sprinklefingers

i am officially tired of canning. i actually don’t think i can insert another jar into a water bath canner this season. my right hand is unable to close jars anymore. i can barely feel my fingertips due to all the scalding water they’ve come into contact with. and, on top of all this, my wooden spoons are stained.

i’m a complete mess.



BUT! even though i’m saying this now…tune in tomorrow where - most likely - i will have bought another flat of late summer berries and will have made jam with them.

jam, i just can’t quit you!

i feel like a jerk. i wrote that post about peach preserves yet failed to address a key ingredient in it: raspberry balsamic vinegar.

first up, fruity-flavored balsamic vinegars are available in the vinegar section of your market. they’re a bit spendier than regular style vinegar…and you’ll want to make sure you’re actually going to use it if you buy it. yes, it lasts forever…but there’s also a way around all this: making it yourself.

i have both store-bought fruity vinegars AND homemade fruity vinegars in my pantry. of course the homemade versions (if started with a quality vinegar,) are much more delicious than the store bought…but at the same time i don’t want you to think i’m completely nuts with my suggestion that you make your own fruity vinegar. i realize there are only so many hours in each day. (no, really, i do.)

BUT, making your own is so easy. and so quick. i’d say if you took your eyes off facebook for, say, 6 minutes, you can make your own fruity vinegar. [and don’t deny the facebook thing. i know all about it, and i’m just as guilty as you are…]

raspberry balsamic vinegar
recipe can easily be doubled or tripled or…

you need:

• 1 cup good quality balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup slightly mashed fresh raspberries (measure after they’ve been mashed.)

to make the vinegar:

1. pour the vinegar into a clean, sterilized jar (you can sterilize it by boiling it in water for 10 minutes.)
2. plop in the berries.
3. place the lid on the jar and store in a dark place for 2-3 weeks.
4. after 2-3 weeks, strain the vinegar through a bit of cheesecloth and store the vinegar in a lidded jar or bottle.

see! so easy…there’s literally nothing to it. and you didn’t miss old facebook at all, did you?

[ps: after you make this vinegar you should so totally update your status to let your friends know all about it.]

…i find these.

river cottage youtube videos. are you kidding me? are you kidding me?

not only is his column great, but he’s also funny AND wears wellies?

shut the front door! just shut it!

[i am now officially stopping with the hugh fearnley-whittingstall posts…

…maybe.]

i realize i may have a slight addiction to hugh fearnley-whittingstall’s column in the uk’s guardian. and i’m sorry. i just can’t help it. i wish he was my brother. or uncle. i also wish i could go visit him for a spell - me & hugh checking out the pastures, whipping up some late summer berry jam, tucking in to a delicious dinner. sigh.

because that’s not possible, i simply read his column. all. the. time.

and look at this! fun recipes for prepping with kids! falafel even. ah, hugh. you’re really something. no, really. you are.

hugh fearnley-whittingstall is at it again.
week after week his column truly speaks to me.

this week?

of all things, PORK!

that pork shoulder he talks about? going on our menu this week, certainly.

read drool all about it here.