In addition to a couple rompers (sized 12 and 18 months - any parent will tell you that kids grow fast and will need these sizes before you know it) I took over a half pint of mango jam and a pint of strawberry sauce. Anna seemed pleased - I'll have to remember to remind her that this is my first year canning, just in case. Even though I specifically started canning as a way of sharing my love of life and food with my friends and family, I really had to talk myself into taking those jars over. I guess it's a sort of "having your cake" problem. If you start giving it away, then you don't have it to give. To paraphrase the old commercial, "Don't worry, I'll make more." I'm going to get on that right away because when I opened the pantry this morning to make the baby's (uh, I mean "my son's) breakfast, the two spaces where the jars had been seemed gaping. It's becoming clear to me that I'm a full-pantry kind of girl. So maybe there'll be more mango jam coming soon, if I can get a good price.
The tomatoes canned up well, as I knew they would. They're very reliable, but not too heroic. One doesn't get the feeling of having produced something really amazing like I did with the cranberry chutney. Still, I know they'll be useful to have around and will get us through more than one night when no one wants to fuss for dinner and going out is too much of a bother. So now that I've produced something so pedestrian, I'm on the prowl for a really sexy canning recipe.
More and more I'm having the feeling that I'll end up doing tomolives. My friend Jen loves these, and I suspect they'd be great in a martini. They're small green olives that are pickled kind of like an olive, hence the name. Since I have a couple tomato plants that are about to kick the bucket, tomolives could be just the thing to keep from wasting all the fruit that doesn't ripen. I think Jen would be pleased to get a couple of jars of homemade tomolives. Then again, I think her husband usually gives her a jar in her Christmas stocking and I wouldn't want to stomp all over his tradition.
Tonight the baby (scratch that, I mean my son), friend Kelly and I are heading out to our CSA for a summer social after spending some time swimming at her dad's house. The farm has asked everyone to bring a dish to share and I made a beet risotto. It looks kind of, well, fuschia, and at first I didn't like it. After a couple bites it grew on me, though. Just goes to show you that sometimes you have to keep trying things even after you think they're not for you. You'd think as a grown up, I'd know this by now. In case you want to make it, here's the recipe:
two or three beets, scrubbed and diced
- two shallots, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- 5-6 cups of warm vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese (not from a can!)
- salt and pepper to taste
Heat the butter and oil together in a wide, shallow pan over medium heat until blended. Add the shallots and saute until translucent. Add the rice and stir so that the rice is coated with the fat. Add the beets and stir to blend with the rice. Stir in the wine and continue stirring until the wine is mostly evaporated. Add the stock, one cup at a time, stirring until nearly evaporated. After the last cup has been added, taste a grain of rice to test tenderness. The rice should be firm, but have some give. If the rice is still hard, add some more stock, wine or warm water. When the rice is done, the grains should be distinct, but bound together in a starchy "sauce." Stir in the cheese and rosemary. Taste and correct seasonings with salt and pepper. The beets will be tended, but still somewhat crunchy. The dish will be very, very red!