FauxPas

This is interesting! I hope you'll keep us posted all the way along!

kayb, looks like you had a wonderfully productive day and made darn good use of that lovely produce you brought home! Everything looks wonderful. Those Roma tomatoes were an amazing bargain. I paid quite a bit more per # than you! Which tomato chutney recipe do you use, if you don't mind me asking? Quick question about corn - you remove the kerrnels and then blanch, right? I usually blanch the whole cobs and then cool in ice water and then cut the kernels off. Is there a benefit to doing it in the other order? Maybe you make more of a creamed corn? Thanks!

gulfporter, have you tried using your little spiralizer with any veggies other than zukes since this post? I've seen a few of those conical spiralizers around, like this one, which gets some pretty good reviews and has 4 removable blades (easier to clean?): Brieftons NextGen Spiralizer I find the Paderno a pain in the butt to store and also to haul out and set up. I like the idea of the simpler ones that can just be stored in a drawer. Anyone else tried some of these type? Edited to fix Amazon link.

Mmmm! Cheese & Chutney!

Anna, that link worked like a charm! Fragrant Mango & Apple Chutney, right? Looks like a nice recipe, will definitely give it a try! Thank you so much. When I first started out I did do some 'open kettle' canning. The newer food safety recommendations are for at least a water-bath processing, but I'm sure you know that. I think the risk is low with a chutney that has quite a bit of vinegar in it, but I tend to make small enough batches that can fit in the fridge, anyway. I used to use the old graniteware water canners when I had an old coil-top range or natural gas, but of course they cannot be used on induction - their coating can melt, I understand. If I want to start doing more canning, I'll try to use one of my existing stainless steel stockpots with a caning insert (I see some stainless steel ones on Amazon for a moderate price). I'm afraid of pressure canners, also! For that matter, I'm also afraid of pressure cookers. But I have been following along on the Instant Pot discussion! Edited to add: I still have a Graniteware canner and could also use that outside on the side burner of the grill possibly or on a dedicated propane burner. But we are back and forth between locations and I'm not sure it makes sense to stock up the pantries too much!

Anna N, do you process your jars? In a water bath canner or pressure canner or ???? If you use a water bath, I am wondering what type of canner you use on your induction range. I have an induction range and some some canners are not recommended on induction (or on ceramic/glass stovetops at all). Jon Savage, what model of pressure canner do you use?

I love chutney! Is that an online recipe, by any chance? Or is it one you developed? When you say first step done in the pressure cooker, does that mean the initial 'cooking down' step?

Yesterday, we bought some more of these: and so we had some more of this: We started with cheese and crackers and pickles, though.

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Shelby and ElainaA, thanks for your jam comments! Usually we like raspberry-only jam, so I was surprised how much we liked this one. The nectarines give it a bit more body, if that makes sense. I didn't use much sugar at all, so there is a hint of tartness, which is quite pleasant. And yes, the tomatoes could easily be cooked in a regular oven, just don't let them dry out too much (unless that is what you want, of course!). I like the steam-roasting because I wanted a bit of roasted flavour, but I didn't want these tomatoes to dry out. The texture has always been fine for what I do with them - make sauces and soups, casseroles, chili, that sort of thing. I also freeze whole tomatoes at times and I think cooked, then frozen is a bit better, but both are OK for my purposes. AnnaN, your oven-dried tomatoes look lovely!

This thread is well worth a perusal - Fat Guy did some adorable lunches for his son, PJ. Mostly nut-free. Lovely presentation! http://forums.egullet.org/topic/147530-bentos-2009/?hl=%20bento%20%20lunch FYI, IrishJersey, Fat Guy was Steven Shaw, who passed away suddenly just over a year ago. He was a founder of eGullet.

I'm still doing my little bits and pieces of preserving. We ran out of the cherry butter and the blueberry-raspberry jam, so yesterday I made some nectarine-raspberry jam with some extra fruit we had. It's really good, I love the way the two blend. Also bought about 5 kg of lovely La Roma tomatoes and a couple of baskets of mixed tomatoes from one of the local farms. I removed the stems and then used the steam-convection oven to steam-roast them until the skins started to blacken a bit. That increases the flavour and once cooled a bit, the skins slip off nicely. Then I put them in freezer bags and freeze them. I ended up with six filled bags to go in the freezer. Not a lot compared to the serious canners here, but still a nice option for the two of us!

