Marisa McClellan's Blog, page 138

Happy May Day!

A virtual bloom for the first of May. I hope that your day was sunny and bright!

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Giveaway: Aladdin Original Insulated Mason Tumbler

Most of the time, this blog is dedicated to recipes, tutorials, and giveaways that feature items that help you cook, preserve, and keep your kitchen eco-system running smoothly. I focus on local foods, clean cookware, and useful things made from glass, metal, fabric, and wood.

However, once in a great while, something comes along that so thoroughly tickles my fancy that I decide it’s worth writing about, even if it happens to be made of plastic. This new insulated tumbler from Aladdin, made to look like a vintage mason jar, is just such an item.

Please disregard the small dent in the lid. It’s the result of user error and is a good reminder that it’s never wise to put small, crushable things underneath heavy, cast iron cookware during post-dinner clean-up.

I confess, I was totally taken by this tumbler from the very first moment I saw it and immediately contacted Aladdin, to see if they might want to do a giveaway. They were game and sent over four, one for me to use and live with, and three for me to share with my readers.

Having used this BPA-free tumbler for more than a month now, I’m still really enjoying it and the sheer novelty of having a faux jar. I often use it for iced tea and cold glasses of water and do appreciate the insulation (it keeps drinks colder and means that I don’t have to be vigilant about coaster usage).

I realize that this tumbler might not be for all my readers. I know that lots of you are working hard to remove every speck of plastic from your homes and so this item just doesn’t fit into your life. I respect and honor your choices, just as I hope you all will honor the fact that I get some joy from this tumbler and so simply wanted to share it.

If you find yourself equally enchanted by this tumbler and end up getting one yourself (giveaway or not), the nice folks at Aladdin would love to see your pictures of it in action! You can either share them on Pinterest or Facebook.

Now, to the giveaway! I have three of these tumblers to give away (thus, there will be three winners). Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment on this post. I’m on vacation this week, so please share your very favorite vacation activity (for me, it’s sleeping late and exploring new cities).
Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Saturday, May 4, 2013. Winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday.
Giveaway open to all!
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: Aladdin provided four tumblers, one for my use and three for giveaway, at no cost to me. No money changed hands and all opinions expressed in this blog post are entirely mine. 
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Links: Spring Citrus, Breakfast Spreads, and a Produce Bag Winner
Giveaway: Takeya Flash Chill Iced Tea Maker
Cookbooks: Put ‘em Up Fruit + Giveaway

Upcoming Canning Classes and Les Dames Symposium

Canning season is nearly upon us, which means that it’s time for classes! I’m teaching a number of classes this year and I’ve tried to switch things up a little, to ensure that I’m offering new skills and recipes in these sessions. Even if you’ve taken a class from me in the past, hopefully you’ll find something new and appealing here! Here are my classes that are coming in the next few months!

May 11 – Low Sugar Strawberry Jam at Indy Hall in Philly, from 11 am – 1 pm. Learn the basics of using Pomona’s Pectin and boiling water bath canning. Email or comment to sign up.
May 18 – Strawberry Mint Jam at Greensgrow, from 12 – 2 pm. Click here to register.
May 19 – Strawberry Vanilla Jam at Blooming Glen Farm in Perkasie, PA from 10 am – 12 noon. Click here to sign up and for more details.
June 15 – Strawberry Vanilla Jam at the Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill, PA, from 10 am – 12 noon. Click here to sign up.
June 22 – Cucumber Pickles, Two Ways at Greensgrow, from 12 – 2 pm. Click here to register.
July 13 – Plum-Apricot Preserves at Indy Hall in Philly, from 11 am – 1 pm. Explore pectin-free jam making and boiling water bath canning. Email or comment to sign up.
July 20 – Low Sugar Plum Jam at the Longview Farm Market in Collegeville, PA, from 11 am – 1 pm. Click here to sign up and for more information.

*      *      *      *      *      *      *      *

If you’re in the Philadelphia area and are free this Saturday, May 4, consider attending the Les Dames d’Escoffier Symposium. It will be a day of cooking sessions and discussions designed to appeal to every possible interest of foodies (both men and women!) in Philadelphia.

