End of Summer jam

The real pleasure of cooking is the joy of sharing the results, don’t you agree?

Today in my kitchen I am teaching granddaughters Aidan and Caitlin to use summer bounty to make gifts to share with their teachers for the holidays.

For years, our classes on making and packaging food gifts always sold out weeks in advance. Students would leave with an almost evangelical excitement, eager to prepare and personalize gifts that would be so much more meaningful than purchased ones. My late husband Paul and I even wrote a book on the subject, With Love From Your Kitchen.

One of the most popular recipes from those classes was a shimmering jam we invented one languid summer afternoon when we merged purple-skinned rosy-fleshed plums with dark Jamaican rum and orange rind.

Now, in a different life in a different home, I still cherish my summer ritual of strolling through local farmer’s markets seeking out and tasting the plums or pluots (a cross between plums and apricots) until I find the perfect color and flavor to make this divine concoction.

Then I buy lots and lots to make many batches of this jam, enough to fill and seal at least 100 of the beautiful 8 ½ -ounce Quattro Stagioni canning jars usually available at the Container Store and on Amazon.com. (See Note)

As the holidays approach, I wrap my jam-filled jars in cellophane and ribbons and give them away as gifts.

Plums and pluots are just coming into their perfect ripeness. Even if you've never made jam before, give it a try. Better yet, invite a favorite friend to join you in shopping and chopping, to enjoy jam-making and sharing the results.

My girls will hug themselves for planning ahead when they open the family gift cupboard to see jars stacked there, waiting, like a secret Swiss account, to be withdrawn when just the right moment arrives.

Stirring heartfelt wishes for loved ones into all that is simmering on your stove is your secret ingredient.

DIANA’S SUGAR PLUM JAM

For about 16 eight-ounce jars of jam

8 cups pitted and chopped dark-skinned purple plums such as Santa Rosa, or pluots (Flavor King pluots are wonderful)

14 cups sugar

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Grated peel (zest) of 2 large oranges

½ cup Myers’s dark Jamaican rum

Certo liquid fruit pectin (2 packets if using plums, 1 packets for pluots)

Note: I like the one-time use lids that come with the Quattro Stagioni jars, but sometimes use the two-piece lids and ring bands that come with the more common Ball or Kerr brands jars you find in most supermarkets.

If using the two-piece lids, know that the outer ring bands may be used again and again, but the inner lids should be used only once.

Another note: When filling jars, your job will be easiest if you use a wide-mouth canning funnel available at many hardware stores or online.

Wash jars in hot soapy water and rinse; place on a baking sheet and keep warm in a 225 degree oven until ready to fill. Pour boiling water over the jar lids (and rings, if using) and set aside.

Using a small, sharp paring knife, halve the fruits, remove the pits and cut each half into about 8 or 9 cubes. Combine the plums, sugar, lemon juice and orange rind in very large (8 to 10 quart) stainless saucepot. Place over medium-high heat. Heat the mixture, stirring to dissolve the sugar, to a rolling boil that you cannot stir down and boil hard for 1 minute.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Certo and rum. Skim any foam off the surface; continue to stir and skim for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, ladle the hot jam into the hot jars to within ¼-inch of the top. Wipe the rims with a clean paper towel dipped in the boiled water. Dry with a clean, dry paper towel. Use the tongs to place the lids on the jars and screw the lids or ring bands on tightly. Turn the jars upside down after sealing and set a timer for 30 minutes. Turn right side up, and finish cooling cool. You will hear the jar tops popping as they seal.

When the jars are completely cool, wipe the outside of the jars to clean away any drips. The jars should sparkle (I polish mine with window cleaner to make sure they do).

TO PREPARE IN ADVANCE: Cut up enough plums or pluots and freeze in plastic bags in 8-cup quantities for jam making whenever the mood strikes. Jars of prepared jam, properly sealed, may be stored in a cool, dark, dry place for at least six months and up to a year. Stored in the refrigerator, they will keep indefinitely.

