Now Norma Knits

Savory-ing The Summer

Good morning! Happy Soon-To-Be-Summer Solstice! 

I'm in a bit of a slow-down where work is concerned, and I just came in from the garden, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to write you a note. 

So how are you all doing? 

Thank you all for your donations to my recent fundraising runs! They were a great success, and very much appreciated for all concerned. In the last few hours before the race for the Champlain Islands Parent Child Center a week ago Saturday, I made a Facebook challenge to my friends that if someone would donate, I'd wear my SL,UT t-shirt (You may remember when I got that.) to the race. Some people did, and so:

I haven't learned how much we raised for that little organization yet, but I know we did pretty well. So thank you again! I ran a respectable 30:39 5K. (Man, it was hot!) But there was a woman in my class (50-59 female) who beat me by quite a bit. David and I had to do a lot of explaining about the t-shirt all morning. But everyone agreed: Hey, if it brought in a few extra dollars, it was well worth it.

Then this past Saturday I did the Run For Empowerment in support of Women Helping Battered Women. I thought I was gonna smoke that thing, and I did shave 30 seconds off my 5K time from the week before:

 

But holy crap, we have some fast friggin' over-50 women around here! Look at the No. 1 female finisher! In all classes! 57! And she was ahead of me by the proverbial (nope, literal, now that I think about it) mile.

But anyway, we did a fabulous job with the fundraising for that; and they do such good work, they deserve it. So thank you again!

~~~

So by my count, that is 9 5K runs in the can toward my goal of 12 in 12 months. I fell a little behind in the spring, so I'm playing catchup. I'm thinking of signing up for another one this coming Saturday. I'm enjoying these things. (Did I just say that out loud?)

~~~

We got our first electric bill since installing our solar panels:

This reflects the first three WEEKS! So the way it works here is we have net metering. We don't get any actual cash. Credits are built up. And we are given credit by our utility for an extra 6 cents per kilowatt hour that we produce as well, because, you know: Vermont.

Our system was designed to meet our established prior usage (in our case, average $91/month). So in the summer we are cranking out that extra power (probably 130% or so of our actual simultaneous usage) and getting credit for it. Then, in the dreary winter months when we don't produce as much solar electricity up here, we draw down on the credits we built up in the happy sunny summer. So from now on, we should have a zero electric bill. Forever. Well, for the life of the panels anyway, which is about 20 years.

The credits have to be used up within one year of creating them, and if we have any left over at the end of the one-year period, we can donate them to another person on the same utility -- a family member or friend or neighbor -- or to a nonprofit or whatever.

