Sorry again for the radio silence around here. I had really hoped to get a post up before we headed out to Montana for Tres's sister's wedding last week, but it just didn't happen. We're back and (mostly) recovered now, so I'll try to catch up. Since chronology hardly seems to matter at this point, I'll lead off with a few photos from the trip.
The photos above are from our visit to Yellowstone -
how sweet is that bison?
Pig races!
A little pre-wedding wiffle ball
This one's for AR:
Proud Papa
The happy couple, their officiant, and the ring dog
All duded up
Meeting other babies
My side of the family
Friendly competition?
Scotty tries to share
We have a dance
It was a beautiful, super fun wedding and a wonderful trip.
A couple of weeks ago, my dad picked us a flat each of blackberries and raspberries and I did something I've been wanting to do for years now: made caneberry jam. I made a batch of blackberry and a batch of raspberry/blackberry. I adapted recipes from The Blue Chair Jam Book, which I've borrowed from the library, and I'm really happy with how they turned out. I may have to buy a copy for myself - while not all of the recipes are relevant to us (many include ingredients/seasonality specific to California), the ones I used were spot on and it's really a lovely book to look through and read. The few recipes I've tried have already taught me a lot, especially that making jam in small batches is much easier than trying to double or triple recipes. While this shouldn't be that surprising, I hadn't really considered how much longer the process (essentially cooking enough water out of the fruit for it to thicken) is made by increasing the amount of fruit. Following the method* Rachel Saunders describes made the whole process so easy and it turned out so well, that I think I am officially converted to a multiple small batches girl.
Ingredients heating
My trusty assistant
The weekend after that, we made our second annual trip to pick blueberries. It was shaping up to be another hot day, so we were glad we headed out early.
I've got some nectarines macerating in the fridge now and once that jam is done, it will be time for peach butter and canned peaches, followed quickly by tomatoes (canning that is, not jam). The garden is going gangbusters - we're eating as many melons, tomatoes, and eggplants as we can manage and sharing plenty with the neighbors. These are delicious, exciting times, if a bit busy.
* I followed her directions explicitly in cooking the jam, but used a water bath to can, rather than her oven method, as I felt more confident with it.
The weekend after that, we made our second annual trip to pick blueberries. It was shaping up to be another hot day, so we were glad we headed out early.
Silas was fairly content to play with the bucket and crawl around and then was happy in the carrier for awhile, but had had enough after 45 minutes or so. Luckily, we were most of the way there and I was able to entertain him while Tres filled up the last bucket (it helps to be married to a former pro blueberry picker). We picked a little over 20 pounds and it was more than enough to freeze 26 pint jars, make 7 half pints of jam (another winner from the book mentioned above!), and still have plenty for fresh eating.
I've got some nectarines macerating in the fridge now and once that jam is done, it will be time for peach butter and canned peaches, followed quickly by tomatoes (canning that is, not jam). The garden is going gangbusters - we're eating as many melons, tomatoes, and eggplants as we can manage and sharing plenty with the neighbors. These are delicious, exciting times, if a bit busy.
* I followed her directions explicitly in cooking the jam, but used a water bath to can, rather than her oven method, as I felt more confident with it.
