Batter-Splattered

an exchange, bag art, and a cake, oh my!

Thing one:

Siri is having a farmer's market exchange that sounds like loads of fun. Check it out and sign up to exchange lots of local stuff from your favorite farmer's market. Sadly, I can't afford the outrageously-priced local veggies sold at farmers markets here but I betcha I can find something to fill a box that won't decompose by the time it reaches its recipient.

Thing two:

 

Friends came over for a dinner of strawberry margaritas, mojitos, and handmade pizza and they left behind this cool paper shopping bag -- a grocery store had stacks of them decorated by local school kids. Best school art project ever.

Thing three:

 

Applesause cake! With caramel frosting! In my new-to-me blue baking dish, scored yesterday at a thrift shop.

Two friends and I spent a marvelous day in Anchorage yesterday. We garage sailed first thing in the morning at an annual neighborhood garage sale that draws droves of bargain hunters each year. They bring in port-a-potties, each of which has a line a mile long! There were so many cars trying to get into the neighborhood that we parked a half-mile away and hiked in. We were patting each other on the backs over that smart move until I found a traveling sprinkler that I've had my eye on for quite some time. Good news: it cost a fraction of what I'd pay in a store for a new one. Bad news: it weighs a ton (cast iron will do that). I carried it till my vertebrae began to crowd together and I was an inch shorter, then I swore I'd buy the next thing I saw that rolled -- a wagon, a stroller, a suitcase. That's when I spotted the hand truck. Awesome.

We carted around all our scores on it -- an old orange wooden chair, a blender for making smoothies at work, a french press, some books (including a very old instructional manual called something like the Well-Bred Young Lady in Society -- now there's a blog waiting to happen because who couldn't use advice warning that a young man might invite you to the opera and then try to whisk you away from your chaperone?), and oh, so many other things.

We also stopped by the dump and got cheap composter bins being offered by the city.

I think the most interesting part of three women going garage sailing happens at the end of the trip when you stop to drop each woman off and her husband comes out to help unload garage sale scores from the bed of the pickup. They're a critical lot, those husbands. A sample exchange:

Husband: "Please tell me you didn't pay $5 for a rickety old orange chair?"

Wife: long pause and eye roll, then, "Okay. I didn't pay $5 for a rickety old orange chair."

She did, you know she did.

And we also stopped by Barnes and Noble for the bathroom and the bargain books. One of my purchases was a book I've always meant to buy -- Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars (love the back of the box recipes!), which brings me to the applesauce cake with caramel frosting pictured above. What's not to love about a moist and spicy sheet cake? Especially after a long day of shoppin' fun. On the couch. Feet up. Doors open to let in a little breeze. The late evening shine shining on the leafy trees outside. Heavenly.

Actually the book calls these Applesauce Bars and refers to them as cookies and makes them in a shallow jelly roll pan. So, cake or bar, it's your choice.

Applesauce Cake

Original recipe from Stokely-Van Camp

Makes a 10 x 15 inch sheet cake

Cake ingredients:

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 c sugar

1/4 t baking powder

1 1/2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t salt

3/4 t cinnamon

1/2 t cloves

1/2 t allspice

1/2 c vegetable shortening

1/2 c water

2 c apple sauce

1 egg

1/2 c chopped nuts

1 c raisins

Frosting Ingredients:

1/4 c butter

1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar

3 T milk

1 1/2 c or so powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 15 x 10 inch baking dish. Combine all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add shortening, water, applesauce, and egg. Beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Fold in nuts and raisins. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Make frosting: melt butter in a saucepan then add brown sugar and boil gently for one minute. Cool slightly then stir in milk. Gradually add powdered sugar until it's a nice spreading consistency. Frost cake -- it's okay to frost it while it's still warm. Dig in.

Goulash! and empty bowls

So this weekend I went to a fundraiser called the Beans Cafe Empty Bowl Project. For readers not from here, Beans Cafe is the local soup kitchen -- I try to volunteer there twice a month to make up for my younger self, the self who said, "Volunteer?? No, no, no. I'm all about the money. Mama needs a new sweater." I was so callow, wasn't I? Seriously, I am making up for lost time now.

For the fundraiser, you buy an $18 ticket and you get to choose a bowl that was handcrafted by a local potter and you get all the soup and cornbread you can eat. I was one of nearly 2,000 who showed up for this event!

Sweet! Right?