Is that cool or WHAT?

~~~

The garden is going strong. Big parts of it are a bit unkempt at the moment, but that is just about par for the course, innit?

Yesterday when I was doing the heavy lifting of cleaning out and relayering the compost bins (my favorite garden thing!!!), I opened the door to one of them to be surprised by one of these guys chilling out (or warming up, more accurately) in there.

After my initial EEK! startled moment that I always have with snakes, I gently urged him to go find another place to hang out while I cleaned the bins and took care of the compost. I hope he didn't go too far, though, because according to Wikipedia, "Young milk snakes typically eat slugs, insects, crickets, and earthworms." I have had no slugs in my garden this year so far. Coincidence? I hope I did not push him too far away, though the environment in the bin is no longer the same since I cleaned it out. I hope he finds another suitable close-by home.

This morning's harvest included beet thinnings, spinach, parsley, thyme, and summer savory.

This is my first year growing summer savory, and I wondered this morning: What in the world is summer savory used for?

Everything, apparently. 

Hope you are savory-ing your summer, too!

 

Now She Runs?

(This is a long one. You might want to go pee first, and get a cup of whatever it is you like to drink.)

So let's get this straight:  I am not a runner! 

And yet, somehow I have just completed my 2nd 5K since August 24. How the heck did that happen?!

Before the race on Saturday.

And after, posing with Amy (she's a knitter!), who I just met that day:

Much to my surprise, I had a not-embarrassing finish in each one. 

The trick is, I guess, if you are feeling great, you can do almost anything. 

After so many years of trying to be a runner, and giving up every time because of various aches, pains, injuries, I-HATE-TO-RUN-I-AM-NOT-A-RUNNER, whatever-whatever, this past summer I finally did something that I highly recommend to you if you have a history of Hating To Run the way I did:  I joined a running group and got some coaching. 

The gym that I love, Artemis Fitness in South Burlington, VT, started a summer running group, with the goal of training for either the 5K or the 10K run in the Green Mountain Athletic Association's Round Church Women's Run. They hired a wonderful coach, Kris Gleason, from Fleet Feet Burlington. Over time, a few more great coaches joined in, because our group had a variety of running levels and personal goals, and they helped us each in our own way. (AWESOME.)

I signed up for the Tuesday night running group, but "NUH-UH, NO WAY AM I GOING TO RUN THE ACTUAL RACE! I'm just mixing up my workout routine, thankyouverymuch!" 

And so I went to the first meeting, and that very first night, the coaching was worth its weight in gold. Life-changing, really. I'm not exaggerating one tiny bit. The dynamic warmups seriously changed my running life. 

So then we get to Thing No. 2: Shoes. That first night, and maybe the next one or two, I still had one of the many pairs of hundreds of dollars' worth of running shoes that I have bought over the years which were THE WRONG SHOES for me.

I had done my research, or so I thought. I had tried the minimalist shoes, thinking that was The Thing for me, but we might or might not all remember how that ended up. I'd tried all kinds of various neutral, highly cushioned shoes. Blech, blech, blech. Nothing worked for me. I-HATE-RUNNING-I'M-NOT-A-RUNNER.

So anyway, back to this summer and the running group. I finally listened to what people were saying and went to a proper running shoe store (not the mall variety), and got properly assessed and fitted, and contrary to all the crap I'd read on the internet and in magazines (you know the one), and having done self-assessments about my high arches, and etcetera and so forth, I was told that I needed a HIGH-STABILITY shoe. Well, damn. What a revelation. If I say "life-changing" again, will that be too repetitive? 

At this point, I need to back up. Now the numbering system in this post is going to get all out of whack, because BEFORE JOINING A RUNNING GROUP, here is what is even more important: As Kendra and Cate, the owners of my gym say, "People think they should run to get strong. But instead, you have to get strong in order to run."

Yes, yes, and yes. Say it with me: [chorus: life-changing!]. Strength training BEFORE running. Totally [chorus]

I celebrated my one-year anniversary with the gym by running our last 2.5 miles before the August race, in about 99 degrees F with my running group. We died from the heat, then went out for a celebratory dinner. Up to this point, we had never run a full 5K, or even that last 2.5 miles, without stopping. We had done run-walk intervals the entire time. Despite the training, I was unconvinced that I could run an entire 5K without stopping. I had had no proof that I could. 

