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  • Vegetable Triage

    Sep 14th 2012

    By: Allison

    2 comments

    Ian and tomato

    September is always a busy time for me in the garden and in the kitchen, as I imagine it is for most vegetable gardeners in our Northern-ish climate.  Perhaps some folks are able harvest and preserve stuff more regularly throughout the growing season, but I always seem to get behind.  And with the book requiring most of my attention this summer, I got even more behind than usual–rescuing crops from the garden and getting ’em in the freezer  just barely before they went to seed, or got too ridiculously huge to eat.   And now, in September, I’m scrambling to harvest and put up all of the cold-sensitive veggies as fast as I can before the frost.  As far as I’m concerned, all veggies fall into pre-frost and post-frost categories.   Only those that will absolutely die with the frost get my attention now….anything that can hold out for just a bit longer will have to wait.  Kind of like vegetable triage, I suppose.  Not ideal for sure, but that’s just how it’s been this season.

    Amazingly, given my lack of attention paid to the garden this summer, and the fact that this is the first year of our garden in this particular spot and our soil is definitely not what it should be yet, we ended up with a surprising amount of produce.  And oddly, some of the vegetables that did very well are some that I’ve had only mixed success with in the past–peppers and eggplant in particular.  Likewise, some of our long-time favorites that have always done well for us–kale, chard, and tomatoes specifically–did remarkably poorly this year.  (We had to buy tomatoes from a local farm this year to be able to make our salsa!) Even so, the boys and I had plenty of produce to pick and preserve, and as usual, we had a lot of fun doing it.

    Ian peeling blanched tomaotoes

    Connor's corn

    connor and his corn

    eggplant

    Ian picking pepper

    ian with pepper basket

    connor with pepps and eggplant

    peppers in bowl

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  • What I did this Summer

    Sep 6th 2012

    By: Allison

    2 comments

    pomonas for book

    This summer has a been a busy one for sure….short on hiking  and gardening and swimming and many of our other beloved summer pursuits, unfortunately, but at the same time very rewarding and exciting.   Since April I’ve been working on a canning and preserving cookbook, and the summer was particularly intense with writing, developing recipes, and testing them.   The book , to be published by Fairwinds Press and due out next June, is a branded cookbook for Pomona’s pectin. If you’ve read my jam-making posts, you may have noticed that I’m a huge fan of Pomona’s, and I so I am thrilled to have the opportunity to write this book and to collaborate with the folks at Pomona’s–they have really been a joy to work with.  I recently finished the manuscript and recipes, and the editors and I, along with the folks at Pomonas, are in the process of editing and finalizing things, and the photography and design is underway….so, things are coming along!   I’ll keep you in the loop as things progress, but in the mean time here are a few photos to give you a glimpse of what I’ve been up to these past few months!

    lMe and Ian picking dandelions for jelly
    Picking dandelions for dandelion jelly

    Ian picking dandelions for dandelion jelly

    strawberries for jam for the book

    Strawberry jam in the works!

    connor mashing berries for jam

    raspberries for jam

    Ian mashing berries

    Ian mashing berries for "his" jam

    jelly for the book--dueling jelly bags

    Dueling Jelly bags--grape and raspberry

    kiwis for jam for book

    jam for the book

    mary lou and paul from pomona's

    Mary Lou and Paul from Pomona's at our place for a visit

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  • Getting Ready for the Garden

    Jun 8th 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    This will be our first growing season at our new place, and we finally, for the first time in many years,  have a big, full-sun spot for our garden.  This has been a long time coming…..to say that we are excited would be, well, putting it mildly.   I spent many hours during the cold months of winter and early spring dreaming and planning….making up our seed order was a lot of fun, as we have space for so many more things this year, and we’ll be growing several varieties we’ve never grow before.  I got our seedlings started in late March and April (with much help from Connor and Ian), and they grew inside for a bit on the light table that Ben built.  Then when things warmed up a bit I was able to move them outside to the greenhouse.

