Smoke 'em if you've got 'em

I just spent an incredible 8 days in New Orleans, celebrating my middle son's graduation from Loyola.
I'm one very proud (and very tired) mama.

I've been to New Orleans at least a dozen times over the past 15 years, and every time I go, I don't want to leave. When I woke up in Seattle today, I immediately thought of the daily morning walks I had grown accustomed to taking around the neighborhood of the charming apartment we rented.

During those leisurely strolls one of the best sights (and smells) we encountered was a smoker....right there on the sidewalk!

I am 99% sure if I set out right now - and walked 200 blocks all over Seattle - I would not be blessed again with the sweet intoxicating smell of hickory in the morning.
Unless I'm the one who fires up the tradition ;)

Keep Calm and Cowgirl Up.

Keep Calm and Cowgirl Up.

This might be my new mantra.

Charlee, getting a bath on a warm spring day.

Being a cowgirl means so many things to me. Shortly before I turned 50 last year, I bought a neglected not-yet-broke-to-ride rescue horse.
It was a BIG DEAL.

I hadn't ridden for 30 years (but prior to that spent many years riding & showing, so I wasn't a complete novice.) I knew what I was in for, or so I thought. I knew I would spend a lot of time teaching her things, but what I didn't know was, she would in turn teach me many things too.

I am on my way to the barn now, to spend time working with her; her name is Charlee, she's a 6 year old Paint mare, and she is the light of my life. Besides teaching me about myself, she makes me feel like a kid again. How awesome is that?

I just saw this list of things you can learn from working with your horse on Awaken Your Inner Cowgirl and I want to share them with you.

Can you relate?

Click to read more ...

To Smoke A Salmon, First You Have To Catch It.

I recently made a trip to the world famous Pike Place Market which, believe it or not, is only about a mile from my house. My goal was to shoot some scenes for my new website for the "About Me" page.

While I was there I realized I needed a salmon to smoke for my annual St Patrick's Day party, which was only 2 days away. Imagine my surprise when the guys at Pike Place Fish Market asked me if I wanted to "catch" a salmon. I thought they were kidding. I said "You mean, like, a stuffed salmon...a pretend salmon"? 

A few of the guys chimed in with variations of the word "no" and the next thing I knew I was standing behind the counter at the fish market, being egged on by the crowd. I was realllly nervous, but what a fun experience. 

 The sockeye salmon I smoked for the party turned out great too, but I think I'll save that blog post for the new website!

Learn to Preserve at Pike Place Fish from Kabja Concepts on Vimeo.

"The Sounds Of Preserving" video - final cut

Here it is!
It doesn't need much introduction other than to say:
"Have you speakers on and your volume up."

 It's even better with headphones.

"The Sounds of Preserving" from Kabja Concepts on Vimeo.

 

Heavenly Hawaiian Fruits

We're on vacation on Oahu right now, visiting my oldest son who is stationed at Pearl Harbor.

Lucky us!

iPhone photo

I've been to the Hawaiian Islands before, and every time I am here I am overcome with the desire to make jelly or jam. I even make sure to rent condos every time, so I'll have a kitchen to cook in.

The quality of Hawaii's mouthwatering fresh tropical fruits is always impressive and the low prices at the roadside stands astound me. I can't resist the many charm of Hawaii's abundant fruits.

Click to read more ...

The Sounds of Preserving...a work in progress...

Nope, this pressure cooker video isn't mine.

I found it on youTube this morning.

What does it have to do with me? Well, it's one of those sounds associated with preserving that brings back memories and I thought you might remember it too, either from your own pressure canning project last weekend or being in your grandma's kitchen 40 years ago.

These past couple days we've been working on a really fun video project called "The Sounds Of Preserving".

We've put together almost 50 different sounds that you might hear when preserving, along with close-ups of the action. It took a ton of planning, a lot of work in my kitchen, a mighty talented cameraman, some cameos from the people at Firefly Kitchens, Beecher's Handmade Cheese at Pike Place Market and Roanoke Park Place Tavern and plenty of time in the hands of some talented video editors at Kabja Concepts.

Why did I make the video? I'm going to use this one minute video to promote my new website and my app, both still under wraps.

Stay tuned....

Slivers of Seville Oranges

More marmalade in the works. 
One of these days I'll share what I've been working on with you, but for now, I am obsessed with making as many kinds of marmalade as I can, while it's still citrus season. 

Sitting on some new ideas...

Sorry I haven't been posting much these past few weeks.

I've been kinda' preoccupied.

I'm busy keeping some new ideas warm, working on creative projects outside the home, and doing plenty of preserving & recipe-writing in my favorite place in the world...my kitchen.

Hopefully you won't have to wait much longer to see the results. My goal is to roll out the new website by the summer, because after that I'll be scrambling around my kitchen, preserving everything & anything that pops up in my garden. Until then, I'll keep on cluckin' over on my Facebook page, which is updated throughout the day. 

Thanks for chicken, I mean, checkin' in here. So glad you did. Wouldn't want you to think I flew the coop!
 

Candied Mandarinquats

Have you ever seen a Mandarinquat?

I hadn't either until the other day when I spotted them at Whole Foods. I wanted to try them, but I knew at $6.99/lb, I wasn't going to buy very many of these gems. 

  Mandarinquats are  a cross between a mandarin and a kumquat. They are an orange, bell-shaped fruit that is larger than a typical kumquat at about two inches long. The peel is very sweet and is eaten along with the tart flesh. 

Click to read more ...

Best Way To Store Your Sealed Canning Jars

 First of all, let's hope you're lucky enough to have a special room or closet that is clean, cool, dark and dry. Maybe you even have a temperature-controlled zombie-proof walk-in pantry and a perfectly-cooperative LIFE Magazine-type family to help you put everything up on earthquake-proof shelves while sporting your freshly-coiffed hair, but I think I might be getting carried away with hyphens and hyperbole now, so let's cut to the chase...

Click to read more ...

Pear Honey

Have you ever heard of Pear Honey? 

It's an old-fashioned thing. You might be surprised to hear there's no honey involved. The only time bees were needed for this recipe were to pollinate the pears & pineapple, the two main ingredients in Pear Honey.

Click to read more ...

It's been a busy summer...

....and it has continues to be a busy fall. It doesn't look like things will slow down over the holidays either.

   My pantry overfloweth, which leaves me bursting with pride. I haven't only been putting up in jars, but drying, curing and fermenting too. It's difficult to take photos and type blogs when my hands are busy prepping, cooking, brining or processing produce, so I haven't been able to post as much content lately as I would like.

   My goal for Spring 2013 is to roll out a new look for my website, with an email subscription service and links to my favorite things. 

    In the meantime, you can always find plenty of my tips, ideas & recipes (usually including helpful step-by-step photos) by clicking on the topics on the right-side of my page. Hopefully I will still be able to post updates when I "can". Pun intended.