Monday, April 23, 2012

Home Ec

The sky is dim and drizzly today, so the gloriously sunlit stained glass type photo I had envisioned of the excellent marmalade we made yesterday ended up looking like this...
So sad. Trust me that it is both gorgeous and delicious. Cinnamon loquat jam was made as well. Did you know that peeling/coring loquats for a couple of hours will stain your fingertips brown and leave a weird lacquer on your fingernails?

Musical interlude:

 My husband's great-aunt had a bachelor's degree, way back in the day, in Canning Technology from the University of Washington. I always think of her when I'm sweating over the canner.

 On friday I put up my first batch of beer! Another excitingly dim photo!
And nine bottles of limoncello. This is one of the chief exports of our household economy, along with hugs and bruises from well-placed kicks and punches.
Limoncello is best drunk very cold on a hot summer afternoon in the company of good friends, though sometimes it is a good idea to break it open on a chilly winter night and inhale the scent of summer.

2 comments:

  1. Limoncello...yum! I wonder if Great Aunt learned that in her canning technology program? And what, exactly, is a loquat?! Questions, questions...

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    Replies
    1. A loquat is an asian fruit that grows really well around here...however, they don't store or ship well at all (the fruits start going bad within a couple of hours of picking) so it is mostly used for jams, syrups, and wine. I'll have to try that last one soon!

      They are popular landscaping trees around here, but most people have no idea what to do with the fruit. I had two of the trees at my old property in northern CA, but I think we had only female trees so they never fruited.

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