Dad! Don’t read this post until Sunday!

My dad has many amazing qualities. He can make a game out of anything – including rolled up socks, the packing material from our new blinds, and a big bucket leftover from some construction project. Incidentally, bucket rides also illuminated one of my mom’s best qualities – trusting that her husband wouldn’t put her kids in the hospital and letting us have some crazy fun.

Dad . . . → Read More: Father’s Day Breakfast Idea: How to Make Homemade Pop Tarts]]>

Dad! Don’t read this post until Sunday!

My dad has many amazing qualities. He can make a game out of anything – including rolled up socks, the packing material from our new blinds, and a big bucket leftover from some construction project. Incidentally, bucket rides also illuminated one of my mom’s best qualities – trusting that her husband wouldn’t put her kids in the hospital and letting us have some crazy fun.

Dad will also support me no matter what – even if it’s listening to me hyperventalate on the phone because I spotted a mouse in my first solo apartment or eating a weird vegetarian meal I cook for him. Oh sure, he’ll eat kale for breakfast to make me feel good, but what does he really want? PopTarts and Diet Pepsi. If you were ever in his car before he retired, you know what I mean. Crumbs and cans galore! Might not be Wheaties, but it’s certainly the breakfast of one of my biggest champions.

So for Fathers’ Day 2012, I give you bacon and jam toaster tarts. Make them for the dad in your life or for yourself, just cuz it’s Sunday and breakfast should be fun sometimes. I froze these and then sent them overnight. Just take one out of the freezer and pop it in the toaster, Dad. Love you!!

Some quick notes on the recipe…First, the dough is almost exactly the same as my standard pie crust with extra salt and sugar for flavor. I also added a splash of vinegar to the water on the advice of my friend Mike, who says it will lend extra flakiness. Second, this is a great way to use up some of last year’s lingering jams. Nothing on the larder shelves caught my fancy, so I made a quick strawberry rhubarb jam from what I had around. Store-bought jam is just fine, too.

Fathers’ Day Toaster Tarts

Makes 10 tarts

Directions

1. Follow these directions to make dough for a double crust pie, adding the vinegar to the ice water and the sugar and salt to the dry ingredients. After you’ve put the dough in the refrigerator, come back to this recipe.
2. While the dough is chilling, make the icing by combining the confectioners’ sugar with 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk until smooth.
3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. To roll the dough, you need a decent amount of space. We’re aiming for a rectangle that’s 15 inches on one side and 8 inches on the other, so you’ll need to roll your dough a little bit larger to account for uneven edges. Find your counter, clean it, and lightly flour it. Keep some flour on hand for the rolling process.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
6. Take one of the dough halves out of the refrigerator. Prepare your filling, so that it’s ready to do when the dough is. Beat the egg and have a pastry brush nearby. If you don’t have a pastry brush, you can use your fingers, but it’s slower.
7. Now, roll out the dough carefully. This is one of those situations when it really helps to be a bit nuts about neatness. Do your best to keep it in a rectangle twice as long on one side as the other. I use a bench scraper to push the ragged edges flat and to help me flip the dough around every few rolls, so that it doesn’t stick to the counter. Use that flour when you need it.
8. Once your dough is large enough, use a ruler and a thin knife to measure and cut a 15-inch by 8-inch rectangle. Don’t worry about moving it yet.
9. Along each of the 15-inch sides, make a little mark with the knife every three inches. Use the ruler and the knife to connect the marks, so that you now have five long rectangles (8 inches by 3 inches). Again, don’t move anything.



10. Using the pastry brush, paint all the edges with egg wash.



11. Place about a teaspoon of filling on one the end of a rectangle. Fold the dough in half to cover the filling and transfer the tart to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining four tarts.



12. Seal the edges of each tart with your fingers, then use the tines of a fork to crimp them. Poke a few holes in the top of each tart with the fork.



13. Brush or drizzle some icing over each tart. Don’t worry about being too neat. You won’t notice once they’re baked.



14. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown. Just like the real thing, you will finish these in the toaster. If you want to eat them immediately, bake them for about 10 minutes longer.



15. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

a.k.a How to Can Summer

I don’t use my . . . → Read More: How to Can Strawberry Lemonade]]>

a.k.a How to Can Summer

I don’t use my Ball canning book for recipes very often. It’s a great resource for information on safety and basic ideas, but most of the jams use commercial pectin, which I try to avoid, or more sugar than I want. However, we hit on a winner with the strawberry lemonade concentrate last summer.

It’s a perfectly refreshing beverage no matter what your mood – sparkly, still, naughty (I’d recommend gin)… You can add herbs like mint or basil for a little extra something. You can grab a jar on your way to that Fathers’ Day picnic and make a quick stop at the gas station for some seltzer. Done! I’m thinking of trying it in this pink lemonade cake. I’ll let you know if I do.

In case I haven’t given you enough motivation, it’s also a SUPER simple recipe. It only has three ingredients and you can cheat on the lemon juice by using bottled, as long as it’s good quality. Because it’s a liquid, you avoid some of the tedious parts of canning – no packing oddly-shaped food into jars or careful bubbling.

You might notice that the photos are from our NYC apartment. We never got around to posting it last year…better late than never!

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

Yields about 6 pints

Note: You will need a blender and a digital or regularfood thermometer for this recipe.

