After this hiatus full of recipes and conversations, then silence, I would like to get back to the topic at hand: how do you thriftily use, re-use, recycle, and re-invent your food staples in creative ways.....(inquiring minds and all....)
I just did a spring cleaning of my freezer, so I could fill it with detoxing, good for you stuff, and I found several partly filled bags of frozen fruit I used in smoothies and the like....blackberries, blueberries, berry medley, mango, black cherries.....I also had a batch of Fuji apples (fresh) languishing in the fruit bowl and looking a bit wrinkled from dehydration.......Voilą! Instant (almost!) Tutti Frutti jam! Added sugar, a large handful of dried lemon, tangerine, orange and grapefruit peel (I am thrifty that way) and the juice of two blood oranges, brought to a simmer and cooked until jell point.......6 pints of delightful ruby colored, full of texture jam!
Completely satisfying!!
By the way, yes I dry and keep all citrus peels and use them usually in compotes (apple sauce in particular) and stews, where they lend a distinct note, and of course in teas, particularly when I have a tea blend which is a bit on the bland side....or I pulverize it, and use the powdered peel to flavour pie or cookie dough..
My two euros for the day! Keep those hints coming, I really enjoy them!
Elle*
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You will hear thunder and remember me,
And think: she wanted storms. The rim
Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,
And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire.
Anna Akhmatova "White nights"
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