Unfortunately, I'm usually out of town for this. I moved here in 1996! Just think of the beautiful bowl collection I could have by now. Or maybe not. Because I met the husband in '99-ish and he probably would have smashed them all to bits by now, one by one -- it's the angry dishwasher-loading. Only the strong survive. Frankly, I might not have married him if he'd broken my bowls so it's probably best that this was my first year.

Here's my bowl:

 

As soon as I entered the room and surveyed the tables and tables of pottery, I knew I had to have a footed bowl. That much was for certain. I circled the whole room and realized it was all too good and I'd never make a decision and so I resolved to choose the NEXT one that caught my eye.

It has swell little seashells, for gripping, I think. And for pretty.

 

And of course I had to fill it with something pronto (the all-you-can-eat soup is served in styrofoam) and so I remembered this recipe for goulash, created by the Blu Jam Cafe, featured recently in the L.A. Times. You know how sometimes you're working your way through preparing a recipe and the entire time you have a feeling that THIS, this is gonna be good. It's the aromas, the ingredients, the way everything's coming together, no doubts, no I-don't-know-about-thises.

This is one of those recipes.

Unfortunately I didn't notice right away that it makes 10 servings. 2 person household? 10 servings? Hope it freezes well or that the husband really really likes it and eats 8 servings.

No worries here. Although I don't think it really makes enough for 10 as a main course. I pointed that out to the husband as we both stared hungrily at the simmering pot, and he agreed and said if there were 8 other people with hungry eyes, we'd need to serve it with something.

Maybe a green salad, I suggested.

Or bread! he countered.

Never mind that it has potatoes and (my addition) egg noodles. Bread, he says. Carbohydrates are his friends.

 

In my photo above, the noodles really steal the show, but there's pork and sausage and potatoes and mushrooms and lovely seasonings such as caraway seeds and paprika. I can't wait to dig into the leftovers for dinner tonight.

Oh, and if you're from Anchorage or thereabouts, please think about sending a little somethin'-somethin' to Beans Cafe because the lines for lunch there are really swelling and the amount of food on hand is shrinking. Today we were handing out rice and rolls for second helpings and first helpings for late-comers. Call them up, ask them what they need, and make a trip to Costco. Check their website for their wish list and drop a few things off. They also accept donations via Paypal! Rest assured that they make really good and filling meals, and they always make the most of inexpensive ingredients, and people are really really grateful for the great meal. 

I'll post the original recipe here. The only change I made was that I served it over egg noodles. And when I make it again, I'll decrease the amounts in the flour/water slurry because mine got a little too thick as it simmered.

Excellent!

Goulash from the Blu Jam Cafe on Melrose Avenue

Total time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Servings: 10

Note: Adapted from chef Kamil Majer of Blu Jam Cafe. We used equal amounts of hot and sweet Hungarian paprika; adjust the paprika to taste. The goulash tastes best the following day.

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1/2 -inch cubes

Salt, pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil, more as needed

1 pound Polish sausage or kielbasa, cut into 1/2 -inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

3 cups sliced button mushrooms

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds

2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika, more to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 quarts chicken broth, divided

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1 bunch parsley, chopped

2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 -inch pieces

1. Place the pork pieces in a large bowl and season with 1 teaspoon salt and one-fourth teaspoon pepper, tossing the pork so that it is evenly coated.

2. In a 4-quart, heavy-bottom pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the pork and sauté, stirring frequently, until the pieces are browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. This may need to be done in batches. Remove the pork to a bowl and set aside.

3. Add the sausage to the pot and sauté until the pieces are lightly browned on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes. Strain and set aside with the sautéed pork.

4. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pot, along with a little extra oil if needed. Sauté the vegetables until the onions are lightly colored, stirring frequently. Stir in the garlic, caraway seeds and paprika and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic and spices become fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste, coating the vegetables evenly, and cook for a minute or two until the paste just begins to darken in color.

5. Stir in 2 cups broth and increase the heat to high. Cook, stirring the contents of the pot and scraping any flavorings from the bottom of the pot, until the mixture comes to a good simmer. Add the pork and sausage back to the pot, along with the rest of the stock.

6. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and water to form a slurry, making sure there are no lumps. Whisk the slurry into the pot, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a strong simmer and cook until the meat is tender and the pork almost falls apart, about 30 minutes. Stir frequently, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot so the flour does not burn.

