july's tomatoes

Principe Borghese, yellow pear, sungold, and orange-fleshed purple smudge.

How do you like to eat them?

jam for a challenge

Blueberry Lime Jam
(adapted from the recipe for Blueberry Quick Jam in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

*For the Blueberry Challenge over at Grown In Frederick*

In a large jam pot, combine 4 1/2 Cups of crushed blueberries, the juice of 1 1/2 limes (4 Tb.), the zest of 1 lime, and 7 Cups of sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly and stir in 2 pouches of liquid pectin. Boil hard for 1 minute, skimming off the foam. Ladle the hot jam into clean, hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch head space, wipe the rims clean, center on the lids and screw bands down until finger-tight. Process in a water-bath canner for 10 minutes; remove the canner lid, turn off the heat and let rest for another 5 minutes before removing the jars to cool on a towel on the counter. Any that do not seal can be kept in the refrigerator for a few months.

pickling

A few photos - as promised - from the steamy, summer kitchen...
(garlic dills with hot peppers)

mid-summer

Such a slacker I've been.

Here, I mean, of course. At home I've been whirring through batches of jams and jellies, picking beans and trying to keep up with zucchini - and those darn deer that seem to STILL make their way into the garden.

Keeping up is what I should have titled this post, because that's really what's going on. It's mid-summer, and dreadfully hot in the garden and, some days, even hotter in the kitchen. It can be a bit - un-inspiring, you know? So much time is spent pickling this or preserving that, freezing, packing and picking some more, that meals lately have been a second thought - cobbled together, often enough, from a handful of pasta and whatever vegetable is abundant that day. Sad to say, when there is so much to be had right now, but this is the downside (if you could really call it that) of growing your own. Lucky for us that this summer's bounty doesn't need much to be made into dinner - perfectly ripe, perfectly fresh - there is no better way to eat, and that's what it's all about.

Back soon with photos, I hope...

Happy summer!