    There’s been a lot a lot of prep work to do on the ground as well.  There was no sign of a previous garden, though our neighbors told us that there used to be a small one in the back 20 or 30 years ago.  Given that we’re in an 1812 farmhouse, there must have been alot more than that at some point, I imagine.  In any case we had to start from scratch this spring, tilling up lawn to make a plot.   We had the soil tested through the University of Maine extension service, which was very helpful in knowing what and how much we needed to add in terms of amendments.  Not surprisingly, the soil needed a bit of help– it was very acidic, and was lacking a lot of minerals, of so we added lime (400 pounds to be exact–yikes!), as well as 150 pounds of  greensand, 150 pounds phosphate rock, and 10 yards of compost.

    We’ve gotten a few things planted, but with all the prep that we had to do, and all of the rain over the past week or so, we’re a bit behind.  Fortunately our seedlings have been patient–so far they seem to be happy enough hanging out in the greenhouse. Hopefully we’ll be able to get them all in the ground, along with the rest of the seeds, this weekend!

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

    Preparing for the Garden 2012

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  • Clearing and Pruning

    May 21st 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    clearing our land, jan-feb 2012

    Yes, that is indeed snow on the ground…it seems like an appropriate time to tell you all about our winter activities, now that it’s almost full-on gardening season, right?  Well, if nothing else, it seems to be the way things have been going around here these days–on the blog and in our lives–as we try to make our new home into what we’d like it to be.  Some things get done eventually, but not always in a normal order, and certainly not quickly–and most everything else has to wait.

    But back to our winter activities.  In case you were wondering what Ben is pulling on, it’s an enormous invasive rose bush, entwined with a very old apple tree. We’re thrilled about the old trees of course….but the Multiflora rose?  We’ll, not so much. It has completely overgrown most of the apple trees, strangling them with seemingly impenetrable masses of thorny vines.  When we looked it up and found that it was actually an invasive species from Asia, we decided it needed to go–and certainly that’s the only way our trees are ever going to bear much fruit.  So, that’s what we spent most of our winter weekends doing–chain-sawing out the thorn bushes as well as some small alders and overgrown honeysuckle, and dragging out the brush with the tractor and by hand.  Then once we got the apple trees uncovered, we were able to do a bit of pruning.  Ben took a great class through the Portland, Maine Permaculture group on apple tree pruning, and he has been putting his new knowledge to good use.  Hopefully the clearing and the pruning will help, if we’re lucky, and we’ll get a bit more fruit on the trees this fall!

    clearing our land, jan-feb 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land jan-feb. 2012

    clearing our land, jan-feb 2012

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  • Sweet Days of March

    Apr 27th 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    maple sugaring 2012

    I know…. it’s a bit out of season to be talking about maple syrup in late April, with the buds coming out on the trees  and all…..but somehow the month of March seemed to slip away from me this year.  Still, we spent so much of that month boiling down sap and making maple syrup that I thought I would share–even if I am a month late .  Last year we boiled our sap down on our stove in the kitchen, which worked fine since we had a very powerful hood over the stove, but this year, at the new place, we needed a better set up.  We have more trees now (and consequently lots more sap to deal with) and the stove at our new place is lacking a hood, so it was clear to us that the kitchen was not going to be an option.  So Ben decided to build an evaporator pan.  He got a few ideas for designs from various books, bought a large piece of stainless steel from a local industrial supply place (yes, it was quite a challenge fitting it into the Honda Civic), and hammered it together.  Bending the stainless steel proved to be more difficult than he’d anticipated (and reminded him that he really does need torch and a welder), but he made it work–as he somehow always does.  There were two stoves made from old barrels that had been left in the barn when we bought the new house, and Ben cut a big hole in the top of one of them to accommodate the evaporator pan.  Then it was just a matter of keeping the fire going, keeping the pan filled with sap, and lots and lots of boiling.  We started with about 68 gallons of sap, which we boiled down over several weekends in March, and at the end of it all, we were left with little bit more than 1 3/4 gallons of syrup.  It’s a small yield for sure, but we were pleasantly surprised that we ended up with as much syrup as we did actually, as we’d heard that due to the warm weather it was a really terrible year for many of the commercial syrup producers.  Of course we love the end result of have home-produced syrup to enjoy, but we also just really enjoy the process of making it. And this year was even more fun, doing the boiling outdoors. On our final day of boiling, we were out well into the evening trying to finish up the last of it.  Sitting around the stove, on a clear, crisp night bright with stars, occasionally tasting the hot, slowly-sweetening sap….well, I couldn’t have asked for a better late-march saturday night than that.

