So full and grateful

Initially, I started this post to share my yearly menu and a cocktail recipe with all of you, but as we near Thanksgiving, I can’t help but think about how grateful I am this year. Mom is doing well with her cancer treatments, Izzy is thriving in school, work is busy and I have a roof over my head. I am healthy, happy and loved. There is just so much to celebrate and to be thankful for. I hope all of you are doing well, and are finding moments to be grateful!

This year, I am hosting Thanksgiving at my house, and while it’s just a small gathering, I’m going all out! I may be an overachiever, and diet be damned, it’s going to be good. Here’s the line up and a couple recipes for you as well, should you need ideas!

Thanksgiving 2018 Menu:

Breakfast:

Wild mushroom, leek and ham quiche
Coffee and a lot of it to get me through this cooking

The Main Event:

A 22 lb turkey – I’ll be slathering a butter/dried wild mushroom mixture all over this beast, as well as under the skin directly on the meat
Chanterelle mushroom dressing
Candied yams – none of that canned stuff, oh no – actual yams, coated in butter and brown sugar
Green beans with bacon
Mashed potatoes
This amazing cranberry sauce, which combines fruit and booze – you can’t go wrong.
Rolls
Deviled eggs
All coated in a gravy made from those delicious turkey drippings.

Dessert:

Golden Delicious heirloom pumpkin pie
Irish apple tart

On Tap:

Ledger David’s Savignon Blanc
Wind Gap’s old vine Grenache
Sidonio D Sousa’s Espumante Brut Nature Special Cuvee, because you always need something bubbly
And lastly, my new favorite, what we’re calling The Fall Fling – read on for the recipe!

The Fall Fling
1/2 ounce of St Elizabeth Allspice Dram (or other allspice liquor)
1/2-1 ounce of bourbon
1 cup apple cider
1 squeeze of lemon
Ice

Combine all ingredients, shake and pour through a strainer, easy right? I garnished mine with cherries that have been soaking in bourbon (which are technically for Christmas, but REALLY freaking good), but you can pick any garnish you want.

cocktail

Mmmm…..This holiday is looking to be delicious! What are you all cooking and eating this year and what are you most grateful for?

All my best to you and yours,

Raina

 

Lemon Blueberry Jam

I’ll say it now and a million times again,

I. Love. Jam.

This is the time of year in the Pacific Northwest where berries and stone fruit are ripe and ready to be picked and savored immediately, or prepped to be set aside for the cold, dreary Seattle winters where you need to see some color. That time of year, you’re not going to be getting it from the sky, so it may as well come from the warm glow of something delicious!

This year I made a few jams-huckleberry, chipotle cherry, and my favorite lemon blueberry to have on hand over the winter. All have their place, whether it’s the huckleberry swirled into a cheesecake recipe I’ve got on the ready for this Easter, or the chipotle cherry slathered over a pork roast, with a splash of bourbon before roasting in the oven in the fall; but the lemon blueberry….it’s good on everything. Rich purple color, smooth and shiny texture; it screams summer. It comes together quickly and maintains it’s zip well into the doldrums of winter. You’re intrigued, right?  Sure, but I can hear you now though, but “Rai….canning is scary”!

Spoiler alert: it’s not. The key is to keep everything clean and hot and you’re good to go. Honest.

Ingredients:

2 lbs blueberries** washed, stems removed, and dried out ones removed
3 large lemons, juiced**
1 cup white, granulated sugar

**Shoot for organic where you can, and if you can hit up a blueberry patch and pick those bad boys yourself, you’ll save some money.

Equipment
4 pint jars with rings and lids, sterilized
Heavy bottomed pot, large enough to hold all of your berries and lemon juice
Large pot, tall enough to cover the cans by at least a few inches.
Jar grabbers
Kitchen towels-1 for clean up, one for setting your hot jars on
Pot holders
Ladle, or a deep spoon

Method:

