Preserving Nature...

Good morning!

It's 11:00am and my head hurts but I'm determined to work through it. I've been up since 8:30, excited about the idea of making strawberry preserves.

My two books I special ordered on "putting up" came in! Today is Saturday, and the best part of Saturday is getting up and heading to my local Farmer's Market. It's open from 8-3pm and is a block long with stands on both sides of the street.


(This is Becky)


(This is Dorian)

My new roommates Dorian and Becky (D&B) went with me last week and fell in love. They won't be attending the market today due to cat-sitting for a friend, so I have a nice list of items to purchase for them. The pressure is on!

The best part of the Farmer's Market? Organic, local strawberries! I'm going to purchase 2 quarts for the preserves recipe and 1 quart for family. I don't know if D&B want strawberries, I should text them on my way out.

The strawberry preserves recipe calls for:

2 quarts whole berries, capped and quartered.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 pack pectin
1/2 tbsp butter
7 cups sugar

It should make 7-8 half-pint jars.

If I can get everything organic, I will be thrilled!

The coolest part? I have all this left-over strawberry fabric that I can make cute little jar "hats" out of.



So today's plan?

0. Pharmacy for headache relief
1. Farmer's Market
2. Home to drop off produce.
3. Downtown to Zabars for canning supplies
4. Copy Center to color-copy some photos for coasters
5. Maxila & Mandible to look at butterflies
6. Home to make coasters for my mom's birthday (Monday).
7. Off to a birthday dinner w/ the family for my mom.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Put Up or Shut Up!

So the most recent issue of "Bust", the only magazine I subscribe to, has an entire article on DIY canning. Think preserves, pickles, jams, etc.

As it's called in the South, it's the art of "Putting Up". I have always been interested in making preserves and jams and pickling everything imaginable, even though I don't really like pickles. So I special ordered a couple books on the subject and should have them in my hands in a little more than a week! I'm so excited! I wish the preserve jars were easier to find in NYC. I will have to hunt some down.

I had an old boss when MoMA first reopened who decided with his wife that they were going to pickle everything they could get their hands on and give away jars for X-mas. They had jars EVERYWHERE! If Jars weren't so expensive to ship to my family, I would do it. But I don't know how thrilled my little cousins would be with a huge jar of pickled beets! So maybe I will stick to tins of cookies and white chocolate peppermint bark.

Also, a few of my coworkers and I are trading recipes for all sorts of pumpkin things, it's almost the season! Just a few degrees colder. I hope I get the chance to apple pick in Oct. That could be fun to use in my jams and preserves.

<3 Always,
--Taina