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Pine cone jam


shain

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Never had it, never even heard of it... but I have to admit I'm kinda fascinated by that recipe. I was surprised at the end to see the pinecones aren't just to infuse flavor but actually remain in the finished product. Now I want to try it. I really hope I remember to watch for the young green pinecones next spring.

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It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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I was intrigued by the title of this thread. Never even fathomed the cones were edible!   I read it, and I am SO DOING THIS in the spring!!!!   We've got a total of 240 acres with pine trees EVERYWHERE. Time to make good use of them. =)       Thank you so much for posting this, Shain!      

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-Andrea

 

A 'balanced diet' means chocolate in BOTH hands. :biggrin:

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There is also "spruce tip" jam.  When I was a child we were taught what plants in the woods were edible and at what times of the year.

Spruce tip beer is probably more widely known.  

 

I subscribed to Mother Earth News for about 25 years back in the 70s, 80s, etc. And in the '60s when we had a cabin in Running Springs, I attended a class in survival training in case I got lost up there.

 

Just a couple of weeks ago a young couple with their child were led off the beaten path by bad GPS and the woman hiked 30 miles until she found a cabin. She said she peeled and chewed on pine twigs, etc.  

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Pine needles.  Pine cones.  What kind of pine tree?  We have red and white pines on the farm.  And spruce trees by the hundreds where the eastern boundary of the farm was replanted in three sessions.  (Don't know anything of the spruce history...must try to find out.)

 

But still.  What variety of pine tree is recommended?

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Huh. I will be anxious to hear the results of this. Only use I ever knew for pine cones was to paint them gold and silver, dust them in glitter, and use them in Christmas arrangements.

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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Or stuff them with peanut butter, roll in bird seed and hang them up for the birds. I'm so curious to read more about the jam.  It would wow all those folks who think corn cob jelly is "out there".  They ain't seen nothin' yet! 

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I'll give it a try but I'm skeptical. I've eaten enough pine tree parts to think that this will simply be sugar with pine flavor. Pine cone syrup is common and delicious. The addition of the young cones just doesn't make sense to me. That said, I would suggest two or three quick blanches of the cones prior to the steps they suggest to remove some of the resin and residue.

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51 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

I'll give it a try but I'm skeptical. I've eaten enough pine tree parts to think that this will simply be sugar with pine flavor. Pine cone syrup is common and delicious. The addition of the young cones just doesn't make sense to me. That said, I would suggest two or three quick blanches of the cones prior to the steps they suggest to remove some of the resin and residue.

And what kind of pine trees were they, please?

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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16 minutes ago, Darienne said:

And what kind of pine trees were they, please?

I haven't been discerning in type of tree - just from an area that is off the beaten path to minimize pollutants. With all foraged ingredients you can have two identical types of trees/plants and have them produce very different tasting fruits/seeds/pods, etc. so you just need to play and know that your ingredient cost you nothing.

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13 hours ago, Darienne said:

Pine needles.  Pine cones.  What kind of pine tree?  We have red and white pines on the farm.  And spruce trees by the hundreds where the eastern boundary of the farm was replanted in three sessions.  (Don't know anything of the spruce history...must try to find out.)

 

But still.  What variety of pine tree is recommended?

True pines - pinus varieties, including Pinyon pine and also these:  Lodgepole Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Shore Pine and White-bark Pine.

Make sure you are not getting Yew, which is extremely poisonous, or Cypress - like the Arizona cypress that grows in the southwest.

If you live where there are heavy concentrations of pine trees, I'm sure you have "noticed" the pollen.  It too is edible and the Native Americans collected it routinely to use as a substitute for flour (from acorns) in the spring.  

When I stayed at our cabin in Running Springs, I collected about a cup or so of it one year and mixed it into flour and made pancakes with it.  It is very high in protein.  

I think I got that from one of Euell Gibbons books.

 

 

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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