PRESENTING JAM AS GIFTS

Label the lids of your jam-filled jars with round self-adhesive labels, then wrap in clear cellophane and tie with ribbon. Or, for a country kitchen look, you can tie tiny-print fabric over the top and secure with miniature rickrack.

For a more arty, modern look, you can wet cooking or stationery parchment paper and place it over the top of the jar and secure with a rubber band. When the parchment is dry, use a ribbon to hide the rubber band. The result is a tight, drum-like seal on which you can use colorful markers to write a special greeting.

Vacation bliss

Our very favorite cruise line for elegance and affordability is Celebrity!

You may remember that last October I wrote here about how Ted and I traveled roundtrip aboard Celebrity Solstice from Rome to Santorini, Ephesus, Istanbul and Athens. It would be hard to find a more enjoyable itinerary.

Now we’ve just returned from our second Celebrity cruise, this time aboard their newest ship the Eclipse--a voyage through the Baltics--roundtrip from London to St. Petersburg.

Being tall, Ted and I were both dreading our coach-fare flights roundtrip from Los Angeles to London aboard Continental. We were surprised at how super-comfortable they turned out because we purchased extra legroom seats for $49 each on all three flights by going online within 24 hours of departure.

Another advance arrangement worked well too. Through reservations made online, a driver picked us up at Heathrow airport and drove us through English countryside to the ship in Southampton with a one-hour detour to see the ancient, mystical site of Stonehenge and the little city of Salisbury.

Boarding the ship, we settled comfortably into verandah stateroom 7228, our home for the next two weeks.

Having requested a table for two slightly separated from other tables we were overjoyed to find ourselves dining solo next to a window. The quality of all Celebrity food is excellent and imaginatively presented--like this curried chicken salad served in a pineapple ring:

June is cool in the Baltics, 58-68 degrees, so we put on an extra layer for all our shore excursions and found all the ports fascinating. I have posted already our adventures in Stockholm, and will soon post more on Copenhagen and St. Petersburg as well.

But truthfully, we cherish sea days as much as port days because of the pure leisure, rest, reading time, and nurturing of having all our meals available whenever we desire. Add to that all the luxurious amenities on this latest ship in the Celebrity lineup, including Macintosh classes in the iLounge (Internet room). I attended every class and am now making a photo keepsake album on the new iMac I purchased on our return. In fact, I am so inspired that I am even blogging from my new iPad! Apple technology makes all my work feel like play!

Views from our verandah never darkened because the sun never really set! This is how it looks between 11:30 PM and 2:30 AM:

Here is a page from our trip's photo journal that shows a picturesque farm near Berlin where we feasted on a delicious lunch of grilled bratwurst:

The Eclipse Theater is such a delight every evening we have to remind ourselves we were actually at sea and not some venue in Vegas! I took the amazing photo below with the best camera I've used yet, my tiny Canon digital SD 960 IS that cost less than $250.

We returned so relaxed and well-rested that almost every week since I find myself yearning for just one more sea day aboard the Eclipse!

CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD FOR A LEISURELY DAY

As I wrote in my last post, I've been teaching my granddaughters how to cook one day a week. I always introduce them to tasting and preparing a new food, so this week it was papaya. Then, I took one of my favorite ship memories and doctored up some Costco chicken salad with curry powder and dried cranberries and toasted almonds. and filled papaya halves with salad, garnished with sliced strawberries and nasturtiums from the garden and some Major Gray mango chutney.

A cooking class for Caitlin

Caitlin, my nine-year-old granddaughter, is with me today for our first cooking class together. She has just returned from a family vacation at a villa in Lucca, Italy, where she had her first real cooking lesson—in fresh pasta and pesto, and decided she may want to be a chef. Kathy told her that her “YaYa,” (that's me!) has a long history of teaching cooking and writing cookbooks. To my delight, they decided I get to play in my kitchen on Wednesday afternoons for the rest of the summer with this amazing, enthusiastic, open-hearted child.

We begin our one-hour lesson by exploring something I simply love—all the fresh, fragrant herbs abundant in my summer herb garden. She loves learning to identify the scents and flavors, and we make an herb bouquet for her to take to her mom.

