I was so inspired by Meg’s post at Grow and Resist the other day, meandering us through her Seattle garden, that I decided to do something similar. We’re in the thick of spring, and plenty of things are taking off in the garden — or not. Here’s a collection of highs and lows, starting with…
A girl can make only so much marmalade. I love the stuff, but last night, as I was facing another bowl heaped high with Meyer lemons, I reached my limit. When that happens, there’s only one thing left to do: Take a bath. In December, I made the Lavender Sea Salt Body Scrub that Kaela…
Guess what’s new here? If you follow the Hitchhiking to Heaven Facebook Page you probably already know that we’ve been building a pigeon house. (I should probably call it an aviary or dovecote, but to me it’s a pigeon house.) We’re still working the details — nest boxes, perches, and so on — but right…
Aren’t these cute? It’s too bad they suck. I was so excited to attempt my first pâté de fruit. A couple weeks ago, when I was visiting Austin, Texas, I found a clementine pâté at a little place called Antonelli’s Cheese Shop. Borrowing a phrase from Paula Deen: It knocked my socks clean off and…
We are having warm spring temps here. It’s almost 80 degrees! That pleases me for many reasons, mostly having to do with the garden and a long list of dirt-digging tasks. But it’s also a perfect day to have this Celery Citrus Salad for lunch. Doesn’t it look like spring? Last week I wrote about…
These candied grapefruit peels don’t look quite the way they should. They are supposed to be white-sugar studded and sparkly. But to me, they look like a whole lot like French fries. That’s why I went down to our local burger joint and got one of those little white French-fry baggies to put them in….
Today we did airport things. Very soggy airport things . . . You know how it is. The waiting. The opportunity to spend way too much money on way too much food. Mostly bad food, at that. This time I decided to do air travel differently. I packed all of our food for the day…
March 19 is a very special day. It’s Mo’s birthday! Okay, so it’s my birthday, too. But for several years, I was blessed to share this day with Ms. Moreka Jolar in a magical spot on the island of Moloka’i. When Mo is in residence at Hui Ho’olana Retreat Center, she manages kitchen and garden…
This post could also be called “Experiments with Oranges,” because that’s what’s happening here. The jars above contain orange segments preserved two ways: half in light sugar syrup and half in a light syrup made with organic agave nectar. Trying agave is part of my new interest in preserving fruit without refined sugar. My plan…
In my post on making sugar-free jam, I mentioned that I am able to easily metabolize large quantities of sugar. The same does not go for flour. I’m not gluten intolerant to the degree of many folks I know, but there’s no doubt I do better without it. There’s also this: You would see a…
The vernal equinox is still a week away, but everything that grows knows what season it is. The world has been shaking and shifting and we feel it, even if the path in front of us seems calm. Here, the creek is running and the grass is growing greener. And my seedlings aren’t seedlings anymore….
Last night was a big night for me. I made jam without added sugar for the very first time. This pear lemon jam is primarily sweetened with white grape juice concentrate; it achieves a set with the help of Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Why did I do it? I am not going to act like the…