Strawberry Rose Petal Preserves

The local Foodshed had an amazing sale on strawberries.  The recent heat wave caused the strawberry fields to smell like jam, which is heavenly but means it's the last of the strawberries.  So it's time to jam.

I wanted to add an additional flavor; looking at what was available in my yard, I thought roses would go beautifully with strawberries.  I picked a bunch of 'purple splash' rose petals and a Meyer lemon from the garden.  I use Pomona universal pectin, mostly because that's what's available at the co-op, but also because it allows me to use less sugar than some recipes.

flower rainbow for pride month;
that's a 'purple splash' rose on the upper left corner.

1.25-1.5 cups evaporate can sugar, organic, fair trade

3 teaspoons pectin

5 cups strawberries (1.5-2 pounds), sliced thick

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 teaspoons calcium water (from the pectin packet)

2 cups rose petals, tightly packed

Place a small plate in the freezer. If canning, prep all your tools and equipment, and start boiling water for processing.  Make the calcium water.

In a small bowl, add sugar.  Sprinkle with pectin and stir well. Send aside.

Put a large cast iron enameled pot on high heat.  Add the sliced strawberries. lemon juice, and calcium water.  Bring to a boil, stirring.  Sprinkle in the sugar mix and stir vigorously to dissolve sugar while bringing it back to a boil.  Stir in the rose petals and boil for 5 minutes. Test to see if the jam is set by putting a teaspoonful of liquid jam onto the frozen plate.  Allow plate to cool for 2 minutes in the fridge.  If the jam gels, it's ready.  If not, test every 2 minutes.  When it's done, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

If canning, fill jars leaving a half-inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 4.5 cups.  I made three batches, which made 13 cup jars—the perfect fit in my canning pot.

Mulberry Lemon Coffee Cake

My spouse is the baker so this is his recipe.  This is his favorite breakfast during mulberry season.

For the topping, into food processor:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour (or spelt or flour of your choice)
2/3 cup pecans (or nut of your choice)
1/2 brown sugar (or sugar of your choice)
5 tablespoons melted butter or oil of your choice (walnut would be nice)
pinch sea salt
zest of 2 lemons

Pulse until a course meal texture and set aside.

For the cake, in a separate bowl, mix:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup quinoa flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1/3 spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt

And set aside

In a separate measuring cup, mix:

juice of 1 lemon
add buttermilk to 1 1/4 cups
1 teaspoon vanilla

And set aside.

In a bowl to a stand-up mixer, cream:

4 tablespoons butter or oil of your choice
1/2 cup evaporated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
zest of 2 lemons

Add 2 eggs to mixer, (incorporate 1 at a time).

Alternately mix in a third of the flour mix, then a third of liquid, repeating until all incorporated.

Spread mixture into a buttered 9x13 pan. Sprinkle on top 4 cups of fresh mulberries. Then sprinkle on the crumbly topping.  Bake at 350 degrees 40-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean of cake (but you'll still see berries on the toothpick).

Backyard Banana Bread

Years ago I planted a raja puri banana and this is the first harvest!  They're unexpectedly good–a little tart, a little sweet, a little firm–just a really excellent little banana.  I've got a whole big bunch ripening.  We're eating them in our breakfast, I'll be freezing a lot of them, but because of COVID-19, I'm not seeing very many people to share them with.

This is based on my mom's recipe.  Don't mash the bananas too much or it takes forever to bake.

1/2 cup safflower oil
1 cup rapadura and/or evaporated cane sugar
2 backyard eggs
1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup oat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or your mix of favorite flours)
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp sea salt
1 cup lightly mashed very ripe banana
1/4 cup yogurt or sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips or blueberries or mulberries (optional)

Beat oil, sugar & eggs. In a separate bowl, shift together dry ingredients. Alternate mixing in dry ingredients with the banana, sour cream & vanilla. Mix in the nuts & chocolate chips.  Bake in a greased & floured loaf pan at 325 degrees (convection) for 60-100 minutes until firm in the center.