Back in the kitchen, I decide to introduce her to the wonderful taste of jicama, using a grooved cutter. We decide it tastes a bit like a cross between an apple and celery.

“What was your favorite thing you learned in cooking class?” I ask,

“Cracking eggs!”

Since deviled eggs are a family favorite, I suggest we make some for her to take home. First, my favorite method for making hard-cooked eggs. While they are cooking she learns to handle a very sharp knife by cutting some green onions.

We arrange our deviled eggs on my grandmother's glass deviled egg dish.

When her mom and sister come to pick her up we show them what we've been up to.

“What? You’re kidding!” they say in unison.

“Huh?”

“Caitlin ate an egg? She hates eggs!”

I looked at Caitlin who looked slightly chagrined and realized she had been too polite to tell me.

She had indeed eaten one, and admitted that it was pretty good. (If she actually does want to make these at home, I may just give her my grandmother's deviled egg dish!)

What a delicious way to spend an hour together!

Waving goodbye, I realize I have inadvertently demonstrated the most important lesson of all:

How we feel about cooking together is much more important than what we cook.

HARD-BOILED EGGS

Older eggs are better than the freshest ones because they are easier to peel. Set them in a single layer in a saucepan without crowding and cover with cold water by one inch. Bring to a hard boil, and then remove from the heat, cover and let sit for at least 12 minutes, or up to 15.

Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water, or pour off the hot water from the pan and cover with cold water and about 4 cups of ice. Let cool completely.

If not using right away, store in the refrigerator for up to a week. (Write an H on them with a pencil so family members who peek in the refrigerator will know what they are.

DEVILED EGGS

For 12 halves

7 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut lengthwise (this allows for an extra one to taste)

¼ cup light mayonnaise or salad dressing

2 green onions, thinly sliced and chopped

1½ teaspoons Poupon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon salt (or 2-3 tablespoons crisp bacon bits)

A few grinds of black pepper

Fresh herbs for garnish (we used a chive blossom, broken into little buds)

Cut eggs lengthwise, and place the yoks in a small bowl. Arrange the whites with cavity up on a dish covered with a bed of parsley or scrunched plastic wrap, or in a deviled egg dish like my grandmother’s.

The land of white nights

Light pouring beneath our stateroom curtains invites us to look out on an exquisite sunrise after only 2 hours of semi-darkness.

It is 2:30 in the morning on the Baltic Sea. We are aboard a gorgeous cruise ship, the Celebrity Eclipse on a round-trip voyage from England to Russia, and are now entering the Swedish archipelagos leading to Stockholm.

Lush green islands passing by are magnificent—like a giant’s stepping stones from the open sea to the capital city of Sweden. We are captivated for hours by lighthouses, boat marinas, large estates and modest summer homes.

Stockholm, 48 hours before its royal wedding, is shimmering with beauty.Ashore, we board a bus for an all-day tour through the capital to a ferry and then to two islands of the archipelago and pristine countryside. Swedes are friendly and welcoming everywhere we stop to enjoy the views and to shop.

We bask in the warm summer day, such a rarity so far north, and in the beauty of the landscape and the warmth and friendliness of such attractive and wholesome people.

One little town has a Porcelain museum, and at a shop nearby I delight in buying a lovely, inexpensive lace scarf for a souvenir.

After a second ferry ride we arrive at a charming farmhouse for a typical and very delicious lunch---a giant meatball imbedded in buttery mashed potatoes, accompanied by freshly shelled peas and luscious crimson lingonberries.

Shops on this island offer a large variety of homegrown vegetables , fruit preserves, dried herbs and designer textiles.

Late in the afternoon we return to our temporary home—one of the most beautiful cruise ships we’ve ever experienced.

We arrive just in time for dinner at our elegant window table for two. Because we wish to eat lightly we are grateful there are always perfect consommés and tasty fruit soups on the menu.

Later, we linger on our verandah amazed at the sun still high in the sky.

In the land of the midnight sun we are loving the longest day of our lives.

A Dream of Rome and Tomatoes

Have you ever tasted a dish in your travels that lives in your memory for years?

