I love summertime!

"Kat Hein" <katenigma00.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Il6ii.8638$bP5.3960@newssvr19.news.prodigy.net...
> Edna wrote:
> s, and I needed the
>> strawberries & blueberries for the cake
>>
>>> I don't own a grill. :< I never want one, except when I hear other
>>> folks describing their BBQ'd meals. I don't like cooking meat, though I
>>> do like occasionally eating it.
>>
>> Grills are guy things They're really nice to have on hot summer days,
>> when you don't want to add any more heat to the kitchen.
>>
>> Edna
>>
>
> Not a guy thing. My grill is all mine! And used exactly because when it's
> hot, I'm not interested in adding more heat to the inside. Our gas grill
> died last week, and I even made the decision to switch to charcoal. Used
> it Friday for the first time, and I'll never go back to gas!!! Chicken
> cooked over hippie-style real wood (no chemical!) charcoal is yummy. And
> lighting charcoal with a chimney-thingy was fasy, easy, and not stinky. In
> fact, it was so simple and worked so well that I want to buy a bulk lot of
> them and hand them out to all the apartments in our vicinity. Most of
> them use entirely too much lighter fluid, when I can smell it a building
> or more away! This was my first time ever using charcoal, so if I can do
> it, I'm pretty sure everyone can.
>
> Kat

Chimney thingy?

Sasha
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 03:27:26 GMT, "m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"
<"m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"@earthlink.net> wrote:

>I spent hour and *hours* last week turning my kitchen into a
>sauna, while canning apricot jam. Takes forever to simmer
>the apricots down, and all the jam jar sterilization by
>boiling ... pant, pant, pant.

My mum used to have a similar problem - smallish Apricot tree fruited
like a maniac every year! What she found worked for her was to pit,
chop and simmer the fruit (no sugar) until it started to break down.
Then cool and freeze the pulp - clean milk cartons were good to hold
the frozen pulp. In winter, when you'll welcome a warm kitchen, you
dump the pulp into pans and do the jam-making thing. You can also
use the pulp for apricot pie, puddings, turnovers, etc Pretty much
anything you can do with fresh-cooked apricots you can do with the
frozen pulp.

Freezing it without sugar meant that you can then add the appropriate
amount of sugar needed later - you CAN cook them down with sugar if
you like but then you might need to adjust sweetness accordingly at a
later point. Cooking without sugar just simplified this step.

Of course, doing it this way presupposes that you (like my mum) have a
LARGE freezer for the storage of many litres of frozen apricot pulp!

Az
(wishes she could help in the disposal of surplus apricots - I love
them!!)
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Mummy Az wrote:
> On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 03:27:26 GMT, "m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"
> <"m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>I spent hour and *hours* last week turning my kitchen into a
>>sauna, while canning apricot jam. Takes forever to simmer
>>the apricots down, and all the jam jar sterilization by
>>boiling ... pant, pant, pant.
>
> My mum used to have a similar problem - smallish Apricot tree fruited
> like a maniac every year! What she found worked for her was to pit,
> chop and simmer the fruit (no sugar) until it started to break down.
> Then cool and freeze the pulp - clean milk cartons were good to hold
> the frozen pulp. In winter, when you'll welcome a warm kitchen, you
> dump the pulp into pans and do the jam-making thing. You can also
> use the pulp for apricot pie, puddings, turnovers, etc Pretty much
> anything you can do with fresh-cooked apricots you can do with the
> frozen pulp.
>
> Freezing it without sugar meant that you can then add the appropriate
> amount of sugar needed later - you CAN cook them down with sugar if
> you like but then you might need to adjust sweetness accordingly at a
> later point. Cooking without sugar just simplified this step.
>
> Of course, doing it this way presupposes that you (like my mum) have a
> LARGE freezer for the storage of many litres of frozen apricot pulp!

Unfortunately for me, I don't have a large freezer. It is
cozy already -- I like to bake things and freeze them for
later consumption. 2.3 quarts of frozen apricots makes it
cozier. I add in a few more baggies of apricot turnovers,
and some frozen waffles (to eat with apricot jam) and... I'm
going to have a little spatial geometry problem. (If I turn
this box on its side and shove that container back, can I
make more room?) I'd like to try to wedge in an unbaked pie
or two -- I do like fruit pie.

I froze the apricots with sugar. My cookbook had a little
table of fruits and how you can preserve them, and the
cookbook didn't seem to think you can freeze with no sugar.
Oops.

> Az
> (wishes she could help in the disposal of surplus apricots - I love
> them!!)

