How to make pickles and clean your sink

Forget pickled cucumbers. A couple of years ago I discovered dilly beans (pickled green beans) and this year have found something even better. A month or so ago I saw some asparagus at the grocery store. It was pencil-thin and reminded me of....green beans. I bought three bunches, brought them home, and followed my dilly bean recipe. They are absolutely divine.

My recipe is from a rather old book called "In a Pickle or a Jam" by Vicki Willder. It was published in 1971, and every once in a while you can find a copy of it used on Amazon. The recipes in it are simple and good, and most importantly the pickle and chutneys are not overpoweringly salty. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's overly salty pickles. You need a certain amount in there to stabilize the vinegar, but no need to go as crazy as many recipes do.

So, you're out at the farmers market (it's a great time of year) and there are some fabulous green beans. It's getting a little late in the year for asparagus, but you might find that too. You could make dilly treats! It is almost ridiculously easy. This recipe is for three bunches of asparagus, or around two pounds of green beans. The more the merrier, as the recipe is infinitely and easily scaleable. Just remember: Put anything you want in the jars, and then cover with a 1:1 vinegar/water mix with a little salt thrown in.



For hardware you will need:
- Glass jars, enough to hold your vegetables. If you are going to eat the dillys within the next month, you can even re-use an old pickle or mayonnaise jar as long as it has a tight fitting lid. I prefer to use standard canning jars because they can be processed and then stored for up to a year. (more on that later) For this recipe, I usually fill three quart jars.
- a large soup pot, big enough to hold your jars standing up and have them covered with 1" of water
- a saucepan big enough to hold 8 cups of liquid
- tongs to remove jars from boiling water

For the dillys you will need:
- three bunches thin asparagus, or two pounds green beans
- 12 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smushed
- 9 sprigs fresh dill
- 3 t spicy chili sauce (I use this kind)
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 4 cups water
- 2 T kosher salt (4t if using table salt, like Morton's)

To make:
- First, place the jars you will be using into your large pot and cover with water so that there is 1" above the tops of the jars. If using old pickle jars, toss in the metal lids from those. If using two-piece screw top lids, throw in the ring bands. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 10 minutes before you use the jars. This sterilizes them.
- In smaller saucepan, combine vinegar, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to keep warm until needed.
- trim your vegetables so that they fit neatly in the jar. I like to have them in long spears to munch on, but you can also slice into small pieces.
- Pull out sterilized jars one by one. Into each put: 4 cloves garlic, 3 sprigs dill, 1 t chili sauce. Now cram the jar full of vegetables. Don't be shy, shove them in there. Just make sure that they don't stick out of the top.
- Pour hot vinegar mixture into filled jar, until it comes up to the threads of the top. Don't fill right up to the brim.
- Remove lid (or screw-band and lid) from boiling water and tighten gently. Don't go crazy with it.
- Repeat with other jars.
- **If re-using old jars: when cooler, tighten as much as possible and place in darkened cabinet.
- **If using canning jars, put back into boiling water and simmer for 7 minutes. Remove and let cool. Listen for the lid to pop and tell you it's made a seal. When cool place in darkened cabinet.

- Wait two weeks. Whenever you think of it, give the jars a gentle swirl to get the chili moving around. Your vegetables may change color slightly, appearing cooked or yellowy. This is fine.

- At least 24 hours before eating, place jar in refrigerator. They taste the best when cold. Open, and enjoy with cheese, humus, wine, or on salads. Yum! (In this picture you'll notice that I've already given one jar away. They don't last long!)


How To Clean Your Sink:
Have left over vinegar water from the pickles? Sometimes you really don't need all of it to fill the jars, especially if you are really cramming them full. You will need:
- warm unused vinegar mix
- 1/2 c baking soda
- a plug for your sink's drain

First, pour the baking soda into your drain. Try to shake it way down in there. Now, get the plug ready. Pour the vinegar into the drain and quick! Plug the hole. Don't burn yourself. The vinegar and baking soda will go all middle-school-volcano-project on your drain, and the plug forces all of the action downward. This scours, disinfects, and freshens your pipes all at the same time! Safe for septic tanks and lots of fun too.

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Eggs laid in the coop Friday: 2
Eggs found in the woods Friday: 0
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Eggs laid in the coop Thursday: 1
Eggs found in the woods Thursday: 0
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Eggs laid in the coop Wednesday: 1
Eggs found in the woods Wednesday: 0

chickens don't like chili

Aha! She has returned from her travels! Perhaps she purchased some corn and has some sitting in her lap, ready to fling out on to the ground and make us happy. No? Well. We'll just see who wants to lay in the coop tomorrow. Perhaps we will lay in the most obscure places in the woods that we can find. The corn must flow!