One night, though, none of the other 5K-ers showed up, and I joined the 10K group. We run-walked 6 miles that night, and I didn't actually die. But it sort of felt like it. The gym is not far from K-Mart, so that was my landmark, and I will tell you, I was never so glad to see a K-Mart in my life. 

During the end-of-training-group celebratory dinner, I still believed in my head that I was not going to go to the race on that Saturday. I was going to just yes-yes everybody, and then crap out and simply not show up for the race, having some manufactured reason why not.

But instead, when Saturday morning came, I got up at nearly the crack of dawn so that I could eat, get ready, and drive the hour and a half to get to the race site by 7 a.m. After we had trained in high, high heat for the previous six weeks, it was ridiculously cold that morning, and I was not prepared with the proper clothing for that cold. Kris had an extra long-sleeve tech shirt in her car that she lent me to keep me from shivering too much before the race started. Still not convinced that I would make it through this thing, my only goal was to try to keep running for the whole thing. I did not believe I would be able to do that.  

I was able to make it to the halfway point without stopping. And a sometimes coach for the summer and a friend were running with me. At the turnaround point, there was a hill. I stopped to walk for a few seconds, and I lost ground from my friends. I tried hard to catch up to them again, but never could. I got exhausted, started to flag, and looked like I was going to start walking again. A wonderful stranger (a slightly older woman, but a more experienced runner) started talking to me, and she egged me on. She ran the rest of the race with me, and we made it! She encouraged me to kick it up for a strong finish in the last 50 yards or so. And damn. 

You can see the results here. In the overalls, look at #118, and in my age group (that would be 50-59) look at #14. For a confirmed NON-RUNNER, not too horrible at all! 

I was seriously holding back barfing on the guy who was cutting the chip off my shoe. And I do mean SERIOUSLY.HOLDING.BACK. I was retching, and thought, Ohmygod, this is going to be bad. But I didn't do it. MAYBETHEREISAGOD, I didn't throw up on him. My legs were shaky then, but I recovered fairly well:

But then, back to this past weekend. No problemo! No training, either, really, although I did run 5K last Tuesday at home. I did have that barfy feeling just after crossing the finish line, but no sea legs, and I had a reserve in me at the end. In retrospect, I now know that I could have run faster. But I ran just about at the same pace as last time, which was comfortable, and one of my goals in this thing is to run uninjured. I'm not out to prove anything major here.

The difference in this run was though the course was flat, it was somewhat difficult. We were running on loose gravel and/or wet grass for the first 2 miles, and then thank goodness, pavement for the last mile. If I were not in good overall condition, or if I had my old low-stability shoes, I could easily imagine a twisted ankle or knee or some such.

Amy and I ran together, and we kept each other going. We talked about knitting(!) and we were a great mini-team. For the bigger picture, I was a part of a small fundraising team that looked like this on race day:

Suzanne Somers and Richard Simmons

were valuable members of our team. Hee.

You can see the results of the race here, where you will see that I came in 283rd overall, and Amy was right behind me. Thanks so much to Kris G., who graciously invited me to join in the fun! I'm so glad I did. 

So now, I have mentioned the dietary changes I've made, and some people want details. It's quite simple, really: In an effort to determine what foods I might be allergic to, I am following an elimination diet.

Some ugly symptoms reared their ugly head like they did in late September 2011 and the coincidence was just too great. The timing was almost exactly at the same time of year (and thank GOODNESS for the blog, for being able to sleuth out the date), and the symptoms were exactly the same. I thought I was dying. And it turns out I almost was. Again. (Although I avoided a hospitalization this time.)

So I asked myself, "What is different about this time of year?!"

And I came up with the answer:

And my first reaction was:  PLEASE DON'T LET IT BE TOMATOES!!!! They are my favorite food in the whole wide world. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't let it be tomatoes. I want to DIE if I can't have tomatoes.

