I decided to get a table at my synagogue’s flea market.

I decided to get a table, two and a half weeks before the date of the market.

I had no stock.

I needed a push to get back into making things. Making anything! Making something. It’s like exercise for me (or so I hear). I feel better and more energized when I am creating. To sum up, I am exhausted from the last two weeks of MAKING.

Sunday was fun. I hung out with my family as they sold some random bits and pieces. It was 90+ degrees, but we had a nice bit of shade. The Blackbird played with her classmates as families wandered the market. I didn’t sell a lot, but I feel great about my achievement. I am starting to work faster and have a range of pattern sizes to work with. I’m not sure about my pricing, but I think I can confidently say: I’m on a roll.

I also whipped up some colorful wooden earrings. Simple but with a pop. (Those yellow rectangles are going on my ears ASAP.)

Etsy shop opening soon.

I need a nap.

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Seriously, Passover is one of my favorite holidays. Or at least the first 3-4 days. Then all I can think about is pizza, biscuits, and pancakes.

Over the last few years I have come to realize that I know very few people who keep Kosher for Passover. I don’t go hog wild (kosher jokes are the best!) with my prep: I mean, my guy isn’t a member of the tribe, so I try to find a nice middle ground for our home while still raising our daughter in a Jewish environment. However, I clear out a good portion of the kitchen storage and segregate all the Chametz away from my Pesach food. Chris is discrete about his bread eating for the week, which is really considerate of him, since it makes it easier for me to keep the Blackbird Chametz-free. As with any holiday I have my favorite foods that I look forward to every year. I also have foods that I love for reasons I cannot quantify. Gefilte fish is one of them. I don’t know why I love those weird cold balls of ground-up fish. I mean they look gross and don’t really taste like much. But schmear some hothot horseradish on those babies and if I’m not careful, I won’t have room for the matzoh ball soup.

Our food co-op always has horseradish root for sale around the holiday, but I’ve never even thought of making my own… until this year. I’m thinking of “maror” for the seder plate; dressing for the gefilte fish; spicy, potato-vodka Bloody Marys to go along with a matzoh-brei fry-up, a creamy sauce for asparagus. DAMN. I’m getting hungry.

Okay, I read up on the interwebs about this, and the consensus is to either be prepared for chemical warfare and/or make this stuff OUTSIDE. I got some rubber gloves and thanked my lucky stars for the outlet on the porch.

Horseradish, two ways

• 1 lb horseradish root
• 1 medium red beet
• 1/4-1/2 cup of water (divided)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Wash, peel, and coarsely chop the horseradish root. Toss it in a food processor with a few tablespoons to 1/4 cup of water and a teaspoon of salt. Grind, grind, grind. Scrape down the sides a few times to ensure an even grind. WATCH YOUR FACE WHEN YOU TAKE OFF THE LID! (A one pound root gave me about 2 cups of ground horseradish.) Put the root in a bowl and set aside.

Wash, peel, and chop the raw beet with the sugar, 3 teaspoons of vinegar, and a few tablespoons to 1/4 cup of water. Add half of the horseradish back to the processor and pulse a few times until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning or add salt if needed. Toss it in big ole jar. Red as the Nile River during the plagues, baby!

The other half of the ground horseradish, has been exposed to the open air while processing of the beet horseradish, theoretically getting nice and spicy hot. Mix some vinegar, to taste (2-3 teaspoons), into the last cup or so, taste to make sure you like the seasoning, and bottle it up.

I am a slave to the spice. It makes the bread of affliction that much easier to bear.

This stuff is deliciously potent. It keeps for a while in the fridge (a couple months), but it won’t last that long. Give some to everyone you know, and spice up their week!

Bloody Moses/The Red Nile/Etc.

• 6-8 ounces of V-8
• ice
• 1 1/2 ounces potato vodka
• 1 scant teaspoon beet horseradish
• 1/2 scant teaspoon white horseradish
• 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 dashes of hot sauce
• 1 celery stick sprinkled with a dash of salt

Combine V-8, ice, and vodka, in a glass. Add seasonings as listed above, but feel free to adjust to taste. Splash some salt on your celery and remember the tears of the Hebrew slaves before the Exodus!

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My army of blue bitters bottles. Say that five times fast.

(UPDATED: recipes and instructions added.)