Highlights include:

A panel discussion with Chef Georges Perrier and Charlotte Calmels of Bibou
A cocktail seminar with premier Philadelphia mixologist, Katie Loeb
A panel discussion on Urban Farming
A gluten free baking class with Chef Jason Roberts from ABC’s The Chew
A discussion on “Breaking the Color Barrier in the Kitchen” with five panelists including Charlotte Lyons, former food editor at Ebony Magazine and Chef Kim Fonville, private chef for Will Smith’s family

Ticket includes breakfast, panel discussions, lunch and an afternoon reception. Registration is $105, but they’re offering a promotional price of $75 for readers of Food in Jars. Just register for the event under the “professional member registration” rate. Click here for more information and to register.

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Classes, Folk Music + Giveaway
Canning Classes for Summer 2013
Upcoming Classes: Philly, Bucks County and Brooklyn, NY!

Memories of Family Dinner

All across the internet today, people are sharing their stories of family dinner in honor of the publication of Shauna and Danny Ahern’s new book, Gluten-Free Girl Every Day. I thought I’d post a little something I wrote ages ago about my mom and her devotion to ensuring that we always ate good solid food for dinner.

I grew up in a family that ate dinner together nearly every night. My mom was the primary cook and she firmly believed in the power of squash, in the quick and filling effects of ground beef scrambled with canned tomatoes, fresh oregano and broken bits of cooked spaghetti and, when all other things failed, the reliability of a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat.

She cooked seasonally before it was universally trendy, mostly because my dad planted a garden every year but would lose interest in it just around harvest time. Never someone who was able to let good things go to waste, she struggled each summer to keep up with the tide of zucchini, spinach, tomatoes and string beans that flowed forth from the backyard. Many years there would be 12 to 15 quart bags of frozen stewed tomatoes piled in neat stacks in the freezer, ready for soups and pots of sauce throughout the winter.

She worked part time and then full time throughout my childhood but always made time to cook dinner. The meal rarely varied in that there was always a protein and a vegetable and frequently, but not always, a starch. When I think of the food from my early years, I see a plate with a chicken leg, a pile of steamed broccoli and small mound of brown rice. Sometimes there was a hamburger patty instead of the chicken, or string beans in place of the broccoli, but she relied on this formula almost exclusively.

My dad made a priority out of being home for dinner too, even in the days in the early eighties, when he was in the process of starting a business. Many nights, he’d drive home from work, eat dinner with us and then go back to his office for two or three additional hours, to plow through the never-ending pile of work. While my mom cooked, he attended to the development of our table manners. It was my dad who taught me proper handling of my napkin, to wait for everyone to be served before beginning, and that one should never use their fingers to shove food onto the fork. His mostly-patient training has served me over and over again in life.

That said, there was one quick weeknight dinner that we often ate during which my parents relaxed the standards for table behavior. My mom dreamed up the idea of serving cold tuna salad with creamy mashed potatoes in the very early days of her cooking career. When asked what prompted the combination, she always said that she liked the textural contrast of having something crunchy along with soft mashed potatoes.

My sister and I most loved this meal for its sculptability. It was the ideal food for playing with. I would carefully cover my mound of tuna salad with a frosting of potatoes, making sure that it was perfectly smooth and even before carving it into pie-shaped wedges and eating it (admittedly, the potatoes would get sort of cold by the time I was done, but it was an essential part of the joy of the meal for me).

Raina would vigorously stir her tuna into the potatoes, until she had a plate full of unrecognizable mash, with just an occasional fleck of pale green or red from the veggies. Our parents never said a word about us playing with our food when tuna salad and mashed potatoes were on the menu.

While we don’t yet have kids to bring into the family dinner fold, Scott and I eat dinner together nearly every night. Often, the meals we share are quite similar to the ones that my mom used serve (this apple didn’t fall far from the tree in terms of wanting to make food that tastes good, isn’t overly complex, and doesn’t take all day to make). There’s something so very comfortable about wrapping up a busy day with another person over a meal. I love many things about being married, but this is among my favorite aspects.