But hang on. 

I had thought I had leukemia or something.

So let's weigh this:

Possibly no more tomatoes   vs.   Leukemia

Or stroke. 

Or sudden death.

I'm pretty sure I can live with no more tomatoes.

But in any event, I got myself to a naturopathic physician, because let's face it -- no offense to all the doctors I adore -- but regular doctors are clueless. And the last time, once they ruled out that I had had a heart attack, they shrugged their collective shoulders and said, "Carry on. We don't know what it was. It may just be one of those things we'll never know."  And the cardiologist said, "I don't know what you had, but I know it wasn't your ticker." 

And then it was all like, "Call us the next time you almost die."

Helpful. 

And then last year I had a bad tomato crop, so I didn't eat as many. But this year it was a banner year again. And so there I was, right back where I was two years ago. And when I thought back, there were other episodes in my life that were very similar, one of which is when the doctors put me on a beta blocker.

I think the writing is on the wall here. 

So anyway. I am currently on what is known as an elimination diet. Many people seem to misunderstand me when I say that -- they think it is some sort of a cleanse, as in, I'm eliminating toxins from my body. Well, I am, for sure. But the term "elimination diet" has a different meaning. 

And that's what I've been doing for about a month now, and WHAT.A.DIFFERENCE. Can I hear another LIFE-CHANGING?!

All of my inflammation is GONE GONE GONE.  You know that chronic tendinitis? GONE. The painful, sticky fascia? Smooth and elastic again. The muscles that were hard and painful like rigor mortis? Soft and pliable again. It's like a frickin' miracle, I tell ya. [chorus! chorus!]

So much so that I can honestly say I ALMOST DON'T miss my favorite foods in the whole wide world, and I almost don't see a reason to go the next step in this regimen, which is to reintroduce the foods one at a time to see what effect each has on me. I'm doing so well, I really don't see any reason not to continue indefinitely on this path. 

In a nutshell, I am simply not consuming the following:

- nightshade vegetables (I believe this is the biggest culprit)

- dairy (this is a close second)

- wheat (this is tied for second) and most other grains except quinoa, gluten-free oats, and brown rice

- soy (not sure this is a factor, because I never consumed much soy except when I was a vegan and then I pretty much hated it, so it's dead to me anyway.)

- eggs (this one might or might not be an issue)

- chocolate (I think this is a problem for me. Kill me now -- except. Thinking I'm dying of leukemia? Or no chocolate. Yeah. I can live with it.)

- coffee (I actually wake UP when I get out of bed now, rather than needing an hour to sip my coffee before I begin to feel and act like a person. I do still consume some caffeine, in the form of green tea)

- corn

And I think there are more things on the verboten list, but I choose to focus on the "include" list:

- meats, poultry, fish (organic, grass fed, and uncured as much as possible)

- all vegetables except nightshades

- all fruits

- most nuts

- legumes 

- gluten-free oats, quinoa, rice

I feel 99% better. I would say 100, but I might have one more food that should be eliminated, because I have a new symptom:  a bothersome itchy scalp and a couple itchy, irritated places on my skin. I'm suspecting either coconut or a certain kind of nuts (perhaps cashews). My intention was to eliminate nuts and coconut from my diet starting today, but despite my best intentions, I ate both of those things. Maybe tomorrow.

Losing the nuts on top of everything else makes getting through the day a bit harder for me. Meal planning is not difficult as long as I have plenty of food in the house and as long as I'm home. Going out is a bit tricky, particularly since a) chefs LIE (they do!) and b) even at my healthiest fallback places to eat, just when I think, "I can eat that!" I read the ingredients and it has red pepper flakes in it, or paprika all over it. I definitely have reactions to those two things. So yeah. Pretty sure it's the nightshades. 

But still. I don't have leukemia, and I just rocked my second 5K.

I got this. 

And a parting shot to the regular M.D.s: I WISH YOU'D GET A FRICKIN' CLUE about this stuff. 

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” 
― Hippocrates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garlic Planting Day

And while I was out there, I harvested some Romaine, spinach, and dandelion greens to make a salad for dinner.

It's a tough life, but somebody has to live it. 

Homemade