7. Stir in the parsley and potatoes and cook until the potatoes are tender but not falling apart, 10 to 15 minutes. This makes about 2 1/2 quarts stew.

8. Season to taste with additional salt, pepper and paprika before serving.

Each serving: 400 calories; 23 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 25 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 72 mg. cholesterol; 914 mg. sodium.

cookies!

Here's all the news that's fit to eat regarding that cookie exchange dozens of people are participating in -- please keep the news coming and I'll do another post soon, but I thought this would be an extra-specially Christmas-y thing to write about for the big day.

The news from Neena in Atlanta, Georgia:

"I sent my cookie exchanger a perfectly Southern treat.  My cookies are 'White Trash' which, despite their moniker, are delicious white chocolate peanut butter concoctions.  My ornament picked up the white trash theme.  It was a clear glass peace dove with a red ribbon around it's neck.  The crowning glory - the dove was filled with white styrofoam peanuts.  Yes.  Tacky and trashy, the Southern way.  I loved it so much that I bought myself one, too.

 

I received my cookies from Brenda in Indiana.  They just arrived yesterday so I haven't tried them yet, but they were White Chocolate Cherry Chewies and they look awesome!  My ornament was a rusty star, as Indiana is the rust state?  Not sure, but nevertheless a great ornament."

 

Jenny in Houston, Texas wrote:

 

"I sent off my package a couple days ago. It contained molasses spice cookies. And I've received 2 packages. Perhaps there was a mix up with the other Jennifer? One was from Montana and the other from Oregon."

 

WHOOPS! I wonder what I did wrong there. Bad exchange host! No cookie for me. Note to self: never organize cookie exchanges over a shot or two of whiskey. I'll have to figure out what went wrong when I get to my list at work on Monday. Looks like I owe somebody some cookies.

 

Constance in St. Paul, Minnesota says:

 

"So far I've made [and sent] Welsh cookies (currants and nutmeg), date swirls, and fattigman. In the next couple of days I'll be making my rugelach, ginger shortbread and some World Peace cookies I've been wanting to try: butter, dark bittersweet chocolate, and a dose of sea salt."

 

Carleen in Hamilton, Montana wrote about her cookies:

 

"The name of them (an old Grandma name) is Calico Cats & Gingham Dogs :)  they are very much like a sugar cookie, but are rolled and frosted...remind me of snowballs. I got my cookies today from Stephanie.  She made me Pizzelles...they are awesome!  Everyone at work liked them too :) :)  She also crocheted me a couple of snowflakes, which is very appropriate since it has been snowing for days!!"

 

You can see for yourself how pretty those pizzelles are right here at Stephanie's blog. There's a recipe too!

 

Jeanne in San Jose, California wrote:

 

"I sent pumpkin biscotti (and a few gingerbread just for good measure) to Stephanie. We had a nice little email chat about baking and knitting and crafting after that. :)"

 

You can see what Jeanne sent Stephanie in this post on Stephanie's blog. So fancy! And look at those little mittens and sweater -- I'm in love and green with envy.

 

Erin from Pastry Brush wrote:

 

"I received my cookies and FUDGE from Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort.  She sent me homemade fudge, and  thumbprint cookies that I would describe as a butter cookie rolled in coconut and some had raspberry jam and other had apricot jam in the center... Lauren received my cookies and she has already posted about it with pictures, since I completely forgot to take them :)

 

I mailed out my cookies and ornament to Lauren today.  Since I have been making a lot of cookies for family, I ended up giving Lauren a couple of different cookies: Italian Fig Spirals, Oatmeal Raisin with Cinnamon Chips, Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies, Butterballs aka Mexican/Italian Wedding Cookies (butter cookie with walnuts coated in confectioners' sugar)." 

Jennifer from Cooking for Comfort wrote (go to her blog, by the way, for a baking contact high):

 

"I miscalculated with my treats, so, I sent [Erin] a cookie tin full of 4 different flavors of Jam Thumbprints(apricot, orange, strawberry, and red raspberry) and a bag of Sand Art cookie mix. I hope she likes it.:)"

 

There were alot of smiley faces in these emails. Cookies have that effect on people. ;-)

 

Vanessa from Australia wrote:

 

"I sent some of my best peppermint Choc Chip Ice-cream cookies to Nicole the other day. Plus a kangaroo ornament from australia. Bit obvious, but I couldn't resist."