What does your family dinner look like?

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Links: Spring Citrus, Breakfast Spreads, and a Produce Bag Winner

Things are slowly getting back to normal for me. I’m caught up on laundry. My inbox is starting to look a little less insane. And I’m actually finding the time to post some links and winners on a Sunday evening.

Grapefruit jam. One of my favorite winter into spring preserves and a perfect thing for those days when you can’t wait to get back to the canning pot. 
Meyer lemon caramel. I think I linked to Janet’s version back in January when she posted it, but a reminder is always nice.
Pineapple preserves with vanilla and rum. Sounds awfully good!
Speaking of vanilla, a more local preserve of rhubarb, ginger, and vanilla!
Kate at the Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking has herself a little strawberry festival. I’m counting down the days until we see them ourselves.
I love Luisa’s post about having friends over for a German breakfast. Sounds like an ideal way to put your preserves to work!
Pineapple mango ketchup. Tropical. Tangy. Delicious.
The spring issue of By Hand magazine is now available! I wrote about rhubarb this time around, so make sure to order your copy.
The Tend Collective is back posting and I couldn’t be more pleased. It’s a lovely group blog about growing, cooking, and preserving and it’s one I think you all might like.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter the Beautiful Earth Produce Bag giveaway! I used one of my yesterday to store some asparagus, and it was perfectly fresh and crisp this morning when I used those spears in a tart. I predict that these bags will significantly change how I store my produce!

Our winner is commenter #411, Jackie Mullen. Thanks Jackie, I’ll be in touch soon!

For those of you who didn’t win and you’re still interested in these bags, I know that the nice folks at Beautiful Earth would love to have your business!

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Giveaway: Beautiful Earth Produce Bags
Links: Grapefruit, Honey, and Maple + Jar Cozy Winners
Links: Citrus, Chiles, and Winter Soups

Preserves in Action: Baby Arugula with Pickled Beets

I spent most of yesterday catching up. So much of my recent energy has been focused on finishing the book draft, that a great many aspects of my life and work were woefully neglected. I’ve learned that for me, it takes that kind of single-minded intensity to get big projects done, but as the fog of focus begins to lift, I can finally see clearly how much I’ve been ignoring (a very great deal).

And so, yesterday I worked on picking up all those forsaken threads of life. I returned a library book and checked out another that I’d reserved many weeks back. I packed boxes for the post office. I washed week-old strawberry residue off the coffee table. I turned in several freelance pieces that were later than expected. And I cleaned out the refrigerator a little.

Our fridge is nearly always stuffed to capacity and it is entirely my doing. Between the cooking I do for freelance projects, the massive amount of recipe development that goes into a cookbook (not to mention a blog), and a general devotion to eating as healthfully as we can, there’s just not a lot of space to spare in there. And since going into all book, all the time mode, the situation was dire.

And so, I purged. I fished out the many mysterious, unlabeled jars (I really do need to get better about that) that had gotten shoved to the very back of our deep, skinny fridge. I was ruthless and managed to reduce the number of jars in the fridge by nearly half (at any given time, there are 15 to 40 jars in there). All questionable things were released.

I also pulled things back to the front that were still good, but had been forgotten. I discovered a few salt preserved limes left from last year’s batch, found a long lost jar of plum jam, and reclaimed a nearly empty jar of pickled golden beet cubes.

Today, when I went to make lunch, it was such a pleasure to open those doors and be able to see what was available without a massive dig. I grabbed a bag of baby arugula, half an avocado, some fresh goat cheese, and those pickled beets. Dressed with toasted walnut oil, salt, pepper, and some of the beet brine, it was a filling and brightly flavored salad (though, I did find myself wishing for a few toasted walnuts. Next time).

I ate it, sitting at the table instead of my desk, with the window open to the air and street noises. It felt so good to take the time to make a thoughtful lunch, to use something up that had earlier been lost to the depths and to be able to pause for just a little while.

