A Bit of Kitchen Chit Chat

Goodness we have been waiting for the warm weather that has taken forever to arrive this year. Does it ever feel lovely despite the high humidity. It's days like this that I am very appreciative of having the kitchen in the lower level of a semi earth bermed home. Cool breezes off the water keeps the kitchen comfortable most summer days. Even though this is the second smallest kitchen we've had since owning houses, it is by far the most energy efficient.

Mel Burger

Summer weather means boating! Monday we took a spur of the moment boat ride. It was beautiful out especially desirable when boating. After enjoying fun in the sun on the water we stopped at Decker's Landing for dinner. They have a new burger called the Mel Burger. This burger is ½ lb of ground round with bacon, American cheese, iceberg lettuce, sliced onion and Cajun ranch served with fries. That day they had a buy one get one free special. We ordered a side of onion rings as well. The total with beverages came in at just under $24 for two people. The service as always was friendly and fast. The atmosphere was delightful!

Strawberries

Ontario strawberries are ripe for the picking! My husband brought me home a flat. I was astonished that they had gone up to $18 up $3 from last year. Obviously this farmer is taking advantage of other U-picks closing in the area meaning he has a bit of a monopoly. Even the grocery store prices are cheaper! I'm hoping to have our new strawberry bed producing enough next year that I won't have to buy them again.

I made 4 jars of low sugar strawberry jam for the pantry with half the berries using Pomona's pectin as well as reducing the sugar from 4 cups to 3 cups. Using this method I can get the sugar down to 2 cups or substitute the sugar with honey or Splenda® so the next batch will be made using local honey. I also ended up with almost a full jar (forefront) of jam for immediate use. The only downside I find to using Pomona's pectin in unlike regular pectin where it thickens before pouring into the jars so stirring prevents floating fruit, the Pomona's continues to thicken as the jam cools. So there is a bit of floating fruit that won't win a county fair award but simply stirring after opening this gourmet style low sugar jam is sure to please!

Bulk Chicken

A few weeks ago I wrote about Maple Lodge Farms in Brampton, ON. One of our kids brought us home a box of chicken wings and a box of legs with backs attached. Pictured is how the chicken is packaged in a large plastic bag inside a box. I vacuum sealed the chicken legs for longer storage. Vacuum sealing prevents freezer burn during longer freezer storage. I ended up with 10 - 2 piece vacuum sealed packages.