FIBERGUY

(Click on the photo to see the slideshow of our trip!) On Saturday I headed down to Iowa with three of my quilt buddies, Joan, Karen and Dawn. It was a perfect fall day for a car trip. We were off for Garner, Iowa, about 145 miles from my house, and a fabulous quilt store on a little town west of Clear Lake. On our way back, we stopped in Northfield. We were going to go to a yarn store called Cottage Industry, which we discovered had closed over a year ago. So we went to Digs instead. They took over the yarn stock of the place that closed. What a fun little store. Actually, all of downtown Northfield is fun – great little shops along Division Street. If you haven’t been, you should make a day trip of it. Just don’t show up at the Indian restaurant expecting to eat between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm. They won’t be waiting on you.

You may now refer to me as an “Award Winning” apple jelly maker, thankyouverymuch. H’s sister took in a jar of jelly to submit to the Target Corp. HR’s annual applefest today and it won in the recipe competition – the word just came from the contest judges. Hey, those Target people aren’t easy to please or persuade, dontchaknow! Ok, ok, so there were only a half-dozen or so other entries it had to beat, but we’ll just keep that small detail to ourselves, shall we? As H’s mom said when I called to share our success, “so far everyone who tastes it says it’s the best apple jelly.” Too damned bad I didn’t know about the half-pint jar requirement, or I could have entered it in next year’s State Fair. I told Karin nobody would mess with her now that they know she’s a serious jelly maker – nobody wants to tussle with people who are at ease handling boiling pots of lava! A suitable end to a week, dontchathink?

To see the entry from earlier this year when we made our jelly, click here.

We went up to Lutsen on the North Shore for a long holiday weekend. I did exactly what I said I would do – spent a lot of time just sitting and looking out at the lake and knitting. I got my first sock done to the point where I am ready to start on the heel, so my friend who is teaching me to make socks is coming over on Saturday to show me how the rest of it goes. I added a couple of feet in length to my purple scarf and worked quite a bit into the Einstein Coat I am making for myself.

But we also made some jelly. Despite my protests that I wasn’t going to make as much jelly this year because I didn’t want to work that hard, that’s exactly what we did. Here are the pictures to prove it. You can click on “view as slideshow” to have them play through for you. I must say, the end result was worth all the effort. The jelly turned out so good, I may enter it in next year’s fair. I have to look up the rules.

We also saw a black bear (H’s parents and sisters also saw a momma bear and two little cubs the night before), as well as partridge, a terribly handsome bird, and the usual deer. And I learned how to make prune-tapioca pudding from H’s Aunt Joan. I’ve been wanting to learn how to make that for almost two years now and I finally think I can do it after she graciously showed me how she does it. I love the stuff. I know it sounds maybe weird or unappetizing to some, but it’s delicious. And Joan made blueberry pancakes and invited us for breakfast on Monday morning. The pancakes were delicious and while I was there, I browsed her cookbook collection and found two “must have” cookbooks from The Farm Journal. I found them on-line last night from used booksellers and they are already on their way to me! We’ve got some good country farm cooking coming our way soon! And just in time for the cooler weather, too. Perfect!

It seems like it has taken forever, but we finally have ripe tomatoes to pick from the garden. We’ve had peppers for a while now, but despite the fact that we have many tomatoes, they simply wouldn’t rippen. Here we have some of the fruits of our labors. Front left is a Cherokee Purple variety that we love for it’s flavor. Front right is an heirloom Hungarian Heart tomato which is new for us this year. We haven’t tasted it yet (tonight for dinner!), so I can’t tell you about it yet. The gorgeous orange/red stripped tomatoes behind and to the left of the Cherokee Purple are an heirloom Italian plum variety called Speckled Roman, a cross between something called an antique Roman and another variety called Banana Legs. We’re gonna eat those tonight too. You can also see some red serano chiles (my serano plant is doing fabulously this year) along with some yellow hot peppers and some sweet bell peppers. What you see in the back of the photo is the evidence of yet another trip to the roadside stand with the Michigan peaches. What can I say?

Oh, and we did buy some really good, freshly dug, russet baking potatoes that had just come from the farm. You can always tell a really fresh potato because they are hard as rocks and very heavy. Wrapped in foil, two of them are tucked in for a long bake in the oven even as I type this. I adore baked potatoes for dinner and tonight will be a treat for both of us.

Here is what was left after we got done eating and freezing peaches last night.

Now being the good southern boy I am, you must know that I love a truly good peach more than just about anything else in the world. Alas, there is a dearth of such fruit to be found in Minnesota. It’s one of the few unfortunate things about living here. Normally, I find some relief in good Colorado peaches that I get at the local farmer’s market. But even those have been a disappoinment so far this year. So it was no small joy when Harald called me from his cell phone yesterday to tell me he saw a roadside stand with a sign advertising a truckload of Michigan tree-ripe peaches. With some skepticism, I told him we would drive out there after work to check it out. After arriving, I told the saleslady I didn’t want any mealy peaches with no flavor and she laughed and said “I wouldn’t do that to you!” as she reached in the box and grabbed a peach and sliced off a generous portion. There is no better sales tactic than getting customers to try the merchandise first, especially when it comes to food.

We bought a case and when we got home promptly ate more good peaches than I’ve had over the entire last decade. I decided that freezing some of the peaches would be a good idea, since in the dead of winter we can pull out some delicious fruit when no decent peach is to be found. These weren’t as large as those splendid South Carolina peaches I remember from my childhood, but they were the perfect marriage of tart and sweet and they were perfectly ripe all the way to the core. I thought you would enjoy seeing these splendid specimens, Red Haven peaches, from Eau Claire, Michigan.