 

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Preserves in Action: Hanukkah Edition
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Giveaway: Beautiful Earth Produce Bags

Before I dig in to talk about these awesome produce bags, I have a bit of good news. After many months of dogged work, I turned the draft of my new cookbook in last night. It is a HUGE relief to have passed it off into my editor’s hands and have a few weeks off from working on it. Thank you all for your patience and support!

I have long been devoted to using reusable totes, washable sacks, and other durable containers in place of disposable ones. The one place where I’ve struggled to find  a solid reusable solution is for produce storage once it’s in the refrigerator. I’ve got plenty of mesh bags, but they don’t keep do a good job of maintaining crispness. I wash and reuse the plastic grocery store bags, but they just don’t hold up over time.

That’s where these cloth produce bags from Beautiful Earth come in. Made from cotton fabric (either cheesecloth or organic), they are endlessly reusable and do an amazing job of keeping fragile produce fresh in the fridge. You simply get the bags damp before putting your lettuce, green beans, or carrots in the crisper drawer. It’s awesome and so simple!

Thanks to the owner of Beautiful Earth, I have a set of the Fill Your Fridge bags in organic cotton to give away to a Food in Jars reader. This set includes 2 large bags, 1 medium, and 1 small. It’s a perfect set to you started on the reusable produce bag path.

Leave a comment on this post and share a small change you’ve recently made to be slightly more sustainable in the kitchen.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 28, 2013. Winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog that evening.
Giveaway open to all!
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: Beautiful Earth sent me two sets of these produce bags, one for review and one to give away. No money exchanged hands and my opinions remain my own. 

Also! The winner of the Takeya Flash Chill Iced Tea Maker is commenter #3, Jennifer B. Congratulations Jennifer, I’ll be in touch soon!

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Cookbooks: Fine Preserving, Salt Sugar Smoke, and Whole Larder Love

Each spring, I like to pick up a few new books in anticipation of the coming canning season. Though my preserving library is already pretty darn extensive, I find that I’m still always casting about for fresh inspiration. Seeing how different authors approach the art of jamming, pickling, drying, and infusing opens up my mind in the most useful and interesting ways. I thought I’d share three of my most recent acquisitions, just in case some of you are also looking for delicious new things to make.

I first spotting Fine Preserving last summer while teaching a pair of canning classes at The Pantry in Seattle. This first book is not a new release, but is still well worth the addition to the bookshelf. Essentially, it’s a classic preserving book that food writer M.F.K. Fisher loved so much that it was republished with her comments on many of the recipes. It’s like discovering your grandmother’s old kitchen notebook, complete with chatty notes and guidance about what works and what doesn’t.

As you can see, the main body of the book is the recipe as it was written Catherine Plagemann, and then Fisher’s notes appear in red. I think this sort of thing should be done more frequently. It’s just so fun! This book is only available used, but there are a number of inexpensive copies floating around out there.

Next is Diana Henry’s book Salt Sugar Smoke. It came out last fall and is seriously gorgeous and full of lovely, approachable recipes. It’s a book that isn’t just sweet preserves, but also includes cured meats and smoked fish.

Of course, there are also plenty of sweet things too, like this earl grey tea jelly (sounds intriguing, doesn’t it!). I’ve often infused tea flavors into my fruit-based preserves, but it never occurred to me to make a spread that just featured the flavor of tea. Once I get this book project of mine off my plate, this will be one of the first things I make.

There’s just one thing to note here, and that is that Henry is a UK-based food writer. That means that the recipes are a bit more relaxed than the ones written expressly for the American market. If that makes you nervous, simply apply a boiling water bath to the high acid recipes, even if it’s not specifically called for. I often do that when working with jam and jelly recipes written for international audiences. It just makes me feel better about ensuring I’ve got a perfectly safe, shelf-stable finished product.

Last on in my little stack is Whole Larder Love by Rohan Anderson. I’ve long been a reader of Anderson’s blog of the same name and so was quite excited when I heard he was writing a book because his site is intensely beautiful. He is dedicated to eating the foods available around him in Australia and so is regularly hunting, fishing, and foraging (in addition to tending a garden).