This year, rather than canning tomatoes, I've decided to make and freeze batches of marinara. I realized that for the most part, I use my canned tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce anyway. I love my home-canned, home-grown, delicious organic tomatoes, but the canning season itself always seems to come at a time when I don't have time to perform all that labor-intensive canning nonsense. I tried freezing tomatoes a few years back, at the recommendation of several helpful friends, but I learned that I really dislike working with frozen tomatoes. They seem so unappealing to me. I ended up throwing bags and bags and bags of tomatoes into the compost heap the following year.

On average, I go through at least one quart of purchased marinara weekly throughout the year. And making marinara to freeze is -- at least it seems it to me -- less work than canning tomatoes. The process seems less overwhelming, and maybe even more satisfying. It takes a few more raw materials, and after the skins and seeds are milled out, and the sauce cooked down to thicken, it results in a smaller volume of sauce per pound of tomatoes, but still, I've been ending up with three quarts each Saturday for the last three Saturdays. I still have a way to go to fulfill my annual needs for marinara, but the tomatoes are still producing and ripening in my garden, I've grown plenty of onions, and the basil is still growing (though there has been a cold snap recently, to which the basil takes umbrage. So that might be the end of that.) I didn't grow my own garlic this year (boo! hiss!) so I had to purchase my garlic at the farmer's market. 

So if you own stock in Bove's, I'm sorry. I will be purchasing less of their goodness this year. Because I have made my own, even more delicious, goodness. And I know exactly where all most of the ingredients have come from: My garden.  

 

Adventures in Shortbread

Shortbread: Simple. Delicious. Wonderful. Except for the waistline, perhaps. Oh, and the cholesterol levels, maybe. But it can even be made gluten-free quite nicely, I am told, using tapioca flour instead of wheat. I have not yet tried this, but I imagine will at some point.

Recently I bought a beautiful shortbread pan (you can get it cheaper on Amazon, it turns out) and some wonderful friends (they know who they are) sent me a package containing some special vanilla extracts to add to my Penzey's Double-Strength, so now I have a bona fide vanilla collection.

It's the holiday season, when gifts of cookies are usually welcome, so I can pawn off some of the extra calories and white flour and sugar and butter by bringing them to parties and offices and such. This is essential to my survival. Otherwise, I will eat the whole thing all by myself.

I wanted to experiment with the flavors of the various vanillas (the aromas vary wildly!), and shortbread seems to be a simple way to appreciate the flavor of the vanilla without a lot of distraction from other elements. So I broke out the fresh Vermont (salted*) butter, the King Arthur flour, and some sugar, along with my assortment of vanillas, and went on a little baking bender over the past few days.

I've used various shortbread recipes over my lifetime. The original Scottish recipe I used as a child called for something that was very hard to find around here then -- rice flour. But I persevered, found the flour, and I remember it being truly lovely. I seem to have lost that recipe, which was given to my mother by friends of hers who lived in Nova Scotia at the time. I'm sure I could find a reasonable facsimile of it on the internet, but more recently I decided to give the recipe on the King Arthur Flour site a try. There are two reasons for that: 1) That's where I bought the new snowflake shortbread pan I got, and the recipe was right there in my face, and more importantly, 2) I recently baked their original poundcake recipe (warning: not for wimps) and it was hands-down the best poundcake I have ever baked or eaten (there are still two mini-cakes in my freezer). I also baked their Vanilla Dream cookies, with the same result. So I figured maybe their recipes are WINNERS. 

And it appears that they are. 

So how did it go, you're wondering?

Batch One: Made with Penzey's Double Strength Vanilla and no almond extract. DELICOUS -- maybe the most delicious of the bunch, but then I keep on saying that. Each one seems to get better than the next. Perhaps I am drunk on my vanilla (don't get me started by the wingnut comment I saw on a food site -- a recipe for making homemade vanilla extract) where a person said, "Vanilla has alcohol?! Good to know. I won't put any in my kids' food until they turn of age." It's now official, as if it wasn't already: I have zero tolerance for stupid people. ZERO. I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. Oops. You got me started.) Ahem.

