Pucker Up!

Sweet & Sour Cherry Conserve has made its way onto the Sabjimata Store’s shelves.

Hand pitting 3 gallons of cherries was not as bad as I thought it would be. Who needs a cherry pitter when you have opposing thumbs?

 

 

Whole sour cherries, cooked in a sweet cherry puree, tartly burst in the mouth. The taste is complex and refreshing, with just the right amount of sweetness to balance the pucker (relax, it’s an ever so mild pucker).

 

 

Because Sweet & Sour Cherry Conserve is not too sweet nor too sour, it goes wonderfully just about anywhere you would put your favorite cherry jam–be it on top of toast, cheesecake or rice pudding. And like many other Sabjimata products, Sweet & Sour Cherry Conserve also tastes great eaten straight from the jar. Lower in sugar than a traditional jam, and packed full of fruit, Sweet & Sour Cherry Conserve is a fat free, wheat free, peanut free, gluten free, meat free alternative to fat, wheat, peanuts, gluten and meat.* Of course it is! It’s jam. But a conserve.

My husband commented that the Sweet & Sour Cherry Conserve is addictive, as are most sweet and sour foods. Personally, I like that the sweet base is blended while the sour cherries remain whole. Sheer genius, if i do say so myself. Not only are there a mix of tastes but also textures. The acidity of the sour cherries creates a much thicker jam, making Sweet & Sour Cherry Conserve perfect for baked fillings. I can almost gaurantee it will not volcano-ize in your oven, oozing forth from whatever pastry is supposed to be hedging it in.

Honestly, I am just so happy I had the opportunity to work with such a wonderful fruit! When I was pregnant with my son, the two foods I craved were apples and cherries. I still don’t understand why I craved the humble, vitamin bereft apple, but cherries! That’s rich man’s fruit. Full of vitamins, texture, color and taste, I’m glad I don’t have to again go through the commitment of child-raising in order to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

 

 

*Sorry. I really like making jam. I even really like keeping this blog. But let me tell you, it is very difficult to try to write about jam over and over (and over and over and over…) again while trying to make it sound new and fresh. It’s jam! And while it is true that different fruits behave differently in the pot, as well as taste differently on the tongue, they pretty much look the same in the jars. Especially the red ones. You may also notice me getting a little experimental with the mise en scene of my pictures. Hey, I’m just trying to keep things interesting for you. And me!

Have You Tried Hare Krishna?

Fifteen years ago today my husband met the Hare Krishnas, giving up his prep school background and summers on Martha’s Vineyard to move into the ashrama and begin his path of self realization.

During these past fifteen years he has lived in different ashramas, travelled the world with his guru, Gour Govinda Swami, and has even managed to settle down, get married, become a nurse and have two kids.  Throughout all this he has maintained his spiritual practice of mantra meditation.

So today, on the Fourth of July, I would like to applaud my husband and his declaration of independence from a life more mundane.

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If You Google it They Will Come

Recently I started keeping track of the google searches performed by people who ended up at my blog. It’s not as big brother as it sounds. Sitemeter allows me to keep track of how many visitors I have a day as well as how they found my blog. When visitors make their way to my pages via a google search, I can then click to see what exactly they were searching for. Rarely are they actually looking for me, but hopefully, once they found me, they have fun at my site.

Here are some of the more recent google searches which have landed people at planet Sabjimata. Basically, it is pretty predictable–seekers of flower jam recipes and prospective picklers of asparagus looking for some tips. June Taylor’s been a real ally in getting me hits. My favorites are definitley #21, which came all the way from the U.K., and #35, which I simply can’t figure out. My disappointment must pale in comparison to theirs since I am sure they had to sojourn on, beyond the Sabimata pages, in order to seek out their required information. Hopefully #34 came away satiated. And #5, #8 and #22 surely had no where else to go! And #65…I’m just now coming!

1) beach plums
2) how to make khandvi
3) pickling asparagus
4) june taylor jams how to
5) sabjimata
6) how to make rose petal jelly
7) june taylor
sabjimata jams
9) asparagus pickle
10) lilac jam recipe
11) where can i buy gooseberries
12) chickasaw plum
13) robert festino
14) waldorf doll, san francisco
15) june taylor jam
16) khandvi recipe
17) rose petal jam
18) flower jelly
19) labels i can print out at home for strawberry jam
20) peony blossom jam recipe
21) dinner customary for hindu
22) devadeva dasi
23) rose petal jelly
24) violet jam
25) best peach jam
26) june taylor jams how to
27) how to make khandvi
28) pickling asparagus
29) beach plums
30) organic rose petals
31) erin englebrecht
32) spelt chapati recipe
33) edible flowers
34) organic strawberry jam best
35) flower makingrose-organdy cloth
36) gluten recipe
37) strawberry picking in pa state college
38) how to pickle asaparagus
39) rose petals jam to buy
40) buy rose petal jam
41) elizabeth post mirel’s 1973 book “plum crazy”
42) bernard goetz
43) how cornflakes are made
44) strawberries u pick pa
45) rose petal jam ayurveda
46) human made jam
47) plum jam june taylor
48) “lambs quarter” & “use”
49) you pick farms alachua county
50) rose petal jelly for sale
51) halava
52) where to buy flower petals to cook with
53) best strawberry for jam
54) meditation martinsburg wv
55) additive to make u eat
56) gluten free chapatis
57) where to buy gooseberries
58) ekadashi canola oil
59) mulberry season lasts
60) i am making mulberry jam
61) gluten free buckwheat muffin
62) mulberry jam
63) mulberry syrup recipe
64) pennsylvania organic buttermilk
65) things that are made in florida that you can eat that are only made here