Variation:

Add crisp topping before baking: 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, 3 tblsp cubed cold butter, 3 tblsp rolled oats, 1/2 tsp ground flax seed, 1/2 tsp hemp seed, 1/2 tsp chia seed, beat together until homogenous

Loquat Chamoy

Flipping through the latest Edible SD magazine, I turn to the last page and see a simple, short recipe for chamoy.  I'm not a huge fan of sweet-spicy but my little brother and sister love it, so I thought I'd whip some up for them.

It seemed odd to me that their recipe called for apricots, which are not easily or often grown in San Diego.  With a plethora of loquats on my trees and multiple jars of freshly jammed loquats in my cupboard, it struck me as the perfect use for them.  Being ubiquitous here, currently in season, and, while not native, a big part of my Mexican culinary heritage, it's an obvious choice.  So here's my version:

4-6 loquats, peeled and seeded
1/2 cup loquat preserves
zest and juice of 3 small limes
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4-1 teaspoon ancho chile powder (to taste)
3/4-1 teaspoon cayenne chile powder (to taste)

Add all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes about 1 cup.

Serve on fruit sorbets, fresh fruit, fruity drinks, shave ice, cheesecake, tostilocos...

Vanilla Loquat Preserves

A great crop on my favorite loquat tree this year!  I'll be making a few versions of this jam this month:

16 cups loquats (seeded and quartered)

4 cups sugar (or less)
1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla extract (or see other variations)

Remove the blossom end of the loquats, seeds, and cut into quarters.  In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the loquats with sugar and lemon juice and let sit for at least a half hour.

On high heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, to gel point (could be 20-60 minutes - test a small amount of jelly on a plate you've kept in the freezer; return the plate to the freezer for 1 minute.  If the jelly wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it is done.)  Stir in vanilla extract.

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes 9 cups.

Variations:
Instead of vanilla, try 16 leaves rose geranium, zest of an orange, or 1 teaspoon cardamom added when you bring it to a boil.

Lavender Mulberry Preserves

Looking at and smelling the lavender growing next to my mulberry tree made me think their delicate flavors might be nice together.

Lavender in foods can be tricky.  Too little and you can't detect it, too much and it tastes like soap.  To avoid overpowering flavors I always use fresh lavender.  It's quite subtle in this recipe:

6 pounds fresh mulberries

4 1/2 cups sugar
24 springs of fresh lavender, tied together in a bouquet garni
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons calcium water (comes with Pomona's universal pectin powder)
2 tablespoons pectin powder

Rinse mulberries and clip the little stem off (this part takes forever).

In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the mulberries with sugar and lavender and let sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

Put mulberry mix on high heat.  Stir in the lemon juice and calcium water.  Slowly sprinkle in the pectin stirring it in as you goes so as to avoid lumps.  Boil, stirring constantly, to gel point (test a small amount of jelly on a plate you've kept in the freezer; return the plate to the freezer for 1 minute.  If the jelly wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it is done.)

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Makes 12 cups.

Variations:
Try a different herb instead of lavender, such as sage, mint, lemon verbena, or rose geranium.
Instead of lemon juice, use 1/4 cup white or dark balsamic vinegar and eliminate the herb.

Mulberry Preserves with Homemade Pectin

In the past, I have not been patient or experienced enough to get mulberries to the correct jam consistency.  Mulberries don't have enough pectin on their own to jam, I've always wanted to make my own pectin, and I had a couple pomelos hanging around.  So this year, I did a bit more research, used the turbo burner on my stove to get the temp up and voila!  Success!

4 pounds fresh mulberries
homemade citrus pectin from half a pound of pith
2 7/8 cups sugar
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice or vinegar of your choice)

Rinse mulberries and clip the little stem off (this part takes forever).

In a large enameled pot (or other high heat tolerant, non-reactive pot), mix the mulberries with sugar and let sit in the fridge for 8 hours.

Put mulberry mix on high heat, add pectin and vinegar, and stir frequently to 220 degrees or to gel point (this part can take awhile - be patient to get to that gel point)

If you're canning, fill jars leaving 1/2 inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Mulberry Cordial

Mulberry season is in full force, but a month later than recent years after a long, cool, wet winter.  My tree is quite prolific; I have plenty to share with neighbors, friends, family, birds and squirrels.  I'm also looking for more recipes to try to use them up.  Of course, I always jam them.  I love them in a meyer marmalade.  I'll borrow my mom's dehydrator.  And here's a cordial/syrup:

3 cups mulberries
1 1/2 cups evaporated cane sugar

juice of a small lemon

In a quart jar, crush berries and sugar and add lemon juice. Let steep in fridge for 1-2 days, then strain out the fruit.