(Inspired by #bandofbitters and this awesome post: http://www.thepeche.com/home/2011/10/17/lavender-bitters-plum-ginger-gin-cocktails-and-band-of-bitte.html)

It’s been quite a while since my last post. I’ve never been able to successfully keep a journal in my entire life. But I’m trying, folks, really I am. I also took a bit of time off from new projects. Part of that was Hanukah inspired madness at work. Part of that was because of a project that kept growing in scope over the holidays, just now coming to fruition.

I joined Karen and Chris from thepeche.com in their self-styled “Band of Bitters” experiment. This started way back in October (damn). I like to make everything complicated so I headed over to good ole’ Google to learn more about “bitters.” I happened upon a very detailed blog post about the varied techniques of making your own bitters, by Jamie Boudreau. He recommends steeping the aromatics separately and then mixing the tinctures together to taste, allowing infinite tweaking of flavors to achieve the desired balance. I was all over this. It just made sense. I then spent forever tracking down quantities of herbs, fruit, medicinal tinctures of gentian and wormwood, huge bottles of 100 proof vodka, and teeny dropper bottles for packaging. I appropriated four leftover etrog fruit (a.k.a. citron) abandoned in my office after the holiday of Sukkot to help jumpstart the process.

1. MAKING THE TINCTURES:

I steeped the following in jars of 100 proof vodka:

• etrog peel with local, organic cranberries (2 cups of vodka)
• etrog peel solo (2 cups of vodka)
• cinnamon sticks (1 cup of vodka)
• star anise, fennel seed, clove (1 cup of vodka)
• green cardamom pods (1 cup of vodka)
• grapefruit peel (3 cups of vodka – I have a lot left over….)
• hibiscus flower (1.5 cups of vodka)
• pink peppercorn (1 cup of vodka)
• and some vanilla bean (probably cover that in another post) (1.5 cups of vodka)

Playing Mad Scientist, I tinkered with my concoctions, added just the right amount of simple syrup, drank in the middle of the day (hello testing!) and made a huge mess. Oh my god, this was so much fun. I made three types of bitters, each with a varying amount of “bittering” agent, depending on the intended use.

2. THE MIXTURES (adjust to your taste)

The Etrog Spice

This one is much like a traditional citrus bitters. It is best used just a few drops in any drink you would normally add a twist of lemon or a dash or three of angostura. I have been putting it in everything from a champagne to my favorite old fashioned.

• 2 cups of Etrog tincture
• 1/2 cup of cardamom tincture
• 1/4 cup of cinnamon tincture
• 1/2 tsp of orange extract (I picked some up at my local spice store)
• 1/2 cup of simple syrup
• 15 drops of gentian extract (Order from your local herb of natural food store… call around, you’ll find it.)

The Grapefruit Hibiscus

This hot pink liquid has only the slightest bite in the finish, and is great used by the swirly pink dropperful or to taste. I’ve added it to vodka and lemonade, gin and tonic, and prosecco. I have some Absolut Grapefruit and the two together pack quite a punch.

• 1 1/2 cups of hibiscus tincture
• 1 1/2 cups grapefruit tincture
• 1 cup pink peppercorn tincture
• 1/2 cup simple syrup
• 5 drops of gentian extract

The Spiced Anise

I want this to be a bit like period or absinthe. I’m hoping for something fun to try in a sazerac.

UPDATE: After mixing it still didn’t have a strong enough licorice flavor, so I added a little more vodka and tossed two whole star anise pods into the jar. I let it sit for another week, and now I think it tastes perfect. The final recipe is shown below.

• 1 cup of star anise, fennel seed, and clove tincture
• 1/2 cup simple syrup
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 10 drops of wormwood
• 2 star anise pods

3. HOW TO MIX YOUR BITTERS:

Mix everything together and TASTE. You may want more simple syrup. Do it. Rock it. Then GRADUALLY add a few drops at a time of your “bittering agent” (gentian, wormwood or a host of other bitter brews). I would mix a few drops of bitters in a splash of seltzer or bourbon to test it before adding more. Too much bittering agent will ruin your bitters and tinctures might vary in their exact bitterness. You want it to be just bitter enough that it will add a certain special something to the sweet and sour and bite of your cocktail.

Chris printed some awesome labels, we bought small shipping boxes, and bubble wrap.

Sticker paper is awesome.

