Let’s Jam!

Let’s Jam!

  I know a lot of people use jam or jelly for meatballs, and over brie, but I thought I would share a few others. I’ve been teaching myself how to make jam and I plan on giving out a few jars this year as gifts.  Just in case you get too many jars of jam, here are some ideas of what them. By the way should you not get jam for the holidays? Often you can find less popular varieties on clearance in the kitchen specialty stores. You can also find homemade jam and jelly at farmers’ markets in the spring. Oh, and if you want to try to make your own, you tube is a great resource but  the hard working folks at the farmer’s market always  answer my questions.

1.       Make your own salad dressing, just add a bit of raspberry jam to a basic recipe of olive oil and balsamic or rice vinegar—it’s a zesty dressing with almost no effort! Other ingredients you can toss in include lemon juice, garlic, Dijon mustard, herbs like sage or basil, and salt and pepper!

Try using this basic recipe:

Basic Vinaigrette from Martha Stewart

·         1/4 cup white-wine vinegar

·         1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 teaspoon pepper

·         Pinch of sugar

·         3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup white-wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of sugar.

Slowly add 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, whisking until emulsified. Or shake the ingredients in a jar, or whirl them in a blender.

To make different types of vinaigrettes, do the following:

 Add jam in place of the sugar. I like apricot, lemon curd, apple jelly.

 Martha’s recipe call for Garlic: Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic or 1/2 clove crushed.  I recommend you roast it first. Roasting garlic makes it sweet and creamy.

Balsamic: Substitute balsamic vinegar for the wine vinegar.

Citrus Parmesan: Use fresh lemon, orange or pineapple juice instead of vinegar; add 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan.

Scallion: Add 3 chopped whole scallions (about 1/4 cup).

Herb: Add 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley, or tarragon. Blue Cheese: Add 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese, such as Roquefort.

2.       Any Jam will make a great ham glaze just microware it and pour it over the ham for the last hour and ½.  Ham loves fruit so don’t be afraid to try a different flavor of jam.

 8lb Ham

1 1/2 cups blackberry jam

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Heat ham as directed on the label or at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and score, cutting diagonal lines 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart. Cut across the lines to make diamond shapes.  Combine jelly, mustard and horseradish. Spoon mixture in small amounts over the ham throughout the remainder of baking. Increase temperature to 425 degrees and bake until ham is browned and glazed about 30 minutes.

3.        I am not a baker. I’m a cook. I do keep a maybe 75 bake goodies in my recipe back pocket just cause.  Fill your cupcakes with your favorite jam.

Prepare a decorating bag with your icing filling and Round Decorating. Insert tip in top center of an un-iced cupcake and squeeze out a small amount of filling, which includes a filling tip and an easy-to-control cylinder for adding just the right amount.  Or, use a apple corer to hollow out the cupcake just a bit to leave a hole for the jam to set in and just spoon in the jam, cover with icing.

 Time to enjoy!

4.        How to make Jam into mix drinks? What it’s sweet?    You’re going to have to check out a fellow blogger for this one. But trust me you will be happy you did.

Jam & Gin Cocktail

1 Tablespoon jam (pick something interesting, flavorful, & special.   The creator of this article used Sour Cherry and Blueberry Vanilla – both excellent)

2 oz gin

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 oz simple syrup

Ice to serve

Combine jam, gin, lemon, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker.  Shake vigorously, then strain and pour over ice.  Garnish with mint and serve.

 From Two Tarts blog (June 13, 2013)

5.      simple syrup

It is also good to make jam into a simple syrup for non-alcoholic and one of a kind drinks. Combine water and sugar Jam in a saucepan over medium-high heat; stir until sugar is dissolved. In a saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until jam becomes mushy and sauce is thick, about 10 minutes. Strain liquid into a bottle and refrigerate.

