Bear with me as this is a looooong post.
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Summer has finally arrived – or at least as close to it as we’ll see until July 5. The solstice brought warm humid weather for the weekend, perfect for getting the heat loving plants to perk up. It also brought the first of the strawberries to the Everett Farmer’s Market today – finally!
I’ve been waiting for what seems like months to replenish our supply of strawberry jam. So even though the prices were high today we bought a full flat of berries. Half to eat and half to turn into jam.
I’m sitting here now enjoying the foam (thanks Baklava Queen for the idea) on sourdough toast and listening to 12 half pints of no-pectin jam ping. There was actually almost 14 half pints, but the other 2 are in a pint jar going directly into the fridge for enjoying this week. I used the UMN extension recipe, except that I added a TBS of lemon juice for each cup of berries because I like the extra zing.
No-pectin jam is runnier than your traditional jam. And while it’s not the best option for PBJ sandwiches, it is certainly my favorite on toast which is how we eat 90% of our jam. We’ll make some with pectin later for use on sandwiches this winter.
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We enjoyed our official OLS meal last night, although pretty much everything we eat is local, so it’s hard to choose. We started with fresh sugar snap peas, baby potatoes, spring onion and mint combined into a spring saute (recipe below).
We added fresh asparagus broiler roasted with olive oil and kosher salt.
We made a fresh herb rub for the last of our pork chops, incorporating olive oil, rosemary, sage and thyme plus a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
While Mike grilled we were treated to a rainbow framing the Cascades over the neighbors’ barns. And while we were enjoying it, our neighborhood bald eagle flew over to say good evening.
We plated it all up and sat down to enjoy some of our favorite parts of spring’s bounty. A perfect end to a day of hard labor around the property and in the garden.
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Spring Vegetable Saute
adapted slightly from Simply Organic
serves 3
- 6 medium new potatoes, halved
- 2 small handfuls sugar snap peas
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 small spring onions, thinly sliced
- 9 leaves fresh mint
- a touch of garlic powder (I was out of garlic)
- pinch of kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
1. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes. Add the peas for the last two minutes.
2. Drain the pan and leave taters and peas in colander.
3. Put the pan back on a medium burner. Add the butter. Then saute the onions for five minutes until soft. Sprinkle in the garlic powder (or add fresh minced garlic).
4. Add the potatoes and peas back in. Add the mint, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Serve.
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Beautiful post, Laura. Hooray for summer and strawberries! We bought our first of the season this week, too, but not enough to preserve, only to eat.
Oh, yum. I, too, prefer no-pectin jams… the texture is just so much more natural.
(And that’s not a long post. Trust me.
)
Mouth-watering pictures! We need to wait another couple of weeks before our June strawberries are ripe. Then it’s into the pot and strawberry jam for them, too. I prefer no-pectin jam. It’s less sugary and more strawberry-y.
Awesome! Good work living and promoting local food.
We’ve been making no pectin jam here lately too. Cherries make a nice rich PB&J consistency without pectin and so do our plums. We haven’t tried strawberries though. Your photos are stunning, by the way. Love those shiny red strawberries.
If you would like to play, I’ve tagged you:
http://asonomagarden.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/6-random-things-about-me/
Wow!
This whole post is just amazing. I want to be your neighbor(:
Your neighbor’s place is gorgeous! Just what I dream of.
I heard that if you use some under ripe fruit in your jam, it is higher in natural pectin and will set better. I have never tried it myself, just thought I’d pass it along.
Roasting is my very favorite way to cook asparagus. And okra and brussels sprouts really love roasting, too!
Thanks for the compliments and suggestions all. I’d like to respond individually, but I’m just pooped. I’ll try to get to it tomorrow!