MRS. POTATO HEAD!

Cabin fever is starting to set in! We've been nested in our cozy cave for over a week. Yes, we all had the flu. We are all on the mend and are now trying to get caught up on all the things that make life run smoothly.

Got up at an insanely early hour for a weekend....5:30am! Feel rested, Hungary, creative and almost ambitious. In the mood for a big, country breakfast. Yesterday I precooked the most beautiful dark red potatoes. Freshly harvested days before as was shown on the packing tag. The skin on the potatoes was almost maroon and when I cut in to them the moisture pearled to the surface. It may sound funny to be making such a big deal about these red potatoes but most of the time I have to search through loose potatoes to find red potatoes that are not anemic looking. I've stopped buying red potatoes in the bag because the red colored bag they put them in is deceptive. When you take the potatoes out of the red colored bag you are usually stuck with a very anemic spud staring back at you. So now you can see why it was such a pleasure to cook these beauties up.

This morning I got these beauts from the fridge and sliced them up in a large pan with onions and olive oil. A little Kosher salt and a dash of pepper was all it needed. Then, I fried up some lean Canadian bacon and fried up a brown egg.....YUM! The rich flavor of Colombian coffee added to the pleasure. Hopefully this will give me the energy that I need to tackle the housework.

POLLY'S PICKLES

My fascination with canning began one day on a grocery trip to the very small, old, Mom and Pop store in Cotati, California called the "Plaza market". Amongst the dusty narrow shelves I saw a small blue book staring me in the face...."Ball Blue Book". I picked it up and was mesmerized by the idea pf preserving food.

I was spell bound and hooked!

Now what would a young college student like me be thinking about? My mother was an amazing cook but she never canned. So, why in the world was I so totally captivated by the idea of canning. Perhaps it was the fact that produce from the farms was so readily available and inexpensive.


Maybe it was also due to the fact that I had just lost my mom and wanted to rekindle the cozy and comforting feeling of home and the love felt in a busy and productive kitchen. Could it also be the fact we were so poor we had to make food stretch and last as long as possible? For what ever reasons I was hooked by the idea of buying in bulk at a great price then preserving it. I even learned how to "Glean" the fields after the farmers were finished harvesting and then were ready to plow under the fields. I was able to pick, with the Farmer's permission, crate after crate of tomatoes, cucumbers, pears and apples. After a while the farmers got to know me and welcomed me to their fields. I was also able to find free sources of Bing cherries and walnuts.

I am still canning! I no longer can 200 quarts of produce a year but I still like to can my special Kosher Dill Pickle recipe the I developed over the years.


INGREDIENTS

Recipe for 8 quarts of pickles

3 quarts of water, (12 cups)
1 quart of white vinegar, (4 cups)
1 cup Kosher canning salt
Fresh dill
Garlic
Whole peppercorns
Whole mustard seed
Fresh grape leaves
Ten pounds of very small cucumbers freshly picked

METHOD

Fill very hot, wide mouth quart jars with fresh dill, and one grape leaf. Next, a tablespoon of mustard seed and a tablespoon of whole peppercorns. Lastly, five garlic cloves. You need to work very quickly because you don't want the jars to cool. I have tried many ways to solve this problem. Initially, I followed the "Blue Book" to the letter. After placing pickles and other ingredients into the jar they suggest you process them in a canning kettle in a boiling water for 15 minutes. I've found when I do this that the pickles tend not to be as crispy.
I've tried boiling the jars in the canning kettle for ten minutes then carefully removing just one jar at a time and filling it with cucumbers/ ingredients and then adding the boiling brine.

Be sure to secure the metal bands firmly tight. I also keep the jars away from any draft and place on a towel upside down. Look carefully at the photograph and you can see the jars are upside down! This year I discovered that if you run the jars through the dishwasher,(I have a sanitize cycle), and take them out one at a time they seem to seal better. If your jars do not seal you'll have to keep in the fridge. How do you tell? The lid should be flat when you press on it. Also if you notice cloudy brine after a week or so it might mean it's not sealed. Into the fridge it goes. Good luck!