Food Friday Posts
Dandelion Jelly
Submitted by tired_gardener on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 08:32.As I've been learning about canning, I thought I'd try some dandelion jelly. After all, dandelions are so easy to come by. The recipe called for 4 cups of petals, so I went out to get them. I came back a half hour later, with 2 cups... I made a half batch.
To collect, I picked up a bowl and headed out into the yard. I grabbed all the flowers in my yard. This added up to not a whole lot. So I headed down to a park that I know is not sprayed and started picking. After a half hour Elizabeth called to say that dinner was prepared. I got home with very grungy hands and a mere two cups of flowers. I've read that you can freeze the flowers without damaging them. Maybe next time I'll just pick a few from my yard and when my bag reached the full amount, then I'll make the jelly.
You want to pick the largest flowers you can find to keep you prep work down. You will then pull off the green. I just used my fingers to squeeze as much of the yellow flower out and pull as much of the green away as I could. Some of the green still got in, but that is ok. You want to remove as much of the green as you can, because it is bitter.
I then boiled the flowers for a few minutes to get the flavor out of them, added the sugar, forgetting that you are supposed to add the pectin first, and then added the pectin. I then remembered the lemon juice and added it. Next time I think I will make the jelly in the morning when I'm a little clearer in the head and don't make so many mistakes. I had the recipe in front of me to reference, and kept referencing, but still made mistakes.
The next day, I came back to check it out and guess what? It didn't set. I poured it back into the pan, got it heated up again, added a little more pectin and sugar and burnt it in the process. It is now too dark, and too thick. It tastes ok, but it has the look and consistency of honey.
The first recipe I read on dandelion jelly actually claimed it tasted honey-like. It does. I recommend trying it if you have not. It is a little too sweet to eat on its own, but works great on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The recipe I ended up using is this one, but I cut the recipe in half as that is how many blossoms I had.
Canning Lessons
Submitted by tired_gardener on Fri, 06/27/2008 - 09:39.Since I'm not working while working on my masters, finances are tight. Also the cost of gas and food has skyrocketed since I figured the budget for the two year program. Now I need to be creative to save money. One thing I'm learning is how to can.
Canning has been around for a long time, but has lost favor in the last few decades. With the rising costs, it has come back into favor. Also, home canned foods taste so much better. Besides, you get more control. You can decide what goes into it. If you want to can your pears in pineapple juice, you can. I bet you wouldn't be able to find that in the store.
I thought I should take a class, because I've never canned. In hunting around, I found one that was my favorite price. My frugal friends will like it as much as I do. The National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia offers a Preserving Food at Home: A Self-Study course for free. You must register to take the class. You get 6 months to complete the course.
I got my password a month ago, and today is the first time I've logged in. I have 5 months to finish the course. Today I took the pretest and scored 70%. It was multiple guess, so I probably would not have scored so well had it been short answer. I'll let you know more as I continue the program.
That fruit is rich in...
Submitted by tired_gardener on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 09:04.While checking out the lovely sites of some of the Tired Garden readers, I saw Liza's strawberry post. I then wrote a really nice article about different minerals and vitamins and which fruits have them. I then accidentally navigated away from the screen I was writing it in and I lost it. I'll try to recreate it here.
Variety in diet is very important and different foods give us different vitamins and minerals that we need. I was curious about which fruits give us which vitamins and minerals, so I did a little research. First I identified 5 minerals and vitamins I was curious about, then I found out exactly what they do. After than I listed the fruits that best provide this need.
Iron
Iron helps with the transport of oxygen in your blood. Without iron you can feel tired, apathetic or cold. High iron foods include blackberry, kiwi, strawberry, tomato, banana and grape.
Calcium
Calcium helps decrease insomnia and helps nutrition enter cells. It also helps bones and teeth to be strong. Without enough calcium, bones and teeth become brittle and break down, your muscles spasm and cramp and in the long term osteoporosis can occur. Good fruit sources of calcium include orange, blackberry, kiwi, tomato, lime, strawberry, lemon, grape, apple, cantaloupe, banana and peach.
Folic Acid
Folic acid is actually a synthetic form of B9. The natural form is called folate. Folate is needed in pregnancy to help the embryo form and build a good neural network. It also helps to produce red blood cells. Getting enough folate reduces certain birth defects by as much as 70%. Good fruit sources of folate include kiwi, blackberry, tomato, orange, strawberry, banana and cantaloupe
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Riboflavin
Also known as B2, riboflavin helps to produce and maintain red cells as well as body growth and reproduction. Only a few fruits have riboflavin in them, the best source is liver. Notable riboflavin carrying fruits include kiwi and avocado.
Niacin
Niacin, also known as B3, helps with the functioning of the digestive and nervous systems. It is also one of the many important nutrients in converting food to energy. Some of the notable fruits that carry niacin include peach, tomato, kiwi, banana, cantaloupe and watermelon .
Yes, I realize it is Saturday, not Friday, but I ran across the Food Friday meme and I had to join in.
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