I'm wishing more folks I knew lived nearby, too. :> I
can't even figure out how to get a bag of frozen apricots to
my mom, and she's not that far away! Far enough for the
apricots to thaw, though.

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:59:08 GMT, "m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"
<"m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"@earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>I'm wishing more folks I knew lived nearby, too. :> I
>can't even figure out how to get a bag of frozen apricots to
>my mom, and she's not that far away! Far enough for the
>apricots to thaw, though.

Donate them to the staff room at the university!
--
John Oliver
jdoliver RemoveThis @westnet.com.au
AIM or MSN jdoliver98
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Purrt wrote:
> Megan wrote:
>> I love summertime!
>>
>>
>> Anyone else enjoying some classic summertime fun?
>
> We joined a CSA this year - Community Supported Agriculture, where you
> pay the farmer for a share in the early spring and get fresh produce
> every week from the middle of May through sometime in late fall/early
> winter. Late in the season we'll get pumpkins and homemade wreaths.
>
> So far, I've been bringing home at least a pound or two of mixed
> greens, some cucumbers, spinach, zucchini (which I give away since we
> don't eat it), broccoli, cabbage, snap peas, and fresh herbs each
> week. They also have other goodies available for sale such as sour
> cherries and brown eggs. Got some lovely fresh beets this past week
> too.
>
> We are growing tomatoes, parsley and raspberries again this year. And
> we're trying canteloupe for this first time. So far we've got lots of
> vines and flowers, but no melons yet.
>
> I'm enjoying being able to toss together a nice healthy salad for
> dinner and not having to heat up the kitchen!
>

I've been doing a CSA for three years, now. This year, we went for the
every other week pick up, because it got to the point where I was
throwing out more than I was eating. Had some out of this world fresh
broccoli, and more coming this week. I have tomatos, cherry tomatoes
and zucchini growing on my deck, because I can never get enough of those.

SAMK
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

John Oliver wrote:
> On Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:59:08 GMT, "m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"
> <"m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>I'm wishing more folks I knew lived nearby, too. :> I
>>can't even figure out how to get a bag of frozen apricots to
>>my mom, and she's not that far away! Far enough for the
>>apricots to thaw, though.
>
> Donate them to the staff room at the university!

Unfortunately, since it is summertime, almost everyone is
away! Off teaching summer workshops in other states, or
taking vacations.

The giving bags to neighbors trick is helping. One of my
neighbors has a teenage son -- I gave them a big bag. And a
contractor came by to give me an estimate this morning -- I
gave him a bag, too.

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Kat Hein wrote:

> Edna wrote: s, and I needed the
<snip>
>> Grills are guy things They're really nice to have
>> on hot summer days, when you don't want to add any more
>> heat to the kitchen.
>>
>> Edna
>
> Not a guy thing. My grill is all mine! And used exactly
> because when it's hot, I'm not interested in adding more
> heat to the inside. Our gas grill died last week, and I
> even made the decision to switch to charcoal. Used it
> Friday for the first time, and I'll never go back to
> gas!!! Chicken cooked over hippie-style real wood (no
> chemical!) charcoal is yummy. And lighting charcoal with
> a chimney-thingy was fasy, easy, and not stinky. In fact,
> it was so simple and worked so well that I want to buy a
> bulk lot of them and hand them out to all the apartments
> in our vicinity. Most of them use entirely too much
> lighter fluid, when I can smell it a building or more
> away! This was my first time ever using charcoal, so if I
> can do it, I'm pretty sure everyone can.

Ah... chicken cooked over charcoal... ah... summertime fun.
My father had a sure-fire trick for lighting charcoal with
a chimney-thing -- make his kids supervise the chimney-thing
until the charcoal lit, then have them summon him for the
"playing with fire" part. :>

Lighter fluid does have an odor to it.

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Kat Hein wrote:

> m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage] wrote:
>
>>
>> I love summertime!
>>
>> The weather is lovely -- clear and not too hot.
>
> The weather has been amazingly nice lately, hasn't it? It's almost
> made me forget that the obligatory week or two of 100+ days are just
> lurking around the corner.
<snip>

Don't remind me. 103+F days (high 30's, low 40's, for you
Celsius folks) forecast for all the latter half of this
week. Oh, boy.

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Purrt wrote:

> Megan wrote:
>
>>I love summertime!
>>
>>Anyone else enjoying some classic summertime fun?
>
> We joined a CSA this year - Community Supported Agriculture, where you
> pay the farmer for a share in the early spring and get fresh produce
> every week from the middle of May through sometime in late fall/early
> winter. Late in the season we'll get pumpkins and homemade wreaths.