Keep refrigerated up to a week. This can also be canned to be shelf stable for up to a year.

Serve with sparkling water over ice or to sweeten iced tea or lemonade.

Variation: add 1 1//2 cups of vinegar (balsamic, red wine, or apple cider) after straining to make a shrub.

March in my garden

thyme, nasturtium, calla lily, elderberry, lavender, sour grass, rose geramium,
johnny jump-up, california poppy, arugula, rose 'purple splash', calendula

While most of my wildflowers are still tiny little seedlings, I have many (mostly edible) blooms in my garden to herald the coming of spring!

I love adding edible flowers to dishes - in salads and drinks, decorating desserts and platters - they make food look so special.

But if I could only plant one thing, it would be tomatoes. We have lovely farmers markets and San Diego county has more farmers (and more organic farmers) than anywhere else in the country. But there's few things that taste better than homegrown tomatoes.

Plan

I do much better with seedlings, and I want to plant interesting varieties with top notch flavor so I head to Tomatomania for a pretty epic selection. While they didn't have the Gardener's Delight cherry tomato that did so well for us last year, I still came home with an exciting selection:

• Summer of Love
• Thorburn's Terra-Cotta
• Paul Robeson
• Black from Tula
• Gladiator
• Amish Paste
• Michael Pollan
• Orange Strawberry
• Black Cherry

But they didn't have a couple specific varieties I wanted so I bought some seeds online at Baker's Creek that look pretty phenomenal so hopefully I can manage to grow from seed this year. I also bought non-tomato seeds at City Farmers Nursery from San Diego Seed Co (chiles and basil). I'm thinking about where to place new beds for my summer garden, how I'll be rotating my existing beds to grow as many tomatoes as possible this summer, and whether I should have some top soil and compost delivered for new beds.

I've been wanting to build a circular series of beds with a simple rock bubbling fountain in the middle so we'll see if I make any progress on that this year.

I'm also thinking about how I might add a small lily pond, but that's more of a dream than a plan.

Prep

I've readied my westmost hugel mound for tomatoes and I have materials to build tomato supports. I'm harvesting the mulch and bedding from the chicken coop and yard for mulching the garden beds.

I'm going to be more diligent this year with caring for the seeds I'm trying to start:
tomatoes -

• Brad's Atomic Grape
• Dark Galaxy 

and chiles/peppers -

• heirloom poblano
• heirloom anaheim
• purple jalapeño
• chile de negro (I traded for at the Earth Day seed swap last year)
• Paradicsom Alaku Sarga Szentes

Weed

Now is the time - don't wait!  The ground is soft and moist, making it easy to pull them and they're still pretty small and haven't gone to seed.  Do it! Do it now!

Plant

I've planted many tomatoes with their companions (marigolds, green onion, garlic, basil, carrots), sugar snap peas (a nitrogen fixer), and direct seeded sunflowers, loofah & melons (a bit early so we'll see how that goes).

Also good to plant this month: radish, beets, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, potatoes, greens, green beans, corn, turnip, cucumber, squash, citrus, avocado, macadamia, dill, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, dahlias, and the last chance this year for natives.

Feed

Fertilize citrus, avo, orchids, 3# on passionfruit, everything (except natives and drought tolerant) in the waning moon.

Water

I'm grateful for continued rain!
Water deep in the morning every 10-14 days if it doesn't rain, more often for new seedlings. I'm blasting my fruit trees (that aren't flowering) with water a couple times this month to help control ants, aphids, white fly & scale.

Prune

I'm pinching off new growth on the grape vines below the trellis to concentrate the energy into the growth to cover the top of the trellis.

