Millions of Peaches, Peaches For Me
Posted on | September 14, 2010 | 18 Comments
Does anyone else know that song, Peaches by Presidents of USA? I can’t I say I know any of the other words besides, “millions of peaches, peaches for me” but I kept singing it the whole time I was picking and jamming these peaches.
It’s the end of peach season here in New England. I think I got the last of the crop at Brooksby Farm in Peabody, Mass over Labor Day weekend? They are super easy to pick off trees just like apples. Photos of the field above and below. I brought them home, sliced them up, soaked them in sugar for about fours hours, and then cooked them down with some lemon. Viola jam! That’s it! I sampled the jam with a little ice cream and it was delicious. Have you been canning too? I would love to hear your stories.
Related Posts:
Making Dill Pickles
Making Strawberry Jam
Getting Ready For Canning
Posted on | June 9, 2010 | 15 Comments
Did you miss me? I was outside enjoying summer and trying to slowly break myself of my internet habit. I promise to keep blogging but I need a summer break. Expect informal pop-ins from me every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hopefully less about the internet world and more about my everyday life in New England.
Last night, I started pulling together my canning supplies. If you remember last summer canning season was a bust. We had that horrible rainstorm that lasted till August? Strawberries were horrible and tomatoes were mostly ruined by the blight.
This season I am taking full advantage of the great weather. I would like to get some canning jars in different sizes and maybe try out Weck’s jars too! In years past I’ve used a lobster pot for boiling the jars which was sufficient but difficult to use because it was so narrow and I got burnt about a zillion times. I ordered a Canning pot on Amazon which comes with a jar rack. Could be useful?
I’m hoping to do a lot more preserving this season. Till now strawberry and blueberry jam are the only recipes I have conquered. I picked up Ashley English’s new book, Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving. Hopefully some good pickle recipes? Check out her blog too: small measure. I found this blog all about preserving on Ashley’s blog: tigress in a jam. She has great round up of recipes using rhubarb, yum!
Stay tuned for more. I’m hoping to go strawberry picking this weekend or early next week depending on the weather. Do you have a favorite fruit you love to jam?
Related Posts:
Weck Canning Jars
Large Ball Jar for Lemonade
Strawberry Picking In Maine 2009
Recipe: Homemade Baked Beans
Posted on | January 19, 2010 | 14 Comments
It’s been snowing here off and on for two days. Monday afternoon I made up a big pot of homemade Vermont Baked Beans from my new book, The New England Yankee Cookbook. At first the whole idea of making beans on a snowy winter day seemed quite idealitic.
The process to make homemade beans is a long one. You have to soak the beans overnight and then bake them in the oven for 3-4 hours. Traditionally, you bake your beans in a ceramic bean pot. I got my bean pot from my mom. Newer versions can be found online. Scour antique shops in New England for the real thing. After an afternoon of tending to my beans I was anticipating the most glorious bean flavor ever. I served them in bowls over warmed brown bread. Greg wasn’t nearly excited about my bean feast. He thought it was bit strange that we would be eating just beans and bread for dinner. I consoled him, “If they are bad we can get takeout.”
My first reaction, “Wow they taste just like B&M canned beans.” Smoky, maple syrupy, and tangy. B&M based in Portland, Maine prides themselves on cooking their beans the New England way—using bean pots, salt pork and baked them in brick ovens. I’m not one to recommend canned products but in this scenario canned baked beans are just as good and a lot less work. B&M has really mastered the art of making homemade beans in a can. Next time, I probably just buy a can and focus my time on making a more substantial dinner like ribs rather then tending beans. Below the recipe adapted from The New England Yankee Cookbook.
Baked Beans With Vermont Maple Syrup
1 quart pea beans
1/2 pound fat salt pork
1 onion
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons salt
boiling water
Soak beans overnight. In the morning drain and rinse beans. Put a chopped onion in the bottom of bean pot; add beans. Mix syrup, mustard and salt and sprinkle over beans. Put pork down into beans so only the rind shows. I used diced canadian bacon in place of fat salt pork. Pour boiling water to cover.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 3-4 hours, adding water to cover. Beans will cook down to a thick sauce.
Related Posts:
Recipe: Real Maine Whoopie Pies
Recipe: Fennel-Steamed Mussels Provencal
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A journal about new england life, decorating inspiration, and renovating a 262-year-old house in Marblehead, Massachusetts. read more...
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