The Lemons Are Back! And so am I!

Holy moly! Sometimes life just has a way of taking you on a thrill ride you didn't get in line for and you're pretty sure you don't deserve, but there you are - careening around the curves, bouncing off the median, barely strapped in with brakes that won't work. That pretty much sums up my life these last six months plus a little bit.

And here I am, still trying to navigate all the changes taking place. Work life in flux, unexpected health events, parental care, sending my youngest off to college. Heck, even our dog died recently! I've wanted to scream more than laugh for too long now, but I'm ready to get on with it. Part of that means getting back to doing what I love - canning wonderful treats and sharing recipes with all of you. And so, the old adage comes to mind in a very literal sense, "When life hands you lemons..." make lemon jelly!!!

Last year when the Meyer lemons starting appearing in my local supermarket, I wrote in this blog what amounted to a gushing love letter to this amazing fruit! Then, I shared a recipe here for Meyer lemon vanilla bean marmalade (still one of my favorites). You can also make an amazing curd using Meyer lemons by following my recipe for key lime curd, substituting Meyer lemons and their juice for the limes.

Today though, I want to share with you one of the easiest, most versatile methods for making lemon (or other citrus) jelly I've ever come across. My dear friend, Caroline Brooks, recently sent me a book on preserving that was, amazingly, not already in my extensive library. Not sure how I missed this one, but for those looking for something more unusual, you should really check out The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves by Linda Ziedrich. Some of the recipes in the book contain ingredients I've never even heard of and Ms. Ziedrich's adherence to ultra small batch preserving and the total exclusion of commercial pectin is a little too "radical" for this time-starved canning aficionado, but for those of us with a little experience under our belts, this book is a great find and one that will provide plenty of inspiration.

Okay, back to the Meyer lemon jelly. Here's the process, based on Ms. Ziedrich's recipe, but with some adjustments which I've found produce a stronger flavor and cut down on time spent:

Easy Meyer Lemon Jelly


Note: This recipe is very easy to make but does require the sliced fruit to sit overnight for up to 12 hours, so plan accordingly.

1 pound Meyer lemons, regular lemons, limes, or oranges
water to cover
4 1/2 cups sugar

If possible, use organic or home-grown fruit to avoid the wax coating on most commercially available citrus. If your fruit does have a wax coating, put the fruit in a colander, pour boiling water over it and scrub them well.

Cut the fruit crosswise into thin slices and transfer the slices and any juice on the board into a nonreactive pot. Leave any seeds in there as well. That's the beauty part of this process!

Prepare jars, lids, bands and water bath canner.

Add enough water to completely cover the fruit (up to 7 cups) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 25 minutes.

Remove from heat and cover the pot. Allow to stand out at room temperature overnight, up to 12 hours.

Pour the now-cooled mixture into a damp jelly bag and allow to drip for two hours.

Measure out 5 cups of liquid and pour into nonreactive preserving pot. Add the sugar and stir over medium heat until fully dissolved. Increase heat to high and boil until it's reached the jelling point using the spoon test, freezer test or a jelly thermometer. (I'm at high altitude and reaching this point took 25 minutes at 6200 feet above sea level. Watch for this point sooner at lower altitudes).

Move quickly to pour the jelly into hot jars. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes at sea level, adding time for higher altitudes. (25 minutes here in Castle Rock, CO)

Ms. Ziedrich has a great suggestion for adding a rosemary infusion to the lemon in her book. I also think lavender might be nice or thyme. For my next effort, I'm thinking about stirring in a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar at the very end to add a different type of savory flavoring to the finished jelly. I'll let you know how that works out.

Enjoy the jelly and remember to keep smiling, even when the ride gets scary. If nothing else, it'll confuse people!

Meet Me at the Fair

Blue ribbon peach pie,
just out of the oven

I have a former co-worker, from 18 years ago (you know who you are - Kim Forster!), to thank (or blame!) for my odd obsession with county fairs. At the time, I had two very young children at home, but had gotten into cake decorating as a hobby so I could make the girls custom birthday cakes each year. Kim told me about the Durham Fair, which was the largest agricultural fair in the state of Connecticut, where we were living at the time. She was entering some items and thought I should enter into the cake decorating division.

With a three year-old and a four month-old at home, I'm not sure what possessed me to give it a whirl, but I did. I entered one single item - a "flower basket" decorated cake, loaded to overflowing with many varieties of frosting flowers and a handful of butterflies. Boy, was I pleasantly shocked when we returned once the fair had opened to find that my cake had won first place, a lovely blue ribbon and a ceramic pitcher commemorating the fair's 75th year! The feeling of validation and pride was overwhelming and from that day on, I've been hooked.

Once we moved to Colorado, it didn't take me long to scope out the fair in my home county and before I knew it, I was entering my home preserved items, baked goods and sewn treasures. At first, just one or two items, but over the years, my number of entered items has grown. Fifteen years later, I look forward with great anticipation to the opening of the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo here in Castle Rock. I'm now on a first-name basis with the lovely volunteers who check everything in and we take that opportunity to catch up on each other's lives and discuss the new recipes that we've tried out since the year before.