6.      Dips

This one is really simple, use either a 16 oz container of Greek yogurt or a soften block of cream cheese. In a bowl mixed your favorite jam with the yogurt or cream cheese with the jam to taste. Start with 2 tablespoons of jam and go from there. I adjust this recipe all the time because sometimes I serve animal crackers and can use less jam and sometimes I us plain pita crackers, so more jam may be needed. I prefer to use the cream cheese. I can mold the cream cheese in the refrigerator for 2 hours before a party to make it look fancy.

7.    Sweet and sour sauce made from strawberry jam

1 c. of rice vinegar
1 c. of shaved palm sugar (or dark brown sugar)
½ c. of strawberry jam thinned with about 2 tbsps. of water
½ tsp. of salt

Make the sweet and sour sauce. Place the vinegar and sugar in a small pan and set over medium heat. Cook without stirring until the sugar dissolves. Swirl the pan and boil over medium heat for 15 to 25 minutes or until syrupy. Add the strawberry jam and salt during the last five minutes of cooking.

8.      How to make Jam into Ice Cream

1 cup cold milk – I used 2% 

2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 pint jar jam of your choice – I used strawberry

Put all your ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine using an immersion blender. Pour mixture into your ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s directions.

Since this will be a soft set, I like to place it in a freezer safe container and firm up overnight. The lovely thing about this recipe? It doesn’t get rock hard. My ice cream scoop easily cuts through it and I serve it up with a little chocolate sauce for dessert. It’s rich, so one or two scoops will satisfy. (Adapted recipe from Northwest Edible Life)

Part 2 of my Holiday tips 2014

Tip#7 A dear friend who is no longer with us taught me to make sure  lots of pictures are taken or have people take pictures and encourage your quests to send them to each other.  William took pictures at my wedding. He made sure I had pictures of everyone who came and four years later it is William is no longer with us.   

  

in loving memory of William Lampie

 Get those selfie shots and try to get the group shots.  Get the kids together a make a scrap books or ornaments next year.  These pictures make great Christmas cards, invitations and keep sakes. There are always a few people who don’t like pictures, try a distract them. Snap pictures of them helping the kids make cookies or have one of the children give them a kiss on the cheek if it’s an elder. My favorite, hand me a baby, I don’t like my picture taken, but if you hand me a baby my focus is not on the picture it’s on the baby. I like to take pictures with my good looking friends, they make me look good. Plan a few shots like ones with Grandparents. If you have someone recovering from cancer and they have a bald head ask them if you can have family and close friends take pictures hugging them. Sometimes finding a prop, example, an Easter bonnet, reindeer horns, a turkey suit, matching t shirts, wings or funny hats make pictures easier! Have fun. When you look back at these old pictures you’ll thank me.

Tip#8 Share the recipes. Give and get recipes of your favorite dishes by just asking. If the person says when you ask just tell them you want to have the recipes for the next generation. Some recipes really don’t have written recipes so ask can you come over and watch or learn how. You can also ask to video how to cook Aunt Terrie’s dish for family only. My own family lost my Grandmothers and my Aunt Julia’s recipes when they died.  Think about making a family cookbook. This year I am  teaching my son to make my  legendary Gumbo, I've been saving this recipe.

Tip#9   Clean up and the take home plate grabbers.  Remember, I said plan a head, assign a couple of guests to help. Most people don’t mind helping out and it makes them feel a part of the house.  Don’t count on them to do it prefect. Everyone has their own way of doing things, so be happy for the effort and don’t waste too much energy on things being done absolutely you way.

 My rule is to cook extra, but I will limit how many plates someone takes.  It is a balance, I want left overs, but not more than we can eat.  You know you’re in trouble when the person gets out the car with a roll of foil and plastic containers! Or they say hello to the food before they greet you!

 If someone says Dad’s at work, can I take him a plate? Sure. It is the person who brings nothing and does as little as possible, but who wants to be fed for the week whose feelings I will get hurt.  I don’t care if they take a plate, but often else someone at my table maybe struggling and needs the food.  When I am aware of a need I make containers/plates myself in advance for the guest.

