June Is Here

I really can’t believe that it’s June.  Not only is it June, but it\’s the 7th day of June.  Stop and let me get off of this roller coaster.  I’m not ready for this at all.  April and May were filled with so many wonderful things and now it seems like they were light years ago.  In April I had my birthday #55, attended a Food Photography workshop in Atlanta (a birthday gift), took a long weekend trip to West Palm Beach, and spent 5 days in Gulf Shores, Alabama at a Food Photography workshop as the sous chef for the head chef (it was great and I feel blessed that I could be apart of it).  Then May came along; there was Mother\’s Day, and 2 weeks later we had a small family reunion – we were all together except my oldest son was working out of town and could not get home (he was greatly missed); and I attended 2 very special weddings.

Now June is here and it’s time focus on my ever growing garden; and yes there will be canning, creating, cooking, photographing, and I must work on my art (printmaking and painting to be exact).  My strawberries have finished their cycle and with my pickings I made marmalade (recipe in this post); the next harvest will consist of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, & herbs.  This will be very exciting! Oh, thanks to my son, Matthew, and his instruction to use                                                  fish fertilizer on my plants – I will have cucumbers for the first time ever.

tomatoes and peppers

cucumbers taking over

 Here’s to Family, the weekend, gardens, & marmalade!

Ingredients:

  1 medium-size fresh pineapple

  1 teaspoon grated orange rind

  2 1/4 cups chopped orange sections

  7 cups sugar

  1 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled

(hint: In the past I have used pectin to help with the jelling process & have not been successful.  This time I used a jelly thermometer and cooked to the correct temperature; it works perfectly.)

Remove leaves and stem end from pineapple.  Peel pineapple, and trim out eyes; remove core.  Chop pineapple, and measure 2 1/2 cups.

Combine pineapple, orange rind, chopped orange sections, and sugar in a large Dutch oven.  Bring to a boil; cook over medium-high heat about 15 minutes, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add hulled strawberries, and continue to cook about 35 minutes (stirring frequently) or until mixture register 221 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Remove from heat, and skim off foam.

Quickly pour marmalade into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head-space; cover jars at once with metal lids, and screw on bands.  Process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes. Yield: 7 1/2-pints.