Time for a recipe. This one is a favorite with friends. Add some tasty beer and homemade cornbread (with jalapenos in it, of course) and you have a divine dinner. Charlie loves cooking with spices, so remember that a big T means a tablespoon. You will use a lot, but it will taste wonderful. I order my spices from Penzey's and keep backup in the freezer. We go through a LOT of chili powder in this house. New Mexican chili powder can often be found in the Mexican section of the grocery store. It usually comes in a slim cellophane bag rather than a little plastic jar, and comes in hot or mild. And don't be shy with the cumin.

Charlie Chili

1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
pinch salt
approx 2t pepper
> saute in 1 1/2 T peanut oil until cooked through

add:
1 lb ground lamb
1 lb ground beef
> cook until meat is browned uniformly

add:
1 bottle beer (lager or your choice)
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 can red kidney beans, NOT drained
1 can black beans, NOT drained
> stir to combine

add:
7T chili powder (yes, Seven Tablespoons)
5T new mexican chili powder (or for less hot chili use more regular chili powder)
1T paprika (your choice of heat)
1t dried onion
2t granulated garlic
2T cumin
1t oregano
2t cayenne (for less hot use 1t)
1T salt
2t black pepper
> stir and simmer for about an hour

20 minutes before serving, add:
4 fresh tomatoes, diced

optional to thicken a bit: 5 minutes before serving, add:
2t masa mixed with enough water to make a paste

> stir and serve with pickled jalapenos, sour cream, cheese, and more hot sauce.

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 1
Eggs found in the woods today: 0

corn and projects

One of these days I must make a video of what happens when I open the front door. From all corners of the yard, chickens explode out of bushes and from behind cars and under trees and scramble to be the first to Get Some Corn. Sometimes I feel like that jar of corn is on the front steps to save me from the chickens, not just as a treat. They can be quite insistent. Today I thought I'd relax and sit on the step and casually toss corn onto the ground. Ursula would have none of that and leapt into my lap and stuck her face in the jar.

Projects underway....

Another piece of miniature fashion for Calliope. After experiencing actual pains from the cuteness level of a certain little boy in his beachcomber outfit, I was determined to make something like that for C. There was some deliciously outlandish rainbow medium weight knit at the fabric store a while ago and I snatched it up. Enter: The Borrowed Serger. Oh what sweet seams it makes. Gone are the sad splayed zig-zag edges of my older attempts on the regular machine.



The nursery project for Charlie's sister continues apace. After visiting a few shops and looking at how cribs are put together, I'm satisfied that the panels are going to hang straight when it's put on. One of the most valuable hand stitches ever: blind hem stitch. I am still loving the pink and orange color scheme.


Back to my basement studio to listen to NPR and sew sew sew.

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 2 (good girls!)
Eggs found in the woods today: 0
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Eggs laid in the coop Sunday: 1
Eggs found in the woods Sunday: 0
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Eggs laid in the coop Saturday: 2
Eggs found in the woods Saturday: 0

What have you lost lately?

When Penelope went missing last year, I felt a little silly putting up "Lost Chicken" signs. We now know that she was probably eaten by the raccoon that ate Beatrice a few months ago. After the purchase of a ridiculously enormous (I mean, you could fit a labrador retriever in this thing) live trap, the raccoon was nabbed and forcibly relocated several miles from our house.


Last night as I was lying in bed I heard the coyotes howling. There are quite a few neighborhood dogs that can raise a ruckus, but the coyotes have a very distinctive yodeling howl. It's both fascinatingly beautiful and frankly a little bit scary. They could be celebrating a summer night, or coordinating a hunt.
I fear that I saw the face of their quarry on the stop sign at the end of our street. I will keep my eyes peeled, and I always have rope in the back of my car to gather up wayward animals. But I don't hold out much hope for poor Hans.



In happier news, that soup sure was tasty.

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 1 (henrietta)
Eggs found in the woods today: 0 (wily ursula is up to her antics)

Jammin'

It is strawberry season in the pacific northwest. After eating strawberries in cereal, in oatmeal, strawberry shortcake, in salads, and with messy red hands standing over the kitchen sink, it is time to think about storing some of them. Enter: jam. Strawberry jam is one of my all time favorites. Over the years I've settled on a rather modified version of "Gariguette Strawberry" from Christine Ferber's lovely book Mes Confitures. The secret ingredient: limes.

I saw from my notes that last year I made my batches on June 26th with berries from the Bellevue strawberry festival. The festival is this coming weekend, and I may end up making even more jam on Monday! I remember buying so much fruit last year that I could barely carry it all. I lucked upon two flats of great local berries at the grocery store yesterday and a friend of mine wanted a lesson in how to make jam, so today was the day.

