Short Story Long

I have a friend who received some Spiced Peach Preserves from me last year, and she inquired recently whether I'd be making more this year.  I answered that I was not sure, as it is hard to can with store-bought fruit after you've received organic, homegrown, best-you-ever-tasted peaches.  Obviously I would love some more of those peaches, but unfortunately my in-laws' peach tree was hit hard with a late frost this past spring, as were many fruit trees in Colorado.  My local farmer's market had some lovely peaches on a day when I didn't have time to can, and assured me that they'd have more the next week.  They didn't!  So previously mentioned friend asked her brother to pick up a box on his way through Palisades last week, and she gave them to us in exchange for some finished jars, and a little lesson in canning.  Isn't that nice? I decided to blog the recipe so that you can use it, and I can find it here again!  Spiced Peach Preserves R...

Without further delay, the give-away winner is lucky #3, Mimi!  Congratulations! (Please contact me, Mimi, so that I can send your prize!) As for the rest of you, i f you've EVER commented on my blog, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I really enjoy blogging, both writing and sharing my own personal projects, as well as reading and being inspired by so many of you.  Now, what have I been doing since August 18th?  I really had no intention of not posting for so long, but I just wasn't in the mood.  It started out with having too much going on, and then I added a terrible rash which got so itchy I could hardly sleep.  Then, we had back-to-school stuff going on.  I also shot a wedding, a birthday party, and some portraits,  and have over 700 pictures to go through!  On top of it all, I knew I needed to pick a winner and I hadn't gotten to that yet.  So, you know, life stuff.   I was ...

We took a quick trip to BFJ's parents' house yesterday, and I thought you might enjoy some pictures from the day. The peach tree is in bloom. I'm crossing my fingers for no late frost so we can have more Peach Preserves! My mother-in-law, feeding "the girls," her chickens. Dewey spring blossoms: Along with quiche, we had strawberries and cream for brunch. One of the boys had three helpings! Of course, it is extra delicious when you know right where the eggs came from! One of my mother-in-law's recent purchases: Finally, when we returned home, I found that my own Marsh Marigold had first bloom ever. (I planted it last year.) Happy Spring!

Okay, not millions, but whenever I think of peaches, I think of that song . My kids are learning to sing it. One batch of Spiced Peach Preserves : I can't figure out what I altered last year but I didn't use a vanilla bean - don't have any; instead, I used a dash or two of vanilla extract. I wish I had more peaches for more batches but alas! other members of the house wanted some fresh.  We also made some of Guy Fieri's  Cin-Ful Peach Cobbler , which was delicious.  A very big hit with everyone!  I left out the cranberries (didn't have any) and if I had it to do over, I would leave out the almonds as well; I didn't think they added anything. 

On Monday, the boys and I drove down to see my mother- and father-in-law once more before school starts. On the top of my list was picking peaches.  You may remember we picked peaches a few years ago .  May I say, I am not a big peach fan (it's the fuzz) but I make an exception for these peaches.  They are delicious!  Grandma, the boys and I picked about four boxes of peaches, just the ones that seemed ripe.  We enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, and playing with the chickens, and came home with two of those boxes.  Boy, are we enjoying them!   On Wednesday, I made Spiced Peach Preserves from here .  I did not have cardamom but otherwise, followed the recipe pretty close this time.  I realized I must have done half batches before, as I did not recall the pot being quite so full.  And I actually had vanilla beans in my pantry, which I know I did not have previously.    I also have a couple of cousins i...

I think I might finally be done with canning for this season.  We didn't do as much of any one thing as we've done in previous years - like back when I only did apple butter , when I got a box of peaches from my mother-in-law , or when I bought a bushel of cucumbers.  But we did a bit of each, and a lot from home and local friends or farms.  I did have to buy peaches and apples at the store.   spiced peach preserves - I always forget the cardamom, but I love that you can see the little vanilla beans.   bread and butter pickles, by request apple butter And finally, some raspberry jam - we separated the gold from the red, since they cost more.  What's the point of getting them if  you mash them into the reds??   The general consensus is that they do taste sweeter / better than the reds we picked at the berry farm, although our own red bush is sweeter than those as well.  We ended up with four small jars of gold raspbe...

Berry Patch Farms - lots of flowers, not so many berries, yet! Last week, we went to Berry Patch Farms as we did last year.  We should have waited another week or two, we were not allowed to pick berries to our heart's content, only two pints per...  We thought that was two per family but some people nearby apparently interpreted that as two per half person.  Anyway, we did not get enough to make a batch of jam.  We did get enough you-pick-it basil for some delicious pesto.  I don't know why I waited so long to make my own, I LOVE basil.  So no berries, but luckily, my friend Judy had called me a month ago asking if I wanted in on some peaches.  Yesterday, our twenty pound box arrived.  The boys all wanted to eat them out of the box; not me, I don't like the whole fuzz thing.  Today, we are making our first batch of peach preserves for the year.  YUM.  Thank goodness for blogging: I could not find the recipe I u...

While perusing my canning cookbooks, I came across some pear recipes.  In the end, the one I used was online, here .  My boys were skeptical of the star anise but we made it once as-written and it is pretty great.  And we wondered, are there other kinds of anise?  I went and got more pears for another batch (and pictures, of course!) I made more peach preserves.  It's the easiest thing to come by in large quantity, a box of good peaches, and a crowd pleaser, definitely.    I used my favorite recipe as previously posted . And lovely strawberry... preserve.  Jam?  I'm not sure.  Poor strawberry stuff, no spices; just lemon and sugar - and I used all the lemons.  I ate that strawberry after the pictures, and it was delicious. I'm thinking that these would all be perfect for a tea party, and perhaps I should make some lemon curd.  Have you made lemon curd?  I'll have to look for a recipe unless you can sugge...

What a beautiful time of year: not too hot, in fact perfect for a sweater, especially in the morning!  And yet, there is still plenty of garden goodness to be had.  My boys are in school, and everyone has a little space and independence, including me.  I am always happy to discover another rose, a neighbor out walking dogs, a few leaves turning, a good book with just enough time to crack it open, and new yarn in my local yarn shop.  BFJ and I drove up to Boulder yesterday for some pictures, and I discovered a tin of my favorite tea - which I'd just recently run out of, in one of the culinary shops on Pearl Street.  Perfect timing. Today, I'm making some  Peach Preserves . It seems like everything is so readily available these days, at the store, on the internet.  Almost takes the fun out of finding things.  However, local, organic peaches - that are hopefully ripe, are not easy to come by.  I'm settling for local, ripe peaches this year. ...

The early bird gets the best pictures, to be sure. On Wednesday, I went to my friend Tammy's house, and was greeted with lots of beautiful lupines that had sprung up since my last visit.  I was reminded of my mother-in-law, who loves lupines.  Tammy said she wouldn't mind my stopping by again with my camera, so I've been looking for lovely light.  Yesterday, the boys and I drove by, but it was too sunny.  This morning, I woke up to cool and cloudy skies, and even though it's Saturday, I knew it was time to get pictures of these lovely little flowers.   When I got back to my house, I sat outside at my favorite table, and enjoyed toast with homemade peach preserves , and loose leaf tea, which always seems fancier.  The birds are chirping and singing and I've got a handknit sweater to keep out the chill while the clouds burn off.  What's better than this?