I thought I would; but suddenly, I don’t mind the touch of chill in the air, the softer, golden-tint to the light and the mention of pumpkins, apples and squash. Last week, I wasn’t ready for summer to end. I wasn’t ready for back-to-school shopping and admitting defeat on all the items yet to be crossed off the summer to-do list. But then it hit me, as it always does. Suddenly, the gray is like a comforting blanket—familiar and welcomed.
But I know better to assume that I’ll always feel this way about the cold, gray skies. So I’m pre-empting the February woes and preserving the last bit of summer’s bounty and squirreling away a jar or two of pickles and jams. I’m not much of a canner, but this year I’ve found the ease of roasted jams, which has helped to alleviate any excuse I have for not being able to save at least one jar of sweet, sticky summer fruit. The trick is trying to keep it around until the winter.
We’ve talked about the benefits of roasting here, but let’s refresh our memory. When food meets a hot oven, the results are nothing short of magic. Carrots unfurl an unprecedented sweetness as their skins curl and crisp under the heat, their moisture scatters and their natural sugars intensify. A roast of meat does the same—crisp edges, tender and juicy meat that practically bows down to the weight of the fork. And fruit is no different. The shock of dry heat causes the cut edges to deeply caramelize, most of the moisture evaporates and the sweetness already present in the fruit condenses and somehow turns whatever is roasting into its best self. Whatever you love about, say an apricot for example, is punctuated when that apricot spends an hour or so slowly roasting in an oven. In fact, it’s with apricots or even rhubarb that roasting is most magical. I find apricots eaten fresh to be a bit bland, one-note and just sort of blah. And rhubarb, well I don’t even attempt to gnaw on raw rhubarb. But after time spent in an oven, they become utterly transformed into a completely new taste—one of my favorite tastes, in fact.
With my passion for roasting well established, I took that idea and turned it into jam—roasted jam. Not only does the fruit take on a deeply caramelized and well developed flavor when roasted, the process is actually quite a bit easier, as there is no need to stand over a hot pot stirring continually until the ache in your arm overshadows the joy of jam. In the summer, when the jam-making season is at its peak, I’d do just about anything to avoid standing over a hot stove. So, check out my recipe for roasted jam here.
Enjoy!
by Ashley Rodriguez
food blogger
www.notwithoutsalt.com
When was the last time you went on a picnic? Now that Summer has officially started, why not enjoy it? Pack dinner, gather your friends and family, and head out on a lazy, sunny afternoon for a relaxed picnic.
Here is a great equation for national security: Let’s continue to convert over a million acres of farmland every year for habitat restoration or strip malls.
Oh baby, has it ever been warm. Of course, the one year I decide to skip sweet corn (our other local farmers are growing this crop) the weather is perfect. There is some corn in the valley that was waist high by the fourth. Shoot, most farmers are ecstatic with knee high corn by the fourth. For us, the raspberries are on, the peas are on, summer squash is on, the cucumbers and peppers are on. The tomatoes are just turning, the potatoes are already the size of baseballs and soon we will be picking green beans.
I know, from 15 years of running this business, that many of you will soon be off to your favorite vacation spot; loading up the “station wagon,” piling in all those kiddos and heading to the mountains, rivers, beaches, etc.
Our family snuck away to the beach for three days last week and was it ever relaxing. Washington State is so geographically diverse that within three hours of Stanwood you can be in a desert, on a mountain top, kayaking in the San Juans or building sand castles at the coast.
I have been preparing for my upcoming talk at the Celebration of Food Festival at the Lynnwood Convention Center this Sunday, May 19th. My topic is Healing through Nutrition. I will probably tackle this subject from a soil health perspective—something akin to healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people. In the 1900s, America’s health ranking as nation was #1. Americans were the healthiest, but by 2007 we had moved from the top to the bottom, ranking 95th in overall health. What has changed in those 100 years? The way we farm!
Finally, a good stretch of planting weather! This is an awesome time of year. Things just start ramping up when the weather breaks. Every farm in the valley is going “hog wild” right now. But after the last few years, every one of us is pushing our equipment to get as much done as possible before…well, we just don’t know what the future holds and the weather is good now.