Tip#10 Kick them out!  I don’t know how many events I have hosted where it is 1 am and I was up at 6 am, with things to do. There are people in the house laughing and dancing. Kick them out at a reasonable time or keep them till breakfast. Depending on who it is and if someone in the household is staying up. Those who stay late are just comfortable and having a good time. Sometimes time flies.  It’s ok to lovingly kick them out, they’ll be back. I like to put a start and time in the invite. I plan for 2 hours after the event for talking and laughing and clean up. Just like I plan for people to be late at the start. Just my note, if you have been doing shots all night, you take keys, hand out blankets and pillows and lock your guests in.

  

Holiday tips for the holiday entertaining 2014 part 1

Here are my tips for the holidays for 2014

 Please keep in mind I am a big lover of Thanksgiving. It is by far my favorite holiday.

 Tip #1 Plan a head:   First, I develop a menu. My family is used to me celebrating a different culture thru food on a yearly basis. During the year,  I pick 2 cultures I am most interested in learning about and then I attempt recipes to practice a few dishes to see if I can come up with recipes I like or to figure out my sides. Thanksgiving Day with a house full of hungry tummies is not the day to play guessing games.  My Thanksgiving dinners are large and involved. Over the years, we have had some mishaps like overdone/underdone meat, and dishes we forgot to put out.  One thanksgiving the whole stove died.  My ham was browned beautifully on the outside but the inside was not done. I had to slice it up and risk the meat drying out. It didn't, and that year I have to say it was just luck over skill. I thought we were going to have to grill everything, but my husband and brother fixed the stove.  Talk about stressed! We ate a bit late that year but all in all it was a great thanksgiving.

 Long story short, stuff happens, plan ahead and know what you’re cooking.

Tip#2 Dealing with family and friends. For some, dealing with family can be stressful. Again, planning ahead helps. Don’t be afraid to have thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant or try renting a place and add friends.  Inviting guess who are not a part of the family can assist in keeping those badly behaved relatives in check.   Keep your guest busy with cookie decorating for the kids and something for those who aren't watching the game. This will keep people busy giving them less of a chance to wear on your nerves. Plan for the guess to have something to do.   Games and karaoke are fun and something the older folks can do with the younger crowd. You have not lived till you get grandma rapping!  IF family is just too stressful, maybe have dinner with your work family or a romantic dinner for 2. Remember the object is to enjoy the holiday. My family, is a bit different, we love to laugh so it really doesn't take much for us to have a good time together.

Tip#3 watch the alcohol. I find drinking to be relaxing and fun with people I enjoy and like.  My rule of thumb is if I don’t like you, I’m not drinking with you. By removing the alcohol or at least limiting it to after dinner when everyone is full and hopefully content, you limit uncle Drink’em and Auntie Sauced  from starting arguments and making a mess of the holidays. If at all possible, make punch. You can lessen the amount of alcohol and lessen the effects too.

Tip#4 Have a backup plan. If you’re going to grandmas’ but you like left overs. Buy a turkey breast so you’ll have your own left overs.  Ok, so you’re not a great cook. Don’t be afraid to ask a friend or family member for help.  Don’t be afraid to ask the person who is doing the cooking for the holiday if they would mind cooking an extra meat or dish and showing you how. You have to provide the meat. If you wash the dishes, I’ll cook an extra dish. Maybe, you don’t like turkey, why not have steak and lobster, vegetable lasagna, something you do like, like pizza. 

 Tip#5 Grab a clean jar and place a note on the front saying every curse word is payable by .25 cents, arguing is a dollar a minute, and note football game trash talk permitted or not.  This outlines the rules of the house.  Having a  10 year old be in charge of collecting money from offenders puts the offender on the offensive, they now have to explain to a pre-teen why they broke the rules or why they don’t want to follow the house rules. Make your guest responsible for their behavior.  I would advise everyone in advance of the rules if you have a favorite uncle who has a potty mouth have him or her stick a $20.00 in the jar and after a while you will notice the group is encouraging people to watch their language. Oh, this money can go to band uniforms or for vacation. and let people know that too.  Make sure you have rules for behavior outlined. The worst thing that could happen, is that a relative won’t come back to bother you next year.