My mistake on Batch One was that I put the whole batch into my new snowflake pan. It came out delicious, but very thick and heavy, and less crisp than shortbread should be -- closer to a bar cookie in texture. 

Batch Two: Made with Mexican vanilla and a touch of almond extract. This time I put half the batch into the snowflake pan, and rolled out the other half and used a 2-inch cookie cutter to make little rounds to bake separately. Excellent texture and flavor, but I think Mexican vanilla is not my favorite of all the vanillas (sorry all the baking writers who say Mexican vanilla is the best! It's great, and if I didn't have anything to compare it to, I think I would agree. But lo, I have Tahitian vanilla.)

OMG.

Tahitian vanilla.  

OMG.

I can spend a good part of the day just sniffing the jar, and be happy. It even helps to tolerate The Stupid People. Sometimes.

So onward to Batch Three.

Batch Three was made with Tahitian vanilla and a little bit of almond extract. In my opinion, the flavor is the best of them so far. BUT I used two 9-inch round cake pans for my shortbread, and this is what happened when I turned it out.

Wahhhh.

I was able to salvage some of the edges. They are the small triangle-shaped shortbreads shown on the plate in the photos. I could very happily spend the day eating the crumbs, but I won't.

So I'm not sure what the problem was there. I think I did everything right. I sprayed the pans with non-stick spray. I baked it at the right temperature and baked it long enough. I might not have worked the dough quite enough before patting it into the pan, or I might have tried to release it from the pan either too early or too late -- I just don't know. 

Today may warrant more experimentation. 

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*Salted butter is recommended, because there is limited mixing and no real liquid involved when making shortbread. Added salt might not be uniformly mixed in, and/or fully dissolved in the shortbread dough.

 

Oh HONEY! You Are So SWEET!

A package arrived at my doorstep yesterday morning, and inside it was this:

A jar of honey from the bees that work the garden of my sweet friends Margene and Smith, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A more meaningful and thoughtful gift I cannot imagine. I can't wait to have some in my pre-run breakfast drink this morning -- sweet and natural fuel for my run from across the miles. 

Thank you, my dear Margene and Smith! 

Remind Me To Have This Drink For Breakfast More Often

[Apparently This Is A] RUNNING SUPER-POWER DRINK

1 1/2 cups So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk

1 ounce raw cacao nibs

1 T. chia seeds

1 1/2 t. raw honey

1 overflowing, packed cup raw spinach

1 scoop Garden of Life Raw Protein powder 

ice

Blend for a couple minutes in the Vitamix (or however long it takes in another blender to make this smooth).

334 Calories, 20.3 grams fat, 18.6 grams carbs, 24.8 grams protein, 15.4 grams dietary fiber (!)

I'm calling this a super-power running drink, because this is what I had for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. yesterday, then I did not have anything else to eat before I went for a run at 1 p.m. And I felt so fabulous I can hardly stand it.

Since returning to running (under my doctor's orders, I might add -- she said she strongly disagreed with the orthopedic P.A. who advised against it) after the mysterious ankle injury, I have been stuck on Week 4 of the Couch to 5K running plan, seemingly unable or unwilling to move beyond that point. But yesterday when it came time to run, I felt so great that I decided to give Week 5, Run 1, a go. I also changed my running location to a sort of rustic (a packed small-stone surface), mostly flat recreation trail that is not far from my house. It's much more scenic than going around and around in circles like a hamster on a wheel.

The temperature was just perfect for me yesterday -- about 68 or 70 degrees, and mostly cloudy, but with some blue sky peeking through. I think the humidity was rather low (for Vermont) also. I'm sure that wonderful temperature had something to do with how well I performed, but I do think that breakfast drink had a lot to do with it too. 

I started the run as per the instructions on the podcast, which begins with a five-minute brisk walk as a warmup, then moves into a five-minute run for Week 5. When the guy's voice came on for the first time after I started running, I assumed he was going to say, "You're half way through your first run." Boy was I surprised when he said, "OK, you're now done your first five-minute run."  

Huh?!

