Wynne Kelch

Susan Mené wrote:Has anyone had success in pressure/water bath canning (have to check which one is appropriate)?  Do they get mushy and do they lose their heat?

They do get a little mushy but most of the spiciness is retained. I water-bath can raw jalapeño slices in a vinegar brine with garlic, coriander, and nigella and really like how they turn out. I've lacto-fermented hot peppers before, and you're right, it diminishes the heat.  I was amazed how meek my cayenne hot sauce became.

I also mince and freeze raw jalapeños for all those recipes that call for 1-2 minced peppers. It's easy to break a corner off the block for a recipe.

The other thing I do might be the most fun: cheese-stuffed jalapeños. I slice the jalapeños in half and seed them, and then pipe in a mixture of sautéed onion, cream cheese, grated cheddar, and an egg. If you like spicier you could add the seeds to the piping mixture. I dip the cheesy top in buttered breadcrumbs and bake at 425 until browned and bubbly. Or, freeze on a sheet pan, store, and bake from frozen some other day.  

I agree with the others that it may be a water issue.  It's heavy clay and similar weather here, too. My raised bed of red raspberries thrives, though, and sends runners out into the clay. It does best with regular watering. The berries are less than half-sized when the bed is thirsty. A year ago I put ramial chipped branches on it for mulch, and I think they boosted the plants.

My scapes are for pesto, too. I mostly use that to make hand pies with pizza dough and fillings. We call them calzones but a purist wouldn't.

Here's a pesto variation with lemon (vegan):

1 c. chopped scapes
Zest of 1/3 large lemon (1.5 tsp?) and 1 tsp. juice
1/2 tsp. salt (scant)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/3 c. toasted pine nuts (sub walnut, almond etc.)
1/4 - 1/2 c. olive oil

Grind scapes first to a paste. Add lemon, seasoning, and nuts, then drizzle in oil while processing. Taste after 1/4 c. oil and add more to your preference.

Makes about 1c. pesto, for 1 lb. of pasta or pizza dough (7 hand pies, 10-15 min at 425 degrees with precooked fillings).

Greg Martin wrote:
Nicole....not sure if you're into flowers like this, but I was just doing a bit of reading and found out that Hosta plantaginea is the only fragrant hosta, with pure white blooms sometimes 6" across.  'Aphrodite' is a double that was found.  I've never smelled a fragrant hosta before, but all hostas that are fragrant have H. plantaginea in their family tree.  I wonder what these flowers smell and taste like :)

I didn't know they might be edible until I read this thread today, so no ideas on taste. But I think these are my emerald hostas, and their fragrance is Wonderful.  A sweet white-flowers scent with a little bit of lily. It was fainter this past year, though. I wonder if, like mint, the older plants are less fragrant?

I agree the Granny Smith is the easiest tart/firm variety to find in the grocery. When I was growing up in southeast Pennsylvania (maybe not too far from you), we also found McIntosh, and those were our favorite for pies (more floral -- softer, though).

Our farmer's market is justing starting to get Goldrush apples in now. They are my highest recommendation: a tart, firm, fragrant long-keeper. Nittany are in now too and are similar, though a little milder.

I visit the pick-your-own orchard in September, and then I get Empire, Jonagold, and Mutsu to balance the sweet Golden Delicious ones. None of those are as tart as Grannies or even McIntosh but they'll do. They also sometimes have extra-tart Wolf River apples, but I'd  be surprised if you can find those now--they look like poor keepers.

I never thought of that! I'm totally going yard-sailing to see if I can "upgrade" my machine for a discount.  I can always resell or donate the loser. Thank you!

Our favorite bread machine recipe is a roll too--orange rolls. It's a brioche-type dough, and then like monkey bread, you divide into pieces and roll in a mixture of melted butter and sugar, with a lot of orange zest. 2lbs makes about 18 rolls. I'm still working out how to parbake and freeze half the recipe for later. Sooo good. Uh, not healthy though.

>What do I need to know about bread machine recipes?  

For one, they don't scale quite like you'd expect. For example, the ingredients for a 1-lb loaf are often not half those of a 2-lb loaf.  I'd probably find a different recipe book if your Zojirushi's is missing something you want. One of my bread machine cookbooks is not from the manufacturer; the authors just tested with multiple kinds of machines. From a cookbook like that (library?) you might be able to figure out the adaptations that are best for your type of machine.

>What's this needing different yeast?

I just use the regular grocery jar of yeast, stored in the fridge. Red Star is pretty well liked.

Recommend trying pizza dough.

I have a Breadman BK1050S and don't recommend Breadman any more. The new model mixes poorly, eliminated program options that  I used, beeps loudly, and doesn't work well with my old, beloved recipes. I loved the Breadman Ultimate I had for 12+ years prior, but eventually I could no longer buy replacement parts. The Teflon held up fine, but the gaskets below the removable paddle did not. I would consider the availability of parts to be a reason to buy newer. I had a fun trip on eBay with a seller who mis-listed the part I needed.

Loaf size has never been an issue here, since the machine gives 2-3 recipe options, plus there's the freezer. When I need the bread to last longer at room temp, I usually pick one of the recipes with more sugar.

I'm a total amateur, but I want to suggest to you Matt's Wild Cherry, a solanum lycopersicum. It's 60 DTM and has voluntarily sustained itself here for six years despite neglect. Granted, I'm in VA, but I read it was bred in ME. Not sure how productive you'd consider it--prolific and delicious, but fussy to de-stem.

Great ideas--I'm especially tempted by the bean salad. I've put up my green tomatoes by freezing them in a curry with chickpeas, onions, spices, and a bit of brown sugar.