Our prepped peaches ready for the freezer.

On Monday before we left to come home, we went down to the vegetable patch to harvest some potatoes.

Here is a picture of Karin digging up some of the heirloom fingerling potatoes she likes.

And I took this picture because there was just something about this old outhouse, weathered and standing out in the field, that seemed so picturesque and perfect.

What is one wonderful and delicious way to spend your Labor Day weekend on a relaxing trip to the North Shore? Why, making jelly, of course! After we arrived on Saturday morning, Karin took me on a trip around the land on the Gator and we stopped by one apple tree on the way toward the garden to check out the squash and cabbage and potatoes and ….

Well, one thing led to another and before you know it, Karin had very helpfully driven me around to some particularly good apple and crabapple trees and we headed back to the house with bags of our fresh-picked fruit. A quick conference with Helen and Kaare and we were back on the Gator headed down to a few more crabapple trees to pick even more fruit. And Helen went out later and picked a while bunch of really beautiful pink crabapples from a tree she knew about.

When it was all said and done, we took about 45 pounds of apples (or thereabouts) and with some ingenuity, a little hard work, the help of a cooler, strong stick and a clean pillow case (not to mention a small mountain of sugar), we had turned that fruit into 56 jars of apple-crabapple jelly. We had fun coming up with a name (after all, you don’t expect us NOT to christen it, do you?) and think we will hereafter refer to it as:

It was a blast. And a little bittersweet, because it reminded me of making jelly or preserves with my Grandma on summer days. Below are some pictures taken from all the fun we had:

Me cleaning crabapples – for what seemed a very long time!

What a colorful batch of crabapple fruit, huh?

The lovely, rosey-pink crabapples that Helen found and picked.

Helen cleaning and cutting her pink crabapples.

Fruit in the pot, about to get boiled.

Pots of fruit boiling away on the stove to render the needed juice.

The bag of cooked and crushed fruit, draining into a cooler, the only thing we had that was big enough.

The jellymaker and his bag. Dontchaknow a watched bag never drains!

The next day, cooking some juice to make it into jelly.

Jars and lids sterilizing on the stove, jelly cooking in the back.

Adding the sugar to the boiling juice.

Sugar added, the juice bubbling up thick and hot like lava.

Getting the jars out of the boiling water and ready to fill.

The hot, clear crabapple jelly before it gets canned.

Filling the jars with the lucious pink liquid.

Jars that just came out of their hot water bath, cooling and sealing.

The sun shone on the beautiful jars of jelly.

The jellymakers and the delicious product of their labors.

Now you knows I loves me some salty food. Yes I do! Sometimes I just crave something salty, like some hot french fries or potato chips. And, of course, I have an unhealthy love of salting my food gently. Now those of you who know Harald know that he can’t stand salty things, for the most part. Well, at least one of us has made that particularly healthy decision. But I’m finding this particular book, Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky and fun and interesting read. As Anthony Bourdain says, this book is “a must have for any serious cook or foodie.”

From the publisher’s web site comes this: “Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the World, here turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Kurlansky’s kaleidoscopic history is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.”

You may know that there are few things I enjoy as much as a really fine potato salad. My bestest friend, Nancy, joins me in my unbridled love for the stuff. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I came across a book not to long ago of nothing but potato salad recipes. “Potato Salad: Fifty Favorite Recipes” by Barbara Lauterbach has, amongst other things, turned many people I know (thanks to the frequency with which I’ve made it) onto the magic of using orange and rosemary as the predominant flavors in a potato salad. If you buy this book for no other reason, by it for the Orange-Rosemary Potato Salad recipe (the Seattle Times has an adaptation of this recipe here) and experience the revelation for yourself. It’s magical. Music in your mouth. Or as one guest said “Definitely NOT your mother’s potato salad!”

Anyway, I’ve had (and made) a whole lot of southern-style potato salad in my life but the recipe from this book (with modifications noted) will be my new master recipe for southern potato salad. Without further ado, I present you with:

Blue Ribbon Southern Potato Salad

8 red or brown all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup diced green celery
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 diced yellow onion
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 jar (8 oz) sweet pickle cubes or 1 cup diced sweet pickle
1 small jar (4 oz) pimientos, drained, dried on paper towels and diced

Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
dash of sugar
dash of salt

Steam potatoes, testing for doneness after 8 minutes. Continue to cook until done but not overly soft. Drain and let cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the cooled potatoes, celery, green bell pepper, onion, eggs, pickle cubes and pimientos.

To make the dressing, in a separate bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, sugar and salt. Add to the potato mixture, toss gently but thoroughly, cover, and chill before serving.

Boyd notes:

1. I used Yukon Gold potatoes. You can get away with boiling them gently if you are *very* careful not to overcook them.
2. I took a pointer from an old Cooks Illustrated test kitchen article and spread them out on a cookie sheet in a single layer to cool them. While still warm, I sprinkled them with salt, pepper and sprinkled some sweet pickle juice on them. Then I let them cool *completely* to room temperature.
3. I used a small jar of cornichons instead of pickle cubes or relish. I have one of those mini food processors I whizzed them in for a few seconds to chop them up. The juice I saved for use as noted above.
4. I added a small amount of chopped capers and some fresh finely chopped parsley to mine.
5. I grate my onion instead of dicing it.
6. I add a teaspoon or so (maybe more) of Dijon to the dressing (in addition to the yellow mustard) because I like the extra punch of more mustard flavor.
7. I also have to do what my grandma always did and add some egg slices and a sprinkle of paprika on top before I chill it. Tradition, dontchaknow!