Scraps

There's a right way and a wrong way to deal with random bits of food. The wrong way is the way of... someone close to me. Someone whom I love so so much. Someone who rhymes with "scmother". This way involves putting a large Tupperware container in the freezer, using it to create a stratum of progressive leftovers. When the container is full, defrost, dump in a pot, cover with water, salt to taste, and call it soup.

The ensuing rebellion at this gruel ensured that 'leftover soup' did not happen again.

(I should take a brief parental detour here and let you know that we children did not run the household. However, having simple majority, sometimes our outcries counted as a democratic decision. If the vote was split, but mom liked the controversial dish, a repeat was likely. We still have yells about something known as King Ranch Chicken. I am in the "like it" camp; Homesick Texan has a yummy sounding recipe on her site.)

(Another parent/food/geocultural bunny trail: One time we were gifted with a casserole that, apparently, was called Fish Saute. Being children of Seattle, we always thought it was called Fish Latte. Even typing this out, that's where my fingers went. 

Fish Latte. It'll be the Flavor of the Day at some drive-thru coffee stand in Monroe soon. If I'm right about that, you all owe me twenty bucks.)

Okay, back from... wherever that went. Oy vey. I spent my Saturday night* examining different ways to use fruit (specifically pear) scraps. One is straightforward pear butter. The other way spawned two recipes, one for canned cinnamon pears and one for pear-scrap apple jelly. Unless you like canning (I find it soothing) or you're bored out of your gourd and want to spend three hours with pears, I recommend splitting these methods up. It's a lot of pear time.

*If the idea of me at home experimenting with pears on a Saturday night makes you sad for me, please know that earlier in the day I had a date. Part of the date unexpectedly involved watching police with assault weapons lock down parts of the city and search for an armed suspect. We also strolled through an open-air flea market and had coffee. So, my day wasn't so very spinstery. 


Recipes ahead!

Escabeche and Kiwi Lime Jam

I am a canning fool. My pantry is well-stocked already, and I can't stop dreaming of all the other goodies I want to make.  I really want to try a version of the Dark Days challenge throughout this winter, and my inner pioneer woman couldn't be more delighted.

Before you start canning for yourself, please take time to read up on proper canning techniques. There are certain hard and fast rules you want to follow to ensure that all your time and effort produces delicious food that is safe to eat. There are many excellent resources that discuss each step in detail. Two I recommend and often use myself are Marisa McClellan's blog Food in Jars and a book I borrow from my local library, "Joy of Cooking: All about canning and preserving" from the Joy of Cooking empire.

The last recipes I canned were a delicious Kiwi Lime Jam, and a mix of jalepenos and other veggies in a strong brine.