I’ve dreamed of juicy fat tomatoes stuffed and baked with warm garlicky risotto since Paul, our daughter Lexi and I strolled the Via Veneto in Rome and came across the sidewalk café at Harry’s Bar. That charming restaurant gained international fame when it was featured in director Federico Fellini's classic 1960 film La Dolce Vita.

In one of the glass cases we spied what would become my most lasting food obsession. Served slightly warm, they were soooo delicious we returned the next day to have the very same lunch. At home we tried over and over to duplicate them. No matter what we did, we never got it quite right.

Then, recently, Molly, the author of one of my favorite food blogs, Orangette, raved about a delightful new publication titled Canal House Cooking in which two talented women, Christopher Hirsheimer & Melissa Hamilton Irsheimer anShirpresent seasonal food. Inside their Volume No 1 on summer cooking I found a recipe that sounded promising. It turned out to be similar and very close, and now I after several test runs and some tweaking, these turned out today to be as succulent and delicious as I remember--the real deal.

Finding just the perfect fat and flavorful organic tomatoes are a challenge. I’ve lucked out twice—once at our local Saturday farmer’s market, and again at Mother’s, our local health food store.

Now Ted and I are so inspired we are doing something adventurous. After years of just talking about growing tomatoes, we bought a really cool and compact hydroponics system and, as you see, it seems to be working.

Here is our secret! Go to www.aGardenPatch.com

Buy a Garden patch Growbox. We have 3. Each box grows 2 tomato plants. Use the recommended planting soil. Each Growbox will hold a 1.5 cu ft bag of E. B. Stone Organic Azalia, Camellia, and Gardenia Planting Mix. They suggest another brand but our nursery says customers have preferred this mix. We agree it's doing the job well.

You will need a Growbox Staking Kit from the same website for each Growbox. Just follow the directions and it goes together easily.

I'll show you my first big fat tomatoes and some tiny cherry ones when I harvest my first crop.

The poet Pablo Neruda shares our passion for tomatoes:

. . . the tomato,

star of earth, recurrent

and fertile

star,

displays

its convolutions,

its canals,

its remarkable amplitude

and abundance,

no pit,

no husk,

no leaves or thorns,

the tomato offers

its gift

of fiery color

and cool completeness.

And so does Dr. Oz, who tells us tomatos contain lycopene which has been shown to fight cancer. “But you can't just put a few slices in your salad to reap the effect. The tomato needs to be cooked in order to provide the most nutrients.” So, here they are at last. This way of cooking makes them simply sublime.

It may take years and years, but dreams do come true!

BAKED TOMATOES STUFFED WITH RISOTTO

6 medium large tomatoes

3/8 cup Arborio or other short-grained rice

Handful of fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon to drizzle over the tops

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove stems carefully from tomatoes taking care not to pierce holes in the flesh.

Slice off the bottom quarter of each tomato (that is, the end opposite from the stem) and set those 6 pieces aside.

Working over a large measuring cup to catch all the seeds and juices use a serrated grapefruit spoon or other small spoon to carefully scoop out the interior pulp without piercing the walls of the tomatoes. Arrange them, cut side up, in a basking dish just large enough for the to fit snugly.

Lift out the large pieces of tomato pulp from the measuring cup and chop finely. Return the chopped pulp to the cup. You will have approximately 1 ½ cups of juice and pulp.

In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the rice and stir until it begins to turn slightly golden. Add the parsley and garlic and stir briefly, then add the reserved tomato juice and pulp. Cook for a few minutes to reduce the liquid slightly, and if you had more than 1 1/2 cups, cook a few minutes longer to reduce the liquid. Season well with salt and pepper.

Fill each tomato with the mixture to just below the rim. Place one of the reserved tomato bottoms on top each filled tomato. Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the tomatoes.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes until the rice is tender and the tomatoes are tender. Cool to room temperature. For the most succulent flavor, warm them a bit before serving.

To prepare in advance: These keep beautifully for days in the refrigerator! But do warm them before serving.

Keep Austin weird!

A respite from real life!