Now I’m prepping to send bitters assortments to family and friends all over the country until we run out of bottles.

Some places I went for inspiration and knowledge:

http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/embittering-experiences-diy-infusions/9072

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/now-infusing-bittermens-bitters-plus-diy-recipe/

http://embitter.net/2011/03/how-you-can-find-a-friend-in-bitters-grapefruit-bitters/

http://www.chow.com/food-news/54547/bringing-bitters-back/2/

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Anyway, languishing beets.

Any space not taken up by the beets were filled with radishes, which I also love to eat with bread, butter and salt. However, I never keep good bread around, since I can eat an entire loaf in one 24 hour period. It just isn’t the same on supermarket, whole wheat sliced.

This is a problem that only pickling can solve. Especially while I wait a couple more weeks until I can play mad scientist with the various extracts on my kitchen shelf, soon to become customize bitters and holiday gifts (coming soon).

Look at those mustard seeds!

I managed to dirty almost every bowl and half the pots in my kitchen, but now I have some gorgeous red jewel filled jars with spicy and pungent beets and radishes for my next falafel feast. (I mean, dinner last night).

It reminded me of being 19 and eating falafel off the cart in Tel Aviv. YUM.

Other Sides:

• Cabbage tossed with salt and lemon juice, marinated for a bit. Way more than the sum, etc. Thanks to Caroline and David for that one.
• Avocado. Diced. Period.
• 2:1 Yogurt Tahini sauce with a bit of lemon juice, garlic, cumin
• Israeli salad of diced tomato, cucumber and onion with salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar
• The co-op was OUT of pita, I kid you not. Okay, they had nasty looking, brown, pocketless pita. It did not look appetizing. We bought onion naan instead and it made things awesome, as naan usually does. Sometimes you need to buck tradition.

The Falafel:

Inspired by the Baked Falafel at Chow Vegan.

I tossed a drained can of chickpeas, 1/3 cup of lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1-1/2 tbl of cumin, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and coriander, a melted ice cube of chopped parsley, 1 cup of ripped up, soaked bread into the food processor. Blend blend blend. Formed into little balls, fried in a bit of oil, finished off in a 400 degree oven until they dry and crisp up a bit… 15, 20 minutes.

This whole meal was inspired by the beets and very haphazard. Don’t think too much. Things sometimes taste better that way.

Pickled Beets

Yield: three pints

• 2 Tbsp pickling spice
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• 1 Tbsp dried dill (fresh or dill seed would be better)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp bay leaf
• 1 tsp whole clove
• 1 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 5 cups of roasted, peeled and sliced beets

Mix the spices, vinegar, sugar and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Boil for 5 minutes.

Add the sliced beets and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Fill prepared jars with beets first, filling the jars with liquid, leaving 1/2″ headspace.

Process for 30 minutes. (seriously?!?)

These are good. And beautiful.

Pickled Radishes

Please read the disclaimer(s), below!

Yield: 2 pints

• 2 Tbsp mustard seed
• 2 Tbsp pickling spice
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 6 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 sugar
• 1 1/2 white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
• some peeled garlic cloves
• a few pearl onions (I had a few little teeny onions lying around, so I tossed them in.)
• 3 cups of radishes, scrubbed, trimmed and halved

Mix the spices, vinegar, and sugar in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Boil for 5 minutes.
Add the radishes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Toss the garlic and onions in the jars. Fill prepared jars with radishes first, filling the jars with liquid, leaving 1/2″ headspace.

Disclaimer 1: I processed for 20 minutes. I am going to tell you that this is not safe(!) GASP. Most pickled radish recipes are refrigerator pickles. I have seen recipes that water bath process for anywhere from 5-25 minutes. I made some mixed veg pickles a few months ago and tossed in a good many radishes. They sat for a month before I ate them. I’m okay. Water bath at your own risk.

Disclaimer 2: Pickling radishes is smelly business. I didn’t even notice it until I left the house to pick up the kid form daycare. Coming back, I swear the house smelled like feet. YUCK. We aired things out a bit and it dissipated. I searched the interwebs and discovered that dealing with radishes is smelly business. One site even suggested leaving the room for a few minutes after you open your jar. I left mine on the porch for a few minutes. The smell seemed to go away. Clearly, this condiment is not for the faint of heart. You might want to stick with the beets.