Directions

1. Get your canning gear ready. (Steps 3 and 4)
2. You have three choices for making lemon juice. (1) Buy it bottled. (2) Use a manual juicer or press. If you do this, just cut the lemons in half. (3) Use an electric juicer. I did number 3, so I had to peel the lemons first. To do that, first cut a slice off each stem end. Next, stand the lemon on one of the newly flat ends and use a sharp knife to carve off strips of peel in a downward motion. Juice enough lemons to make 4 cups of lemon juice.

   

3. Place the washed and hulled strawberries in a blender. While you do this, keep an eye out for any bad spots, which should be cut out, or moldy strawberries, which should be thrown out. Blend until smooth. Depending on the size and power of your blender, you might want to work in batches or add a little lemon juice to get things going.
4. Strain the strawberry smush through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. This part is optional, but I’d recommend it. You’ll have to work it a little toward the end, because the screen will start to fill up with seeds. After you’ve pushed as much juice through the sieve as possible, discard the remaining pulp.

   

5. Once the strawberries have strained, put the puree, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottomed, wide-mouthed pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 190 degrees. Do not boil. You want to dissolve the sugar, but not turn it into jam.

   

6. Skim off any foam. Fill your pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and process for 15 minutes. (Steps 6 through 22)

   

After days and days of rain (including a crazy thunderstorm yesterday and resulting power-outage), today was just fantastic. To take advantage of the beautiful weather, a friend and I headed up (over?) to Red Fire Farm to pick some strawberries. Our CSA includes some pick-your-own opportunities, so we went bonkers and got 8 quarts each. That’s enough for two batches . . . → Read More: Field Trip! Strawberry Picking at Red Fire Farm]]> [Note: This should have been posted yesterday, but I ran into some technical issues.]

After days and days of rain (including a crazy thunderstorm yesterday and resulting power-outage), today was just fantastic. To take advantage of the beautiful weather, a friend and I headed up (over?) to Red Fire Farm to pick some strawberries. Our CSA includes some pick-your-own opportunities, so we went bonkers and got 8 quarts each. That’s enough for two batches of jam, some strawberry lemonade concentrate, and snacking. Yum yum yum!

We had a great time crouching over the rows and talking to the other pickers. I was surprised to see so many young ones, but I guess it is a great kid activity. I remember going with my mom. They were so proud every time they found a really nice one. As was I, to be honest. I understand why the farmers’ market strawberries are so expensive. It’s not hard, but it is a little tedious after awhile and I was tired after an hour of kneeling and hunching. I can’t imagine picking enough to sell!! If you’ve never picked strawberries before, give it a try. An hour or so is really fun! I would recommend sunscreen and a hat, though, since there’s absolutely no shade.

We also grabbed a few snow peas. I can’t wait to make this with them, but maybe with fresh sausage instead of salami.

I didn’t really plan well last year and ended up making a lot of jams, jellies, and fruit butters, which we don’t eat very often. People are super happy to get them as gifts, though, so it made Christmas and . . . → Read More: Strawberries in Syrup Saved for Winter]]> If you’ve been wanting to try your hand at canning, but don’t know where to start, give this one a try. There’s very little work and you end up with a really versatile product.

I didn’t really plan well last year and ended up making a lot of jams, jellies, and fruit butters, which we don’t eat very often. People are super happy to get them as gifts, though, so it made Christmas and birthdays pretty easy. This year, I am focusing on canning stuff that we’ll actually use at home. Our favorite jarred fruit turned out to be peaches in light syrup, so I’m determined to do more whole fruit this year. Whole fruit is nice because it easily becomes a simple dessert when you top it with cream (whipped or not). You can also add it to muffins and quick breads. It also requires less work than jam and you don’t have to worry about it jelling correctly. Win!

If you’re new to canning, make sure to read these instructions first. The recipe below is pretty short, because most of the work is the regular canning process.

Macerated Strawberries
Yields about 5 pints
NOTE: Strawberries sit for 5-8 hours before canning. Make sure to plan for this.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Wash and hull the strawberries. Hulling means to remove the stem, leaves, and the hard, white area under the stem and leaves. You should end up with about 12 cups, but this depends on how tightly your quarts were packed.

   

2. Put the strawberries in a large bowl. Sprinkle the sugar over the top and toss gently to coat the strawberries in the sugar. You might want to adjust the amount of sugar if you ended up with more or less than 12 cups of hulled strawberries. For example, if you have 16 cups of hulled strawberries, use closer to 2 cups of sugar.
3. Let the sugary strawberries macerate (sit in sugar) for 5 to 8 hours in the refrigerator or other cool, dark place. The sugar and time will pull some of the juices out of the strawberries, so they will be sitting in a nice syrupy liquid at the end.

   

4. After the strawberries are done macerating, prepare your canning tools, pint jars, and lids. (See Steps 3 to 4 and 6) I filled 5 pint jars, but prepare 6 or 7 just in case.
5. Heat the strawberries and syrup over medium low heat in a large pot until the sugar has dissolved and the strawberries have warmed through.
6. Boil a kettle of water in case you need extra liquid in the jars (I didn’t).
7. Fill the warmed jars with strawberries and syrup leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add boiling water if you need extra liquid. Put the lids and screwbands on the jars. (See Steps 7 to 11)
8. Process the jars for 10 minutes. (See Steps 12 to 19)

See, that wasn’t too hard! You’ll notice that my lids look a little funny. It’s because I often use reusable plastic lids, rather than the single-use metal ones, for things that I’m not likely to give as a gift. The process for these is just a little bit different than the metal lids. Food in Jars did a great post on them, if you’re interested.