Thursday, June 24, 2010

Curd by the spoonful!

Our citrus all died last year, but like everyone around these parts we have more than one friend happy to donate bagfuls of their own lemons. What to do with a windfall of lemons? Housemate jarred some preserved lemons and I made lemon curd.

We have such ugly flourescent lighting in our kitchen I got fed up and stuck the jars next to the window. Here I give you: still life with lemon curd, houseplants and random cat figurine.



Sadly, curd is not safe to preserve in a hot water bath, so I can't make it part of my jamshares, but it will last forever in the fridge. Now... what to do with all that curd? I made a lemon tart for a picnic. In the morning it compliments my berry jam nicely on toast. Or you can always eat it... you guessed it... by the spoonful!

By the way, I use a recipe that prevents curdling by mixing the ingredients like a cake batter before cooking. Warning: If you've never made curd and want to retain any illusion that something so fruit based must be a health food, do not click on that link!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Farm Focus: Strawberry Days

Farm Focus for June: Strawberries from Eatwell Farm



Last year I invited my friend C down to Swanton to pick berries. This year she invited me up to Dixon to Eatwell Farm's Strawberry Days! Eatwell is one of the biggest CSAs around the bay area - C not only subscribes but hosts a pickup site at her home. Every summer they welcome their members up to check out the farm and get their hands directly on some strawberries!

We picked loads of dead-ripe strawberries in under half an hour - the joys of picking from a reserved field, not a u-pick site that gets picked over every day. Lots of cute kids eating their weight in berries and fellow jammakers loading up. Unfortunately this was at the height of my miserable allergy season, so we didn't linger for a farm tour. Next time!




Our pollinating friend


C, A, and hay