jam and bread

My kids eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch almost every day. I had a pediatrician tell me several years back that daily PB&Js are just fine. At the time, I wasn't necessarily looking for affirmation, and I'm usually one to question any outside guidance regarding my kids, but considering how much easier this particular indulgence makes my life, I accepted the advice blindly and haven't looked back. So, that's how we've rolled for a while now but I have tried to keep our PB&Js a bit more on the healthy side, even more so lately with homemade bread and jam.

Enter Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. If you have any interest whatsoever in trying bread making, but are intimidated by the process, I highly suggest that you check it out. The basic idea is that you mix up the bread (no kneading!), let it rise, then stick it in the fridge until baking day. When it's time to bake, take a hunk off the dough, shape it into a loaf, let it rest, bake it. Hands on time is literally about 5 minutes for the mixing and 5 more on baking day. Depending on the recipe you choose, you'll get 2 to 4 loaves out of every batch. The recipe I use for sandwiches is the Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, but I also like the whole wheat bread made with olive oil, both for loaves and for pizza dough. Seriously, folks, this is bread making at its simplest.

Then there's the jam. I have planned for years to learn canning so that I can line my pantry shelves with jars of homemade soup, homegrown (or at least locally grown) veggies and my own jams and jellies that actually taste like the fruit for which they are named. (The grandmothers were pro canners and food preservers.) This will be the summer. I am committing. 

My first attempt: Ponchatoula Strawberry freezer jam made from berries that we picked at a local organic farm. Freezer jam is the gateway to true canning and preserving. So easy, so delicious, so addictive. And so fun when you can pick the berries yourself! 

Here's the basic recipe, adapted from the one on the back of the Ball Freezer Jam Pectin box:

1 packet freezer jam pectin
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups crushed strawberries (I skipped the crushing and used my food processor)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
clean jars & lids

Mix the sugar and pectin thoroughly in a large bowl. Add your crushed or otherwise processed strawberries and lemon juice to the pectin mixture and stir for about 3 minutes. Pour the strawberry mixture into clean jars, leaving about 1/2 inch head space, and close the lids. Let the jars stand for 30 minutes or so until the jam thickens, then stick one in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. 

I love that this recipe only calls for 1 1/2 cups sugar. Most jam recipes that I found called for 3 cups per pint of strawberries!Yikes. And this stuff tastes so fresh and summery. You must try it. My favorite way to indulge: a slice of homemade bread spread with cream cheese and topped with strawberry jam. Like cheesecake for breakfast.

As far as the peanut butter goes, I just buy a ready made organic variety. I guess I should look into making my own...maybe next summer. So there you go - healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Really pretty easy and soooo good.

On a separate note, I have been crafting some over the past few months, little bits here and there. Getting around to blogging about my projects hasn't happened though, obviously. Living before blogging, right? I'll try to get a few things posted soon.

For now, I'll leave you with a gratuitous baby picture.

belated thanks...

Thanks to Larissa for the sweet nominations last month! (I actually owe her for a lot more than the nominations, considering that the majority of folks who come my way arrive here via her incredible blog.) You're so cool.

And, of course, I'd like to spread the crafty love by nominating a few blogs myself:

La Maison Boheme: I came across this one just a few days ago and have enjoyed browsing her lovely collections of design photos. I especially liked today's post. Not that I'm a huge fan of pink. In fact, I've spent much of the past year trying to persuade Audrey to branch out from her long-standing pink obsession. But, when Asher and I came home from the hospital, my dad had gotten me a gorgeous bouquet of perfectly pink roses. Those silly flowers made me smile every time I passed by them in my living room. Which makes me think a dash of more permanent pink might not be so bad in there. Anyway, cute blog. Check it out.

image via Three Potato Four

Three Potato Four: Okay, so I know these guys don't need a shout out from little ol' me, but I still feel the need to express my appreciation for their great taste, which makes their shop a real treasure trove. The blog highlights shop updates and the search for more vintage and modern goodies, plus the way Janet and Stu infuse their unique style into their home, family life and travels. A few of my favorites from their shop: this, this, and these.

And, finally, Lucy and I: This is a sweet blog by a fellow SAHM, or WAHM, depending on what stage she's in, how she's feeling, or who's asking. When she's "officially" working, the author designs, sews and sells clothes for moms and daughters. When she's not, she designs and sews simply for herself and her two girls. I really like her simple, classic aesthetic and materials. Oh, and she has another blog, shampoo free, that I find intriguing...

So there you go. Thanks again, Larry!

Score! or What I picked up in NYC...Part 1

image from savagesromance.files.wordpress.com

I'm back from my super girly getaway to New York City - exhausted, broke and full of inspiration for new projects this spring.

No comment from those of you who know about the ridiculous, ever-growing list of things I want to make, not to mention the towering pile of unfinished projects threatening to swallow up my craft room. Like you could say anything anyway.

Fueling the insanity was a trip to Kinokuniya, a humongous Japanese bookstore across from Bryant Park that's packed with great paper goods, unique toys and gifts, and - most importantly - row upon row of beautiful books brimming with crafty inspiration and, best of all, the patterns.

Here are a couple I picked up, along with some of the projects that sold me on them. I don't know the name of the first book (sorry - I don't read Japanese), but it's full of unusual projects using wool felt. The second is Machine Made Patchwork.

Oh, and I just might have picked up an extra Machine Made Patchwork for a certain super crafter who's looking to get into quilting... I'm sure you'll be seeing her completed projects from this book long before I actually get around to finishing one myself.

Rice Pudding

The March issue of Bon Appetit showed up in my mailbox this week . Yay! This is the one magazine these days that I sit and read from cover to cover. One of my favorite bits is the Cooking Life article by Molly Wizenberg, my favorite food writer and author of the award-winning blog Orangette. In the March article, Sweet Memories, Molly writes about her dad's love affair with rice pudding and her own rice pudding coming-of-age, including a simple, definitive recipe.

So, ironically, I discovered this gem of an article when I sat down to dinner with my treasured magazine last night. On the menu? Rice pudding. The kids and I are nursing colds and the husband was out of town, so dinner had to be something simple and comforting that could be made quickly with on-hand ingredients.

Armed with some leftover basmati and the dregs of a carton of whipping cream, I decided to try my hand at making rice pudding for the first time. (Like Molly, I was slow to come to an appreciation of this simple comfort food. Even as an adult, I haven't eaten it often. So, I'm no expert, but I had an idea of what I wanted it to be like. If only I had squeezed in some time to read my Bon Appetit earlier!) After unsuccessfully Googling for recipes, here's what I came up with on my own:

Stir together the following ingredients in a medium-sized, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil:

2 to 2 1/2 cups leftover basmati rice
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 2/3 cups skim milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of nutmeg
1 heavy pinch kosher salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup raisins

Once the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low-medium. In the meantime, beat 1 egg until slightly thickened and lemony in color; set aside. Stir the rice mixture off and on for about 20 minutes, until it takes on more of a loose, creamy, pudding-like consistency. (At this point, I stirred in 2 tablespoons of butter. Probably not completely necessary.)

When that's done, stir about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the hot rice pudding into the beaten egg. Then, slowly add the warmed egg mixture to the rice, stirring vigorously and constantly to prevent the egg from curdling in your pudding. That would be bad.

Continue to gently stir your pudding for about 5 minutes, giving the egg time to cook and finish the thickening process. Note: the egg bit could totally be skipped, if you wanted a little looser consistency.

And then you're done. Slap that creamy goodness into a bowl and indulge. I liked it warm. The kids approved. We'll see this morning how it holds up cold.