I think that Brits use satire quite a bit. Personally, I enjoy satire. But then I am Canadian, so maybe I am in bed with the snarky Brits.

i thought the original article by Tanya Gold was intended to be a bit satirical? I found it funny, I thought she was making fun of the usual food critics and their overwrought writing style just as much as some restaurants and their over-priced and over-done tiny bits of food. But, what is art or food w/o criticism? I think we need more, not less. But this one I suspect was fun.

I suspect Shelby does a lot of cleaning/prepping herself. She certainly knows how to butcher venison! She's not a girl who's afraid to dip her hands in some fish guts! Though I should probably let her speak for herself.

You don't grow Roma or plum tomatoes ever, Shelby? Not that there's anything wrong with that! I love your blossom of the day. And thank you so much for taking so many pics of the steps you follow for your various preps and canning. Love to see all the pics and really appreciate all the effort you are putting into this blog!!!

Get a good night's rest!

Ha, Okanagancook and rotuts, your posts made me smile! OC, your friend Bill does sound like a gravy lover! rotuts, you are welcome to join us next time I do gravy! It was a cooler day so I thought why not cook a whole chicken, because that will last us for several meals. Cooked it in the SteamBoy (Cuisinart steam oven). I used some pan scrapings/drippings and the carcass and some chicken stock and cooked it all for awhile and then strained and reheated. I might have added a tiny bit of flour but not much, and it was definitely a bit on the runny side. But delicious!

Haven't been taking many pics lately. Some meals were pretty simple, sometimes I just forgot or was in a hurry or lazy! We bought sushi at one of the grocery stores a couple of times. I roasted a chicken and we ate that for a few days. Made gravy with the carcass. And I finally got my Paderno spiralizer out of the box! It's been sitting in a cupboard for a few months, so it was about time. I'm not really sure how much use I will get out of it, to be honest. Though my husband really enjoyed these zoodles with a simple (fresh) tomato sauce. Usually he would decline any offer of zucchini, but he made a point of telling me that these were tasty. That was surprising!

Your dinner looked delicious. And your produce and your fields look lovely. I bet it would be easy to get lost in that corn! How warm is it there now? How early do you go out to do your picking? How do you store your pickling cukes until you are ready to pickle?

Love the peach samosa, though I might use a Prosecco or something. (Sorry, Ronnie) The peach jelly looks awesome. I don't think you have to be exact with things. If it thickens and tastes nice, it's a winner, right? What do you use for a jelly bag/tea towel holder? Looks like it's sturdy,whatever it is. Are you a Southpaw, Shelby? I noticed the way you hold the Thermapen in your left hand. I'm a southie and it drives me nuts that the Thermapen is so obviously designed for Northpaws, I was thinking of asking them if they make left-hander models! Also, I think you could use a cake cooling rack (or similar) in the bottom of the canning pot and use the big canning tongs to lower the smaller jars in, unless I am missing something, which I very well may be. Edited to add: Good job on the fishing! Happy to hear that the 'hoppers worked their magic. Chum, Chum, Chum.... I think I would like you. Big paws and clumsiness and all. Is he allowed in the house or would he eat your produce right off the counter?

Loved the grasshopper details! Very smart! But ... Bad Dog, Chum! You need to develop an appetite for weeds or even grasshoppers and leave those pickling cukes alone. Deryn, I don't know why that grill in the video looked bent - I don't think the one I gifted ever did that. I have not tried one myself (other than seeing one used at the cooking school) because I have an induction range. Shelby, what are your favourite uses for your canned peaches?

I like the way you roasted your chiles. It looks like it works well, but I thought I would mention ... ahem ... another cooking tool. Not that you probably need one. Santa Fe School of Cooking (a fun place to do courses, by the way!) has a cooking grill that they sell, designed for roasting veggies on stovetops. Not that you need it, but I bought one as a gift for friends with a gas grill and they really liked it. They call it the Santa Fe School of Cooking Grill. (surprise!) Here's a video and here's the online catalog - you might have to scroll down past the various pans to see it. I bet there are lots of alternatives, though - including some BBQ items. Your dinner looks delicious! Get lots of rest tonight!

Don't tell him that, though. He'll just get all swollen-headed and opinionated.

Mmmm. I think i can almost smell those chiles! Will be interesting to see how they get used, also. And I see there is a cherry tomato variety called 'Baby Boomer' - maybe you have some of those? They sound very tasty! http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/tomatoes/cherry/tomato-baby-boomer-hybrid-prod003439.html