If I could add any “key words” to the list, I would definitely put my pre-Hare Krishna name out there for anyone from back in the day who wants to find me. DANA BIALOW. Now I exist, in my pre 1997 nomenclature, for all to google. What else would make a good key word search to get people looking at my blog?

1) home made jam
2) the perfect gift
3) what to get for christmas
4) mail order jam
5) artisinal jam
6) vegan jam
7) karma yoga
on sale
9) free
10) food porn

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E18 Error

I found out what is wrong with my Canon. The LCD screen reads E18, which is an error common for the otherwise wonderful Cannon, and occurs after the camera is dropped one too many times. There is even a website about this glitch, e18error.com. Apparently, someone is even trying to organize a class action lawsuit against Canon over this.

Despite the fact that I am not going to be joining any lawsuits, I feel there is hope. My brother-in-law, who works for NASA, is coming tomorrow for a visit and he just might be able to take apart the camera and set things right again. In the meantime, I have my new hand-me-down to keep my blog decorated.

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Yes, I is an English Major

Despite graduating with honors from Temple University with a B.A. in English, this blog is plagued by grammatical errors. Mostly they are of the homonym variety. Past instead of passed. There instead of their. My husband just pointed this out to me. However, I already knew these errors existed and just hoped no one else noticed.

So this is my disclaimer. I don’t have time to edit. After nursing two really nursey kids, I don’t have many brain cells left. Whatever I lack in English language skills, I try to make up for with my kitchen effort.

I know the cardinal rule of writing (and blogging!) is edit, edit edit. But come on. It’s just a blog. And not a blog about world events but about jam! Although the posts hover forever in some cyber cloud above the earth, I still see it as ephemeral content. Today’s posting is yesterday’s news come tomorrow.

But out of respect to you, Dear Reader, I shall do my best to correct my errors once they are discovered. My only request is that you do not work too hard to discover them. Because honestly, instead of editing, I’d rather be making jam.

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Curry Plant Resurrection

Our curry plant was doing splendidly until about a month or so ago. It became yellow and withered like it was the dead of winter instead of the top of spring. My husband decided to cut back our Curry Devi (one must be affectionate to one’s plants!). All the way back! I started calling her Stumpy.

I was a little curious what would happen. That is, until I read Kurma’s post on the delicate, tempermental curry plant. Who knew she was such a diva! I became worried—no, angst ridden– about the fate of our curry plant. I approached my husband with the information from Kurma’s posting as well as an attitude that implied he was a curry plant killer. I mourned the future of my cooking. My husband began to look a little nervous.

But a few days later he looked pretty darn pleased with himself. “Look,” he said, pointing to the green buds polka dotting Stumpy. Amazed at the sight of curry stubble, I told my husband, “We’ll see.” Despite all indications that Curry Devi’s vital signs were in check, I still was skeptical. Could my husband reallyresurrect a plant back from near death?

Well, here is a picture of her with green, young leaves. She looks better than ever, rejuvenated and with a full skirt of bottom foliage. The overpicked, geriatric look of her past life has given way to a brand new, ever fresh and youthful Curry Devi.

My husband, however, wants me to post some sort of disclaimer. You know, like “don’t try this at home.” I think Kurma’s post really scared the bejeezus out of him and he doesn’t want to lead anyone astray into the world of senseless plant murder. He wants me to point out that our curry plant was very healthy until a month or so of her yellowing. We had her for years, actually, and she has never been ill. It was spring, so the weather was warm, which may have aided her recovery from having a good foot and a half of her body amputated.

I don’t think my husband will be trying any plant surgery again anytime soon. We are just grateful to the powers that be that our Curry Devi pulled through this one, allowing us many more flavorful sabjis to come.