Here's what I'm harvesting...

eggs, arugula, tangerines, eureka lemons, nasturtiums, calendulas, parsley, thyme, oregano, chives, lavender, lemon grass, rose geranium, lemon verbena, elderberry flowers

December in my garden

Still waiting for the rain this December, but it's cooled off (this week) after having a 90° Thanksgiving. A friend of a friend needed to rehome their chickens (all my chickens are rescues), so we just added 3 to our flock. Meet Nutmeg, Eggnog, and Anise!

Eggnog (a Leghorn), Nutmeg (a speckled Sussex), and Anise (an Autralorp)

They are young ladies, so hopefully that means we'll get some eggs soon. Most of our flock are somewhere around 8 years old so they are retired (or freeloaders).  And all of them have molted and stopped laying for the winter, so we'll see how they do in the Spring...

Plan

Start drooling over seed catalogs! Baker Creek heirloom rare seeds is my favorite (such beautiful varieties! I have a strong penchant for purple vegetables 😊) and San Diego Seed Company is local. But honestly, last year I did better with seedlings.
Other good resources for research and learning:

• Wild Willow Farm
• San Diego Sustainable Living Institute
• City Farmers Nursery
• The Water Conservation Garden

Prep

Amend hugelkultur beds with compost. Rake out chicken area for mulch. Let the chickens into more areas of the yard to eat grubs and dig up all the grasses that have grown back (after I spent so much time trying to remove that bermuda grass! 😠)

Plant
Broccoli seedlings from City Farmers interspersed with garlic cloves from Schaner Farm did so well for me last year, I'll do it again this month.
artichokes (mine's already a big healthy plant from last year's planting), asparagus (maybe next year), beets, broccoli, brussels, cabbage, carrots, celery, cilantro, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radish, parsnips, garlic, wildflower seeds, natives (I need a cleveland sage - it's my favorite), cover crops (fava & peas)

Feed
Feed passion fruit 3 pounds of fruit tree fertilizer. I can't believe it's still flowering and fruiting.

Water

Water deep in the morning every 10-14 days if it doesn't rain. I'll continue to blast my fruit trees with water a couple times this month to help control ants, aphids, white fly & scale.

Prune

Prune grapes (I'm going to weave trimmed vines in the shade structure over the windows to create more summer shade) and blackberries. Deadhead the lavender and aroma sage. Trim back mulberry (one of the big branches will be repurposed for passionfruit vine support), guava and pepper tree by mid-December so as not to disturb the birdie nest building that will start soon. Chop up trimmings (if not used in other projects) for mulch.

Harvest

copious guavas, passion fruit, calamondins, the last of the tomatoes, winter squash, basil, parsley, thyme, chives, lavender, lemon grass, rose geranium leaves

Goat cheese Cheesecake with Apple compote & Cajeta

I'm lucky enough to have friend that raises goats who will trade fresh goat milk for my backyard chicken eggs. I use the milk to make my own chevre (very easy - I just follow the instructions on the culture package I get here), cajeta, ricotta...

This Thanksgiving dessert is rich, not too sweet, and oh so wonderful.

Crust:
9 whole graham crackers
1 cup pecans
2 rounded tablespoons rapadura sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the graham crackers, pecans and sugar in a food processor and process until finely ground. With the motor running, add the butter through the feed tube and process until the mixture just comes together. Butter the bottom and side of the pan. Pat the mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, and bake until lightly golden brown and just set, about 8 minutes.

Filling:
12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

15 oz chevre, at room temperature
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
4 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 large vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Place the cheeses in the bowl of a stand fixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the sugar and beat until the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time and mix until just incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.  Add the vanilla seeds, vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream and mix until just combined.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan.  Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake.  Bake until the sides of the cake are slightly puffed and set and the center still jiggles, about 55 minutes (40 for convection).

Turn the heat off and prop the door open with a wooden spoon and allow the cake to cook in the water bath for 1 hour.  Remove the cake to a baking rack and allow to cool to room temperature for 2 hours.  Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours until chilled through.

Serve with apple compote, drizzle with the cajeta and sprinkle with the remaining toasted pecans.

Apple Compote:
1 cup apple cider from Smit Farms
1/4 cup rapadura sugar
1 tablespoon butter from Spring Hill
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

6 Smit Farms apples (granny smith, pink lady & fuji), peeled, cored, halved and thinly sliced

Bring cider and sugar to a boil in a large saute pan over high heat and cook until slightly thickened and reduced to 1/2 cup. Stir in the butter until melted. Add the apples, vanilla, and cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized and just soft.

