Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
If you were wondering where I’ve been, I’ve been wrapped up in trying to help make this happen. 
Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard (well, a cat and a dog anyway.)
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
‘Cause of you.
This past summer I was the winner of a contest on my friend Stephanie’s blog. I was picked at random, but my promise was to pass along the wealth, so to speak. So here is your chance to win this:
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I’m offering the book up those of you who are interested (US only please, I’ll send it via media mail). If there are more than one of you, I’ll use the handy dandy random number generator. You have until the end the month (January 31st) to express your interest by posting a comment on this post. |
In the October issue of Vegetarian Times, there is a recipe for Kiwi jam. I love Kiwi fruit, so the sight of the jewel-like Kiwi jam was enough to make me think that learning to can wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
The notion that I would be remotely inclined to do any canning lasted for about three seconds. What stuck with me instead, was the statement at the top of the recipe that said something to the effect of: “Kiwis are often thought of as an exotic, tropical fruit, but they can be grown in most temperate climates.” What??? You mean *I* could grow these wonderful little furry jewels? Oh dear.
A bit of research suggests that like grapes, they can be somewhat time consuming to grow. You have to stake the plants, thin the vines, etc. They also require a male and a female plant to produce fruit, so they could be somewhat of a space hog. Regardless, it is an interesting idea that Kiwi fruit could be grown in the U.S. Even better, there are already people growing it here.
U.S. Kiwi Harvest
Fruit Production in Alabama
My husband will be happy to know that I have no desire to start growing Kiwi fruit. I’m not really into growing anything that needs intensive effort to maintain. I’m definitely more of a thrive-or-die kind of gardener. I think I will, however, investigate the possibility of finding slightly more local Kiwi fruit.
*According to Wikepedia, there are a variety of names for the Kiwi fruit, mostly from Chinese:
Macaque peach
Macaque pear
Vine pear
Sunny peach
Wood berry
Hairy bush fruit
Unusual fruit or wonder fruit
I don’t like store-bought mayonnaise. I’ve never really liked it on my sandwiches (I’m a mustard girl), and I can barely choke down potato salad with mayonnaise. Give me a good potato salad with coarse mustard and crème fraîche, like the one I ate at O’Connell’s last week.
I can’t even begin to describe my hatred of the traditional, gloppy, mayonnaise-y “carrot salad” that I remember from parties in the 70s and 80s. Even as a small child, I knew this was an abomination. Thank goodness for other people who believe this too. Here is a tasty salad recipe that my mom sent me several years ago:
Carrot Parsley Salad
3 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I usually use canola oil but extra virgin olive oil would work too)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine everything in a large serving bowl and toss well. This can be made ahead and refrigerated until serving. I think it tastes better chilled. This will keep up to a week, but I doubt it will last that long.
Another recipe for mayonnaise-less carrot salad showed up in my inbox a couple of days ago. This one is similar to another recipe that I occasionally make.
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