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My Gift Horse

Unfortunately, my camera broke Tuesday after being dropped accidentally one too many times. I really liked my little Cannon PowerShot, which was a hand me down from my mother-in-law. Fortunately, my mother-in-law was sick of her camera, a Pentax, and decided to get herself a new one. She generously gifted me her Pentax. Unfortunately, the Pentax is slow to capture an image. Fortunately, it is really great at close-ups, which is what I do a lot of when taking pictures of food. Unfortunately, it will be really bad at taking pictures of my kids, because they tend to move around a lot and I need a quick camera to outpace them. Fortunately, I am around my kids pretty much all of the time and am by nature unsentimental so I do not feel an overpowering urge to document their every cuteness. Unfortunately, the Pentax is a bit of a pain for uploading photos onto my MacBook because if I don’t officially “Eject” it, an annoying folder is temporarily left on my desktop. Fortunately, the folder seems to go away once I shut off the computer. Unfortunately, I am whining about a free camera I just got. Fortunately, I realize my short comings, feel grateful about the free camera and am going to go give my mother-in-law a thank you call.

Close-up of blackberries taken with the Pentax.

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Make a Run for the Border

Recently for my husband’s work lunches I have been making a lot of quesidillas. They are easy to make and are nutritious and delicious. But most importantly for my husband’s work, they keep well over a three day period.

 

I simply make white flour chapatis, brush with butter and then fill with pan fried veggies, raw tomato and cheese (a little salt and hing added for good measure). Then, just fold in half, pan fry in my well seasoned cast iron skillet and ole’!… a gringo’s take on a Mexican entree.

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Black Raspberry Jam

Yum, yum, yum! Black Raspberry Jam is here! These raspberries were picked on our own land and are certified organic by Mother Nature. A messy endeavor on my end tastes like perfection once you open a jar on your end.

I don’t own any fancy equipment for separating the raspberry seeds so I just had to puree the fruit and then mash it through a sieve to get rid of the crunch. What ’s left is a velvety smooth raspberry spread fit for the most English of muffins.

All the jam went into jars and the dark color of the raspberries makes a pretty unphotogenic final product. However, I wanted to share with you proof that Sabjimata Black Raspberry Jam really does exist.

Exhibit A: Black Raspberry Jam, 9.5 oz

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Can You Say "Diversity?"

A really nice perk about my spiritual community is we never have to think twice about the “D-word” when raising our kids. Diversity is a given as Hare Krishnas can be found all over the world doing all sorts of things (hopefully good things!). Recently we attended a festival at the Hare Krishna farm a mile from our house. In attendence were people from Ghana, Nigeria, India, Belize, Guyana, South Africa, Croatia, Australia, China and such exotic locales as West Virginia, Massachusetts, DC and New Jersey. Oh! And don’t forget Canada.

Another nice perk about my spiritual community is that Hare Krishnas like to eat! Upon taking spiritual initiation from a guru, the disciple vows to live a godly life by refraining from meat eating, sex outside of marriage and intoxicants such as drugs and alcohol. I know that is hard for some people to believe since they may think of Hare Krishnas as a bunch of pychadelic freaks, but really,we don’t do that stuff. The freakiest thing may be that the super strict Hare Krishnas even vow to not eat chocolate because of its intoxicating effect. Maybe they should only vow to abstain from really good, expensive chocolate. The vow I took was to not buy crappy Hershey’s. If it doesn’t cost at least 2 bucks a bar, I’ll pass.

Anyway, cooking and eating are a big part of Hare Krishna culture. We cook for God first, ourselves second. (Don’t ask me who that bar of Green & Black’s for.) There is a lot of meditation and ritualistic stuff which goes into cooking pure vegetarian food. But also, as you may have noticed from the list of “do nots” associated with getting initiated into the cult (and I use that word in a purely tongue in cheeky isn’t it fun to be part of a religious movement that’s suffered a bad reputation kind of way), there aren’t a lot of sensual things we Hare Krishnas allow ourselves to take pleasure in. Eating palatable things often takes the place of enjoying in other arenas of life’s pleasure palaces.

What would a festival be without a feast? While most Hare Krishna feasts are Indian smorgasboards of rice, dal, puris, sabji and kheer, this feast was an unusual homage to the tastes of the Western bred tongue. Greens with tofu, pizza, french fries, gluten kabobs and cheesecake were among the temptations too divine to resist. Thankfully for my spiritual life, eating can be considered a form of yoga (things you never knew!) when the proper consciousness is present in the cooking and eating processes. Unfortunately for my tummy, I am not used to eating such an assortment of rich things in one sitting. Alright, I pigged out…but so did everyone else! Anyway, I ended up with a big tummy ache (that sounds better than what I really got).

As you can see from these festival pictures, it definitely had a distinctive flavor not found at most Hare Krishna events. Djembe drums and African dance may seem out of place in central Pennsylvania, but anyone familiar with Gita Nagari Farm or Bhakti Tirtha Swami, whom the festival was held in memory of, would know that you can’t have Yasoda Mayi’s all you can eat curried kabobs without first working up an appetite chanting and dancing.

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