diy food

capturing seasonal bounty, one vintage blue-glass-jar-with-zinc-lid at a time.

Irish strawberry liqueur recipe

12/28/2012 | 4 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm., food focus, food., libations, recipes

I love when blog traditions emerge, whether it is taking the month of August off (like the Italians) or making sure to herald Halloween cocktails each year. Some annual events/topics stick around, while others—like Centerpiece of the Month or Brown Bag Blues—go by the wayside (the centerpieces took way too much time to manage, and my brown bag blues blog finally slid into the snacks… [more] category of Talk

home canning: plum pie filling (purple or yellow plums!)

10/20/2012 | 3 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm., food., home canning

He put in his thumb and pulled out a plumb and said: what a good boy am I!
I am happy to say I can provide good-son plum pie, all on account of massive quantities of plums and a penchant for pie. And especially because: I canned plum pie filling… [more]. In Liana Krissoff’s Canning for a New Generation, I ran across a recipe for plum pie filling (FYI I

home canning: bourbon peaches (a little booze with my yogurt is the perfect way to start the day)

10/09/2012 | 5 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm., food.

Look. Italians have Grappa in their morning espresso.
Which means there is no good reason I shouldn’t enjoy bourbon peaches on my plain, whole-milk European yogurt… first thing each morning. Among my home canning projects, bourbon peaches may take this year’s blue ribbon.
All summer I have been canning and canning and canning like crazy. Which means crisp leaves, chilly mornings and grass-laced-with-dew ushers in a welcome fall calm. It… [more]

people don’t have to die: canning tomatoes safely

09/20/2012 | 9 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm., food., kitchen tips, vegetables

I can do this. I probably won’t kill my family. Nobody will die… right?
Canning is scary to a lot of people—and it is wise to proceed with caution. The important thing is to educate yourself about the process, and to follow recipes and instructions from trusted sources (curious why the tomatoes and water separated? more on that later). I needed to understand the ins and outs of canning, because… [more]

canning fresh tomato juice (your bloody mary never had it so good)

09/09/2012 | 6 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm., food., home canning, kitchen tips

Bloody Mary is a lot like Ragu: no two recipes are alike, yet each is especially, specifically crafted and adhered to by its maker.
I am teaching a class at the Pantry at Delancey in a few days, and one thing on the tomato-laden menu is bloody mary’s. I confess I am not a huge bloody mary drinker—but apparently A LOT of you out there love… [more] a good Bloody

American Lamb Pro-Am: what to do with a leg of lamb?

08/20/2012 | 7 Comments | Topics: contests, diy food, entree, food., recipes

VOTE NOW (until Aug 31) for my Cherry Chutney & Goat Cheese Stuffed Lamb with Lamb Jus!!! … [more]
Lamb is just as approachable as beef, pork or chicken. You can grill it, skewer it, roast it and enjoy fistfuls of ribs. It loves to be dressed up in Moroccan, Thai, Greek and Mediterranean flavors (to name but a few). When I think of lamb I think gyros and mint jelly, rosemary

pickled cherries – home canning

08/07/2012 | 3 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm., food., recipes

I recently took a canning class from my friend Marisa of Food in Jars… [more]. She is a go-to resource online for all things canning and her recent book belongs on my coffee table (well okay: it isn’t on my coffee table. It is hanging out on my all-things-homesteading shelf in my kitchen; pages are stuck together from jam and sputtering juice.) But it very well COULD be on my

pickled nasturtium pods

08/02/2012 | 8 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm.

You can what? Did I hear you correctly? Make your own capers?
I recently earned my Master Certificate in Preservation… [more]—a credential I am tickled about. In a nutshell (or should I say ‘in a jar’?) it means I have the ‘creds’ to teach home canning and preservation. And this doesn’t mean just hot water bath canning and jam-making. I will be sharing with you a plethora of recipes and

preserving: tomato jam

10/14/2011 | 7 Comments | Topics: diy food, farm., recipes

OF COURSE I made tomato jam. How could I call my blog “talk of tomatoes” and not always be experimenting with my namesake food? And since small-batch preserves are increasingly a part of my kitchen experience: tomatoes were on the short list of ‘things to can.’
I adore it. I took/cut/pasted and slightly adopted the recipe… [more] from Food in Jars, decreasing the pepper flakes just a hint. I

DaVinci Wine Cookbook: page 10 [of 10] Chianti Wine Jelly

10/10/2011 | Comments Off | Topics: davinci wine, diy food, food., wine

THANK YOU.… [more]
I adored absorbing this holiday in Tuscany, courtesy of DaVinci Wines. Each of the Storytellers experienced the food, wine, people and tours through a different lens. My lens is ‘Culinary Arts’; I am a Seattle-based cooking instructor, urban farmer and food blogger (Talk of Tomatoes). Piles of recipes with photos are how I hope to extend this experience—and the spirit of DaVinci Wines—with each of you.
AND as