POG juice & passion fruit superbloom

Wow, my passion fruit is prolific! After not getting any fruit the first year I planted it, this summer we hand-pollinated all the flowers, which bloomed all of May and June.

It wasn't too daunting a task as there were only a handful of flowers a day, 12 at the most. We started reaping the bountiful harvest in early August. After a heat wave and then a touch of rain, here we are in early in September, the plant is covered in ripening fruit, and now has 30-50 flowers a day!

Passion fruit is a heavy feeder (I fertilize it every month that it's flowering/fruiting) and drinker (but hey, what am storing this rainwater for?).  It felt like the fruit would never ripen - but of course it did; they fall off the vine when they're ready - how convenient! Thanks, Mother Nature!

Juicing the fruit is pretty easy: cut in half, scoop out the flesh into a mesh stainer, and use a rubber spatula to stir and press the juice out (this process is faster than it sounds).

I planted passion fruit because I wanted to make POG - passion orange guava juice. I use a 1:1:1 ratio of oranges to passion fruit to small guavas. For the guava, I peel and seed the fruit and blend it with the passion and orange juice.

Calamondins in the Giant Forest

I just figured out that those are not super sour kumquats growing in my backyard.  Thanks to a fb post in the San Diego Backyard Fruit Exchange, I found that I have calamondins!  Not that it makes a difference but it's nice to know.

It's so hot and I'm prone to heat-induced vertigo.  With this in mind, I stocked up on white tea for the summer.  And I wanted to bring a beverage for our camp trip in the Sequoias.  This was the perfect thirst-quencher while I soaked my feet in the deliciously icy river.

1/2 oz white peony tea leaves from the co-op
3/4 cup evaporated cane sugar (or sweetener of your choice) from the co-op
3/4 cup fresh squeezed juice from my backyard lemons
1 cup calamondins from my backyard, cut in half, seeded if you like
spring water

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, remove from heat and add the tea leaves.  Stir briefly to submerge the leaves and let steep for about 10 minutes, to taste.  Stir in the sugar until dissolved.  Strain into a 1/2 gallon mason jar and allow to cool.  Add in the lemon juice and the kumq..., I mean, calamondins.  Add more water to fill to 1/2 gallon.

Spiced Cranberry Pear Compote

This version of cranberry sauce was inspired by a wonderfully fragrant pear from Smit Farms at the Little Italy farmers market.

1 pear, peeled, diced
zest of an orange or tangerine
1 1/2 cups apple cider
3 cups fresh cranberries
1/3 cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup rapadura sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground

1/4 teaspoon clove, ground

a pinch of allspice, ground

1/8 teaspoon cayenne, ground

Stir all ingredients in large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes, until all cranberries burst. Uncover, reduce heat to simmer until the pear is soft and the raisins are plumped, 15-20 minutes. Cool to serve at room temp. Can be kept frozen for several weeks or canned to be shelf stable.

Makes about 3 cups.

Simple (dairy-free) Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream

I don't eat tropical fruit often because of issues with sustainability.  I never buy bananas, but I do pick up bruised ones from the co-op free bin (perks of working at an organic grocery store) and if I get really lucky, I trade with a neighbor for lovely locally grown ones!

2 ripe bananas, frozen
1 can coconut milk
1/4-1/3 cup agave or local honey, to taste
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups pineapple, finely diced

Peel bananas, chop into several pieces, and blend in a food processor for a couple minutes, until creamy.  Add the coconut milk, honey and vanilla; blend until smooth.  Pour into an ice cream maker add the pineapple and let it do it's thing until the consistency of soft serve.  Transfer to a container to freeze.  Enjoy when it's firm enough for you.

POG Lemonade!