 

Cara from Des Moines, Iowa sent my friend Angie a box and a half of cookie goodness and she wrote in part:

 

"I made ginger cookies... I made "Pride of Iowa" cookies from the What's Cookin in Cantril cookbook. Cantril is where my grandmother lives. Very rural small-town Iowa... I made "Aunt Mary Dillon's Praline" cookies from the Martha Stewart web site... None of my cookies looked very Christmas-y so I also included a few spritz cookies. Some have almond flavoring and some tangerine. In a separate tub I put some Blue Cheese Pecan crackers... Maytag blue cheese is made in Newton, Iowa. Only about 30-some minutes from Des Moines. I don't care for blue cheese myself and boy oh boy did the house smell during the baking process!  I now have flashing thoughts of Angie opening her package to a waft of eau de bleu cheese!  The horror!..."

 

Cara also included a bookmark from the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa and some tea imported from a French teahouse -- the man on the phone was French enough to correct her pronunciation of Des Moines! One of her photos of the loot she sent Angie:

 

 

Rebecca from London wrote:

 

I just thought I would let you know that my package just went in the post! I was assured that it should arrive before Christmas, so all fingers crossed. I might have gotten a bit carried away with the festive cookie spirit, as I sent both cranberry and white chocolate biscotti and gingerbread edible tree decorations, and some homemade spiced caramels. I hope they all arrive intact. I couldn't find a "London" ornament, so I sent some homemade ones, in the colors of the local football team we support!

Stay tuned from more sugary and sprinkly news on the cookie exchange front! And Merry Christmas!

winter solstice / hungarian pot roast

A few days ago, winter solstice rolled around at 3:40 a.m. Am I the only one who wishes the solstices were more of a holiday? In this country at least -- other cultures old and new got and are still getting it right. My celebration would involve less animal sacrifice and butter smeared on doorways, more candles and sun worship. No gifts required. Hallmark doesn't need to create a card. But fireworks, perhaps, at sunrise or sunset to mark the darkest day of the year. Sparklers. Paper masks with a sun theme. A little fanfare. More merry-making. More beach parties, maybe. I'd be the one with the bikini on over her patagonia long underwear. A sunflower print would be nice. I think giant snowmen should crop up overnight all over the place, all pointed towards the point where the sun drags herself up over the horizon reluctantly each morning.

But then again one resident of my little town took the fanfare and merry-making a little too far on solstice night. I woke to find all the digital clocks blinking after a power outage caused by a hit-and-run driver who plowed into a light pole, knocked it over onto power lines, and blew a breaker-- there's a person who's a little too excited about getting a little extra daylight each day. Maybe that 'bright flash' a witness described was the reckless driver's way of summoning the daylight? A loud, denty sun dance, if you will.

All those blinking clocks had me thoroughly befuddled. I had no idea what time it was so I stumbled out to the kitchen to check the clocks there before it dawned on me (dawn? get it?) that those were digital clocks too. And so I stumbled over to the wall clock and squinted at it groggily, trying to make sense of the hands pointed at the 8 and the 11. 10:40!? It can't be only 11 p.m. I can't sleep for another six or seven hours! I felt like Sadie must when she paces around the room in the middle of the night: "But I can't sleep anymore! I'm not tired. Let's get up and do something fun..."

But then I realized it was actually 8 a.m. and I'd slept later than usual. Whew! Let's get up and do something fun! Sadly for Sadie, 'fun' for me involved housework and cooking and Christmas preparations. Fun for her included keeping watch on the front porch, punctuated hourly by a lively game of fetch the frozen tennis ball.

 

I planned on tackling the building of a gingerbread house that day, something I haven't done since childhood. But then my google search for 'how to make a simple gingerbread house' yielded an article that began with the following: "Making a gingerbread house is no simple task..."

Hmph.

Best to stick with the Hungarian pot roast recipe a friend recommended. It couldn't be simpler -- no cardboard, no shopping for redhots and candy canes. Just good and simple comfort food. You toss a roast (moose, in my case), some sliced onions, two kinds of paprika, roasted red peppers, diced tomatoes, and some broth in your crock pot... speaking of crockpots!

