Illinois Harvest Dinner 2017

Wow.

Hey, blog world...it's been a while.

A lot has happened, and maybe some day I'll get into all that, but today is not that day. Because last week, I attended an amazing event, and I have to share all about it!

Somehow, in the vast sea of karma that I ride in life, I have been blessed with the opportunity to get to know people in many areas of the food industry, and in particular, farmers. One of those people that I am so thankful to have gotten to know better, Mary Faber, a dairy and grain farmer in central Illinois, invited me to attend the Illinois Harvest Dinner last week. The Illinois Harvest Dinner is a fantastic event that brings together crop and animal farmers, food industry workers, people in the health industry, educators, government officials, and consumers and invites them to have an open and free-flowing discussion about, well, whatever the night brings up.

Chive Jelly

We have a chive plant that is more than just a plant in our garden.  It is a part of our heritage, a legacy.  We got the chives as a small split off of my husband's grandmother's plant at her house.  We planted it at our first house, when we were first married.  When we had our first daughter, we built a new house, and the chives moved with us across town.  Over the last decade, they have grown, and grown, and grown.  And we have shared the chives with many others.  My kids give them to teachers as gifts.  They invite friends to sample from our plant and then send them home with a split off of it so that they can plant chives in their own yards.  This particular plant has taken root in dozens of yards around the Chicago suburbs.  And it keeps going strong, just like my husband's grandma did for so many years.

This winter, sadly, time finally caught up with our beloved Gigi, and our family journeyed through one of the saddest goodbyes we've had to face.  Then, this spring, her chives popped up in our yard once again, a reminder that life grows.  We miss her terribly, but I know we will always remember her with such love, and I know that she felt that love while she was here.

As far as cooking goes, there are so, so many ways to use chives.  My kids will eat them straight out of the garden, but they also like them sprinkled on eggs or potatoes.  I mix them in with chicken dishes or with fish.  They are great in savory muffins or quick breads.  But after reading an online article about herb jellies, I started thinking about trying out a chive jelly. I'm a big fan of the more savory jellies, like onion jam and pepper jelly, and I thought that the chives would be a great spread for crackers or bread, or to use as a glaze for meat.

I started by chopping up a big bunch of the chives, about 2 cups.

I put the chopped chives in a pot with 2 cups of water, and brought it all to a boil for a couple of minutes.  Then I poured the chives and the water into a separate container, covered them, and let them seep for a couple of hours.

The next thing I did was to strain liquid from the chives through a fine mesh strainer, pushing the chives to get all the "juice" out of it.  Kind of like a chive tea.

I prepped several canning jars and lids, boiling the jars for 10 minutes and then keeping them in the hot water until I needed them.  I soaked the lids in some of the boiled water as well to soften up the seals.

I took the chive tea and put it in a large pot with 1/4 cup of white vinegar, a pinch of salt, and 4 cups of sugar and brought it up to a boil.  Then I added one package (3 ounces) of liquid pectin, brought it back to a boil for one minute, and took it off of the heat.

There was a bit of foam, so I skimmed that off of the hot jelly and then poured it into the prepared jars and put the lids and seals on.  I got about 4 pints of jelly total.

Listening to the pinging pops of the lids as they sealed made me smile.  Opening up the first jar, spreading it onto a cracker and popping it into my mouth made me smile even more.

Chive jelly is a good thing.  A really good thing.  It tastes sweet and savory, clean and grassy, and it's almost like having a bit of spring in a jar.  Very little fuss for a whole lot of yum.  Definitely worth a try!

Butternut Pear Soup

We've been getting a lot of butternut squash from our CSA lately.  Like one or two a week.  Which is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but I'm not a huge squash fan.  So putting it to good use is a huge task for me.  I'm really trying to think outside the box and find ways to prepare it that make my tastebuds dance with excitement, and this soup is one of those recipes.

Cider Cinnamon Nuts

Well, it turns out that my Facebook fans are nutty for nuts!  So, by popular demand, here is my quick, easy, and mouth-watering recipe for Cider Cinnamon Nuts!

First, take 2 cups or so of the nuts of your choice.  I went with almonds this time because I enjoy them, plus I have a ton of them right now...thanks, Costco.  I think this would be awesome with pecans too, or mix it up with any variety of nuts!

Spiced Millet Puff Snacks - AKA Spicy Balls

Are you bored with the run-of-the-mill snacks?  Tired of chips and dip or a veggie platter?  Do you think that hummus is overdone these days?

Do I have the snack for you!