Dayum. I was the loony on the Rail Trail yesterday afternoon going, "No way! No way! Really? Wow! What? No way was that five minutes! No way! Really?" 

Week 5 in this program (I've done this already before, back before the ankle thing) is that wonky week where all three runs of the week are different from each other. I almost kept on going because I really wasn't ready to slow down and walk for three minutes after that first run (or the 2nd one, OR the 3rd one, for that matter), but especially since I was running on a new surface, I did not want to push it. So I did as I was told, because the point of this running exercise is to ramp up my running fitness, and to NOT.GET.INJURED. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

I'm now using a different Couch to 5K podcast from the one I started with. I switched to the ones by this guy (I got mine on iTunes). I like his simple techno beat music -- I really go zen with it. 

As you might have noticed about that drink recipe, it is quite high in fat. I don't have anything to say about that, really, because I'm no expert, and the information on fats (and other nutritional factors) keeps changing faster than even I can type. I am choosing to believe that the fats in these ingredients are good fats, though some of them (from the cacao nibs, for example) are labeled "saturated" fats. Whatever. All I know is, that drink provided me with the most amazing fuel I've ever experienced, and I'm choosing to believe that it's all not only good for me -- but excellent for me. 

 

 

 

 

It's That Time of Year Again -- Time For The Rose Petal Jam

I was alerted by Sue H.M. in Facebook last night that she was bereft: "For the past few years, I've been googling 'rose petal jam Norma' to follow the link to the recipe you use (Because it's the best one. It yields superior results. I am superstitious.) but this year, recipegal has disappeared." And she was wondering whether I had the recipe written down. 

Well, dang. For at least a couple years, I too would follow my own link to recipegal, but at some point I must have worried that recipegal would disappear. Of course, I absolutely did not remember doing this, but it JUST.SO.HAPPENED that yesterday I was looking for something in my clothes closet (a pair of cargo shorts that I usually wear gardening), and I ran across a little laminated copy of the Rose Petal Jam recipe. I still did not find the shorts, but there in my clothes closet (a most logical place, I'm sure you would agree) was the recipe that later in the day Sue would ask for. 

This must be a sign from God, much like these signs from God. But I digress. 

Back to the rose petal jam -- which also, I firmly believe, is a sign from God. Or the devil. One of these super-powerful guys. 

(Photo taken in the dark, after I got the panic call from Sue.)

This is a BANNER YEAR for my rosa rugosa, and shame on me, I have not yet made jam. I am trying to stay away from sugary things, but really, this is so special and seasonal a delicacy, I should just get over it and make some. 

Here's the recipe. It is truly the best. Don't fall for anything that is called "rose petal jelly." It's not the same at all. That steeps rose petals in water to get the "essence" and then makes jelly that basically (in my opinion) has no flavor whatsoever.

This one uses the whole petals and fresh lemon juice and sugar, and makes a fridge or freezer jam. In other words, you have to keep it in the refrigerator or freezer for optimum deliciousness and keeping abilities. The only part of the jam that is cooked is the pectin, so it's raw-ish and oh, so deLISH.

Several people have asked me to describe the flavor. It is really hard to describe. It's floral, it's tangy, it's sweet. It is its own special, amazing flavor sensation. When you take a jar out of the freezer and eat some of it in the middle of winter, it is like summer on a spoon. 

NOTES:  This makes a small batch. I am working strictly on memory here, but I think I only get about five 4-ounce jars from one batch. It'll be interesting to see if I can make this successfully in the Vitamix, which is miles more powerful than the old Osterizer I had. Perhaps I should pull that old putt-putt out of the Goodwill box after all. Hm.. Another sign from God? I didn't bring it to the Goodwill yet. 

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The Best Damn

ROSE PETAL JAM

In All The Land

Magical, I tell you!

1 cup fresh rose petals (Can be any kind of roses*, but must not have been sprayed with any chemicals)

3/4 cup water X 2 

Juice of one lemon

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 package of powdered pectin (e.g., Sure Jell)

 

Put rose petals, 3/4 c. water, and lemon juice in a blender jar. Puree until smooth. (Marvel at the color. It will knock your socks off.)

