Fava

I don't know about the Spanish bread, but Russian bread is usually sour dough rye bread.

I am in the process of moving my plants inside as lower temperatures should arrive soon here in the NE /NJ. Most of them are Orchids and C&S but there are a few edibles which I keep going through the Winter. I have been keeping this Murraya koenigii /"Curry plant" for many years now and despite trimming/using it this Summer a couple of times, it is a nice little tree, ca five foot tall. And there is the Carribean red habanero, which I seem to have inherited from my son a few years ago, to be handled with care! One little pepper will spice a pot of Chili nicely.

I haven't made Rumtopf in a while! Really should do one again next year. In the past I have also added ripe Mangoes, delicious.

Tere, thanks for the link. I always pick out any unripe berries, since they would spoil the flavor.

Tere, the addition to the gravy for Venison sounds interesting. We eat a lot of Venison, I have to try that out!

In early June I had posted a couple of pictures of first year blooming Elderberry bushes in our backyard into the gardening thread here. The Elderberries started to ripen about a month ago and I picked about every second day whatever was nicely ripe. I cut the stems very close, rinsed them to prevent buggy additions, froze them in little bags and stuck them into the freezer door. They were finished ripening this week! Luckily the birds discovered them very late, when they were just about done. So today I defrosted them slowly on the stove, and with the help of a potato masher brought them to a gentle simmer and then filtered the whole mess through a bag, squeezed out what could be squeezed, measured, added Pectin, boiled for ca one minute, added Sugar, brought the temperature up again and filled the jars. I have always simply filled the super clean jars, added new covers and rings which I also boil, and I siimply invert the glasses once quickly after closing them tightly. I have never lost a glass due to spoilage in the many years I am doing this. As we were eating Dinner I heard the gentle pop of the lids, music to my ears! I thought this was a fairly decent yield for these plants after only one year of growth.

Dinner last night was Mussels in a broth of Wine, some Butter, Pepper corns, Bay leaves, sliced red Onions, over an open fire, accompanied by fresh, sliced rolls to mop up the sauces. The sides of Tomatoes and Corn didn't seem all that necessary, but they disappeared eventually too. The whole thing happened in the Gazebo with lots more Wine and good company.

I would place Stewart's high on that list! I am familiar with the seasonally place in Matawan, NJ, on rt 79. Their Burgers are excellent, you can sit inside at the counter or outside under sun umbrellas. Or get served while staying in your car. (which I never do). I took my granddaughters there yesterday, they also love the Root beer floats!

We didn't eat out much when my own children were young, I simply preferred to cook since dinner at local restaurants were fairly boring in those years. But when we did eat out as a family, my two children behaved, since they were tickled pink to be treated as an adult. Now I have four young grandchildren, and I always ask for them to come along when we eat out as a family. They are no problem at all, since we have them practicing for years at day time outings to local Pizzerias, Burger places and such. One can't take them out in the evening without some training! I do remember having to leave one time when one of the girls threw a fit, because we didn't allow her to stand on the bench/chair to eat her Pizza. If a kid acts up and will not calm down, it needs to be removed! At huge family gatherings ( say at a recent 50th Wedding anniversary) I would always book the event at such a place that we are having a room to ourselves. Then there is no problem if the children get antsy after Dinner and want to dance and chat. That way nobody else gets disturbed!

We harvest the Elderberries when dark and ripe, cutting the umbels really close, so as not to include too much of the stems. Ideally, harvesting after a rain is perfect. I float them once with water in a large pot to eliminate bugs and remove any leaves or twigs. Water gets totally drained, nothing else added at this point, and the pot goes on the stove and gets slowly heated up while I every so often use my potato masher to break the berries and release the juice. Once this whole pot is thoroughly cooked and smashed, I filter the whole mash through several layers of cheese cloth ( or, if you have a special bag on hand which is used to squeeze grated potatoes in order to make German dumplings ) over a bowl. Once this stops dripping and can be comfortably squeezed, I will do that. It will take couple of hours. The now fairly dry residual skins, stems, seeds get tossed out with the cheese cloth. I measure the amount of liquid and follow the direction for proper amounts of sugar and pectin and boil the whole mix per instructions. While screaming hot I fill my super clean mason jars, close them tightly, turn them once over and back again and then set them on the counter to cool down. Most of the time this method yields a beautiful, very concentrated syrup, once in a blue moon it sets as jelly. We prefer the syrup, since it goes perfectly with waffles and even better over Ice cream. i would like to mention that I have never lost a jar to any kind of spoilage when prepared like that, even after a couple of years in the pantry at room temperature.

You need two or more cultivars, not three. I planted two different ones and I see berries forming this week. edited to add- or do you refer to the hascap? Looking it up it seems Honeysuckle.

I live in north east NJ, ca 15 min. away from New York City.

We also love Elderberries and different types of Currants, red and black. We have access to wild Elderberries, but getting the timing right when to pick them, is tough. Once every couple of years we get enough berries together to make a nice batch of thick delicious syrup or Jelly. So, last Spring I planted some Currants and also two small Elderberry bushes into our backyard. I am really happy, I see some fruit on the Currants, the Elderberries look much better than expected after one year, the bushes grew very well and both are blooming. Hopefully, having them nearby, I can time the harvest a lot more accurately.

I gave up many years ago growing vegetables in our yard, we simply have too many critters around! So forget growing Tomatoes for the Groundhogs, or Lettuce for the three Rabbits, which seem to have taken up permanent residence. There are Raccoons and whatever else. Last Winter into early Spring four Deer camped out repeatedly next to our small pond. I do like to use fresh herbs, so I simply place a few pots with herbs right on the banister next to the kitchen door, that is a safe spot!

JoNorvelleWalker, good eye!! Normally I crush some Garlic and add that to the hot Butter, I like that a lot. But, husband prefers Lemon and I try to lower my caloric intake somewhat. So, only lemon today! It was good anyway!