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

    maple sugaring 2012

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  • Orange Marmalade on 207!

    Apr 17th 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    I meant to post this last week, but it seems time has been scarce around here!  In any case, a couple of weeks ago I was in the 207 kitchen again–this time making orange marmalade……here’s the spot, in case you missed it!


    Video copyright WCSH 6, Portland, Maine

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  • Tapping Time

    Mar 13th 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    tapping time, feb. 2012

    Back in mid-February, when we had a brief thaw and it felt a bit spring-like, we tapped the first of our maple trees.  We are still getting the lay of the land here–discovering new things about the place as we go, and it proved to be an exiting challenge trying to recognize which trees are maples during the winter when they’re stripped of all their foliage.  We don’t have a lot of maples, but we did find a decent handful, fortunately.  Last year, when we were still living in Portland, we tapped our one and only maple tree (actually, it was growing out of the sidewalk in front of our house, so it probably wasn’t officially on our property, but fortunately no one seemed to mind!)  We used a five gallon bucket, plastic taps, and plastic tubing.  That worked pretty well, and we got a decent amount of sap out of the tree, but now that we have a few more trees, we decided to tweak our system a bit.  We considered purchasing the traditional metal buckets, and aesthetically-speaking they are my first choice by far, but we found them to be a bit pricey.  So we opted for a system similar to last year, with a couple of significant changes.  We’re using the plastic tubing, but instead of plastic taps we went for sturdier metal ones this year, as the plastic taps broke when we pulled them from the tree last season.  For sap collection containers, we’re going with an option that I recall reading about at one point (though I can’t remember where)– recycled five gallon plastic screw top cooking oil containers.   We found  a few local Chinese restaurants that were happy to give them away, barely blinking an eye at our request (unlike when Ben asked at one particular chain restaurant and they looked at him like he was totally nuts and yes they might have oil jugs but no they could not possibly help him).  Anyway, we managed to scrounge up enough of them from other places, and after scrubbing them clean of oil residue (which was a bit laborious, I admit), they were ready to go.  Best of all, they were free!  The best part of the process as far as Connor and Ian were concerned, though, was the actual tapping the tree part. Not only did it require the use of a drill (which adds excitement to any project) but, like magic, sap immediately started to drip out of the tree.  Positioning themselves under the taps, the boys caught drops of the watery liquid in their mouths, excited by the the tiniest bit of sweetness they imagined they could taste–and surely anticipating the great sweetness this sap would become.

    tapping time, feb. 2012

    tapping time feb. 2021

    tapping time, feb. 2012

    tapping time, feb. 2012

    tapping time, feb. 2012

    tapping time, feb. 2012

    tapping time, feb. 2012

    tapping time, feb. 2012

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  • Everyday Apple-Carrot Muffins

    Feb 26th 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    Ben's birthday 2011/everyday apple-carrot muffins

    I love muffins.  Connor and Ian love them just as much–probably more, even.  I’m pretty sure this has something to do with the fact that these breakfast treats are suspiciously similar to that ever-popular dessert of a comparable shape and size…..yes, I’m talking about the cupcake.  It seems to me that the average muffin and the average cupcake are so similar that if not for the time of day, and the frosting (or lack thereof) giving us a clue, I doubt most of us (myself included) would know the difference.  Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I have a huge sweet tooth, so I’m not exactly disappointed that most muffins taste pretty much like cake.  Still, I don’t feel great about serving such super-sweet fare for breakfast as a regular, everyday thing.  So, I’ve recently worked up a recipe for muffins that are not too sweet, and have enough good stuff in them that I’m happy for the boys to enjoy them daily.  And that is exactly what they have been doing.