 

All my crockpot wishes and dreams were fulfilled when I found this stainless steel beauty on sale for a killer deal of $20. Not only is it programmable, but it also has a fancy lid mounted on a hinge on the pot so there's none of that lifting of the hot, dripping lid and wondering where to put it. It just perches there and all that steamy water just runs right back into the pot. Even my husband had to agree it was $20 well-spent. He poo-poo-ed the purchase at first, asking me why we couldn't just hook a timer up to the outlet and plug our old crockpot into it. Amateur.

 

 

I'm afraid I don't have good photos to share of the finished product. The aforementioned lack of daylight wreaks havoc on my photo-taking this time of year and the photos I take indoors in low light often just aren't up to snuff.

But let me describe it for you. Once the roast is done roasting, you take it out of the pot and pass it to the husband for slicing. While he's slicing and the stovetop is doing her part by boiling a pot of egg noodles, you add a whole lot of sour cream and take your immersion blender (a brand new thrift store score, in my case. What luck! I got to use a new crockpot and a new blender all in one whack! What a cooking nerd I am!) and blend all the vegetables and sauce together until it looks like the most delectable-looking roasted red pepper soup you've ever seen. Stir in the noodles and sliced meat and you've got yourself a delicious dinner.

My version:

Hungarian Pot Roast

Serves four to six

2 T olive oil

1 rump roast, about 2.5 lbs, trimmed of visible fat

Pepper and salt

2 large yellow onions, cut into 1/2 inch slices

2 T sweet Hungarian or Spanish paprika

1/2 t spicy Hungarian paprika

12 oz. jar roasted red bell peppers

14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, not drained

2 c beef broth or stock

1 1/2 c light sour cream

Egg noodles

Saute onions in oil in deep saucepan then spoon the onions into your crockpot. Rub the roast with salt and pepper then sear on all sides in the saucepan, adding more oil if necessary. Add roast, paprikas, red peppers and tomatoes to the crockpot. Deglaze the saucepan with broth and simmer, stirring often, until reduced by half. Pour over crockpot ingredients

Cook on high for four hours. Remove roast to cutting board and tent with foil. Using a ladle, strain liquid from crockpot into a saucepan, leaving the vegetables in the crockpot. Reduce liquid by half then stir in the sour cream. Put a pot of water on to boil egg noodles.

Return the sauce to the crockpot with the vegetables, then use an immersion blender to puree until smooth, or in the alternative, puree in a blender or food processor. Slice roast into bite-sized slices and add it to the crockpot along with the noodles. Heat everything in the crockpot then serve.

 

cookie exchange, updated

The list is growing for people interested in participating in a cookie exchange in a few weeks. If you'd like to send and receive a dozen cookies and an ornament indicative of where you live, be it handmade or storebought, well before the true holiday madness sets in, just email me at battersplattered at hotmail dot com with your name, mailing address, blog link if you have one (not a requirement), and let me know if you're okay with shipping overseas or if you'd like to ship only within the U.S.

If you're worried your cookies will be crumbles by the time they arrive at their destination, follow the advice of one of the brilliant commenters and make biscotti!

Below, you'll see the people I have all the necessary info for. Everyone else who emailed me expressing an interest, please send me the rest of your information. Thanks!

Angie in Eagle River, Alaska

Brenda in Indianapolis, Indiana

Cara in Des Moines, Iowa

Carleen in Hamilton, Montana

Constance in West St. Paul, Minnesota

Mary in Norwalk, Ohio

Michelle in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Neena in Atlanta, Georgia

Nicole in Fairbanks, Alaska

Rebecca in London, England

Saundra in Millers Creek, North Carolina

Stephanie in Rochester, New York

Vicki in Lexington, Kentucky

second annual jammin' jelly exchange round-up

There was a whole lot of exchanging going on for the second annual jam and jelly exchange.

If I'm missing anything, please send me an email and I'll do an update. I wouldn't want to overlook any of our lovely participants. I hope I have it all straight, but good gravy! Things got real confusing real fast as I dug through everyone's emails. I've been working on this post for weeks, piecing together all the bits and pieces of information.

If you joined the exchange but haven't mailed your jar yet, please do so, and send me an email letting me know, otherwise I'll soon be mailing out jars on your behalf.

Because this is such a wordy post, I figured I'd dig into my photo archives and splash around photos of some of the berries that grow here in Alaska -- sure to quicken the pulse of berry-pickers and jelly-canners.

Here goes...

