Strawberries- Preserved in Red

first we take the strawberries and we wash them, we wash them...

then we take the lids and we sanitize them, we sanitize them...

then we take the jars and we boil them, we boil them...

mmm...clean strawberries

then we trim...

and cut...

and take "mirror" pictures in the bowl...

boiling those jars...sanitation, sanitation

add cut strawberries with some sugar and some lemon peel

simmer till tender then blend with hand blender to desired consistency

put in jars + lid...place in pot, covered with water

boil for 5-10 mins to seal- for sanitation

turn them upside down

then right-side up

then more pictures..

and we have strawberries preserved! i only added a little bit of sugar because 

i didn't want them to be overly sweet- its how i like my strawberry preserves.

 a good base ratio is 2:1 by weight of strawberries to sugar.

blue...like the sky

went flying with dad...it was good. i need more of this.

green and red

this year we had the best christmas- wonderful time with family...on the beach. i highly recommend it.


the only thing that would have made st. augustine better would have been to have my sami there...another vacation soon :)

unknown

what color is friday? to me, most days have colors- i guess according to their stress level- so my "normal" thursday to saturday colors are dark and hot colors- think deep reds and oranges- so tonight, being an "unnormal" friday night off- i guess the color would be a muted rose color...i'm curled up, in bed, dog at my side, movie ready to start, full belly and cake for tomorrow- its 931pm...this is what this 25 year old enjoys doing.
i wonder what i'll enjoying doing on friday nights in 5 years? will it be hanging out with friends? watching my baby sleep? or still making the best food out of the produce farmers bring me? where will i be in 10 years? beginning some new friday night tradition with a little family of mine- going to watch the local high school football team? traveling home after a day at work? getting ready for an event on saturday? i can't even get to 15 years...

as afore mentioned- my relaxing colors are muted- so when i look into the future i see muted colors, though i know when i get there they will get sharper and more distinct- just as when i look into the future all i can see are hazy images of what i want to come true...sometimes i just want to wake up in 5 years or 10 years and see what has happened...but then i would miss the moments that built up to them...why did i chose A over B? why is this person looking at me this way? *like the worst blackout ever*

question of the day: if you could travel forward or backwards in time, which way would you go? you stay for a week and then return to the present merely seconds after you left...

thankful

so i read on someone's blog this morning that they were going to randomly list things they were thankful for- so as i think of them i'll randomly post things i'm thankful for :)

1. my dog
2. my sister and dad
3. my extended family, who really does seem to want to be involved in my life
4. a job i enjoy 99% of the time
5. my health and the well-being of my family
6. for the weather that is ever changing- and constantly changing my moods
7. the game of tennis- and how it relaxes me and centers me

*ps- at work i like to ask random, though thought-provoking questions...todays: if you lost all memories, and could not remember anything new, except for one memory- what would you want that memory to be?

orangeeeeeee

Drum roll to the much anticipated pumpkin soup + burgers post...i thought i'd take this post to a newer FUNNER level and delve into what happens while i'm cooking- good news, its fun. i'll just caption everything from here on out...enjoy!

Jbrown has expertly quartered and is beginning to seed the pumpkin.
She LOVES pumpkin seeds- so she is saving them in the green bowl.

Quarter of pumpkin with seeds...

Place the seeded-quarters of pumpkin on sheet trays-
as with the other squash- we are going to liberally salt and pepper-
for this application we are going to use olive oil- though butter is fine.

into the oven they go...375 until tender- this took about an hour

in the mean time...

Sami is supervising...

the gin and tonics- which are really responsible for my
excellent cuisine :)
*can i note how much i LOVE these rocks glasses- i believe they
are a grandparents somewhere down the line...

Touch Down makes fantastic g + t's

Jbrown put her seeds in water to allow the gunk to sift away

mine looks empty...

while the pumpkin is roasting and your assistant is making gin and tonics
get your vegetable stock rolling...basic mire pox + water

these are sami's toys for the evening- her new mummy toy and a carrot...
not to eat, just to play with...

veggie stock 

diced onion for the soup base- i added 1 whole onion to a large pot with olive oil
and after they had sweated out a minute or two, add carrot and celery and garlic

we had munchies- these are mozzerella sticks...

our supervisor...disappointed in the lack of quality control
she has participated in thus far

the pots a stewin'

base for the soup- don't forget to season, season, season (salt, salt, salt)
each layer of our soup...

on the other side- TD was making burgers- this time he added sauteed
onions- in half he added pickled jalepenos...hot hot hot

and our cheese options- cheddar, gouda, grueyer, and the mystery cheese

someone was excited about halloween and put on her flower costume :)

we then pull the "meat" out of the pumpkin and add it to our sauteed mire poix in the big pot

researching how to best season the seeds this year...

after straining the veggie stock add it to the pumpkin mix...SALT HERE

in true Alton Brown fashion, we'll call this our "Soup Station"- we move from right to left
cooked, unblended soup--> blender *in small batches, not too full b/c its hot!!-->fresh pot to heat uniformly

may or may not have a couple gin and tonics at this point...

mmm...ssseeeeedddsss...sweet and salty was the consensus

still in costume...