Preserves

On Sunday, I picked nineteen pounds of Rangpur limes. (I have the scratches to prove it. Rangpur trees are thorny!) I sent eleven pounds out to the folks who won them in…

At the end of this post, I’ll announce the winner(s) of the Rangpur lime giveaway. Thank you for all the entries. I love how you all love the fruit. First, though, I…

As every gardener knows, what you hope or intend for your little patch of earth isn’t always what you get. Like last spring when I accidentally planted hot peppers thinking they were…

A tall glass of fizzy water with a splash of homemade fruit syrup is one of the most enjoyable alternatives to commercial sodas.

In 2011, I had a goal that I never said out loud. I wanted to return to the reason I first started preserving, which was to make good use of the fruit…

As many of you know, I’m doing some work for a new nonprofit business called Community Action Marin FoodWorks — CAM FoodWorks, for short. It’s a venture based on the principles of…

It’s time for a progress report on the homemade vanilla extract. On October 8, I poured myself two big jars of booze, stuffed each one with 32 vanilla beans, and promised to…

I’ve spent the past few weeks staring at a fig. It’s just a fig. But it had something to say to me — and so did the stately tree that it came…

What’s in your pantry, people? Do you still have marmalade that you made last winter? I do. Around here, the marmalade eating can’t possibly keep up with the marmalade making, so I…

A few weeks ago, I was fussing on Facebook about how I had picked up some contract legal work and wasn’t enjoying it very much. (If you have ever been stuck for…

Are you busy? These days, I am far busier than I would like to be, which is one reason I like this photo of caramel apple jam holding down my datebook. (I…

Last year, I wanted to make vanilla extract for holiday gifts, but I missed out. I have heard people say, variously, that it takes two months, three months, six months — in…