Blueberry Lime Jam

Tonight, we made and canned blueberry lime jam with the last of the blueberries. 

This is another new recipe we tried, and it's great! 

I am already excited about making charcuterie boards throughout the coming year and using our various blueberry jams and conserves with crackers and cheeses and meats. 

I often sign up to bring a dish to a church or homeschool group event or make something when we have friends over, so it'll be great to bring charcuterie boards and bring some of our own homemade fruit jams to share. 

One of the unforeseen joys of doing so much extra and special canning this year is that we are already looking forward to having some special meals and desserts and teas throughout the coming year so we can use our jams and jellies, etc. 

Adele helped tonight the whole time- start to finish; I didn't even need to ask, just looked over and she was washing her hands and getting her apron on. 

As we cooked the jam, we read other recipes aloud and asked and answered various questions just by comparing one recipe to another. 

We wondered aloud about fruit butters...

What makes them different than jams or jellies or conserves? 

We answered our own question just by reading the recipes carefully. 

A fruit butter has the same ingredients as jam but it is cooked longer, then pureed, then cooked again with even more sugar into what sounds like a delectable spread. 

So a good canning book can be a great teacher if you take the time to read/ study it. 

We're learning a lot.

But I'm also happy to say that canning (at least canning jams, jellies, and the like) finally feels somewhat easy after consistently doing it for years, so there isn't as much stress as we work this year. 

There's just lots of room for conversation.  

 

Bird's Nest Fungus

"The world was meant for our eyes

And our eye's were meant for Wonder"

-Arcadian Wild

 A photo of the tiny bird's nest fungus growing in our herb garden 

 

Summer Reading

This summer, I've read:

Four detective novels by Dorothy Sayer's (and I've named my new black Suburban " Bunter")

The Lyme Solution by Darin Ingles

ADHD for Dummies by Jeff Strong

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay 

Dear Mr. Knightly also by Katherine Reay 

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

Watership Down by Richard Adams

I've listened to:

Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer

Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier

The Medieval Mind of CS Lewis

I've re-listened to:

The Abolition of Man

Till We Have Faces

I've started, but haven't finished:

Sex and Virtue by John S. Grabowski

Emily Post's Etiquette

Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset

We Be Jammin'

Avril and I picked raspberries, blueberries, and peaches. 

We've been making jams and jellies almost everyday since. 

It's very hot and humid in our kitchen, so the jam is consistently taking three times as long as it is supposed to in order to gel. 

So far, this week, we've made and canned a batch of: 

raspberry jam

peach jam

peach melba jam (peach jam and raspberry jam layered in the same jar)

berry jam (a jam made with a mixture of blueberries and raspberries)

peach jam

and blueberry citrus conserve (blueberry jam with orange and lemon slices and raisins). 

And we've made two batches of peach jelly from the juice collected as we peeled the peaches over a sieve placed in a large bowl. Note: The second batch, Avril made and canned entirely on her own start to finish. 

There's always a little extra jam or jelly or conserve in the bottom of the big pot that won't fill an entire jar, so we put that jar in the fridge and enjoy it right away. 

The sun shining through the jars of peach jelly might be the prettiest thing ever.

The blueberry conserve is surprisingly everyone's favorite jam now.  

We took a chance on that recipe. I wasn't sure about anything made with raisins... 

But once the raisins are cooked and set in with the fresh fruit, the raisins add a rich texture to the blueberry jam, so the conserve has the feel of a homemade Amish apple butter, but at the same time, it also has all the earthy sweetness of the fresh blueberries and the light tang of the orange and lemon. It's really delightful on crackers with a spreadable cheese.  

We usually only ever make and can strawberry jam each year, so this year we've had to learn a lot of new things. 

Some of the facts and tips we've learned/ had better clarified this year after all this practice canning:

Jam is made with chopped fruit and the fiber of the fruit remains in the jam making it more or less chunky. 

Jelly is made with the fruit juice alone. 

Jelly is so easy and so beautiful in the jar and made with fresh fruit, it has as much flavor as jam. 

Conserve is a mixture of fresh and dried fruit. 

You can more easily go down in jar size than up. 

It's a good idea to prep more jars and lids than you think you need. 

Chicken Croquettes

We had chicken croquettes when we were at Shadymaple Smorgasboard in PA. 

I had never tasted anything so good.

Dwayne grew up eating chicken croquettes, apparently, but somehow, failed to ever mention them to me... 

Note: Even the most outstanding Christian spouse can let you down. 

I resolved to learn to make them. 

First, I researched recipes online. 

Next, I realized I'd probably have to fry them to get them right. 

I don't fry as a rule. 

I always thought, "I'm fat enough even without frying... Can you imagine what frying will do to me?" 

Nevertheless, I decided to fry these. 

And I served them with mashed potatoes and chicken gravy just as they are traditionally served. 

I also served some vegetable I can't remember to give a passing nod to healthy; I think it was steamed green beans.

My family hasn't responded that well to a meal in years. 

Sounds of delight as they chewed 

Two thumbs up all around the table

My children rose up and blessed me

My husband also saying, "Honey! This is amazing!"

And there were no left-overs 

None!

I feel like I'm at a crossroads here...

Two roads diverge in a wood

Fried foods are unhealthy, but I have longed for my family to enjoy the meals I make as much they enjoyed these fried chicken croquettes...

I think I will have to take the fried road 

At least as far as chicken croquettes go.

July 4

 We spent the late morning/ early afternoon at Topstone, one of our favorite places in summer. 

Then we traveled to Wilton for their fireworks shows. 

As always, Dwayne read the Declaration of Independence aloud as we sat waiting for the fireworks display to start. We all have a good deal of it memorized by now. 

God bless America! Land that I love.