a ToaST To BLueBeRRY PeaCH JaM

I LoVe homemade jam. The knowledge that I was very involved in the process, from picking to canning, is supremely satisfying. Cooking, I've found, is a great equalizer, you don't have to be the most athletic or the most beautiful. You just have to be willing to put love into it.

I knew, before I visited the farm, that this would ultimately be one of the recipes I would make. I've never personally tried peach blueberry jam but I already loved peaches and blueberries and how could a combination of the two ever be bad? While thinking of this jam, I could taste a hint of cinnamon and found that I was not alone in this vision. While searching for a recipe, I immediately came across one online taken from a cookbook and decided this was definitely the one I was craving. I'll be sure to search out this cookbook and, if there are any other recipes as good as this was, perhaps add it to my cookbook collection.

Here is the recipe that I used, the only change I made was to use a scant 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon because I felt that 1/4 teaspoon may be a bit shy for my taste.

Blueberry Peach Jam
(Makes eight 8-ounce jars)

3 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups fresh peach slices
1 package fruit pectin (I prefer Sure-Jell)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
7 cups sugar


Crush blueberries and put in a medium saucepan. Cut the peach slices into pieces and grind in a food processor or food mill; add to the blueberries. Mix fruit pectin and cinnamon into the fruit mixture and cook over high heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly.

Add sugar all at once, bring to a full boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim and stir to remove foam. Ladle into hot jars and seal.

- From "Life's Little Berry Cookbook: 101 Berry Recipes," by Joan Bestwick (Avery, $11.95).

I took some photos as I was moving along the process. I love to can jams, they are very simple as far as canning goes. The most important thing is to sterilize, sterilize and remember to keep it sterilized and all will be well! I also make sure that all items are very hot when I assemble them, jars, lids and jam. Be sure to wipe the lip and threads of the jar after filling with a moist cloth before putting the rubber seal lid on top. Hand tighten, do not over tighten. You want to hear a pop from each jar as it cools, letting you know that the seal has set. You can process this by placing jars in a big pot for 10 minutes, making sure that the water covers the lids the entire time. I always label my jars with the contents and month/year so I know which jar to grab first.

Be brave! You can do this! Spread some love today :o)

a CHiCKeN ReQueST i CouLDN'T iGNoRe...

'Would you make HoNeYeD CHiCKeN TeRiYaKi?'

I'm not complaining, I love the fact that there was a special request for me to make this chicken dish for dinner tonight. It's an absolute favorite chicken dish in our house and although I try to keep frying to a minimum this is one recipe that can't (imho) be done any other way.

This recipe was one that I got off of one of those recipe cards you get through the mail. Fairly simple, breaded chicken breasts dipped in a teriyaki glaze and served over rice. The resulting dish is another one to add to your 'list' of 101 chicken recipes and I definitely recommend trying it once. This recipe easily serves 4 with some leftover and the leftovers are so good COLD! (If, there are even any leftovers to speak of :o))

I usually serve this with jasmine rice, my rice of choice, particularly with asian dinners.

Preheat canola (my personal preference) oil in a skillet to 350 degrees.

Prepare the glaze:
1/2 cup soy sauce, lower sodium is better
2/3 cup honey


(You can make more or less, I just find it to be a little better if the honey measured is slightly more than the soy sauce. You can use remaining sauce to drizzle sparingly over the rice)

Heat the soy sauce and honey in a saucepan on medium until they are combined. Turn off heat and set aside.


For the chicken:

2-3 chicken breasts, sliced thinly
2-3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup flour, you may need to add more if you start running low

Dip the chicken strips into the egg and then bread with flour. Shake off excess flour and start stacking on a plate so you will be ready to start frying. I sometimes sprinkle a little flour between layers of chicken so that they don't stick together. Carefully shake excess flour off and lay in preheated oil, let it lightly brown and when you see the edges turning light brown, turn the pieces over with tongs.

Remove the chicken and place it right to the glaze mixture. Coat the pieces in the glaze and lay on top of rice immediately.