  • Start by prepping your canning supplies-a tip: if it’s going to touch your jam, wash it. Easy, right?
  • Next, Fill your pot up with water, shooting for at least 2 times the height of your jar. When you process these bad boys, the water will need to cover the jars fully. Turn the heat on high. You’ll use this to sterilize your jars and bands.
  • Now, clean your jars! Even if I just opened the box and even if I washed the jars, bands and lids before storing, I wash them all again with a clean washcloth with hot and soapy water. Washing everything is a great time to make sure your jars do not have any chips or cracks-this could prevent sealing of your lids (no one wants mold or botulism), or cracking during processing.
  • Rinse your jars, bands, and lids to remove all the soap.
  • Set your lids aside in a clean bowl and place the jars and the rings carefully in your pot. **You don’t want to boil your lids. This can prevent the lids from sealing.
  • Now that you’re sterilizing everything, it’s time to make that jam!  In a heavy bottomed pot, combine the lemon, sugar, and blue berries and cook over medium-low heat for approximately 30 mins, stirring every few minutes to avoid sticking (and the dreaded burning), until most of the berries have fallen apart and turned into what resembles syrup.
  • You have a few options on what to do from here (yes, jam making is like a Pick Your Own Adventure book). You can keep going, letting that jam cook down even more or you can get ready to can it. I personally like little bits of fruit in my jam and less of a jelly texture. If you’re happy with the consistency, you’re ready to move to filling your jars; if not, continue cooking your jam down another 10 minutes, or until it’s the consistency you want. Keep in mind though, the more you cook it, the less you’ll have as a finished product!
  • By now, your jars have been bubbling away in the hot water and are all ready for your jam, so it’s time to prep your canning area. I lay a towel on the counter, which keeps my jars from moving around, but it also catches the spills I inevitably make. Set your pot of jam on a pot holder next to the towel. This makes for faster work pouring everything.
  • Remember that bowl with the lids? Get ready to pour hot water over them.
  • With your jar grabbers, carefully lift the first jar out of the hot water and pour some of that hot water over the lids until they are fully submerged.
  • Pour the rest of the water out of the jar, back into the pot and set your empty jar on the towel. Empty the other jars back into the pot and set them all on the towel. It’s ok if there’s a few drops of water in the jars, it won’t do anything to your finished product.
  • Slowly ladle or spoon the jam into each jar until they are filled up with 1/4 inch head space (room) from the top of the jar.
  • Take your other towel (or a paper towel), get it damp and wipe off the tops of the jars to remove any stickiness. Stickiness prevents a good seal folks.
  • I like to give a gentle tap to my jars, once filled, to get rid of any air bubbles. Be gentle though, you just heated that glass up!
  • Drain your lids from the bowl of water and place them on top of the jars and place the rings on, and finger tighten. The jars are going to be pretty hot still, so use a pot holder to avoid the hot glass.
  • Using your jar grabbers, gently place your jars back into the hot water filled pot and process (boil) for 15 minutes.
  • Once done, lift them out of the boiling water with your jar grabbers and let rest for 24 hours. The center of the lid should not bounce if pressed.
  • Store for a year with the rings removed, and eat whenever you’re ready!

Easy enough, right?  This is delicious over ice cream, in yogurt, or on toast. Ok, it’s really good eaten with a spoon, right out of the jar.

So there you are! A bit of sunshine in a jar, ready whenever you are.

Yours in a jam,
Raina

In A Jam

I love jam.

I love it even more when it’s cold and rainy out, and I am missing summer and spring and all of the fresh fruits. Luckily, fall and winter means that cranberries are everywhere, and I can make a quick jam that brings a little sunshine my way. It’s a little jar of tart, sweet, and a great combination of winter from the warming flavors of cinnamon and vanilla, but bright like summer from the oranges and Cointreau. It comes together quickly and makes a great last minute gift, too!

Attachment-1

 

2 packages (24 ounces total) rinsed organic fresh cranberries, soggy/bad ones thrown out, any remaining stems removed
2.5 cups sugar
1-2 large very ripe orange, juiced (approximately 1 cup juice)
1/2 c Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1 Tb vanilla bean paste, I use this one (affiliate link)
1 tspn cinnamon

In a dutch oven, or heavy pot with a thick bottom (I prefer my dutch oven), add your cranberries, orange juice and liqueur, and turn the heat onto medium. Once your mixture is warmed through, add your sugar, vanilla bean paste and cinnamon, stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook slow and low, keeping the heat at medium low, until your cranberries start to break down and quickly pop when you poke them with a spoon. Continue to cook, approximately 20 minutes until you have a nice chunky, delicious smelling pot of tastiness.

If you’re canning this prefer a thick well-set jam, add 1/2 packet of liquid pectin and cook for 5 more minutes at a low simmer. Process jars according to the jar manufacturers directions and enjoy! If you’re canning this, it makes 6-1/2 pint jars.

I love this with cream cheese on crackers or spooned over french toast!

What is your favorite holiday jam?

Best,
Raina