The Healing Wonders of Jam: Rhubarb Mint Jam

Have you ever had a period in your life where something ugly reared its ugly head and consumed you, only to spit you out a different a slightly scarred person? In that time you may feel a heavy weight that mysteriously disconnects you from your body and and makes your mind weightless as your emotions cavort and wreak havoc upon your life. It is a strange and awful world where words make little sense and the familiar becomes a source of anxiety and distress.

To all the wonderful people who follow my little slice of blog heaven, thank you. Discovering your new comments over the last few weeks as I desperately wanted to write and experiment in the kitchen (but couldn't) has been a real source of joy.

My first venture into the kitchen after the seams of the world came undone was to make something for the mothers in my life. My mother and mother-in-law are two very supportive and loving women and I wanted to honour them in some small way this Mother's Day and there is no better way to show that than with a homemade gift. You are no doubt wondering why I am writing about Mother's Day a week late. Well, it's because I didn't get any pictures of that batch of jam (thanks to the foggy head space), so I had to wait until I made another batch.

The other day I ventured into the kitchen to concoct another batch of this lovely jam and I must say, I'm happy with the results. I didn't bother processing in a boil water bath because I didn't want to waste the snap lids, but feel free to do so. Process for 10 minutes in a boil water bath, just make sure there are a few inches of water above the jars.

The original recipe was developed by Marisa at Food in Jars and in it's original incantation it was a rhubarb and rosemary jam. If you like making your own preserves you should definitely head over to her blog, she is definitely a fantastic resource! I made a few changes, some borne out of taste preferences (mint for rosemary), some out of necessity (a lack of pectin).

The Recipe

4 cups chopped rhubarb

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

2-3 generous sprigs of mint

1. Crush the mint a bit to release the oils. You could even wrap the crushed/chopped herbs in cheese cloth for easier removal.

2. Combine all ingredients and bring to a soft boil, make sure the mix in bubbling. I stir this fairly often so that it won't stick to the bottom of the pot.

3. You'll notice I didn't use pectin, instead I just let it simmer on medium until it reached 220* degrees. Feel free to use pectin. If you do so, add the pectin after the rhubarb is broken down, stir it in and boil for 2 minutes. Marisa notes this jam can overcook very easily and the woman speaks the truth. Remove the pot from the heat once it reaches 220 or after the 2 minute mark. Remove the mint.

4. Ladle into jars. It's your choice here; either you can process in a boil water canner for 10 minutes or allow to cool and treat it as if it were freezer jam (which means stick it in the freezer!).

Ta da! Jam. This is divine on a slice of toast or even as an impromptu chutney for chicken or pork. I even caught my little girl fishing out a spoonful this morning which she ate straight up. Making this jam was a holistic experience and while it may not have the same profound effect on you as it did me, it's damn good jam.

An Earth Day Adventure: New Ross Farm

In honour of Earth day we packed a lunch filled with local goodies (egg salad sandwiches with oregano aioli and carrot sticks) and headed out to New Ross Farm, complete with a nature walk. As it turns out, The Boy only really likes sheep. A cow stuck her head in the barn window from the pasture and the little guy nearly scaled mr. trying to get away.

After chatting with the pigs and nuzzling the sheep a little we wandered down the path and onto a path through a wooded area. A number of buds are just starting to peek open in search of a bit of sunlight. The vibrant green is a brilliant splash of colour against the backdrop of winter's darkness. I saw signs directing people to leave the wildflowers for the farm's next guests but the wildflowers have not started to appear yet, soon enough I'm sure.

I don't know if you can see from this distance but those soon to be sprouting rows are being tilled by oxen! Seriously. Huge beasts. After The Boy screamed at a cow I'm sure they last thing he wants to get friendly with is an ox.

A Spring day to banish malaise

I've been cranky and lacking inspiration today and have spent most of the day obsessively updating twitter and dramatically flopping on the floor and sighing at which point the kids would jump all over me. To perk up out this general malaise I decided that I would share some signs of spring. These were taken two days ago when Mr. and I took Girly and Little Boy to a deliriously close pond for a picnic. Seriously, we have lived in this area for almost a year and we just figured out how to find this pond. Plus, it has ducks and that makes little people ecstatic.

A beautiful bouquet for Mommy.

Girly took this picture! She is over the top adorable walking around with the big Canon in her hands and she is a really instinctive photographer.

Cold Sun, Spring Dreams

As the inaugural post to this new blog I thought it would be appropriate to write about the first quasi-spring afternoon in the Northern Hemisphere. The winter was strange this year. My first winter in Nova Scotia a few years ago was horrific: snow upon snow upon snow and it was actually -20 to -30 for three weeks straight. Not the kind of weather a kid from southwestern Ontario is accustomed to, but this winter was different (read: warm and only one nor'easter!). And, as March is chugging along into spring there have been more sunny days than not.

Saturday was a wonderfully lazy day. The babies were off to the grandparents and it was just Mr. White Plates and myself at home (and a cat who was showing off her majestic scowl to the sun). We had decided to forgo a lunch of sushi out, mostly because I was out of soy sauce and we forgot to pick some up at Pete's (wonderful grocer!). I should mention that I am intolerant of gluten which is why we tend to eat at home a great deal or make various sacrifices when out. A recurring theme will no doubt be my lamenting the loss of French pastries in my life ...

Moving on, lunch! I love lazy, wine filled lunches. I shouldn't say wine-filled because I don't like to be woozy from too much wine in the middle of the afternoon but two glasses makes the world a little bit more gentle and rosy, doesn't it? We had some left over roasted chicken from Friday night's dinner so what started out as a simple chicken salad salad turned into a scrumptious lunch.

The ultimate part of this lunch was the aioli. I adapted the recipe from the always wonderful David Lebovitz, although, I added a dried sage to accompany the chicken. Fresh sage would have been incredible but none was to be found. The result though, was delicious. Whisking the egg yolks is quite the feat but the result is so much better than any jarred mayonnaise.

To accompany the open-faced tomato chicken sandwich I blanched a few spears of asparagus and tossed the vivid green asparagus with goat butter, sea salt and cracked black pepper. Mr. White Plates was particularly fond of the asparagus, it was perfectly firm without being undercooked. I cannot wait for fresh spring produce from the Farmer's Market. The Halifax F.M. is an absolute treat on Saturday mornings!

Yum!