Friends and Food Hodgepodge

Just as soon as Thanksgiving past, I got a huge craving for everything cranberry!  I satisfied the urge by making 2 batches of jam and using the leftover cranberries in salads and oatmeal bakes.

The 2 batches of jam were:
Cranberry Pear Jam to which I added minced crystallized ginger right before jarring it.
Cranberry Marmalade for which I substituted sugar for the honey.  This batch taught me that I much prefer unsulfured apricots. I don't think I used to be so sensitive to the sulfur flavor, but I definitely notice it now.

Nearly all of these batches were given away during the holidays.  I have a bag of cranberries tucked away in the freezer, which I am intending to use in a batch of Cranberry Gingerbread.

Way back in October, Jame and I spent an evening together celebrating her birthday.  We cooked a meal and ended it with this honeyed figs and mascarpone dessert from the Splendid Table.  We added a few fresh figs to it, too! This dessert is seriously sweet and can only be consumed in small quantities before it becomes too cloying.  We balanced it off with a bottle of Surly Darkness, which was a great pairing (this was Paul's contribution).

I made a lentil soup and tried to freeze some of the leftovers.  This was the first time I have had a mason jar crack in the freezer! A note to remember about the soup recipe...it is way more delicious with a scoop of sauerkraut cooked into it and probably could also use a jar of tomato chunks to give the flavor more depth.

I also discovered a recipe for the best chai I have ever tasted. I altered the recipe by using a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract, added twice the amount of cinnamon and reduced the brown sugar.  I think the orange zest is what elevates this chai to swoon worthy status.  I mix this concentrate with nearly equal parts whole milk.

Long-distance swapping has commenced!  Beth and I arranged a little cross-country food swap last month.  We offered up some recently canned items, made our selection from each other's options and shipped them (carefully wrapped, of course!).  I added in a little bit of dehydrated food samples as Beth is on the fence about getting a dehydrator. I received a jar of corn salsa and a jar of peach jam in exchange for my plums in vanilla syrup and tomato jam.  Yum!