This year's "haul" of ribbons
from the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo

There's such a sense of community at the fairgrounds. Young and old, farmers, ranchers and local business professionals, all gather here to admire each other's entries and appreciate the time and effort that goes into making something beautiful, baking from scratch, raising a prize-winning animal or taking a bushel of fresh fruit and turning it into jars of jam that won't taste like anything you've ever bought in a store.

If you're making wonderful things at home, I urge every one of you to seek out your local county or state fairs and get involved. You'll have a great time and you just might bring home some ribbons of your own. If you don't feel like entering, you should at least stop by and see what your neighbors are up to. It's a bit of a leap back in time and one that will leave you with a smile on your face and probably some delicious treats in your belly.

By the way, two of my blue ribbons this year were for recipes you can find right here on this blog. My own creation of Chocolate Jelly took a blue ribbon and a Ball Canning Award in the soft spreads division. The meyer lemon vanilla bean marmalade also won a blue ribbon and a superintendent's ribbon. You can find both of those recipes in the recipe index by clicking here.

Mixing it Up - Mixed Berry Pie Filling

Mixed berries and cherries

One of my favorite items to can during the summer is pie filling. There's something so satisfying about capturing the season's freshest ingredients and storing them away - then bringing them out on a fall or winter's evening when everyone least expects it. Imagine the oohs and ahhs when you conjure up an amazing summer berry pie long after the last of the berries has been picked. Mmm! Makes my mouth water just writing about it.


Just when I was gearing up for a berry pie extravaganza, a box of goodies arrived from Mrs. Wages. Those of you who have canned before will be familiar with their variety of products ranging from salsa and tomato sauce mixes to make-it-easy packets for pickles and relishes. In that box was something I'd never seen in stores before, a pie filling mix for something they call Forest Berry Pie. The timing couldn't have been better and since they asked me to try out some of their items, I thought I'd start with that.

The package shows a mix of cherries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Sounds good to me! The process was easy. Wash and drain the fruit. Pit the cherries (of course!) and blanch them for 1 minute. Prepare the jars, lids and canner. So far, so good.

The next step was also quite easy. I added the recommended amount of juice or water (I chose juice) and sugar to the contents of the package and heated in a large stainless steel pot until the sugar was dissolved and the mixture thickened. Remove from the heat, fold in the berries/cherries and you're done. Into the sterilized jars and the water bath, easy as..."pie!" Sorry, I couldn't resist.

The mix makes three quarts of pie filling and once you have those, the options are pretty varied. Besides pie, you could use these lovely jars of berries to make cobbler, spoon over ice cream, angel food or pound cake, or even make a yummy yogurt parfait. My husband enjoyed the little bit extra that wouldn't fit in the jars right out of the fridge as dessert one evening with some whipped cream.

Finished!

I'd never used a mix to make pie filling before, but I'd have to say it was a fast and easy way to put three more jars of filling on my pantry shelves in pretty short order. All in all, this mix is a welcome addition, especially when you've got a bunch of great-looking berries but not a lot of time. This is a new product, but you should be able to find it in the canning section of your local store now. If not, head over to MrsWages.com to find out where to buy it or to order online.

White Wine Rose Petal Jelly

I don't know exactly why, but on the rare occasions that I experiment with culinary flowers, I always feel so fancy. There's just something about opening up a bag of dried flowers and having that perfume-y aroma waft into the air that makes you feel like you're about to create something special.

Several years ago, I made the white wine lavender jelly variation included in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. By all accounts it was a success. There were those who loved the unusual combination of flavors. For me, it just tasted a little too much like shampoo jelly. Not a recipe I'd make again.

Until a few weeks ago when I got the urge to experiment with culinary rose petals and remembered that recipe. To me, rose is a much more subtle flavor than lavender and I couldn't wait to see how the white wine would play against the more delicate flowers, not to mention how the red of the rose petals would tint the finished jelly.

The result was a light and delicious jelly, not overpowering, with a stunning rose hue. I think this jelly is wonderful on toast, but would also make a very nice glaze for poultry. If you're looking for something really different. Give this a try. It's very easy to make and will certainly impress anyone to whom it's served.

White Wine Rose Petal Jelly
(A unique variation on the Herbes de Provence Wine Jelly recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Canning)


Makes 5 4-ounce jars

2 cups dry white wine
1/4 cup dried culinary rose petals (you can purchase these online - be sure to buy culinary petals only)

Boiling the rose petals in
the white wine

2 cups granulated sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

Wash and prepare jars, rings and lids.

Pour wine into large stainless steel saucepan. Add rose petals and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat, cover and allow to steep for 20 minutes.

Straining the infused wine

Strain the wine/rose petal mixture using a dampened jelly bag or several layers of damp cheesecloth into a bowl. Allow to drip for 20 minutes.