My mom just had her 60th birthday and we celebrated in the park, potlucking and jamming with her musician friends and family.  She requested carrot cake cupcakes.  I also made a 7-layer dip with beans and salsa from scratch.  I had quite a lot of locally grown fruit on hand (from the farmers market and Solidarity Farm's CSA) and a tree dripping with guavas (it LOVES all the grey water it's getting from our shower). And with a few of my family members having recently been to Hawaii, I was inspired to make POG (passion fruit-orange-guava, for those who have not been blessed enough to taste this juice blend) lemonade... and OMG, yum!  I think it's my best lemonade yet:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup evaporated cane sugar (or agave or sweetener of your choice)
1 small guava (I think mine are strawberry guavas but honestly I have no idea what variety), peeled and seeded
juice of 1 orange
2 passion fruits

I make a simple sugar first, heating the sugar in a couple cups of water, stirring just until it dissolves; pour into my half-gallon mason jar and allow it to cool in the fridge.

I squeeze my citrus into another container, add the guava and blend until very smooth. Add it to the cooled simple syrup.  Cut the passion fruit in half and scoop the goopy flesh and seeds into the juice.  Add water to fill the half-gallon container, screw the lid on and shake stir.

Easy Berry Sorbet or Sherbet

I froze most of my mulberry crop this year and I froze a ton of blueberries that I bought in bulk from a local farm for a great price at the peak of the season a few weeks ago. And I keep lots of seasonal fruit handy. So when my little sister asked if we could make something in the ice cream maker, she had her pick of flavors. She chose a mix of berries: strawberries, blackberries, mulberries, and blueberries.

3 cups berries
1/4 cup spring water
1/4 - 1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
a tablespoon of zest of a lemon, lime, or orange

Boil water with sugar until dissolved. Allow to cool slightly. Puree berries and sugar syrup well in a blender. Press through fine sieve to remove seeds if desired. Stir zest into puree. Refrigerate until cold if using fresh fruit instead of frozen. Freeze in ice cream machine for about 25 minutes. 

Variations
Use 1&1/2 cups fruit and 1&1/2 cups plain whole Strauss yogurt for a creamy sherbet
Instead of berries: try peaches or nectarines
Garnish with lemon basil chiffonade or mint leaves, thin crisp cookies, and edible flowers
Garnish with granola & carob chips
Instead of sugar: use agave, maple syrup, or honey and omit or decrease the water

LOL! Marmalade

In San Diego, loquats are ubiquitous and largely ignored, even when heavy with their delectable, unique fruits.  I grew up eating them off my English immigrant grandma's and my Mexican-American great-grandma's trees.  Each spring I was treated to their yellow appearance on the branches and would wait with joy for them to turn slightly more orange so I could seek out the perfectly ripe specimen.  I have trees of my own now but while every where else in SD the fruits are abundant, this is the second year that mine haven't beared at all!  I'll spend some time trying to remedy this for next year but in the meantime, I have friends with a plethora of extra fruit.  So this marmalade is courtesy of the Coopers:

Loquat Orange Lime Marmalade
I like making marmalade because it produces it's own pectin; I don't have to add extra, non-organic ingredients.  That an organic pectin is not available is shocking to me. And I like cutting the marmalade with another fruit (I've also made a strawberry- and a mulberry-meyer lemon variety!) because that helps temper the sweetness of all the added sugar and the stiffness of the pectin.

4 cups loquat (after being peeled, seeded, membranes removed) from the Coopers
2 pounds (about 8 small) cara cara oranges from Smit Farms at the Little Italy farmers market
2 pounds (about 3 large) navel oranges from Solidarity Farm
4 limes from the Coopers
5 1/3 cups local spring water
4 cups sugar (I like organic evaporated cane)

Prep the loquats: I had a ton of fruit so I peeled them after blanching using this method.  Then I removed the seeds and the stringy membranes around the seeds by hand.  (You could also freeze the fruit at this point to use in other future recipes.)

Scrub the citrus fruit clean. I do not use soap (yuck); just rubbing and water.

Cut oranges in half and juice (you need 2 2/3 cups of juice), saving all the seeds & membranes in a muslin bag or cheesecloth (cuz we're making our own pectin!).  Scrape the white pith (and save in the bag) from the oranges (this is the the most time consuming active part of this recipe).  Julienne the peels.

Cut the limes in 8ths, lengthwise.  Remove seeds and membranes and add them to the bag.  Slice the lime sections into thin triangles.