Tip#6 planning the potluck event, don’t be an afraid to ask for help with cooking. Call, text and email family and friends with a potluck sign up list.  Calling is the best way to get a commitment. And don’t be afraid to send reminder. Let people know if they don’t cook or don’t want to cook, money is fine. For money give clear dates as to when you will need the money.  Ask the question: are you going to join us for the holidays? And can you bring that yummy corn dish you made at work? Yes, shameful compliments about the food you are asking for almost always gets you that dish for your holiday event. Shameful compliments work on me even if I know I am being worked. One of my female friends makes the best bread. We ask Tara to make bread for holidays and birthdays because it is just that good. If fact one year we ate Tara’s bread as our dessert at thanksgiving. And I would do it again, and again and again….  

OK, now that I am out of tummy dream land. Send out a menu. Remember to send people thank you cards for you by bringing the dish. A simple thank goes a long way.  And don’t make a big deal out of those who don’t come. The holidays can be stressful and if the dish isn't going to be made right, I’ll take not at all every time.  I buy “just in case vegetables.” I can make steamed carrots, broccoli or make pasta, I make barbecued meat balls easily by.

Tip#6a.- What to do with the person who doesn't cook or you don’t want them to cook well because… give them another job. Ask them to help you with organizing the potluck, setup or clean up. If you are using the good China you may need dishwashers. If you are using the paper plates someone to gather and take out the trash. If you are using the good China you may need dishwashers. If you are using the paper plates someone needs to gather and take out the trash. If you are using the good China you may need dishwashers. If you are using the paper plates someone to gather and take out the trash.

 Tip#6b. -Make signs for the food to tell people what the food is, example, if there is nuts, sugar free, gluten free or pork.  Don’t forget the number #1 and # 2 signs: No food without hand washing, and no fingers in the food Please!

2014 my food adventure has been growing a garden and teaching myself to can

  This year my food adventure has been growing a garden and teaching myself to can.

I have always been intimidated by canning because my Grandmother, Aunt and great Aunts but the  “ C “in canning. My Grandmother,” God rest her soul”, she made the best bread and butter pickles I have ever tasted. I had been thinking of trying, because my husband can’t eat fresh tomatoes or fresh fruit due to the chemicals and additives which are added commercially.  Last December, one of the guys I work with Derrick, made and shared his pickles as a Christmas present to our department.  When I went to him to asked how he made the pickles, he told me .he did it with a mix and “if he could do it, I could do it” and so I did. First, I YouTube, a bunch of videos on the how to and how not to pickle.

Finally, I tried the pickle recipe I found on the simply canning site ttp://www.simplycanning.com/dill-pickle-recipe.html and the pickles came out great!! I went back to my friend who ate the whole jar in a day. My husband ate so many jars of pickles I thought he was going to turn in to a pickle!   

My granddaughter Jessie

With almost all the jars gone from my first batch I attempted my second batch. The batch was too salty. I tried different recipe and this one had the pickles salty. I went back to YouTube and learned how to fix salty pickles.  You have to soak them in cold water over night and then re pickle them in pickling brine. They are good for relish in my opinion, but the truth is I was just happy not to have to throw them out the second batch of pickles. So for my third batch I tried bread and butter pickles, pickled peppers, pickled radishes and pickled onions. They were yummy. OK, now I’m dangerous I have 4 different kinds of vinegar, 12 pickling spices have been pickling playfully.

  Ever since we bought our home 8 years ago I have been talking about starting a garden. When my boys were little, we would grow a garden together, so the boys had lettuce for salads at thanksgiving. But I hadn’t had a garden in almost 15 years. This year before my first surgery, I started a garden in containers, half the summer it sat untouched by me: no pesticide’s, no fertilizers, and no dead heading the flowers, with the exception of getting it watered. We grew bunching onions, bush beans, tomatoes, banana peppers, zucchini, jalapeños, bell peppers, sage, oregano, rosemary, parsley, sweet potatoes cucumber, mint, basil and peas. 