You can garnish this with sesame seeds(which I did). How about some thinly sliced green onions? As an option, you can add fresh minced garlic and/or ginger to the glaze mixture, prior to heating in the saucepan, for even more flavor! This would be great leftover in a tortilla wrap with your choice of salad greens and any other ingredients your heart desires. For us, it never makes it that far, no matter how much chicken I make.

One of our family favorites! I hope you like it as much as we do!

BLueBeRRieS!

'Whew!' Was today the hottest day of the year??? Of course not, but tell that to my blueberry field laborers :o) They would not agree!

We ventured out to Pungo Blueberry today and what a trip! We came home with a plethora ( I love that word, don't know why :o)) of blueberries! What to do, what to do...



I did want to post some photos of the 'fruit du jour'. If you want to go out for a visit, you can find Pungo Blueberries in the heart of Pungo off of Muddy Creek Road, you'll have to go down a ways. Don't worry when you see the numbers going down, they jump right back up right before the blueberry farm. They also have blackberries, but today we were focused on blueberries and tomorrow we will be feasting on homemade blueberry pancakes!!!

Sit back and enjoy the photos. I hope you take the family fruit picking somewhere this year. I think it's great for the kids to see how different fruit grows and it sure does help to wear them out!

Don't these berries look beautiful???




Don't worry, there's plenty more...we didn't pick the last few :o) Judging by this picture, they'll have plenty for a while!

MY FaVoRiTe CoLD CuT SaNDWiCH...

First of all, it's been pointed out to me by my RSF (real scrapbooking friend) that it's been 3 WHOLE DAYS without a new blog post so I am procrastinating procrastination (I meant that...) and am now ready to blog on...so here we go!

Step aside Jared, this is not your usual Subway fare.

I am not a huge fan of cold cuts but for this sandwich I am willing to make an exception to that statement. There's a little Italian deli , near my parents house, that I can find those special pastas, sausages, sauces and oils that I have a craving for. This is where I usually pick up a couple of boxes of my favorite pasta, mafalda or mafaldine.




Pronunciation: ma-FALL-duh Notes: These are flat, rectangular noodles with ruffles along both edges.


I usually reserve this pasta for 'special' dinners and will often pick up 'epi bread' (an artisinal bread shaped into a wheat stalk) to go along with it. I have made this bread before from a focaccia recipe in my Baking with Julia cookbook and it is definitely a work of art. This book details how to shape the bread as well as how to make other shapes with the same dough, well worth trying once!




I digress...back to the sandwich...


I often hear people looking for ideas for lunches, something different from a ham and cheese. It was in this deli that I stumbled across a sandwich that I knew would become a lunch staple in our house. A simple sandwich, this may even replace your turkey club as a lunch time favorite.

The star of this sandwich is soppressata, a hot(or sweet- depending on your choice so be prepared to specify) cured pork salami that has peppercorns. This cut is slightly more expensive than your average cold cut, but the beauty of this meat is that the flavor is strong enough that very little is necessary.

For this sandwich, I generally use 7-8 slices(approx 1/8 lb) very thin slices of soppressata for an entire baguette. I pair this meat with equal amounts of thinly sliced provolone cheese. I use a baguette, as previously stated, because I don't like the bread to overpower the sandwich. If you use a french loaf you will find it too 'bready'. One local grocery store carries the Nancy Silverton's La Brea bread line, although this is a good baguette, especially for slicing thinly and toasting with a little olive oil and sea salt, resist using this loaf for this sandwich. I think the crust is too hard and takes away from the final presentation of this sandwich. I go to another local grocery for their baguette which is baked fresh daily and the crust is crisp and airy. Have at hand some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and romaine lettuce for the remaining ingredients necessary for this culinary masterpiece. :o) Okay, maybe not a masterpiece but I have yet to receive any complaints about it.

To assemble this sandwich, slice the baguette and drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar sparingly down the length of it. Lay some romaine leaves, followed by the soppressata and provolone along the length of it and fold the top over. You're done! I cut this baguette into 6-8 pieces, depending on the length and wrap each one individually in plastic wrap and store until ready to eat. I prefer to let them sit(this is the hardest party by the way) for about an hour until the flavors meld.