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I’ve done Jack Skellington before. My daughter is quite the Nightmare Before Christmas Fan. Seriously, we know all the songs and listen to the soundtrack often. It helps make up for all the princess crap I have to deal with. Oy.

I love Lock, Shock, and Barrel. I realized only this year that Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee!) plays Lock. Awesome. I thought I’d transform some gourds in honor of Halloween Town’s resident trick-or-treaters.

Maybe I spent too much time on this?

I cut paper hair and everything.

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All the pictures I’ve seen online show them as a beautiful grey green color, but mine was red striated with a green so dark it is almost black.

That same week this Epicurious link for Kabocha Cakes appeared on Thekitchn.com. Sweet squash recipes! Uh, YUM!

Why these are called cakes and not muffins?

Excellent question. I have no idea. Maybe making them in the suggested ramekins equals fancy dessert? Whatever. Make these. They’re great.

They turned out just beautifully. Not heavy at all, with a spicy, sweet flavor and a moist crumb. This squash is seriously amazing. You could sub out the Kabocha with a different squash, but it won’t be the same. If substituting, you will probably want to drain the milk out of the stewed squash, before blending. Kabocha is very dense, with a dry, crumbly texture when cooked, quite different from, say, a butternut squash.

Recipe Adjustments: Of course, I made some changes which I think turned out rather well. I reduced the amount of sugar and oil as a whole, also subbing out some of the sugar with maple syrup and some oil with melted butter. I only own 4 of the 6 ramekins required in the original recipe and some of the epicurious reviewers commented that 2 cups of Kabocha make a TON of puree, so I decided to double the rest of the recipe. I ended up using one muffin tin and half of a mini muffin tin. Additionally, this recipe calls for a fabulous looking brown sugar cream. I did not make this because I like to delude myself into believing I have willpower or something. It looks awesome, though and I may try it another time.

P.S. The leftover squash puree is absolutely delicious topped with a sprinkling of brown sugar. Seriously. Automatic side dish if you like the sweet/savory thing.

Adopted from Kabocha Squash Cakes, Bon Appétit via Epicurious.

Kabocha Squash Muffins

• 2 cups 3/4-inch cubes peeled seeded kabocha squash (from one 3-pound squash)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 3/4 cup brown sugar + 1/4 cup maple syrup (or use all brown sugar)
• 6 tables butter + 3 tables olive oil (or whatever combination you prefer)
• 1/2 cup lager (I used some High Life. The king of beers!)
• 2 eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Prepare your squash: Kabocha is very hard squash. Peel off the tough skin. Cut a slice off one end to help stabilize and cut in half. Scoop out the pith and seeds, then chop into chunks.

Make your puree: Combine squash and milk in a small pot. Scrape the vanilla bean, adding seeds and pod to the pot. Simmer over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender. Remove from heat. Remove vanilla bean and puree until smooth.

Mixing up the batter: Preheat oven to 375°F. Prep your muffin tins to your preference.

Place 1 cup squash puree in large bowl (reserve remaining puree for another use). Add sugar, oil, beer, and egg to puree and blend until smooth.

Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt over the wet ingredients; mix or beat to blend.

Divide batter among prepared ramekins.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

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No more barbecues, all the summer music festivities were over, no more nothing. It was nice. Sort of. I guess some of our friends were feeling the same way, because we received an email for a last ditch effort to suck the marrow out of the waning summer and barbecue at the home of our great friends, Mike and Jenny. They invited a ton of people, expecting only a handful to be able to make it on such short notice.

They were wrong. Everyone wanted in!

Who doesn’t love a good BBQ/potluck. So then the question was:

“What to bring!?”

I usually bake for these sorts of events. At similar gatherings in the past I have even woven bacon in delicious sweaters for grilled sausage (at Mike’s request, I assure you). Everyone was gonna bring cookies or a fresh, local fruit pie, or a potato salad. I needed something DIFFERENT! Something straddling the line between low and high brow, between party and gathering. Dude, tarted-up Jello shots.

An aside on flavors:
I love bitter and sour. At the bar, I always order the sour red, or the gueuze lambic. When we got bitter melons in our CSA box last year, I loved the resulting stir fry, and was sad this year when those crazy looking mutant cucumber things failed to appear. When I cook or craft, I do so according to my tastes.

