Brunswick Stew

The first time I had Brunswick Stew was at the Virginia State Fair at the Brunswick County Fire Department Booth. I immediately knew I wanted to know how to make it and fortunately for me they had kindly printed out copies of the recipe free for the taking. It is the perfect stew for a rainy day when you want to stay home and nest. This stew takes awhile to make and if you think you could scrimp on the cooking time, don't. I've tried that. The flavors just don't blend and it is really pretty terrible. If you have the time to simmer it for a full five hours, do it. It only gets better!

Brunswick Stew

2 1/2 - 3 pound chicken

2 pieces celery

1 small onion

2 quarts tomatoes, fresh or canned

1 cup chopped onion

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 quart green butter beans or lima beans (I use frozen limas)

1 quart whole kernel corn (again, I use frozen)

5 Tbsp sugar

Salt to taste

Red and black pepper to taste

Place chicken, celery and small onion in a large kettle. Add water to cover chicken. Simmer until meat is tender or begins to loosen from bones. Lift chicken from broth. Cool the broth and discard the celery. Remove meat from bones and cut into small pieces.

Add tomatoes, chopped onions and potatoes to broth. Continue cooking over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add cut-up chicken, butter or lima beans, corn and sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil while stirring. Cover, lower heat and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 3 to 5 hour or until tomatoes have cooked to pieces.

Makes about 6 quarts.

Gettin' Witchy

One of my favorite blogs the adventures of bluegirl xo has a great tutorial for making a little witchy-poo. She has several examples of different ways to embellish and construct them. Julie puts up a new tutorial almost every Thursday and they are always something I would like to make or have. You really should check out her blog.

Wild Geese

Not too long ago a friend of mine sent me a poem by Mary Oliver via e-mail, then a week or so later another friend posted the same poem on her facebook page. A week after that I opened the newsletter from our local food co-op and the poem was printed on the back page. I do not believe in coincidences and so I have read this poem a few times to see what it has to say to me. It is really a lovely poem and with out further adieu I am passing it on to you along with an image of the beautiful Wisconsin River, which is just a few blocks from my home.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to yo like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-

over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

--Mary Oliver

Fish

I have been thinking of making a fabric fish for sometime now and finally got around to doing it. I used a technique I learned from Susan Shie (Lucky) when I went to her Turtle Moon Art Camp quite a few years ago. It involves a lot of hand sewing but I love the texture. I live in an area where everyone seems to fish and I was inspired by the simple shape a fish can have. I embellished it with some shisha mirrors and beads as well as a very crude applique on the tail. I tend to use more subtle colors, so I was pleased that I broke out of my usual and tried some bright colors.

Lemon Tea

I found myself with an abundance of lemon verbena and lemon balm growing in my garden and an offer to borrow my brother's food dehydrator. I read in one of my herb books that those herbs are great in potpourri so I decided to dry them. Somewhere along the way I thought that mixing these two herbs might make a nice tea and then decided to make it really lemony I would dry some organic lemons to add to it. It has turned out to be delicious, expecially with a nice dab of honey. I am thinking that if any colds come along this winter this will be my go-to tea. It also would be nice with a slice of fresh ginger.

Memoriam

I like to keep my blog posts upbeat and positive, but today I am feeling a deep sadness. A man that I went to high school with died last Friday by his own hand. I hadn't seen him for about 25 years but my memory of him is as vivid as if it were yesterday. He was one of those people you can't forget because fun followed him where ever he went. In reading the memories of others on a memorial page on facebook, every person expressed the same memories. Tim was a fun, wild and crazy guy. Behind all of the laughter was clearly pain. He had recently experienced some personal setbacks and disappointments but there were so many people that loved him and would have moved heaven and earth to help him. If there is someone in your life having struggles, please, today, let them know you care and that there is professional help out there no matter what the circumstance.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce

Yesterday I turned some of my garden produce into a summery treat to be eaten in the dead of winter. The roasted vegetable pasta sauce filled the house with a deliciously rich aroma all day long. The recipe comes from The Complete Book of Year Round Small Batch Preserving, which I mentioned before when I made bread and butter pickles. The thing I like about this book, aside from the delicious recipes is you don't have to have 40 pounds of anything, although it is quite easy to multiply the recipes up in case your garden is wildly prolific. You can make just a few jars at a time and my husband loves it because he doesn't get called in to heave-ho any heavy pots of boiling liquid. Here is the recipe:

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce

2 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, unpeeled

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

2 onions, unpeeled

1 sweet red pepper

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried

1tsp granulated sugar

1tsp salt

Prepare jars for canning by boiling them in a canner for about 10 minutes. Also boil both parts of the lids in a separate pan. This sterilizes the jars and lids. Leave them in canner until you are ready to fill them.

Place tomatoes, garlic, onions (I halve them) and red pepper on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast in a 450 degree oven for 45 minutes, removing the garlic after 12-15 minutes or when soft. Remove remaining vegetables when they are soft and the skins blistered. Let stand until cool enough to handle.

Peel tomatoes, being careful to catch all the juice. Squeeze garlic and onions to remove soft centers. Peel and seed pepper. Place all vegetables in a food processor, process until smooth.

Place vegetable puree in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Add vinegar, oregano, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover and boil for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch of rim. Put lids on jars. Process 35 minutes for pint jars and 40 minutes for quart jars.

*I have found that this recipe makes two pint jars and every pound and a quarter of tomatoes you add you will get another pint. Of course if you increase the tomatoes you must also increase the other ingredients proportionally.

After making this sauce for a few years in the heat of my kitchen I decided to try freezing it instead.  It works wonderfully!  I freeze it in quart containers which is enough for four servings.  Enough sweating already!!!!