Perfect Day

Yesterday was the first day of Fall! M and I spent the day at Highland Orchard, in Westchester PA where we picked a half bushel of apples that I plan to make into pies, butter, and preserves. When we returned we went straight to our friends' house for dinner, which turned out to be a surprise party for me for my 30th birthday! Yup, a perfect day.

 

Sweeping up the leaves

It's Thanksgiving already! October and November have flown by, but here's a little snapshot for you:

** Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel at The Woodlands Community Garden **



** Tree delivery at dawn, followed by many many volunteer tree planting events for work **









** A trip to the Philadelphia Zoo (the oldest zoo in the country) with some new friends **



** Lots of baking! **





I'm continuing my quest to perfect my apple pie recipe this fall, along with tweaking my presentation (see how I made it look like an apple when you cut it in half? clever clever me).

** Sukkah! **



We built a temporary structure called a sukkah on our porch this year in honor of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The holiday is a celebration of the harvest (and other religious and historical events) - the sukkah is open to the stars on top and filled with plant materials. Ours was decorated with paper chains, gourds, fruit, chestnuts, mums, fabric and drying bunches of herbs.







After we built and decorated it, we invited all of our friends to eat with us under the sukkah. Even though it rained during most of the week long holiday, we shared two fabulous dinners with friends and family. And it only took us two extra weeks to take it down!

That's all for now, I hope to post more frequently once I get a new laptop. This little setup that I have right now is driving me crazy, and I think it's time for a new computer, don't you?

My Precious

Bramblefest 2010 was a success! We made six different kinds of jam: Bramble, black and blueberry, blueberry lime, plum peach, peach cinnamon, and low sugar peach.



As predicted, the brambles were not very fruitful this year, though we insisted on venturing into the thorns anyway. We managed to collect about 2 lbs of berries, which we mashed and juiced to add to the bramble jam.



My parents also came prepared with these adorable picking buckets that we tied around our waists.



And this year we had a new family member to help us pick: Maybelle! She's a tiny rough and tumble love bug farm kitty.

Here are some pics from the process:









And here's the haul!



We made 51 jars of jam, mostly in 1/2 pints. Next year we vow to make more 4 oz. jars because then we'll have enough to give as gifts. As it is, I don't want to part with my precious share.

P.S. We managed to hit up the antique store in town as well (two of them, actually!) and I'll share my incredible findings from that in another post.

Juicy Preparations

There's been a flurry of activity in my inbox recently, mostly centering around the topics of fruit, jars, kittens, and antiques. That all adds up to one thing: Bramblefest 2010!



The time has come to head up to E and T's house in northeast PA to harvest wild berries, eat amazing home-cooked food, gather wildflowers, laugh at chickens, play with the new kitten, shop for antiques, watch movies and of course, make jam. Lots of it.



We're a little worried about the brambles this year because E and T did some work on the property and the brambles took a hit. But they will bounce back. And while we wait we will supplement. Yesterday Chloe and I went to Mood's Farm Market in NJ for some pick-your-own goodness. It was raining but we stuck through, having a blast, stuffing ourselves with fruit, and harvesting over 5 lbs of blackberries ($1.40/lb) and over 20 lbs of peaches ($0.75/lb!).



My mom is bringing blueberries, so it Aunt E, and Katie is bringing plums. Good lord, I think a lot of it will go into our bellies before it goes into the cans and I can't wait. I'm particularly excited to try some recipes from Marisa McClellan's local Philly Food in Jars blog and to experiment with the spices. Mood's is her favorite pick-your-own and I've been wanting to go for a while.

So happy weekend everyone, and check back next week for the results of Bramblefest 2010!

Scenes from Longwood Gardens

Here are some favorite shots from a recent trip to Longwood Gardens.


***Waterlily bloom outside the West Conservatory***


***Crazy spiky waterlily leaves outside the West Conservatory***

***Gourd display in the Idea Garden***

***The Cascade Garden in the West Conservatory***

***An arbor of Angel's Trumpet in the outdoor gardens***

My friend and I visited on a gorgeously crisp and sunny day, and we stopped at the Chadds Ford Winery on the way home for a tasting. If you live in the area, their Spiced Apple Wine heated with come cinnamon sticks is perfect for the upcoming chilly days!

Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, New Hope PA

Every day you play with the light of the universe.
Subtle visitor, you arrive in the flower and the water.
You are more than this white head that I hold tightly
as a cluster of fruit, every day, between my hands.

You are like nobody since I love you.
Let me spread you out among yellow garlands.
Who writes your name in letters of smoke among the stars of the south?
Oh let me remember you as you were before you existed.

Suddenly the wind howls and bangs at my shut window.
The sky is a net crammed with shadowy fish.
Here all the winds let go sooner or later, all of them.
The rain takes off her clothes.

The birds go by, fleeing.
The wind. The wind.
I can contend only against the power of men.
The storm whirls dark leaves
and turns loose all the boats that were moored last night to the sky.

You are here. Oh, you do not run away.
You will answer me to the last cry.
Cling to me as though you were frightened.
Even so, at one time a strange shadow ran through your eyes.

Now, now too, little one, you bring me honeysuckle,
and even your breasts smell of it.
While the sad wind goes slaughtering butterflies
I love you, and my happiness bites the plum of your mouth.

How you must have suffered getting accustomed to me,
my savage, solitary soul, my name that sends them all running.
So many times we have seen the morning star burn, kissing our eyes,
and over our heads the gray light unwind in turning fans.

My words rained over you, stroking you.
A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body.
I go so far as to think that you own the universe.
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.

I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.

--Pablo Neruda

Bramble Jam

Last weekend a few friends and I joined my parents and The Moo at my Aunt E and Uncle T's house out near Scranton. They have about 35 acres of woods and lawn, with wild berry bramble growing on the margins. My sister and I used to spend a week there each summer, so we're very familiar with the land and the berries. But last year E got the brilliant idea that she could pick the berries and make jam all summer, so this year we decided to join her for a Berry Pickin' Weekend.


***The path to The Bramble***


***The Bramble***


***Chloe in The Bramble***

E and T always had a menagerie of farm animals on their land, including (though not all at the same time) cows, horses, a goat, turkeys, a duck, chickens, dogs, and many many barn cats. Here are some of the animals we saw during Bramble Weekend.


***Teenage chickens***


***Polyphemus moth***


***The Moo***

We also partook in other activities during the weekend. I couldn't help myself and collected buckets and buckets of wildflowers for the house. And my Dad taught us how to shoot Uncle T's shotgun! We also found an incredible antique store in town that E didn't had never even been in. I'll post my findings from that another day, it was too exciting to take pictures.






***Katie with the "ladies gun"***

We ended up having enough berries for two batches of jam and one batch of jelly! We combined raspberries from The Bramble, blackberries from Bartram's Garden that I picked before we left, and blueberries that my mom brought from NJ.


***Mashing raspberries***


***Squeezing raspberries and blackberries through cheesecloth to make the jelly***


***Sterilization***


***The haul***

The weekend was ideal. The perfect mixture of friends, family, chickens, berries, shotguns and antiques.