Back to my thought process for this recipe:
In my mind there is nothing more deliciously bitter than Bitter Lemon soda. For the class I went with Bombay Sapphire gin. Topped with some sanding sugar and a curl of candied grapefruit peel and it is one sexy shot. Class all the way. Another great thing is making this garnish. Just one or two grapefruits will give you enough gorgeous curls to use in fancy cocktails for a good long while. They are real show stoppers. Drop these puppies in a glass filled with Prosecco and topped with St. Germain or Chambord, and they fizz like crazy. It is awesome.

Classy Jello Shots

Recommended Pan:
I used one flower-shaped, silicon mold from Ikea and half a mini muffin tin. When I make this again, I will probably use two silicon molds, since the smaller “shots” were a nicer size.

• 1 1/3 cup bitter lemon soda
• 2 tablespoons frozen limeade concentrate (thawed)
• 3 envelopes Knox gelatin (You can use 1/2 to 1 envelope less if the shots will sit out for less than 30 minutes.)
• 2/3 cup Bombay Sapphire Gin (An alternative would be a mix of St. Germain and gin.)
• Garnish: Sanding sugar and candied grapefruit peels (optional)

Prepare molds:
Coat lightly with cooking spray and wipe the spray with a paper towel. This will leave a slight coating. Just enough to make the Jello pop out easily.

Mixing the cocktail:

• Combine soda and concentrate in a saucepan and sprinkle with the gelatin.
• Let the gelatin bloom (a couple minutes).
• Heat over very low heat stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved, and foaming has subsided (about 5 minutes).
• Remove from heat and stir in the gin.
• Pour directly into molds. Refrigerate until set (2 hours to overnight)
• Garnish each jelly shot with a small grapefruit peel curl.

Makes 18 to 24 shots.

Candied Grapefruit Curls

The following recipe may seem like a lot of work, and it is. But, seriously, this is worth it. The one batch will last a while, and after a few curls the process goes more quickly. So get everything ready and pop your favorite season of Star Trek NG on your device of choice, and try not to touch anything.

• Peel from 1 or 2 red grapefruits (organic if you can get it)
• 2 2/3 cups of water
• 2/3 cup sugar
• chopsticks for curling
• 6″ x 9″ take out tupperware container
• more sugar to coat and bury the curls to encourage them to hold their shape

• Scrub the grapefruit under hot hot water to remove the wax, or buy an unwaxed grapefruit. Peel strips of the zest with a peeler. Trim off any white pith accidentally peeled with the zest. Slice the zest into 1/4″ strips, at least 2″ long.

• Boil the strips in water for 5 minutes, drain and rinse.

Note: In some recipes I’ve read you absolutely, must (!) boil one to three times, rinsing and boiling in fresh water each round in order to have edible candied peel. I have made the recipe with and without this step. It takes away a bit of the bitterness, but not much. After making three variations of this recipe over the last year I think the important thing is just to get all the pith off the strips before candying. Feel free to experiment for your self.

• Combine the strips of zest, water and sugar in a non-reactive pot.
• Boil uncovered until the liquid begins to thicken and the strips begin to look glossy and transparent (thicker pieces will not become completely transparent). Remove from heat.
• With a slotted spoon, remove 5-10 strips at a time to strainer over a plate. They will be hot. You can wait a minute or two (they cool fast) or build up some heat tolerance in your finger tips by curling the strips right away.

To form the curls: Your hands are going to get extraordinarily goopy. It’s kind of fun. Embrace your inner perfectionist toddler.

• Curl each strip one or two at a time (if you’re very skilled) on the thin end of the chopstick and hold in position for 10-30 seconds.
• Slide off the chopstick and place immediately in a casserole dish or tupperware coated with a layer of sugar underneath. Top with more sugar to bury it in the sugar completely.
• Let the curls dry out in the container for an hour or two. Remove the curls from the sugar, gently knocking any heavily clumped sugar off the curls. Store in an air tight container for 6 months (they might even last that long).

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Two words: Wasabi Peas.

YES!

Also, fixings for peanut butter and jelly, cup a soup, chips, seltzer, BOURBON non-alcoholic beverages, dehydrated watermelon, and whatever anyone else brings to share!

See you next week.