 

 

 My granddaughters went out daily to pick and to watch how the plants grow.  This little garden has been putting out fruits and vegetables almost every day, since March.  I call it the little garden that could… and it did I have been very proud of it.  Imagine the tomatoes tasted like tomatoes and the hot peppers tasted like peppers and the bell peppers oh yum. It was great and I am doing it again this year.

  Cranberry, and Raspberry Jam

3 1/2 cups sugar
1 whole orange, peeled
 and I took out the seeds,
And I used frozen raspberries about 2 cups left over from Summer. I used a bag of whole cranberries from the produce department at the local store. I washed and pulled the stems off all the cranberries.
 I let this mixture cook slowly and it made 5 1/2 pint jars. mix often. Medium heat about 20minutes.
Once the fruit was cooked down I  labeled this mixture into clean jars and  wiped the mouth and side of the jars  clean, processed the jars. And store. Great Christmas gifts.

** Recommend you make this jam in small batches. I used a bag of whole cranberries from the produce department at the local store. I washed and pulled the stems off all the cranberries.

 http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/2014/08/super-easy-hot-pepper-jelly.html

The taste is wonderful. I am actually going to make it up without the pectin to use as  a dip for my eggrolls.

 I just started making jams and jellies so far I have made apple pie jam, peach, cranberry and raspberry jam(my recipe), and hot pepper jelly. They came out pretty good. So I am going to keep trying. I still have plenty to learn. I haven't stated pressure canning yet.

food for thought GMOs explained

log Challenge #7: A Controversial post

Greetings all this is the last day of the Challenge and today we are talking about what we eat.

What is in our foods? Most people  just go to the  food market and purchase what they need with out thinking. Do you realize you don't  know what your eating? 

 Are you more worried about price and how much time it takes to microwave your find then what the manufactures are putting into your food. Wake up! 

You are being used as a lab rat!  Large food manufactures rake in your hard earned money, and they are given free rain to change their recipes or add gmo's without telling us the consumers. gmo's are added to extend the life of the food. which means the food industry is not taking so many losses due to insects eating the crops or the crops going bad.  My question  is what does it do to us? We are part of a food chain if that one bug becomes extinct what will it cost our world or our children? The food industry doesn't even know what will happen to use in the next 20 years from adding gmo's.

http://youtu.be/-LAKFhDguuw

   Here are a couple of YouTube links to some other interesting  videos with more to say about our food supply.  


http://youtu.be/UhhnHA8c_Y0

 If you don't eat what is being offered at the local store make sure  your food is certified  organic.  "While researchers have yet to provide a definitive answer about whether more costly and harder-to-find organic food, such as produce, milk, and meat, is healthier than conventional foods, “It only makes sense that food free of pesticides and chemicals is safer and better for us than food containing those substances, even at trace levels.” Lu wrote.   (as quoted from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), in a Wall Street Journal article on June 16, 2013.) When I was researching this topic I came across one large company Monstanto which seems to be  the  front runner  in gmos', but Monstanto is not the only company using pesticides or gmos'. The FDA does not mandate all the ingredients have to be on the label, or that we the consumer even have to be notified of a new or different additives.

 Here is the link to gmo awareness site.  http://gmo-awareness.co/

Gmo's scare me and they  should scare you too. Not knowing what is in  the food I buy scares me and it should scare you too. We are not able to protect our children against allergens. you know that is strange if our food supply isn't being tampered with then why do our dogs and cats have diabetics, food allergies. While growing up we had a dog who lived  til he as 15 forever and all he was fed was table scrapes in his food. He was healthy till the day he passed on.

 The example that scares me is what if all of a sudden a company started to add peanuts to  your food and your allergic to peanuts? this could mean your life or the life of someone you love.  I believe I have a right to know what is in my food at all times. I believe that my granddaughter has a right to expect safe food.  I have listened to those who say don't worry it's all safe and then I see more  children with cancer, more mother's with breast cancer and more grandfather's dying of cancer and I wonder....

