I have a cooking problem. In the last twenty four hours my kitchen has produced chicken noodle soup, eggs in a nest, sushi, and stone fruit preserves. There is a pork tenderloin roasting for spring rolls. And the ingredients for one last batch of preserves are waiting on the counter.
The chicken noodle soup was for dinner last night. And it’s as easy to make a bunch as some…so naturally a bunch was what I made. Lunch didn’t put a dent in it and I think it is multiplying every time I open the fridge. Which is often.
Then last weekend I was flipping through Southern Living, feeling very southern after reading an interview of the author of The Help. And I came across a recipe or rather a cluster of recipes for stone fruit preserves. It’s the kind you keep in your fridge safely for a few weeks…not the kind that breeds in your grandmother’s pantry and threatens your life with botulism. For some reason I can’t quite recall…. I got it in my pretty little head that this was something I must do.
So I’ve been making preserves. Balsamic plum with basil. Nectarine with caramelized ginger. And in the queue is Peach and peppers.
Did I mention they are only good for about 3 weeks? Did I mention I don’t actually eat preserves….or jelly…or jam…or even marmalade? Did I mention there are half a dozen jars in my fridge?
(The one exception would be once a year when cracker barrel is taking an obscene amount of time with our breakfast and it is either eat a biscuit with jelly or kill a small child and claim temporary insanity brought on by the combination of extreme hunger and excessive whining about the lack of food they are neither cooking nor paying for. )
And there is another exception. It involves cream cheese and something to scoop it all up with. I stocked up on cream cheese and a variety of scooping foods. There is only so much a girl can scoop though. Especially since the only time I leave the house (read:a/c) lately is to to be near some body of water where we won’t die from heat exhaustion. And that requires a bathing suit. And that requires I not scoop cream cheese will-nilly.
So….as I mentioned….a cooking problem. I cook things for the sheer joy of proving I can do it. After a taste of this and a sample of that….I’m full….over it….and stuck with jars of preserves. Of course I could give them away….but it would be so much nicer if I just whipped up some homemade bread to go along.
P.S. My favorite child just said it was a hard decision whether to go to grandma’s house tonight or get to eat the dinner her mama is making. I {heart} her.
Fun, fun, fun! And must be sooo tasty. Wish I was there to share –