Slowly add sugar. Blend until all sugar has dissolved. 

Pour this rose syrup mixture into a large bowl. 

In a small saucepan, stir 1 package pectin into 3/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, and boil HARD for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

Pour pectin mixture into syrup and stir it in gently but quickly. It sets up fast. Work fast to pour it into jars before it gets too thick and gloppy. 

I'm not kidding about that. Work fast!  

Put covers on the jars. Let set for 6 hours (says the original recipe -- I find it sets faster than that), till firm. Refrigerate for use up to one month; freeze for longer-term storage. 

 

--This recipe was originally taken from a site called recipegal.com, which seems to no longer be in existence.

*Except white. If you use white (I have tried), you end up with a jar full of something that looks like it might be found at a urologist's or fertility specialist's office. It still tastes great, but the looks of it will kill you. Probably yellow roses should be added to that "do not use" list too. In fact, I will state right here: Stick with red or very deep pink. You'll be glad you did.

 

 

 

 

Hell Yeah

My Long-Weekend Sunday went like this:

Breakfast.  

Knitting. Yes, knitting! I'm working on the raisin brown Iceling baby sweater. Love it. I ordered a whole bunch of buttons to try with it -- a variety of wooden, bone, and antler ones. I'll be sure to show them to you when they get here.

Running. Yes, running! I went to the track with the idea that I would go back to square one on the Couch to 5K program, which would be mostly walking, with spurts of a minute running here and there. I hemmed and hawed over whether to stick with my favorite Nike Free Run+ shoes or to use the Gel Cumulus. I decided to stick with the Nikes because I love them so much, but I put in the Superfeet inserts that that orthopedic guy recommended I get. I figured that was a sensible compromise, and when I put them on my feet like that, it felt good and seemed like The Right Thing To Do.

When I got to the track, it was in use by a group, so I couldn't use it. I had to use the trail. Though it's not rubberized and is a hard paved surface with some imperfections, it is mostly flat, with some gentle slopes and only a couple little hills, so I thought I'd be fine. But also when I got there, I just could not bring myself to go back to literally square one. I thought I might die of boredom, and I also felt that I could handle more of a challenge than that. When I left off with the program and hurt my ankle, I was repeating Week 7 of the program, so I don't really know why I chose Week 4 yesterday, but I did. Another compromise that seemed like The Right Thing To Do.

And it was! 

I ran the course with ease, did not feel any pain whatsoever, and ended up with no swelling -- no new swelling, at least. I felt great. GREAT, I tell you!

Lunch. Healthy and delicious. Grilled salmon burgers and see below.

Gardening. Oh yes, four more hours in the garden doing the heavy lifting and moving of bags of composted manure and cleaning out the compost bins, digging and dividing of perennials, planting, turning soil, and etcetera and so forth. 

I harvested this, which served as the focal point for lunch.

Dinner. With friends.

More Knitting while

Watching South Riding.

It was a verra good day. Mr. Jefferies says so, too. 

Spri-ing-tiiiiiiiiime, and the Eatin' is Easy......

Oh, how I love to cook and eat this time of year. The garden makes it so easy to be creative and healthful.

Yesterday morning there were scallions, and lots of them, ready. 

When I pulled them and brought them into the house, I really didn't have a plan for what I would do with them. But when lunchtime came around, the plan just went ahead and formulated itself. 

I brought out the George Foreman grill and a package of grass-fed local ground beef. I made a small patty and cooked it on the grill, making for a lean and tasty little burger.

Meanwhile, I sliced up the scallions (there are red and white ones in there, for extra color and goodness) and put them in a small bowl. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar, a splash of olive oil, and a sprinkle of both sea salt and crushed dried cayenne pepper. I stirred it up and let it marinate for the few minutes it took to finish cooking the burger, and savored the burger smothered in spring-oniony goodness. It was almost a salad, sort of a relish -- beautiful in its simplicity, and dead-on delicious.

Excuse me -- I must go out now and plant another row of onion sets. Rolling harvests are one of the keys to a good kitchen garden, after all.

Today the star of the fresh-pick show will be asparagus.