Rainbow Chard Party Spread

Swiss chard is one of my favorite veggies to plant.  They are so simple to grow, and they will continue to produce leaves for the whole season with very little fuss.  They are also full of a lot of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and are said to be for for controlling blood sugar levels and reducing inflammation, among other things.  And, best of all, chard is totally delicious!

Strawberry Bonanza Part 3 - Strawberry Pineapple Salsa with Black Beans

Again with the culinary mad science.  Faced with that 54 pounds of fresh strawberries that I may have mentioned before, my brain has been spinning out of control with ideas about how to use them.  It started churning as we were in the fields picking, and it continues to spin like a whirling dervish.  Last night, I started playing with the idea of strawberries and black beans together.  Because I really enjoy black beans.  But it didn't seem like a natural fit at first...until I started to think salsa.  Strawberries, black beans, cilantro, pineapple, green onions, and a little kick of pepper...awwwwww yeah.

CSA Share - Spring Week 4 and Carrot Top Arugula Pesto

It's the last week of our spring CSA, and while endings make me a little sad, it also makes me excited to think about the upcoming main season share we have to look forward to!  Plus, this is one of my favorite hauls yet:

Spinach, carrots, beets, arugula (double, because the hubs traded our lettuce for more!), snap peas, and garlic scapes!

CSA Share - Spring Week 3 and Unlimited Potential Spinach

In this week's CSA, we're starting to see a bit more color!  Along with a ton of green, that is.  And I was so excited for the new veggies!

We got massive bags of both spinach and lettuce, radishes, bok choy, beets, and sugar snap peas.

Purple Pesto

Some divine hand has been practically desperate for me to notice chives.  They keep popping up everywhere.  More specifically, chive flowers.  Amy had some flowering chives on her truck last week when she came to drop off my milk and eggs.  Then I noticed more of them being sold this weekend at Green City Market.  My kids keep bringing them in from our yard.  Today, not more than a couple of hours after I gave a friend a split of my chive plant and told her how yummy the blossoms were in salads, there was a posting on a Facebook page that I follow about chive blossoms in salad.

Gingery Gingered Ginger Cashews

Do you like ginger?  I mean, really REALLY like ginger?  Here's yet another variation on easy candied nuts: Ginger Cashews.

I knew I wanted to make some candied cashews with candied ginger, and I was trying to figure out what liquid I wanted to use to make the syrup.  Then, something clicked.  Ginger beer!  How many ways could I slip ginger in?  I could use fresh ginger in the syrup too!  And why not just go for the gusto and add powdered ginger as well?  

May's Preserve Trifecta Part Two: Rosemary Rhubarb Jelly

All right, so I've already shared the Meyer Lemon Rhubarb Marmalade, and now it's time to continue on the rhubarb train with Rosemary Rhubarb Jelly, another great recipe I tried from Preserving by the Pint!

Making Mozz

I tend to have big ideas and then slack on some of the follow through.  I also tend to be a little spoiled by my husband, and if I mention (or, say, e-mail a link to) something I'm interested in, he will often buy that thing (within reason) for me for the next appropriate holiday.  Enter the cheese making kits.

Last year, right around Mother's Day, I saw that Williams-Sonoma had DIY cheese kits available.  And my inner food geek went a little nuts.  I started dropping hints, like, "Wow, with all the tomatoes and basil that we have in the garden, wouldn't it be nice to have fresh, homemade mozzarella to make caprese?", and "Grilled pizza is the bomb.  The only way it could be better is if we had some fresh, homemade mozzarella to top it with!".  You know, subtle.

Malibu Coconut Nuts

I am all about nuts lately.  I know, ha ha, "nuts", but at any given moment these days, my kitchen smells like one of those irresistible vendor stands with cones of deliciousness wafting their siren song as you walk past.  I've been really hooked on this recipe for Lavender Rosemary and Cinnamon Spiced Nuts from Redpath Sugar.  It's great, and I've been bringing it to lots of friend and family gatherings.  This has lead to may, many mature jokes about my nuts, how delicious they are, how people can't stop putting my nuts in their mouth...basically, my nuts have been all over Facebook.

Anyhow, a lot of people have been asking me to put my nuts on my blog.

I'm sorry, I'm still snickering.

Nutty Sweetness...Oh, and I Made Chestnut Jam Too.

I have a thing for chestnuts.  And yes, I'm starting to realize that I say that about a lot of foods, but it's true.  Different foods are, in some ways, like books to me.  They can transport me to another place or time, bring back memories, or open my eyes to new horizons.

