an amazing kitchen and a mom who isn't all that keen on using it... This lead to making my own birthday cakes from age 12 (I didn't fancy the one I got for my 11th birthday) and generally being free to make a mess and experiment. I have made many batches of jam under Ouma's watchful eye - she still makes marmalade and rusks whenever we're running low!

Over December I visited a berry farm in Swellendam (gorgeous place!) and bought a bunch of frozen berries... I didn't even think of making jam until I got back to Cape Town a week later - usually frozen berries get eaten in minutes but somehow these ones managed to escape!

I didn't have a recipe but stuck to the basics. Here goes:
 
Mixed Berry Jam Recipe

500g blueberries

500g raspberries

1kg youngberries

6 granny smith apples, grated

15ml lemon juice

2kg sugar

The method is quite simple. Place all the ingredients in a very large heavy bottomed pot over low heat. At the same time, place a saucer in the freezer for testing the jam to see if it's done. Once the sugar is dissolved in the berry juice, bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Stir constantly - the jam will bubble up to about double the original volume and could boil over if you're not careful. Once the colour of the jam has changed and it's looking like runny jam (15-20min) test a little on your chilled saucer - I made notes on testing jam with my strawberry jam recipe.

Bottle in sterilized, hot jars. I close the jars whilst still hot to ensure that they seal properly and have stored jam for over a year without a hitch (mostly, however, the jam only lasts a few weeks before it is devoured by friends and my hungry family)

Strawberry Jam Recipe

It seems to be a kitchen weekend :-) Went to get braai supplies at P'nP just now and found strawberries at a price that made it reasonable enough to make some jam... and, like they say, let's make hay while the sun shines! It's one of the easiest things to make that create a real WOW factor - home-made jam on scones, fresh bread, etc just can't be beaten!

 Stawberry Jam:

1kg strawberries

1kg sugar

1 apple, grated

1/4 cup lemon juice

• Big saucepan
• Wooden spoon with a long handle (this is very important as the jam spits unbelieveably hot bubbles which stick to your skin when they come in contact... watch out for your face over the pot too!)
• Sterilised Jam jars

Clean and quarter the strawberries. Put all the ingredients in the pot over a low heat. Simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring to the boil stirring constantly. Cook the jam until it reaches wrinkle stage (put a saucer in the freezer when you start the process. When you think the jam is ready, put a little on the ice-cold saucer. if you can pull your finger through the mixture without the jam running back together, your jam is done. The surface of the jam wrinkles as you pull your finger through it.)

Bottle the jam in hot, sterilised jars. Clean the rims of the jar with a clean cloth before putting the lids on loosely whilst still very hot. Makes 6 X 230ml jars.

Self-Sufficiency

A couple of months back I wandered into Exclusive Books (as I do very often!) and a book caught my eye... The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers by John Seymore. The catch phrase is something like for idealists and dreamers (I can't remember off the top of my head now...) I'm not sure where I fall between those two categories - some days I'm the ultimate idealist and others I just have these dreams that run away with me - but I can honestly say that John Seymore's books are nothing short of inspirational! Given that they were written many years ago (he gives instructions for the construction of cold houses as there were no fridges, etc.) there is much entertainment to be found between the covers. I not only purchased The complete guide to self sufficiency but The New Self-Sufficient Gardener too! I have read and re-read them hundreds of times already, drawing inspiration, motivation and skills from their beautifully illustrated pages... Both books cover a very wide knowledge base that has been put into simple words that bring the ideas and concepts to life. I have learned much about planting, looking after my vegetables and trees, culinary skills such as preserving my produce, etc.

The books have pride of place on my coffee table and proudly bear the stains of use as a manual in the kitchen and garden. John Seymore's experience is worth a thousand times what I paid for the books! He's unfortunately passed on but his teaching farm still exists in Ireland and his family is keeping his legacy alive. We could do with more wonderful people like this around today!

Summer in the Middle of Winter!

After a week of miserable, rainy and freezing cold weather (my car said it was 3 degrees C the other morning)I woke up late to find the most glorious day! Helped a little by the fact that it was after 8 (when I'm normally up at 6), it was warm enough to venture into the garden and feel the soil... Maybe I'm a little soft!



Making the most of the warmth I cleaned up the strawberries - all 60 plants ready to be planted out - and decided to give the carrots, onions and beetroot some seaweed fertilizer. I have to brag a little as I'm so very proud of my carrots :-) In 2 square meters we've had carrots galore... I was overzealous when I planted my seeds so I've had to thin them out substantially. The rabbits and chickens go crazy for the greens and the baby carrots taste amazing raw and in a basic root veggie roast. I have harvested carefully more to thin out the veggie box than clear it so each time we have carrots they're a bit bigger.

Once I finished pottering in the garden (cup of tea in hand!) I tackled the box of guavas I bought on Friday. I've discovered that if I'm brave and have a plan, I can buy large quantities of fruit or vegetables that are in season from the hawkers outside the Epping Market (Cape Town Fresh Produce Market) for less than half of what they cost in any of the commercial shops. I ended up with 8kg of guavas which were ripe enough to stew today.

Stewed Guavas

4kg Guavas, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 cups sugar
15 whole cloves
10ml ground cinnamon
rind and juice of 1 lemon
3 cups water

Dissolve the sugar in the water along with the cloves and cinnamon before adding the guavas. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. I have messed this step up twice already - the pot boils over in a second, even once it's turned down so be very careful! The mess is super sticky and the syrup burns on my gas hob... Not ideal. Allow the mixture to simmer until the fruit is soft. Pour into hot, sterile jars, clean the rims with a clean cloth and screw the lids on lightly (as the jars cool a strong vacuum will form). It's a good idea to wash the jars under warm/hot water at this point or else the spilled bits dry and you never get rid of the stickiness on the jars. Makes 4 x 750ml jars.

Serve with bulgarian yogurt and honey.

I've added these jars to my preserve collection - I've tried to can fruits and veggies in season rather than buy expensive out of season imports that have lost much of their flavour. The tomatoes from the garden that my Ouma helped me bottle are the tastiest, juiciest addition to so many great meals (and can even be eaten like sweets!). Since the tomatoes I've done truckloads of apples and pears but there's a mouse in my house that eats them with his breakfast as fast as I can make them... Time to visit the Epping Market again I think!