Megan from Megan's Cooking sent me a jar of garlic jelly as well as a bonus jar of vanilla spiced peach jelly (those are the two jars on the right in the photo above). Look at how that garlic jelly glows! Such a pretty color. I haven't cracked either of these open yet because I already have several jars open in the fridge -- both here at home and at work -- and I don't want any to go to waste. You can bet there's a post coming on each of these though. She has the garlic jelly with cream cheese on crackers, or I could do like her daugher does and have it on an english muffin. She says the spiced vanilla peach is her favorite because it tastes just like pie filling.

Megan received some plum ginger jam and (bonus!) some peach jam just in time for her birthday! It was packed in popcorn (awesome) from:

Mary from Norwalk, Ohio and the blog Shazam in the Kitchen. Mary remembers her mom making batch upon batch of jams when she was a kid. She even had a fruit cellar lined with jars of jam -- sounds like heaven! She says 6 kids eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches will kill a jar of jam pretty quick. Her non-recipe looks so good I'm tempted to dump my plans for making salmonberry ginger jam this morning and make plum ginger instead!

Red currants, ripe for the plucking

Mary received a jar of black currant jam, a Norwegian candy bar, and a postcard of the lovely town in which the lovely Siri lives. Siri lives in Forde, Norway and she was glad the jam arrived in one piece because she arrived at the post office with the jam still unpacked and only a small stack of newspapers for padding -- she kept having visions of Ohio Mary opening her soggy purple box to find shattered glass and moldy jam. Mary writes that she doesn't think she's ever had a currant that wasn't dried and the jam is just wonderful -- she describes it as a molasses-y-tasting fruit jam and she's posted a terribly good-looking photo of it slathered on toast (click on the  link above).

Siri received cloudberry jelly from Nicole of Fairbanks, Alaska and the blog Arctic Garden Studio. Nicole took note when Siri commented here that she really liked cloudberries, but they're nearly impossible to get in Norway and really expensive. Nicole was only able to get two half pints this year, but she couldn't resist sending it. What a thoughtful gesture. The jelly makes an appearance in this post too.

 

Raindrops on watermelon berries -- whether or not these are good eating is a hotly-contested issue on hikes. Some love them, some call them... well ... snotberries.

Nicole received two jars from Rebecca in London, England: (1) greengage and gooseberry cham (a cross between a chutney and a jam -- did you make that up, Rebecca?) and (2) bramble and elderflower. A bramble is a wild blackberry and a greengage is a type of plum. Do I have that right? Take a look at Rebecca's superior jar decorating skills in the photo posted here! Is it possible to have a crush on jelly jars? If they're decorated like that it is.

Rebecca in London received salmonberry jam from Angie in Eagle River, Alaska. Rebecca said it was very exciting to hear the door buzzer ring and see the postman arriving with a suspiciously jam-jar-sized package. Rebecca says the exchange has really turned her into a jam and jelly making enthusiast. She recently branched out into chutney. Angie and I have been enjoying Rebecca's by-invitation-only food blog, From a North London Kitchen (she's willing to share with jam and jelly folks if you're interested -- just email me), and we've taken to calling her 'the cooking Jane Austen girl' because we enjoy her writing style so much. How can you not be smitten with a girl whose posts are titled things like "Cometh the hour, cometh the jam!"

 

White raspberries from my mom's backyard

Angie received a box of bounty from Michelle. There was a spiced pear jelly, an apple pie jelly, lemon curd, and dried kiwis and dried tomatoes! Michelle is:

Michelle from Michelle in Colorado Springs. She received a jar of cocoa fig jam from Neena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Neena received blueberry-lemongrass jam grown locally in Minnesota and ginger peach sauce from Wisconsin that she's been enjoying over vanilla ice cream. Most intriguingly, Neena says both jars came with Elvis toppers. I NEED a photo. Those came from:

Heather in Minneapolis. Heather received TWO jars: crabapple jelly and peach raspberry jam from Kirstin in Michigan. Heather says "the only problem is, I promised to make homemade bread to honor the jams, and I haven't done that yet. So, they're on the counter being admired daily. Such a civilised pursuit!"

Kirstin in Michigan received two jars, a peach-blackberry jam and a strawberry jam from Erin in Virginia and the blog When in Doubt...Leave it at 350.