Put the juice, peels, lime triangles, water & muslin bag (closed tight, let the string hang over the edge but don't let it catch on fire) in a medium/large-ish, heavy bottomed pot.  Bring to a boil and boil on medium heat, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so the fruit and bag doesn't stick to the bottom and burn.

Remove from heat.  Transfer bag to a bowl and allow to cool.  Measure the marmalade mixture and for every cup, add a cup of sugar.  When the bag is cool enough to handle, squeeze the pectin juices into the marmalade mix (and then compost the bag contents).

Heat the marmalade back up to a rapid boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.  Secure a candy thermometer in your mixture, making sure it does not touch the pot.  You want to get the temp up to 220-222 degrees so it will jell (this step also takes awhile).  Then stir in your loquats, return to a boil, and remove from heat.

Fill sterilized jars (that you've been keeping in hot water) leaving 1/2 inch head room, scrape down side to remove any air bubbles, clean head space & outer threads with a clean, damp cloth, add lids & rings (that you've been keeping in hot water), not super tight, and process in water bath covering the topd of the cans by an inch of water just below a simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the water bath and let sit, undisturbed overnight.  Next morning, check to make sure they've sealed and tighten the rings.

Makes about 10 1/2 cups.

There are many resources for more complete instructions on jamming and canning.  Check out your local library, co-op, or homesteading groups.

Fig Preserves Part 2: Spiced

3 cups fresh figs, chopped and destemed (thanks, Mariah!)
1-2 cups fresh apple juice, from Smit Farms
1 1/2 cups local honey
1/4 cup crystallized/candied ginger, diced
juice of one fresh lemon, from Schaner Farm
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger

Combine all the ingredients in a heavy medium-sized pot (I like enameled cast iron; it's safe, clean and the least reactive) on medium-high heat.  Stir frequently, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer (this is a good time to set up your water bath for equipment & jar sterilizing) until jam gels, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Fill sterilized jars (that you've been keeping in hot water), wipe lip & outer threads with a clean, damp cloth, add lids & rings (that you've been keeping in hot water), not too tight, and boil in a water bath for 10 minutes.  Remove and let sit undisturbed overnight.

Makes 4 cups 

If you're new to jamming, get yourself a good resource for a more descriptive process on how to jam.

(Ok, truth be told, the above recipe is what I wished I had made.  The recipe I was adapting this from was poorly written and had way too much cinnamon  - lesson learned for me -  so to try to salvage my jam, it became an "all fruits in" spiced jam and I cleared out my fridge to add an apple and a couple pluots, chopped up and another 1/3 cup or so of honey.  I'll call it christmas chutney and give it for holiday gifts and no one will be the wiser)

Honey Balsamic Fig Preserves

I am a big fan of trading.  Seeds, saplings, starters, recipes, clothes, work, skills, time... And I love food swaps.  I have too many eggs from my lovely backyard chickens, my friend has a heavy-bearing fig tree (or lemons, macadamia nuts, goat milk, honey, vegan tamales, tomatoes...), so we trade!  Yay!  Let's take some money out of the system and build community while we grow and produce our own!

 Now I've got all these figs (she brought me a sizable bag of them) -- enough to try 2 different small-batch fig jam recipes (and bonus: figs are another fruit that don't need added pectin to jam), so here's the first...

2 1/2 cups fresh figs (thanks, Mariah!), chopped into eighths
3/4 cup local honey (or your favorite sugar or syrup)
1/4 cup apple juice from Smit Farms (or orange juice or other liquid of your choice)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice or another vinegar)

If you're new to jamming, get yourself a good resource for a more descriptive process on how to jam.

Set up your water bath for equipment & jar sterilizing.

Combine figs, honey, juice and vinegar in a heavy medium-sized pot (I like enameled cast iron; it's safe, clean and the least reactive) on medium-high heat.  Stir frequently, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until jam gels, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Fill sterilized jars (that you've been keeping in hot water), wipe lip & outer threads with a clean, damp cloth, add lids & rings (that you've been keeping in hot water), not too tight, and boil in a water bath for 10 minutes.  Remove and let sit undisturbed overnight.

Makes 1 1/2-2 cups

Adapted from wellpreserved.ca