We’ve been jealously watching Trina’s plum harvest and anxiously waiting for the blackberries in our area to ripen.
The wait is over. This morning I walked Finney down to the trail at the end of our street and it looks like this year’s crop is going to be a good one. Last year we harvested 4 pounds of blackberries and the jam lasted us about 8 months. This year I think we should target 8 pounds so we don’t run out before next year’s jam session.
My mouth is watering, I better go eat breakfast.
It’s blackberry season again, so Paula and I spent part of our labor day gathering. We netted almost 4 pounds of fruit (which is no small feat considering how many thorns there are on the bushes).
After tossing in some blueberries, sugar and boiling the whole lot, we came away with a dozen jars of tasty goodness.
But wait, there’s more… Paula decided we needed salsa too. After grilling a mess of peppers on the barbie, they were cooked down with tomatillos, onions and other goodies before a trip to the blender.
There’s something very satisfying about making it yourself.
It also makes me hungry. Time for a snack.
Think back to the last time you microwaved popcorn. Remember what the kitchen smelled like after you were done? Sure it tastes great, but take a look at the ingredients on the box… it may explain the smell. 🙂
So tonight when Paula and I were craving popcorn we decided to try out Squawkfox’s DIY microwave popcorn recipe (found via LifeHacker). Instead of partially-hydrogenated, artificially flavored popcorn food, we had popcorn. Yes, we ate unprocessed food and it was delicious.
The formula is pretty simple: toss a cup of popping corn into a brown paper lunch bag, fold the top down a couple times and nuke for 3 minutes. When done, season to taste and enjoy.
We found it to be simple and delicious, but have a couple of notes to add:
1. It took 4 minutes in our weak little microwave, not 3 (your mileage my vary, but don’t go too long, you may burn it).
2. One cup of pop corn kernels generated a lot of popcorn (at least 1.5 times what we normally get from a typical bag of microwave popcorn). We’re going to use a half cup next time.
All-in-all, we were super pleased. Paula’s review: "I’m certainly never buying another box of microwave popcorn again!"
I’m with Paula on this, without a doubt. I’m certain it’s better for us. It’s clearly less expensive. And the best part: our kitchen doesn’t smell nasty afterwards.