I've enjoyed CSA's in the past. Not at present, since they
usually provide family-size boxes of veggies, and -- even
with heroic efforts -- I can't eat that much. :<

> So far, I've been bringing home at least a pound or two of mixed
> greens, some cucumbers, spinach, zucchini (which I give away since we
> don't eat it), broccoli, cabbage, snap peas, and fresh herbs each
> week. They also have other goodies available for sale such as sour
> cherries and brown eggs. Got some lovely fresh beets this past week
> too.
>
> We are growing tomatoes, parsley and raspberries again this year. And
> we're trying canteloupe for this first time. So far we've got lots of
> vines and flowers, but no melons yet.

Melons just showed up at our Farmer's Market this past week.
The good ones, where you smell the melons from 5-6 feet
away. Soooo... ready to eat fairly soon, where you are?
Given that I'm in a zone that, I suspect, has an earlier spring.

> I'm enjoying being able to toss together a nice healthy salad for
> dinner and not having to heat up the kitchen!

:>

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Sasha Rowan wrote:

> "Kat Hein" <katenigma00.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message

>>Not a guy thing. My grill is all mine! And used exactly because when it's
>>hot, I'm not interested in adding more heat to the inside. Our gas grill
>>died last week, and I even made the decision to switch to charcoal. Used
>>it Friday for the first time, and I'll never go back to gas!!! Chicken
>>cooked over hippie-style real wood (no chemical!) charcoal is yummy. And
>>lighting charcoal with a chimney-thingy was fasy, easy, and not stinky. In
>>fact, it was so simple and worked so well that I want to buy a bulk lot of
>>them and hand them out to all the apartments in our vicinity. Most of
>>them use entirely too much lighter fluid, when I can smell it a building
>>or more away! This was my first time ever using charcoal, so if I can do
>>it, I'm pretty sure everyone can.
>>
>>Kat
>
> Chimney thingy?
>
> Sasha

Metal cylinder, with wood or other temperature-safe handle
on the side. Open top and bottom, some holes in the sides
(vents). About an adult hand-length in diameter. You put
crumpled newspaper in with charcoal on top, light the
newspaper, and, in theory, the newspaper will ignite the
charcoal, which you can then pour into the grill to get the
whole mass of charcoal going.

Low-tech, but usually effective. Slower than lighter fluid,
but much less smelly.

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Edna wrote:

> In article <yg_hi.2747$rR.708@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
> "m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"
> <"m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage]"@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>Today, I finally started attacking neighbors when I see
>>them, and attempting to foist bags of apricots on them.
>
>
> Mmmm, too bad I don't live closer to you and your tree

Indeed!

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage] wrote:
> Kat Hein wrote:
>
>> m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage] wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I love summertime!
>>>
>>> The weather is lovely -- clear and not too hot.
>>
>> The weather has been amazingly nice lately, hasn't it? It's
>> almost made me forget that the obligatory week or two of 100+ days are
>> just lurking around the corner.
> <snip>
>
> Don't remind me. 103+F days (high 30's, low 40's, for you Celsius
> folks) forecast for all the latter half of this week. Oh, boy.
>

You live on the wrong side of the hills- only supposed to be 85 (29C)
here. *GGG*


Kat
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime! 

Kat Hein wrote:
> m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage] wrote:
>
>> Kat Hein wrote:
>>
>>> m_thomas[numBksInLastHrldMage] wrote:
>>>
>>>> I love summertime!
>>>>
>>>> The weather is lovely -- clear and not too hot.
>>>
>>> The weather has been amazingly nice lately, hasn't it? It's
>>> almost made me forget that the obligatory week or two of 100+ days
>>> are just lurking around the corner.
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> Don't remind me. 103+F days (high 30's, low 40's, for you Celsius
>> folks) forecast for all the latter half of this week. Oh, boy.
>
> You live on the wrong side of the hills- only supposed to be 85 (29C)
> here. *GGG*

Oh, man. It's hotter than 85 inside my house at the moment.
Today is forecast to be the coolest day out of this week's
weekdays.

Probably cooler where you are because the heat where I am is
causing our good pal, the Pacific Ocean, to shove cooler air
inland. sigh. I miss being close to the Pacific, and its
cooling breezes.

--
Megan
Journeyperson Dancing Barbarian
Keeper o' the FAQ: http://home.earthlink.net/~m_thomas3/abml/
 >> Stay informed about: I love summertime!