Chestnuts are one of those foods for me.  They always make me feel like I'm on a picnic in the European countryside, or cooking with an elderly woman in her Italian villa, or walking down the dark streets of London in winter with some roasted chestnuts to warm my cold hands, or snacking with friends in my Parisian dream kitchen (although they never snack in France, so that one is a stretch).  Those fantasies are actually a little odd, now that I think of it, because some of my favorite chestnut snacks come from the Asian market, where I can't read 90 percent of the packages, but if I see a picture of a chestnut, I will snatch it up and gobble it down.  Tiny round pancakes sandwiched with a rich chestnut jam are always the first thing I head for at the candy shop in Chinatown.  But somehow, they still feel very European to me.

Simply Tasteful Beer Bread

High on the list of things I love includes gathering with a bunch of friends and good snacks.  High on the list of things I find crazy are paying $4.99 plus tax and shipping for a loaf of bread.  Wait, strike that, paying $4.99 plus for part of what you need to make a loaf of bread.

You may know what I'm talking about.  I'm not sure of the legal ramifications, so I'm not going to spell it out any more than that.  Anyways, it makes me crazy, and I am usually the one at those parties whispering, "I have a recipe.  You can totally do that at home for a whole lot less."  And it's true.  You totally can.  You can buy a whole bag of flour, a whole can of baking powder, and a whole container or salt for less than that one box of mix costs, and with that, you can probably make this recipe 4 or 5 times...with leftovers too.

Not only is it a lot cheaper, it's practically as easy as opening the box.  A handful of ingredients, an hour in the oven, and there you go.

Sweet and Spicy: No, Not Just Me, the Pepper Jelly Too!

We get a lot of peppers of all sorts from our vegetable CSA.  Sweet ones, mild ones, hot ones, uber-hot ones...and I'm one of those freaks who loves pepper flavor, but doesn't like crunching straight into a raw pepper.  As far as spice goes, I tend to stay on the mid-to-mild side of things as well.  I don't mind a kick, but I hate things that burn just for the spite of it.  So sometimes, when the CSA is pepper-plentiful, I get in over my head with the hot peppers.

I can grab a serrano or two and whip up some salsa, I might chop a red chili and throw it in some beef broh with onions and noodles for a warming lunch, but when I have handfuls of pepper and an hour or so on my hands, I can whip up a mean bunch of pepper jelly.  You can do it too.

Chop up some sweet peppers, about 3/4 cups chopped.  Throw them right into a one cup measure.  Then chop up some hot peppers and fill the measure to a full cup.  Keep a few seeds in there, if you want more heat.  I usually take most of them out, but I don't stress if a few find their way into the mix.  Feel free to play with the ratio, more or less spice as you like.  This is what works for me.  I had a variety of hot peppers: some Hungarian wax, some chilies, some serranos, and some...I really am not even sure.

Making the Best of Things: Green Tomato Jam

The weather's getting colder, and it's finally starting to feel like fall around here.  Which is both invigorating and depressing.  On the one hand, it's kind of a relief that the work-intensive gardening season is coming to a close.  On the other hand, I hate not being able to go out and grab something for dinner from the yard.  But, for now, I'm just doing my best to harvest and preserve whatever fresh homegrown veggies I can from my gardens.

Tomatoes are tricky things.  If it's not warm enough, they won't ripen.  And if a frost happens to hit, they pretty much roll over and die.  So, with this cooler weather, I had bunches of tiny green cherry tomatoes on my bushes, and not much hope for them.  I mean, I do love fried green tomatoes but that battering, dipping, rolling and frying is a lot of work for tomato slices that are only an inch in diameter.  My middle child, the adventurous eater and tomato snatcher, grabbed a green tomato and popped it in her mouth...and then immediately started spitting it out all over and racing for something else to get the taste out.  So naturally, I had to try it too.  They are pretty gross.  Bitter, astringent, a little sour, but not in a good way.  But then it came to me...currants, some gooseberries, things like that have those qualities too, and they make amazing jams and jellies.

I mean, what can go wrong with dumping a ton of sugar on something and cooking it down until it's a sticky, delicious mess?

Pumpkin Seeds, Any Way You Like

So, once you've roasted your pumpkin, you have something left to deal with: the seeds.  You could just throw them away with the rest of the innards, or you could elevate them to a crunchy, delicious snack.

C'mon...get your full value out of that pumpkin!  Every last bite of it!  It's pretty simple, and you can even throw them in the oven while your pumpkin is roasting.

Jewels in the Garden - Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

We are coming into major tomato time around these parts.

Last weekend we were away, and when we got back, I found a ton of ripe fruit on my cherry tomato plants.  Thing is, from now for at least a month, I'll probably get this much every other day.