Low Sugar Strawberry Apricot Jam

One part apricots, one part strawberries, one part sugar. Process in food processor. Bring to boil. Cook down until silky, thick, and not so bubbly. Then into a hot water bath. 

Chocolate Pudding from scratch

Pudding didn't used to come from a box.

I like chocolate.
I like eggs, and have a steady supply.
I like cream.

Let us combine these to make pudding, but what to do with the leftover whites ...?

The almond cookies use egg whites.
This pudding uses egg yolks.
A match made, well, in the kitchen.

Freezing Apricot Pies

Over the winter and spring we like to have "fresh" peach and apricot pies. We do this by making up the fillings and freezing them in pie pans until they set. Then bag them in gallon freezer zip-lock bags.

Vorax Egg Muffin

A friend brought us some sourdough English muffins from the Bay Area. So, we had to come up with some special way to enjoy them. I had some leftover lunchmeat and cheese so I decided to make a breakfast sandwich.

This is not gluten-free, vegetarian, locavore, paleo, low-carb, low-fat, or raw food. But it is quite tasty and satisfying. And maybe every once in a while, life should just be tasty and satisfying.

First assemble the ingredients. Then realize you forgot the turkey after you took the picture. I had some nice pastrami from Grocery Outlet that were the ends from large deli rolls.

Incredible Edible Sale May 4, 2013

I am looking forward to getting more veggie starts at the Incredible Edibles Sale that the Master Gardeners are putting on May 4, 2013 -- next weekend (is it really almost May?!). I am looking forward to tomatoes, chard, salad greens, and tromboncino squash, all of which did well last year. This year they are going to have strawberries and flowers as well.

Last year I had a pretty good plan for the front yard garden, but not as clear of one for the back. As a result it took me a little longer to get the plants in the ground in the back and they didn't do very well.

Getting ready for the sale last year

Last year's raffel

Sharon helping out at check out

Getting the plants in the ground and tucked in with mulch

Harvesting a tromboncino squash

Tromboncino squash

I still have (well, had) two tromboncino squash fruits from last fall's harvest.

I have been impressed by how well they have kept over the winter. I just had them set on a shelf in the basement. I've had a couple of them develop a little bad spot at the end that then starts to rot. Once I cut that part off the rest is in good shape.

Creamed butter, sugar, and eggs.

So when I posted about the chocolate chip cookie fail, one thing I didn't get a picture of was how strange the caramel + brown sugar + butter + eggs looked. The butter clarified and didn't fully incorporate into the caramel.

This is what creamed butter, sugar, and eggs is supposed to look like ...

I wish I better understood the chemistry of what is going on with this magical concoction when making cookies.

Update: I got a great comment from donaleen about a Baking 911 blog post that goes into great detail about creaming butter and sugar and the considerations of the temperatures involved. Well worth a read.