spicy ginger apple butter

Made some tasty apple butter the other day.  It made the house smell oh so good.  Also it was super duper easy!  I based this recipe off of a link I found on 101cookbooks.  I added a gingery kick to mine because that morning at the grocery store we ran across a lovely bottle of ginger syrup, which was exciting, so we bought it!

Here's how!  chop up about 4 lbs of apples, i used a few types including fuji.  Place in a large stock pot and cover with apple cider.  simmer the apples slowly for about 1 hour until the apples are very very soft.  Puree the apples and cider until almost smooth.  return to the stock pot.  stir in 1 cup raw sugar, 1 cup ginger syrup, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves and the juice of one lemon.  simmer the mixture over low heat, uncovered, until it reduces and darkens in color.  It took me around 2 1/2 hours to get to my desired consistency.  Be patient, it's worth it.

I canned mine (which came out to 7 small jam jars.) but you could also skip the sealed jars and put it straight in the fridge, as long as you eat it within a month. probably not a problem...  If canning, process in the boiling water bath for 10 minutes.  Remove jars and set on clean dry surface, to cool.  Let sit out over night and check to make sure they are sealed the next morning.  Store in a dark cool place and enjoy as you wish!

love, heidi

sunsets and jam

last night was a gorgeous sunset in ballard.  it was a perfect fall day, clear and crisp.  i noticed the beautiful sky returning from buying a whole bunch of pomegranates from the market and had to get a better look.

and then i made some jam.

pomegranate jam.

i just had to buy some pomegranates.

honestly, i am not a big jam lover, but this tasted quite delicious even though i was a bit concerned about the consistency. i'm new to the whole pectin thing. well jam thing in general.

Here's what i did:

- about 4 cups pomegranate juice  (this took me a lot of pomegranates... and time... you could also just buy some pomegranate juice. i probably won't be foolish enough to spend 2 hours peeling and juicing again. of course, i don't have a juicer.. and my food processor died that day, so that didn't help.)

- seeds of one pomegranate

- juice of 1/2 lemon

- 2 cups sugar

- 2 tablespoons agave

- 2 teaspoons pectin (dissolved in the agave)

- 2 teaspoons of calcium water (included with the pectin packet)

first bring the pomegranate juice, seeds, and lemon juice to a simmer. stir in sugar until dissolved. once at a boil again add the agave/ pectin and the calcium water. stir vigorously for 2 minutes with a steady boil. remove from heat and ladle into hot sterilized jars.  top with sterilized tops and screw bands the process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. done!

so 12 pomegranates and 4 hours later this is what i ended up with. tasty. and quite pretty if i do say so myself.

love, heidi