I would be enjoying this frigid, sun-dazzled winter morning but for the more than a million people without power. Some of our family and friends have been affected but they all have some way to heat with wood so they're in better shape than a lot of people.
An overcast but beautiful snowy morning here in CNY. I've already done a bit of shoveling and put out seed. There's close to a foot so far but it's tapering off.
Seasonal Chef
I finally got some quince on Saturday, a half bushel. Yesterday as the first snow fell I cooked up the first batch and canned it. The world may going to hell in a hand basket but I've got me some lovely quince.
The black canopy covers the stairs that go down to The Empire Brewing Company. The second floor windows directly above the canopy are those of The Mister's new office. He can actually take an elevator from his floor and walk out into the middle of the pub.
from The New York Daily News:HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR GROWLER
Once you are the proud owner of your own jug of beer, American Beer's Jay Steinhauer - who hopes to add even more taps for growlers at American in the fall - offers a few tips on taking care of it.
1. KEEP IT FRESH: Freshly poured beer won't stay fresh for long, says Steinhauer, so “keep it in the fridge,” he says. Unopened, it'll last for a week or two at most, but “once you open it pour it off in a couple of days,” he says, if not that night.
2. TREAT IT GENTLY: “Don't let it jostle around,” recommends Steinhauer of growlers, as that will kill the carbonation in the beer, especially if it has already been opened.
3. CHECK YOUR SUDS: If your growler has been sitting for a few days, says Steinhauer, gently rotate it, as the first beer poured is a little thinner and less flavorful. Or do as Steinhauer does, and serve yourself last.
4. TIDY UP: Most places don't clean the growlers before they refill them for you, so be sure to clean them yourself with lots of hot water. But don’t use soap, says Steinhauer, as it is hard to rinse away and the residue will interfere with the flavor of your beer.
This poor pot has had something cooking in it everyday for a couple of weeks. I think it needs a few days off.
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Elderberry Pond Farm
Lorings are still my favorite for canning. I wish I could preserve the beautiful colors in their skin but at least a good part of it bleeds into the flesh and makes for some lovely jam.
Not the recipe I used years ago but one with more spices and in this batch my Metechi garlic and chiles japones. Two long weeks until we can crack open the quart of trimmings...
It's hard to believe that we can be enjoying such glorious weather while the Gulf Coast hunkers down as Gustav approaches. But that's what we've got and we're making the most of it. After spending Saturday at the state fair where I enjoyed an hour or so getting as close as I could to 13 hitches of six draft horses each, we biked up to Oneida Lake yesterday and ended up doing over 40 miles before we went to our final baseball game of the season.
Really, really good peaches this year and some spectacular red heart plums but they don't begin to make up for the dismal tomato crop. After a few more jars of peaches I'll be moving on to green tomato chutneys & piccalillies, lots and lots of chutney & piccalilly.
We had rain most of the time we were in Vermont and now more rain here at home. The Brandywines are doomed. I should have planted rice.
This is the one part of the house I've never stepped foot in, never really seen until it finally dawned on me last week that I could get a picture of it with a digital camera held over the edge. When we bought the house twenty years ago this was filled with 4 feet of water and every bit of roof on this Dutch colonial had old half-round gutters draining into it where they weren't twisted out of shape.
They took forever to germinate this year but they were well worth the wait. So far we've been eating them a few at a time but next week there should be enough to warrant a sit down with some pecorino Toscano fresco and a glass of Prosecco.
Just as I was finishing up outside last night I noticed the night blooming primrose, the stemless one that opens at dusk and is spent shortly after the break of light. There were already five blossoms but while I was taking a picture a sixth dramatically unfolded.
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
The weed-pest of my garden, 2008, is yellow nutsedge, the result of another mistake on my part since I thought it was a rather attractive grass when it first appeared. Damn, you can't even eat the stuff which at least was a saving grace with my previous bete noire, lesser bittercress.
I'm sitting here working up the nerve to open my first batch of fromage blanc and ladle it into the butter muslin lined colander. I am so counting on this to work, to provide us with a cheese that's better than what I can get locally or that isn't shipped from someplace afar.