    Everyday Apple-Carrot Muffins
    Makes 12 muffins

    Ingredients:
    1 1/2 cups flour
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
    1/4 teaspoon allspice
    1/4 teaspoon cloves
    2 eggs
    1/4 cup sunflower seed oil (canola oil or regular vegetable oil will also work)
    1/4 cup honey
    1 1/2 cups shredded carrots, lightly packed
    1 1/2 unsweetened apple sauce
    1/2 cup chopped walnuts
    1/2 cup raisins

    Directions:
    1.) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin tins.
    2.) In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and all spices.  Mix well, then set aside.
    3.) In a separate mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, honey, shredded carrots, apple sauce, chopped walnuts, and raisins.  Mix thoroughly.
    4.) Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients.  Mix gently to combine the liquid and dry ingredients.  Do not over-mix!  (It’s OK if you find an occasional little clump of flour in the batter.)
    5.) Spoon the batter into the muffin tins.  Bake muffins at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes.  Allow muffins to cool slightly before removing them from the tins.  Enjoy!

    Ben's birthday 2011/Everyday Apple-carrot muffins

    Ben's birthday 2011/Everyday Apple-carrot muffins

    Ben's birthday 2011/Everyday Apple-carrot muffins

    Ben's birthday 2011/Everyday Apple-carrot muffins

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  • Faith in Old Apple Trees

    Feb 19th 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012

    Ok, I’ll just say it.  Ben and I and the boys have fallen totally in love with our new place.  The house is great, but it’s the land itself more than anything, really.  We love the way it feels–to walk on it, to work on it, to play on it….to just to be on it.  The boys love it for the wide open space it gives them to kick balls, swing sticks, and be just generally loud and wild.  Ben and I love it for all the potential it holds for future projects and crafting the life that we want.  And we all love tromping around on the land, over streams and through overgrown brush, slowly uncovering many long-hidden places, delighting in our finds both big and small.

    One of our most exciting discoveries so far is the apple orchard.  We knew before we bought the place that there were a few old apple trees on the property, but it’s been only recently, as we’ve worked our way through seemingly impenetrable walls of thorny, invasive rose vines and overgrown honeysuckle bushes, that we’ve discovered just how many trees there are.  We’ve counted over thirty so far, and there are still more areas to search, so it’s likely we’ll find a few more.  These are old trees for sure, and they clearly haven’t been pruned or otherwise tended to in a very long time.  A few of the trees look vaguely normal, others are absolutely enormous and overgrown, and still others are totally gnarled and growing in very weird shapes.  No question, these trees will need a LOT of help in order to revitalize them.  Yet, what gives us great  hope is this:  even in their neglected state, these trees produce a remarkable number of very tasty apples.   In the blur of our first days here this past fall, the four of us would tromp around through the dense brush, thrilled to uncover one tree after the next–almost all bearing decent amounts of fruit.  The apples were far from perfect of course (there were certainly plenty of worms in the apples), yet they were all surprisingly tasty.  If these trees can produce this well after who knows how many years of neglect, how well might they produce with a little love and attention?   We have a lot to learn, and a lot of work ahead of us, but we are excited and very hopeful.  We have faith in these trees.

