The strawberry jam didn't set up at all. The recipe might be guilt-free, but it also seems to be success-free. I toyed with adding some pectin, but in the end decided to trust the recipe. My bad. Still, it's not a total waste because I now have strawberry sauce. We're having a party next weekend so I figure I'll put the sauce in a pretty bottle and serve it with some sparkling water so people can make strawberry fizzies. Maybe I'll have lime slices, too. I find that strawberry and lime are excellent together.


I also didn't go to the farm market, after all. I'm pretty cranky about it, actually. The weather is completely awful - cold, misty and gray. May in Virginia - not what I expected. On the bright side, there's still a lot of stuff to do around the house (hang pictures, organize the pantry, etc.) so maybe the absence of temptation to be outside will turn out to be a blessing and we can get some things done.

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As it turns out, there was something at the market that tempted me. Gorgeous, perfect local strawberries. You should smell them - they're just incredible. So after eating a few on the drive home, I decided to be more virtuous and make some strawberry jam. There's a recipe in This Organic Life that I'd like to try. It seems too good to be true - just berries, sugar and lemon juice. The book's author, Joan Dye Gussow, writes that the recipe is "guilt-free" so I figure it's got my name pretty much all over it. Guilt-free is definitely something I can cozy up to. The rest of the book is interesting, too, if a little unfocused at places. A good thing to check out of the library.


I made a complete idiot of myself talking to the guy who sold me the strawberries. I couldn't believe how utterly amazing they looked (and, they're organic!) and told him how impressed I was and that I was never able to grow more than a dozen edible berries per year, but that my plants still made nice ground cover. He looked at me oddly and said, "Well, I do have 50 acres of plants. Some of the berries are bound to turn out nice." In other words: he farmer, me stupid suburban woman. Oh well. I must have turned a dozen shades of (strawberry?) red and assuaged my embarrassment by also buying some beets and onions. I might go back to the market on Saturday, if the weather doesn't suck too badly and I get up early enough. This weekend is UVA's graduation so we're expecting a population surge of about 20,000 people. Doesn't make for good hunting and gathering conditions downtown. I kind of feel bad about it, because it's not like all those extra people are going to go out of their way to buy produce and other farm goods but their presence is likely to keep most of the people who would away. Plus, I really want to see the guy who sells goat cheese as an act of civil disobedience. Yes, you read that right. Looks like I'm talking myself into going after all.

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The process of making the mushrooms was completely consuming and, as much of a hassle as the mushrooms were, I'll probably make more anyway. They're really great, but two pounds of 'shrooms only makes 2 and a half pints of product.

The basic process is simple enough, there's just a lot of knife work (which I'm neither industrious nor foodie enough to enjoy). I cleaned, trimmed and halved the two pounds of mushrooms, chopped two shallots and removed about 3 tablespoons of fresh thyme from its stems. These were heated in several tablespoons of olive oil before adding a quarter cup of white wine vinegar and a quarter cup of balsalmic vinegar. I feel like I'm forgetting something here, but I can't think of what. Anyway, once all this was heated together, I packed it into hot jars, sealed and processed for 10 minutes. I'm thinking that these will be great in little radicchio cups as a starter, or maybe as part of a relish tray.

I had originally intended to spend Mother's Day canning some blueberry pie filling, but decided to wait until the berries are in season (doh!). Instead, I was spoiled by the gifts of a new sewing machine, three links for my zopinni charm bracelet and lunch at an Indian buffet. After lunch, my son took a two and a half hour nap (which means that mom and dad did, too) and we finished the day by puttering around the garden and helping the kid master his new little bike (given to him by his friends Connor and Shannon, who aren't using it anymore; Connor because he has a big boy bike and little sis Shannon because she has a brand new girl bike) . An all around fantastic day. This weekend we're going to be getting ready for holiday weekend company, but I might try to make some key lime marmalade. We'll have to see how it goes. Tomorrow is my first visit to the local farm market, so I might see something there to push the marmalade further down the agenda.

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