Stuff going into jars

[sakon76]

The branches of the lemon tree hang low, heavy with fruit. So heavy, in fact, that while weeding on Sunday I stood up, looked at the tree and asked Wonderful Husband "Didn't this tree used to be taller?"

Seriously. It's bowed at least a foot shorter than it used to be.

Most of the fruit is still just-shy-of-ripe, but enough came off at an easy touch that it was clear I needed to do something to lighten the poor tree's burden. Add to that the bags and bags of organic Fuji apples on the dining room table, and it was clear some culinary cleaning house needed to be done.

Thus, I cleared out a crisper drawer in the fridge and filled it with the apples, picking out the bruised and wrinkled ones to cook with, and, having cut out the bad bits, made them into Honey Lemon Apple Jam. Now, the recipe only filled up four and a half pint jars, rather than the seven Marisa got, but it is oh so good. I gave one of the pint jars to my parents, and am contemplating trying it as a glaze on roasted chicken later this week. Also, the tree is now somewhere around a dozen (some were small) lemons lighter.

As a side project, I took my backup sun tea jug (the one with the heavily cracked lid) and tossed all those organic apple cores and peels into it to try my hand at making Apple Cider Vinegar. Might as well get a bit more use out of them before they go into the compost bin, after all. We'll see how it turns out.

Being on a counter-clearing roll, I also tried my hand at Red Onion Jelly. Which sounds bizarre, but hey, I'm an American married to a Briton. From the moment he first convinced me to try a taste of Branston Pickle, he has slowly but surely (and probably unwittingly) been expanding my culinary horizons. But in any case, this recipe cleared the counter of the unbraided red onions I grew this year, which was the goal. And with onions + sage + apple juice + red wine vinegar, oh what a lovely aroma.

Unfortunately it failed to set.

Grr. Now, there are tricks to salvaging a soft jelly, which I shall try later this week as time allows. But still irksome that I didn't get it on the first try, and I'm trying to figure out if it was my fault (I should have been standing there, thermometer in hand, waiting for the magic 220 degrees!) or the fault of the recipe (since the poster also had problems with it), but either way it needs redoing. Alas.

For tonight, though, I intend to leave canning behind and concentrate again on writing.

Comments

[racerxmachina.livejournal.com]

I have to say, your red onions tasted really great. Too bad about the jam... And Branston pickle is good! I first had it at a tea party-- tiny cheddar cheese sandwiches with a dollop of pickle each. YUM!

[yuusada.livejournal.com]

Red onion jelly = Branston Pickle?

I have not yet experienced this culinary delight. The only information I have on it thus far is the concept of injecting it into a Cadbury creme egg for massive damage.

[(Anonymous)]

*adds "jar of Branston Pickle" to list of "things to bring to Fanime"*

Red onion jelly isn't like Branston Pickle, though I did have a pickle recipe which turned out a near dead ringer for it. Must find that recipe again.

[sakon76.livejournal.com]

Eep. Posted this before logging in. 'Twas me.

[yuusada.livejournal.com]

Awesome. I'll bring the creme eggs.