Measure out 1 3/4 cups infused wine and pour into large non-reactive pot. Stir in sugar. Bring to a full, rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in liquid pectin and return to full, rolling boil. Continue boiling and stirring constantly for two minutes.

Remove from heat, skim foam if necessary and pour into hot jars, filling to 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims, place lids and bands and return to boiling water canner for 10 minutes at sea level, adjusting for altitude. Remove from heat, remove canner cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner and place upright on towel on counter. Allow to sit, undisturbed for up to 24 hours. As always, if any jars do not properly seal, re-process or refrigerate and use promptly. 

The finished product. Isn't it pretty?

Now I've Done It! A Recipe for Chocolate Jelly

Chocolate Jelly!

Well folks, my obsession with chocolate and my obsession with homemade jams and jellies have finally intersected at what has to be some kind of bizarre culinary crossroads. I've done it! I have created (ta-ta-ta-DAH!) CHOCOLATE JELLY!

Dream come true or crime against jelly nature? I'll leave that up to you. All I will say is that it smells and tastes like chocolate, is perfectly safe to can and my 21-year-old daughter thinks it's "bomb" with peanut butter.

First, rest assured that I'm going to share the recipe with you right here on this blog! But before we get to the nitty-gritty details of how to make the stuff, I really need to share how it came to be in the first place - the story of my chocolate epiphany, if you will.

Let's start with a single, simple truth: I absolutely LOVE chocolate. And the higher the quality, the better. In fact, my children will tell anyone who'll listen that one early lesson I taught them is that "life is too short to eat bad chocolate."

Close-up of brewing cocoa

So when I read recently that there was such a thing as brewing cocoa and that a whole cup of the stuff was only 20 calories, I couldn't wait to try it. Turns out that some very clever people have figured out that if they roast and grind cocoa beans just right, you can brew it up in a french press or drip coffee maker and it makes a really tasty substitute for your morning cup of joe. Just to be clear, it's not like drinking hot chocolate in that the brew is thin and slightly bitter. But add a little sugar or no-calorie sweetener and it's a really delicious way to start your day. Very low in calories, a fraction of the caffeine found in coffee (so no addiction headaches) and supposedly full of great stuff like antioxidants and theobromine - even Dr. Oz and Oprah have recently hopped on the brewed chocolate bandwagon.

After reading about it, I promptly ordered some and to get right to the point, I'm pretty much hooked. It gives me that chocolate hit I love and I can actually feel good about drinking it.

By now you're probably saying, "Okay already, Sydney! What does all of THIS have to do with making jelly?" Here's the deal; because actual chocolate is made with butter and cream, it's not safe to can. Most experienced canners know you can create some amazing sauces and jams using cocoa powder, but it's not the same as a true chocolate preserve. It occurred to me as I drank my morning cup that what I was drinking was certainly chocolate, but since it was made just from ground cocoa beans, it also contained no butter or cream. EUREKA!

I got out the French press, brewed up a full canister of the chocolate and went to work to make jelly out of it. And it worked! Still not sure what else it's good for besides adding to a peanut butter sandwich, but I'd love to hear from the rest of you. If you give it a try and come up with some great uses, please post them here for the rest of us. Enjoy!

Peanut butter and chocolate jelly

Sydney Rubin's Chocolate Jelly

Ingredients:

32 ounces of water

1/2 rounded cup roasted, ground brewing cocoa beans (See source links at bottom)

5 1/2 cups sugar

One 1.75 ounce box of powdered pectin

Directions:

Prepare jars, lids and boiling water canner

Prepare brewed chocolate according to directions from the supplier of your ground beans.

Make sure that you end up with a full 4 cups (32 ounces) of brewed chocolate. Pour that into a large, non-reactive pot.

Add the powdered pectin and stir to dissolve completely.

Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly until you achieve a full, rolling boil that cannot be broken with a spoon.

Add all of the sugar at once and return the mixture to a full, rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and quickly fill jars to 1/4" headspace.

Put on lids and screw down bands just to fingertip tightness.

Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes at sea level, adjusting accordingly for higher altitudes (25 minutes here in Colorado).

Remove from heat and remove cover, letting canner and jars sit for 5 minutes.

Remove jars from canner and allow to sit, upright, on a towel for up to 24 hours, or until all the jars have sealed properly.

As usual, any jars that do not have a proper seal should be reprocessed or refrigerated and used promptly.

NOTE:

I've noticed that it may take a week or two for the full chocolate flavor of this jelly to develop. When I first made it, I thought it seemed "weak" and was thinking I needed to make a stronger "brew." After a couple of weeks, it tasted quite chocolaty indeed!

Sources for brewing cocoa beans:

Drinkchoffy.com where you can purchase 12 ounces for $15. They have several blends at various prices.

ChocolateAlchemy.myshopify.com who offer an incredible selection of brewing chocolates starting at just $10 per pound.