Jamming. Literally.

The canning time of year has commenced, and so I find myself with dozens of jars of newly preserved treats.

Ataulfo mangoes make a wonderful fruit butter while strawberries every way are ever-delicious (strawberry-cardamom, and strawberry-rhubarb-lemon below, as well as strawberry-lavender muffins in the oven). Rhubarb is always a beloved friend too. These will make  terrific gifts for my boys' teachers and also bring our breakfasts to greater heights.

mangoes cooking with orange, lime and lemon juices and cardamom pods

strawberries and rhubarb headed for an overnight maceration

Aren't those gorgeous? I set them to macerate on Monday, just a day after picking them up at the farmers market. On Tuesday, I canned them. Love the farm-to-pantry in 48 hours thing!

from left: strawberry-cardamom; strawberry-rhubarb-lemon; citrusy mango butter

Last night, I attended the first get-together of a supper club I was asked to join. The theme was Spring. I decided to make a shaved asparagus salad with hazelnuts, mint and pecorino, with some of the asparagus I bought on Sunday morning at the farmers market. 

One dish was prettier than the next, and I found it absolutely lovely to take a break from this hectic time to simply sit back, meet some new people, drink great wine, eat great food and relax. Food does bring people together in such wonderful ways, doesn't it?!

beets, crab salad and avocado with arugula

a trio of soups: green; minty pea; beet-carrot with lime-parsley creme

Jam recipe posted

Strawberry Cardamom Jam!

Strawberry Cardamom Jam, beautiful beet salad, smoked chicken

Despite being up from 3:15 - 5:15 this morning (Oliver woke up, turned on his moon light, decided it looked like an eyeball and instead of simply turning it off, came to get me to do so; he went back to sleep; I did not.), I managed to lead a nap-free, productive life today. Happy Monday! The boys started camp, and both were thrilled. Jack is doing a really cool day camp that Tom did when he was J's age; it's half computer programming, half sports, and Jack has big plans to create the perfect video game which will make money despite being free and showing no ads. I love his idealism. Ol is doing the same program he attended last summer and was really happy to be back at school and to have so many buddies in his group. It was marvelously sublime to have some quiet hours alone.

In addition to celebrating Percy's birthday (really hope you know that means nothing more than a longer than usual walk and many fruit and veggie treats), I cleaned and trimmed the flat of strawberries I bought yesterday (roughly 20 cups if you wonder about the flat->cup amount), made a strawberry cardamom jam that is really delightful and then set up double the original amount to macerate overnight. I'll can it tomorrow and will post the recipe ASAP. If strawberries are growing locally near you, now's the time to preserve them. Though strawberries are seriously lacking in pectin, I really don't like using commercial pectin products and so today added a grated apple to the pot and cooked until 218. This has set up really nicely!

The boys and I watched The Adventures of Milo and Otis this afternoon because Milo looks like Nutmeg and Otis, Percy. It was kinda campy and strange but delightful all at once. Dudley Moore is just going nuts with his narrating responsibilities, and I feel this movie is what has subsequently given many people the idea of posting pictures and videos of their pets online. Then I made pasta because one of Tom's aunts, who is hilarious, sent the kids battery-powered spaghetti twirling forks and as you can imagine, we had to put them to use immediately!

T came home early to watch the USA-Ghana match with the  boys. It slays me that the man never utters a word of interest about soccer, ever, but when the World Cup plays, he morphs into an intense fan. Anyway, during all that mayhem I smoked some chicken breasts over oak chips and made a beet-wax bean salad with what I bought yesterday at the FM. Aren't chioggia beets' rings and variegation cool?!?! I tossed in some chopped orange and dressed the whole thing with a honey-red wine vinaigrette. Lovely, lovely!

Fatigue is now getting the bets of me, so off to bed I go. Buona notte!