April from Knoxville, Tennessee and the blog Abby Sweets sent a pear vanilla bean jam to Laura in Niskayuna, New York. I loved this bit from April's blog:

"My great grandmother was very domesticated. She always made fried pies, or a cake from scratch. Every day there was something sweet that she had made. She quilted, embroidered, made jams. I guess that is where I get it from. My mom and nanny and mamaw do not like to do any of the above. But me, I want to make stuff everyday. I can't get enough of it. Right now, the thing that I am just can't get enough of is jam making. I have made peach, apple pie, pear honey and now blackberry jam. I am going pear picking tonight, so next will be pear honey and hopefully sugar free pear butter. I love the feel of accomplishment when I have cooked the fruit, poured into the jars, topped with a lid and left to cool, and when they have completely cooled, flip the jars over and the lids are sealed. It is almost as if my great grandmother is right there beside me giving me tips on how to do this stuff, although I have never met her."

That's what this exchange is all about! 

 

My mom getting swallowed up by the raspberries bushes along her back fence.

April received some very pretty raspberry jam made from hand-picked raspberries. It came from...

...Stephanie from Rochester, NY and the blog Steph Chows. This was her very first attempt at making jam and it looks like her efforts were a smashing success -- and she tackled canning while in the middle of a move and she picked raspberries in the rain while her sister was going into labor in DC. What a trooper -- Steph AND her sister. She received salmonberry jam from Valerie...

Valerie lives in Kodiak, Alaska and her blog is Blissfully Unaware in Alaska. She's keeping her salmonberry jam recipe a secret -- my friend Angie tried to pry it from her but to no avail. She received triple berry jam (blueberry, raspberry and salmonberry) and her family had it with biscuits and caribou sausage gravy. It was from...

Courtney in Anchorage, Alaska. Courtney forgot to put the card in the box before taping it up but Valerie didn't even notice and was glad she hadn't thrown the box away yet. So glad to hear I'm not the only one who forgets to put the card in the box before I tape it up! Courtney received some awesome huckleberry jam from...

Nancy in Emmett, Idaho. In addition to the jar of Wild Idaho Huckleberry Jam, Nancy threw in a 5-pack of flourescent highlighter pens to Courtney the studious student. 

Nancy was kind enough to send me an email and photo of her brilliant spill-proof berry-picking jug, modeled after one featured in her local newspaper:

 

Nancy says:

Spilling your hard-earned berries is a real hazard when picking huckleberrries here in Idaho... they tend to grow on fairly steep slopes. It's a two liter pop bottle with the top cut off and inverted, then laced in place. This was her first model and she make the mistake of lacing it all the way around. That requires you to completely unlace it to dump the berries out. It's better to just lace it in a few places, as shown. The inverted top stays in place and you can just pull it out to dump the berries into a larger container (with a top), then keep picking. Be sure to connect the end of the string, too, to serve as a necklace, thereby freeing up both hands to pick. In addition to the no-spill feature, you don't have to be nearly as precise in placing each berry in the mouth of the jug. You can just toss them in haphazardly and they literally 'circle the drain' as they fall in. Easy to imagine how this can increase the berries picked!

Brilliant. I'm thinking of using this design to modify my berry-picking bucket:

 

Laura in Niskayuna, New York sent strawberry preserves to Nancy.

I sent a jar of red ribbon red currant jelly to Brenda who emailed me to say she "whooped in joy when I saw the box on my porch, and whooped again when I read the  return addy?  It's like, celebrity jam!!  Jam that's been on the internet in pictures.  Famous jam...!!!  Squee!!" So I think she might have liked it. She also appreciated my spider bravery in tromping out into the woods to pick those currants. She hasn't weeded her garden in months because spiders live there. A girl after my own heart. Brenda sent...

Blueberry lime jam to Paula in Canada.

And you should know that I participated in a little bit of back-door jelly exchaning: I sent a jar of my peach preserves to Neena in Atlanta. She started the illicit exchanging. How could I say no to her email invitation? Her husband nearly fell over when a package from Wasilla, Alaska arrived at their door because our little town is the talk of the nation at the moment because of the thrilla from Wasilla (although I object to Her Highness stealing my nickname). 

In return I got a jar of fig cocoa jam from Neena -- you can see it on the left in the top photo, above. I love how her jar-decorating meshes so well with Megan's. Love those earthy toned fabrics. Like I said up top, I haven't cracked it open yet but you'll surely hear about it when I do.

And I think that's all the scoops I've received so far from participants.

Whew! That was hard -- all that linking and rounding-up makes a girl want a piece of toast slathered with jam.