Today Kristie and I made two batches. One regular strawberry-lime, and the other with a healthy dose of Grand Marnier. Typically I do an overnight maceration of the fruit and sugar, but decided skip that step and just warm up the sugar today instead. The recipe:

2.5 lbs of strawberries, cut in half and greens removed
4 c sugar, warmed in oven for a few minutes (should be warm, not hot)
zest and juice of 4 limes
4T pectin

Combine berries and sugar in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add lime zest, juice, and pectin and bring to another boil. Keep boiling at a good clip until it reaches 221 degrees. Today ours stalled out at about 213 and wouldn't go any higher. That's fine...it just may take a day or so to firm up in the jars.
Turn the burner off, scoop any foam from the top. Ladle into sterilized jam jars, cap, and process in a boiling water bath for 8 minutes. Pull them out of the pot and set on something heat-proof. Cock one ear and listen for the little "pop!" from each jar that tells you that the seal has taken and your jam is safe to store.


Optional additional step: bake loaves of fresh bread right before making jam.
Final step: eat jam on toast.


Super final step: snicker while pondering all of the punny titles that could be used for blog post. Settle on "jammin" and laugh out loud.

Tonight: Can't eat too much toast because I have a pot of homemade coconut lime chicken soup. What kind of husband hears that you have a cold and comes home after a soccer game at 11pm with a bag of groceries, then cooks you soup to eat the next day? The perfect kind, of course. I watched him chop and saute and fell asleep with my head on the kitchen counter around midnight.

Happy summer solstice!

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 1 (ursula)
Eggs found in the woods today: 0 (but I know one is out there somewhere)

The elusive egg

Ever since the new babies were big enough to sleep in the coop, there has been a rift in the chicken world. The two older hens rule the roost, so to speak. When all five are in the coop together squabbles are frequent. The babies have taken to sleeping inside the nestboxes rather than on a perch. This is fine, but it poses a problem for Henrietta and Ursula when they want to lay their eggs. Henrietta is an early morning layer kind of girl, and she gets peeved when there are other chickens blocking her way. Some days she rousts them out and lays an egg where she should. Other days she crosses her legs and waits for me to come and open the door and let them all out for the day.

As soon as that door opens she hot-foots her way into the woods. The egg has already dropped down pretty far in her oviduct and she looks for all the world like a kid running to the bathroom with their legs pressed together. Ursula is a bit more of a pain. She waits till mid morning to lay her egg so I tend to miss where she is hiding them. There are four favorite spots and none of them are easy for me to get to. If I am lucky then they will have laid in one of those nests.

I can only hope that when the babies start laying (probably in September) they will decide to use the nestboxes.

The nestbox as I like to see it, with two fresh eggs. Chickens like to feel that they are laying eggs in a safe place. If there is already an egg there, they assume that the location is safe. Using plastic easter eggs weighted with a few pebbles is a wonderful way to hoodwink them. Oh, look! It’s so safe even the easter bunny lays eggs there!

The girls and boy getting one of their many daily treats of corn. James is at the bottom left of the picture---so far he looks like a boy but hasn't made a single attempt to crow. Then moving clockwise: Ursula, Penelope, Sophie (the buff one who is mostly obscured, shoving her face into the corn) and Henrietta. Ursula and Henrietta are 13 months old, and the others are 3 months.


The new re-done nestbox. I extended the roof to cover the entire length of the coop and replaced the cedar shakes with regular roofing shingles. Now I have a nice dry corner to keep the buckets of chicken food. I chopped up a set of louvered closet doors and couldn't resist painting them a gaudy bright and shiny red.

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Number of eggs laid in the coop today: 2
Number of eggs laid in the woods today: 0

Dragons and Patchwork

The latest batch of Calliope clothing included a romper and a slip-over dress.

I've had so much fun messing around with the McCall's 2213 pattern for an infant dress. This incarnation sprung from a pile of leftover scrap fabric from another project. I pieced them into a patchwork yard or so of solid material and then cut out the dress pattern from that. Adding a white linen lining helped with all of the raw edges on the wrong side of the fabric.


Next was my first "big girl" romper, which means no snaps along the inside of the legs. Oh how I love the Burda patterns especially since they've started adding in the seam allowance. No more fiddling with adding 5/8" all around the edges of things and fretting about whether or not the allowance is even. Burda 9652 is an awesome sleeveless romper which most importantly can be adapted to a pedal-pusher length. After watching Isaac try to walk with his pants pooled around his ankles I have been trying to find an attractive way to get pants to the proper length. For a girl-style the capri works. For boys I need to experiment with having a buttonholed tab and a row of a few buttons to adjust height. My favorite part of this outfit: the thick white cotton tassels along the leg bottoms. They were taken from two hand towels found at a thrift store. The dragon part? Well, the fabric reminds me of a Chinese New Year dragon.

front:

back:



in action:

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Number of eggs laid in the coop today: 2
Number of eggs laid in the woods today: 0