    In the mean time, we’ve enjoyed the trees and their apples as they are.  We picked as many as we could this past fall, ate some fresh, and stored several bags in the cellar.  As I had time throughout November and December, I used them to make batches of apple sauce to can.  Just yesterday I went down to the basement to get our last bag of apples to make more sauce, but unfortunately the apples had been pretty much demolished by mice.  Oh well.  Clearly we don’t have our root cellaring scenario in our new place fully worked out yet!  At least I got quite a bit of sauce put up earlier……and with any luck, we’ll have a lot more apples for sauce next year.

    Apple Sauce
    Makes 6-7 quarts

    I like to make apple sauce all winter long–it’s a pantry staple in our home, and we go through a lot of it.  I prefer my sauce with a touch of cinnamon, and no added sugar, though you can add a bit of sweetener if you prefer. Once you get the apples peeled, the sauce quick and easy to make, and it’s a great way to use up any apples from the root cellar that might have gotten a bit soft, and re-stock supplies of canned sauce if it’s running low.  If you don’t have any fresh apples on hand and you prefer to use local ones, try a winter farmers market, if there is one near you.  In Maine at least, lots of vendors have local, root-cellared apples available throughout the winter.

    To do ahead of time:
    *Wash and rinse quart  jars, lids, and screw bands.  Set screw bands aside until ready to use.  Place jars in hot water bath canner, fill at least 2/3 of the way full with water, and bring to a boil.  Sterilize jars for 10 minutes, then turn down heat and let jars stand in hot water until ready to use.  Place lids in water in a small pan, bring to a low simmer, and hold there until ready to use.

    Ingredients:
    20 pound of fresh apples
    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

    Directions:
    1.) Wash, peel, and core apples.  Slice the apples into quarters, or smaller pieces,  and place in a large pot.  Add about 3/4 cup water.

    2.) Bring apples to a boil on high, reduce heat slightly.  Cook apples, stirring frequently to help apples break down and to prevent sticking, for about twenty minutes, or until apples have turned to mush and the mixture has thickened just slightly.

    3.) Add the cinnamon, stir well to incorporate, and the sauce is ready to be canned.  If you prefer especially smooth apple sauce, you can run the sauce through a food mill at this point.  Then return it to the pot and bring it back to a boil before canning.

    4.) Remove hot jars from canner and immediately ladle hot apple sauce into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.  Remove trapped air bubbles and wipe rims with a damp cloth.  Carefully put on lids and screw bands, tightening to fingertip-tight.

    5.) Place jars in the hot water, ensuring that jars are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water.  Place a lid on the canner, return to a rolling boil, and boil for 20 minutes.  (Add one minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)

    6.) Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit untouched for 5 minutes.  Then, remove jars from canner, placing them on a cooling rack or dishtowel.

    7.) Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed.  Enjoy your apple sauce!  Or, store properly for later use.


    apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012

    apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012 apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012 apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012 apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012 apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012 apple picking/apple sauce, 2011-2012

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  • Cranberry-Ginger Chutney on 207

    Feb 7th 2012

    By: Allison

    1 comment

    Back in early December I was on WSCH 6 in the 207 kitchen again–this time making one of my favorite holiday items–Cranberry-Ginger chutney.   We had it on the table for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, as well as many other meals in between.  I meant to post the video a while ago, but, well…..you know how that goes sometimes.  So, here it is now.  Enjoy!

    Video copyright WCSH6

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  • WELCOME!

    I'm Allison Carroll Duffy. I'm a food preserver, vegetable gardener, cook and foodcrafter (as I call it), and mom of two young boys. I teach classes and write about canning and preserving--my book "Preserving with Pomona's Pectin" (Fairwinds Press, 2013) Is available now. My goal is to inspire people to do more canning and preserving, foodcrafting, and home cooking, and to bring more of the traditional arts of the kitchen back into our homes and everyday lives. I hope you'll join me....and, thanks for stopping by!
  • All content © Allison Carroll Duffy unless otherwise indicated. Above photo of Allison © Jeff Scher
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