Blog Challenge #6: A Vulnerable Post Looking after mom

Blog Challenge #6: A Vulnerable Post

 Looking after mom

  This blog begins with me telling you a little history about the players involved. First, my mother was very young when she had a daughter, a mere 16. The young women today are more sophisticated than young women were in the 60’s. By the time, I was 5 my mother’s marriage was over and I was sent to live with my grandmother, who I would lived with off and on until her death. When my grandmother died it was 1975. My world was in a tail spin. I had to live with my mother and brother all the time. The most important person in my life was gone. I was 12 years old. By this time my mother was older and I had a new little brother.  There was a rift, between us I felt abandoned, alone and there were trust issues.

  Who knew, after I had gotten married to a sailor and moved to Virginia I would have a high risk pregnancy and my mother would come to care for my boys and live with me.  I had lost one of my twins and had to be on bed rest until my due date. My spouse was out to sea and we had 2 small children and my brother to care for.

 In the early years we bumped heads, we are 2 different women, with 2 different ideas on how to care for children and a household. It took time years but, we found our norm. My mother never went back to Portland. She helped me through my separation from my husband and raising the boys. She was and still is their rock. She will listen, where I might yell. She was the one who always worked on homework with all the children.

She is also the person who would read every school book I had when I was in school. While I was who the children came to for art projects and cookies. We made a great team. Looking back on it I don’t know how I would have raised the boys without her.

 My brother and my boys are all grown up. I have found and married my soul mate and best friend. The three of us live together only the roles have changed.

Looking after mom is who I am and who I have been for the last 10 years.  I don’t allow her to over work herself. Since she doesn't drive my husband and I take her to the doctor and fuss over her when she doesn't buy the things she needs. I monitor her weight and fuss over her as you would for any older parent.

 Oh, the great grandchildren still lay on her lap and still sleep on her lap. But I never thought I would I be in the role for caregiver. It can be a complex place to be on one hand I just want to be a wife to my new husband and I want to travel with my husband, on the other hand who will take care of her if I don’t.  With travel I am uncomfortable leaving her in the house by herself. Since there is no one reliable to check on her in the area I am uncomfortable to book a cruise or to leave for an extended time. I also want to be a good sister and daughter, I find I resent my brother who doesn’t call, visit or send her gifts. Normally, I call him to tell him about her milestones. I also understand my brother is just living his life and the same goes for a lot of my family.  I am afraid my brother will have regrets about not spending time with her when the time comes and then there is the fact he doesn’t consider my husband and I need a break. My brother is single with teen kids.

I will say eldest son does call to check on us regularly. I told you it is a complex place to be.  A few good friends have shared their own stories with me with regard to caring for a parent and they too have been in this place where they need to do their best for their parent without treating their parent like a 2 year old. Some moments, I don’t know what I am doing or why I am doing it.  While other moments, I worry, can we care for her as her health declines?  And there are still other moments, I know I don’t want a moment of her days to be wasted. Will she be ok at home alone? Can someone else take care of her as good or better than we can? She has surgery coming up and what will I do if the unthinkable happens? 

Over the years mom and I have overcome many trails, today we trust each other and she is still my rock. There is an ease in our daily life. For certain there is only one truth, I only have one mom, and I want to do my best for her as she gets older. There is no position more vulnerable than that of a child who is in the role of caregiver to a parent. The place where you are trying not to hate the people you love without question, your own family. The place where you are lost and empowered. The place called looking after mom. 

T Portlock

Blog Challenge #5: Helpful links

Today, I am sharing a great web site. Check out Martha Stewart’s video collection, you will find how to videos on a wide variety of topics. http://www.marthastewart.com/972518/video-collections

  Check out this site for videos on everything from kitchen basics, to gardening.

 And here is my Pinterest site: http://www.pinterest.com/tportlock/

Here you can find lots of foodie recipes as well as boards with art, books, crafts and even get to know some of the people I admire.

 I posted  Something Yummy this Way Comes, some of my favorite sites for  recipes that  work. I hope you got a chance to check them out.

http://youtu.be/dEBDTyOqh_Y

 this one is on the easiest way to peel a pomegranate.

I hope both sites I am posting today will inspire you, to grow, to cook and to laugh.  If you have some great sights  please share them with me.