You can use other Italian meats in this sandwich such as pancetta, prosciutto and mortadella. All of these are also delicious but I have found through various taste testings with unsuspecting guineas that soppressata is king!

You can find soppressata at most local deli's. I prefer the Dietz & Watson brand over other brands found at your local grocery store. I hope you try this sandwich, remember...a little bit of soppressata goes a long way in this one! Hope you enjoy one of my favorite sandwiches and my solution to having the same tired old sandwich.

P.S. LUCKY ME!!! I found peppadew peppers today on the olive bar! You gotta try these babies! They are sweet with the smallest kick! Don't they look good?!?!?

'PiG PiCKiN' CaRoLiNa BaRBeQue aT THe BeaCH

Today was one of those days that the call of good carolina pork barbeque was too strong for even me to resist :o)

To the rescue comes one of my favorite barbeque takeouts in Virginia Beach. Malbon Bros. http://www.malbonbrothersbbq.com/, located off of Culver Drive and General Booth Blvd, has a delicious deal too good to not take advantage of. Their 'Piggy Pack' includes 1.5 lbs of carolina pulled pork, 1 lb. of their special baked beans, 1 lb. of their cole slaw and an entire 12 oz. bottle of their special BBQ sauce(alone this retails for $5.49) for around $17 plus tax. They now have 2 varieties of BBQ sauce to chose from, my favorite, which was also the sauce of choice today, was 'Pig Picklin' Billy's BBQ Sauce'. A fantastic blend of that vinegar, spice and downright delicious southern flavor we come to expect from a barbeque sauce. The other sauce, I was told, is slightly more vinegary and a little bit hotter than the original. Since I hadn't been there in a while and my cravings are specific, I decided not to 'reinvent the wheel' and stuck with the original. The beauty of this is it still leaves an opening to return to sample the other sauce :o) Perfect for one of those days when you want to leave the heavy duty cooking to the fine folks at Malbon Bros., continuing this fine culinary tradition daily. This delicious combination of excellent pulled pork, creamy cole slaw, slightly tangy sauce with a side of barbeque baked beans...hard to resist!



Whether is barbecue or barbeque, Malbon Bros. does it right! Just add bread and a hungry family, leave the rest to them :o). For under $20, you can feed a hungry family of four, a nice alternative to pizza or drive thru burgers.



Of course I took some photos... how could I not? If you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods, stop on in and give it a try! It's the best gas station food this side of the CBBT, I wouldn't steer you wrong!

BLaCKBeRRY (No PHoNeS HeRe :o) ) CRiSP

After my little jaunt out to Pungo this week, I had some delicious blackberries just waiting for my attention :o) and I can't let summer pass without making blackberry crisp. A warm blackberry crisp like this with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream... what a treat! You'll be looking for the dinner check :o) Believe me, no tip necessary on this one! This super simple recipe will make even the most novice cooks the envy of the neighborhood. I can't take credit for this recipe, I picked it up at Pungo Blueberries in Pungo, Virginia. They have a great little cookbook (sold out :o( ~ let's request a reprint!) that is packed full of recipes and, boy, do they know their berries!

Without further ado...

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

For the blackberry crisp, you will need:



4-5 cups of blackberries
1/2- 3/4 c of sugar (depending on how sweet they are, I recommend starting with 1/2 the first time you make them)




Mix the berries and sugar in a bowl.





Butter a casserole dish (I used my oval Pampered Chef stoneware for this) and dump the berry/sugar mixture into it.


Next for the topping...


Mix together:

1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder





Spread this mixture over the berries.



Lastly...

Melt 1 stick of butter and drizzle it over the flour mixture.



Bake in the oven until the topping is lightly browned (see photo). Don't let it bake too long or the blackberry fruit will become too thick, like a fruit roll up, and believe me... you want this juicy! Let it cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream, or better yet, a tall glass of milk.

If you like blackberries, you'll love this :o) !