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Okay, there are a lot of those streets in the neighborhood next door, but I’m speaking of one in particular. And NO, I’m not going to tell you which one, that would be cheating. Anyways, where was I…. Oh yes: on this street, there is a house shrouded in large trees and low stone walls. Up until this morning, I had no idea what the house actually looked like. This might be because it is set far back from the road and verdantly landscaped, or it might be that I am always completely distracted  by the table of FREE APPLES on the sidewalk next to the driveway. I have never even glanced towards the house. I discovered this one day a couple of summers ago. I was just looking for a shortcut off the main drag when BAM, FREE APPLES!

(Keep in mind, these are early apples, probably fallen, and not the prettiest. All the better for making applesauce.)

I don’t even take that route to work all that often anymore. I just happened to be wondering about the mysterious and generous free apple house a few days ago and thought I’d take a spin past, just to see. OMG free apples! I picked through them, carefully selecting and tossed a bunch in my bag. two days ago I just grabbed whatever was left, bruised and all.

Do-what-you-want-with-it applesauce:

You don’t really need a recipe for applesauce, but here’s how I do it: I peel the worst ones, to check for yuck, halve or quarter the apples to check for rot, cut off what is unappealing. I toss them in a bias pot, splash some water, spices, lemon juice, cover and cook the heck out of ‘em. It doesn’t really take that long, either.  Once the texture seems right you’re going to need to strain it all through something to get all the seeds, peel, and core out of there. Taste it for sweetness. and add some if you think it needs any. I like tart applesauce so I don’t add much, if any at all. Since these are summer apples, they needed a little something. I tossed in a few tablespoons of brown sugar, and that was plenty.

• As many apples as will fit in your biggest pot
• 1/2-1 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of mulling spices (Normally I would use one cinnamon stick, but I was out! This was a lovely and very subtle change.)
• 1 LARGE piece of lemon peel
• Juice of half a small lemon
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar

Other things you’ll need if you want to preserve this stuff for later:

First off, it can’t hurt to read a bit here, just for backup.

• 2-5 canning jars and rings (have your friends and fam return them every year and reuse!)
• NEW lids
• Rack for inside your pot (yeah right, I just tied a few rings together with string and put them in the bottom of my pot to keep water moving underneath the jars for correct processing.)
• A big and deep pot, deep enough to fit your jars, rack + 1-2 inches of water above.
• Tongs
• A boiling kettle or pot of water to top off your processing pot
• A place to let your jars cool and seal, undisturbed for 24 hours.

Fill your big processing pot with water and place on the stove to boil. Your jars should be in the pot. Make sure they boil for at least 10 minutes to sterilize, or run them through a dishwasher cycle and don’t touch ‘em. A smaller pot filled with boiling water can hold your lids and rings.

1. Put all ingredients except the sugar in your bigass pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, simmer, stirring occasionally until the whole mess is complete mush. This can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes or more)
2. Remove from heat. Push the whole mess through a strainer to get rid of seeds, peel, spices, etc. Discard solids.
3. Return your sauce to the pot and warm up. Add sugar to taste.

If you are going to use this up or freeze it, you are DONE. Enjoy.

Things get hot from here on out, so use tongs, common sense and clean pot holders to assist you.

1. Remove your jars from the boiling water and fill them carefully, leaving 1/2″ of headspace. Stab into the jar a couple times with a clean spoon to remove any air bubbles. (As you can see, I forgot to do that. Frowns.)
2. Clean off the top edge of the jars, if needed and carefully place your lids on top. Without disturbing the lid, carefully tighten the ring on top. Don’t go more than fingertip tight, it is just to hold the lid in place while processing and cooling.
3. Lower your jars into your processing pot, topping off with boiling water, if needed. Bring back to a boil, cover and boil for 15 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and let the pot sit for 10 minutes. Remove your jars to a draft and child-free location, cover gently with a kitchen towel and keep your mitts off for 24 hours.

Last step:
Label your jars, then hoard them for yourself or give some away to friends and strangers.

Note: The Blackbird was very excited to try my applesauce as a second course to her cheerios yesterday morning. She tasted it, then proceeded to eat the entire bowl. I asked her if she like it. She replied, “Yes, but mommy, next time, don’t buy ‘your own’ applesauce at the grocery store.” Gee, thanks kid. More for me! But, all joking aside, I think the mulling spices gave this batch the slightest kick. I think it is pretty awesome, but the Blackbird disagrees. Lesson learned: spice accordingly for your intended audience. Since I prefer not to share, this worked out quite well.