The book is just as lovely as the blog and is filled with so many inspiring photos. While I’m not sure that I’ll ever cook directly from it, I keep coming back simply to leaf through and refill my energy stores for the many acts of preservation I tackle during the growing season. And to my mind, that’s a plenty good reason to keep a book on my shelf.

What books have been inspiring your cooking and preserving lately?

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Whole Larder Love at no cost to me. I bought the other two books with cash I earned by stringing words together. My opinions remain, as always, entirely my own. 
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Tomato Mango Jam + Breakfast for Dinner Giveaway

Giveaway: Takeya Flash Chill Iced Tea Maker

Recently, the weather has warmed here in Philly and the balmier days have me craving big glasses of iced coffee and tea. I’ve been dashing out to my favorite coffeeshop for the java (I really need to get my cold brew habit restarted) and I’ve been using a Takeya Flash Chill Iced Tea Maker for my hit of iced tea.

The folks at Takeya sent me this iced tea maker month or so back to try out (along with a couple boxes of tea). I’m well and truly smitten with it because it allows me to make iced tea without an overnight wait or extended cooling time in the fridge (and sadly, I rarely have room in my fridge for such things as pitchers of iced tea. It’s a little crammed in there most of the time).

The way it works is that you load the tea into the infuser and fill the container halfway up with appropriately heated water (temperatures vary for different styles of tea, so it’s always good to consult a tea brewing chart like this one). Once the tea has steeped, you pull the infuser out of the pitcher.

Then you fill the pitcher up with ice, screw on the lid tightly and shake the whole apparatus to cool down the tea. The lid is designed so that the pitcher should not leak at all (which also means that you can store it on its side, another plus for my overstuffed fridge).

Takeya has put together a really nice line of teas designed to work with these tea makers, as well as recipes to fancy up your basic iced tea.

You should use more ice than I show here. I just happened to be low on ice at the moment I was making this batch and so skimped a little (such is life). Still, it was quite good with a splash of rhubarb syrup (from a recent batch of this guy) and a little sparkling water.

Thanks to the nice Takeya folks, I have one of these pitchers to give away, along with one packet of tea. Here’s how to enter.

Leave a comment on this post and share your favorite way cool down in the warmer months.
Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 21, 2013. Winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog that evening.
Giveaway open to US residents, only (so sorry, further-flung friends, I’m not in charge of the shipping).
One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: Takeya USA provided me with a review unit of the Flash Chill Iced Tea Maker, as well as two boxes of tea. They’ve also provided the giveaway unit and tea. No money changed hands and my opinions remain my own. 
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Cookbooks: Put ‘em Up Fruit + Giveaway
Giveaway: The JarBOX (sponsored by Fillmore Container)
Links: Thumbprint Cookies and a Breakfast for Dinner Winner

Canning 101: Use a Splatter Guard for Thick Products

In digging around my kitchen recently, I rediscovered my trusty splatter guard. As we head into canning season, I thought it might be useful to share exactly why I think this is such a great tool to have in your preserving tool box.

Most people think that splatter guards like this are used primarily for fried foods. But they’re also great when you’re cooking down thick fruit preserves like chutneys and fruit butters. While you do have to move them to the side when it comes time to stir, they’re an invaluable tool for keeping your products in the pot and off your stovetop.

This is not a tool for which you need to shell out a ton of money. I bought mine at a dollar store some years ago and it’s still going strong (I am careful to scrub it down thoroughly between uses, to ensure that it has a long life). There are a bunch on Amazon, but they cost far more than the buck I paid for mine. So look around before you drop significant money. Oh, and make sure you get a metal mesh one. They allow for better air circulation, which leads to more rapid evaporation and more efficient cooking times.

In other news, my sister is here in Philadelphia with her little family. She and her husband are playing a house concert in Mt. Airy (a neighborhood around these parts) on Wednesday night. If you’re in the area and think you might want to attend, leave a comment and I’ll get you the details. I promise a good time for all! 

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Canning 101: Extending the Life of Open Jars
Canning 101: Tips For Making Good Marmalade
Canning 101: Allow Your Process to Evolve