Living off the Land.

One of my favorite things to do when we are in Maine is to eat the stuff that grows on and lives around the island. All sorts of seafood, plus berries, wild peas, rose hips (which sadly, were not ripe yet when we left)... Euell Gibbons would be proud.

Gabe and I harvested a bunch of mussels and cooked them up with some wine, tomatoes and scallions one day for lunch. They were very yummy, and the only thing that was missing was some crusty bread to sop up all the broth with.

I also managed to pick enough blueberries (without Ben eating them first) to make some blueberry muffins.

Also very delicious, they didn't last too long. And the recipe used came from this cook book:

The 1950 edition! It's had a home on a shelf in that kitchen for 60 years. :)

Jam!

Ben and I went strawberry picking with some friends a couple weeks ago, and needed something to do with our vast bounty.

I decided to try making freezer jam, since I really love strawberry jam, but feel a bit too intimidated by the actual canning method (lots of boiling, worrying about botulism, etc.)... maybe someday, but not today!

I picked up the pectin and some "special" freezer canning jars at the local grocery store. Other than that, all that was needed was a TON of sugar, and the berries. It was very easy!

And I yielded 9 yummy jars of jam. Minus the cost of the actual plastic jars, they cost me about $1 each... which compared to the $4/jar I spend on jam at the store is a pretty good deal.

And I used enough pectin! My jam jelled... and has been enjoyed on many sandwiches and english muffins since!

I also used the remainder of my leftover pectin to make some hot pepper jelly... the verdict is still out on that one. It didn't jell within the week the pectin said it might take, so I threw it in the freezer anyways, and have yet to try it.