Applesauce for Strangers

I’ve often thought that I should give a little of my applesauce yield to these lovely strangers. But then I cook the apples down to a measly two or three jars and get a little protective of my product. This time, I was determined (and I grabbed some more apples yesterday, so I can make some more if I need to stock up my fridge supply).

This morning I dropped off a little jar and thank you note on the front steps of (what I hope is) the free apple house. If I got the wrong house, I hope they like their neighbors well enough to drop it next door.

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My second ever dress attempt.

This all begins back before the Blackbird hit the one year mark. A lovely member of our little playgroup was gifted with a large bag of girl’s hand-me-downs. But, lo, she had a boy who was cute as a button. When offered, I took the garbage bag of clothes and ran.

I don’t even remember what kinds of clothes were in the bag. I’m sure the kid wore it all. But there was one dress. It looked handmade-ish: it was green gingham with an applique bunny and carrots. Super Spring/Easter action. I admit, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the bunny, but this dress had a secret weapon for getting the Blackbird dressed super fast: it didn’t need to go over my squirmy kid’s head. It opened up completely in back and closed with snaps. Acquisition of the “Bunny Dress” coincided with the start of Blackbird’s undiminished fetish for dresses, and likewise, her hatred of all things pants. As a tomboy myself, I don’t get it, but I’m trying not to be too bitchy about her femme ways. And, dude, dresses are expensive, yo. I decided I would MAKE her some damn dresses.

I’ve been sewing for a few years now, but at the time I had never sewn anything more than what might be required to prop a play or a room setting. Even so, I felt absolutely sure that I could figure it out. The pattern has evolved a bit from trying to copy the “Bunny Dress.” And so have my mad skills. (Thank god, because from a technical standpoint, that first dress was a MESS.)

So, here’s how I do it:

1. A Word About Sizing:

I am still working on some downloadable patterns. I’ll post the links in the next couple weeks. In their absence, the best thing to do is use a good fitting, non-stretchy shirt or dress to copy the general dimensions. Make sure to include at least 1/4″ seam allowance when you cut your fabric.

2. Picking Fabric:

I like to buy crazy Ikea fabric and then pick the pattern placement very purposefully. I think of it as creating a story in the folds of the dress. I also like to add some contrast with the binding and ribbon ties.

3. Cutting:

a. You will need a large rectangle for the skirt. Go wide. Really. Maybe even the full width of the fabric. It’ll all get gathered up, so it’s okay.

b. Cut two pieces of the “front” and two each of the “back right” and “back left.” One set is the right side of the dress, and the other set is for the lining. It can be the same fabric, or a contrasting choice.

c. You will need some ribbon, stitched bias tape, or a narrow tube for the ties; plus some bias tape (I cut and sew my own) for trim. Here are a few links about making your own bias tape:

• http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/2007/11/diy-version-of.html
• http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/05/how-to-make-bias-tape.html

(I admit, I don’t have any fancy technique, I just use my iron and it takes a while. God forbid I should take the easy way out.)

4. Now To The Sewing:

a) First off, lay the outside bodice pieces, and the lining bodice pieces right sides together. Stitch at the shoulder seams. Press.

b) Lay the outside and lining pieces, right sides together, and stitch together at the arms, neck, and back wrap edges. LEAVE THE WAIST AND SIDE SEAMS OPEN.

c) Pin your ties to the right side fabric side seams. Sew the side seams of the right side fabric together, and the same for the side seams of the lining. The bodice should be open all around the waist seam, so you can slip the skirt into the waist.

d) Clip your curves and turn right side out.

e) Press. Iron 1/4″ of the waist edge underneath. You should now have a completed bodice.

f) Take your cute bias strip and edge the bottom and sides of your skirt material.

g) Sew one or two lines of basting stitches 1/4″ apart at the top edge of the skirt. Then, holding the bobbin thread, carefully gather the skirt fabric so it is the same length as the waist of your bodice.

h) Slip the top edge into the open waist of the bodice and pin in place. Stitch together, making sure to stitch both the right side and lining of the bodice fabric to the skirt fabric.

5. To Finish:

a) Affix your snaps where you want the dress to close. I do them an inch or two from the side seam and rely on the ties to size the dress. You can fit the dress as you like by adjusting the placement of the snaps.

b) If you are going to embellish with bows, or buttons, DO IT!

6. OMG You’re Done!

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