Hilarity begins at take-off. Rollicking high spirits roll down the aisle of our Jet Blue flight to Austin. T-shirts in the airport shops sport the message Keep Austin Weird!"

We've arrived to do our part! Everyone around us gets a contact high. The car rental lady and the women trailing after us ask, “Can we go where you’re going?”

We feel warmly welcomed to the "Live Music Capital of the World" as a professional photographer offers to use my camera to snap our photo in front of guitar art.

We four, along with our hostess Trish who recently relocated to Austin, are my BFFs and charter members of our Emergency Book Club.

Individual crises over the years bonded us into a core support group and we have laughed, cried and partied together for what seems like a lifetime.

Three solid days of spring rain can't dampen our high spirits. Nor does the horror that one of us was burglarized and had all her jewelry stolen yesterday. Even now, one of us faces surgery and another has tough stuff going on in business. But, isn’t that just the way life is--a combination of sweet and sour?

Rumi’s poem The Guesthouse (the poem I'm learning by heart this week translated by Coleman Barks), says it all:

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival. . .

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight. . .

We are . . .Oh, so ready for those delights!

I get to be designated driver in our rental car as we graze our way through our list of fine and funky Texas hangouts. The first night we are elegant and tasteful at a Mexico City-style restaurant, the Fonda San Miguel.

But, by the next day some of Austin’s wackiness begins to rub off during our visit to the wildly eclectic South Congress district. We order a huge selection of dishes. The most decadent and memorable is Carrot Cake French Toast (with a gooey cinnamon cream cheese sauce) at the South Congress Café.

People-watching through the window makes it so easy to understand how hometown girl Sandra Bullock might choose someone as edgy and colorful as Jesse James. He would look downright normal in this neighborhood of tattoos, big bikes and vintage clothing stores. Across the street we spot a array of Airstream trailers that sell cupcakes and all kinds of really fascinating snacks. We sample several while tapping our toes to live country music.

Our stash of foodie finds in our trunk, we slide an audio tour of Austin into our CD player and are guided past stately mansions, the capital building and intriguing nightclubs. Passing the Driskill, the historic hotel where LBJ dined on his first date with Lady Bird, we pause for refreshments. Copper ceilings, leather couches and cow heads on the wall.

As dusk approaches, Trish mentions the famous Austin bats that in Springtime fly out by the thousands from under the Central Bridge at sundown. The bats have more sense than the trio you see in this photo heading out without umbrellas for a good view. Turns out the bats stayed in, and fifteen minutes later our adventurers hurry back, drenched, while best pal Mary and I snap photos from our cozy front seat.

What’s for dinner on our last night? Having explored all day we decide to make the original Whole Foods (the flagship store) our last stop and load carts full of little tastes for a picnic dinner around the kitchen table.

Champagne, breads and cheeses, salads, more cupcakes and conversation until Trish begs for rest and heads to bed. An hour later she and Deb wake us all with shrieks of laughter. We rush to hear what happened and join the fun. They tell us how Trish, turning her back to Deb, proceeded to cover her face with a bright green mask. She then mentioned conversationally, “I’ve been drinking an interesting new green vitamin shake lately. . .”

As she turned to face Deb, they exploded with laughter and thus our party begins all over again. It takes forever for us to settle down and fall asleep again.

Today , heading for the airport we have time for one last stop—Walton’s Fancy and Staple one of several Austin restaurants in which Sandra Bullock’s sister, a passionate baker, is a partner. This is our last visit for now with our divine hostess Trish, at right with her matching umbrella.

We are relaxed, recharged, and already making plans for a rerun.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

These are so easy and so good because they have miniature chocolate chips inside. I adapted the recipe from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn.

24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2inch size)

1 package (18.25 oz) plain German chocolate cake mix (the kind with pudding in the mix)

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

½ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

1 bottle (1 oz) red food color

3 large eggs

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 (16 ounce) container cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, red coloring and eggs on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes longer, scraping the sides again if needed.

Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter into each lined cup making 22 to 24 cupcakes.

Bake until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the tins and let them finish cooling for at least 15minutes before spreading with frosting.

These freeze perfectly, and are wonderful to have on hand.