January..... hunker down and make stuff!

  All this for a 5 minute Kirby pit stop, it's January.  Windchill today -14.  Feels like the frozen tundra out there and it's only Ohio!  

So let's start with the good news!  There is always good news sometimes you just need to go deep to find it out; especially in January when CNN is on way too much, the garden is frozen and there is a government shut down going on a month now.  STOP PAYING CONGRESS and turn off the heat in the Capital Building and the White House!!  If that doesn't work shut the damn water off and bring in the port-a potties. This is not hard!  

Ok back to January folly here on this little half acre.  I joined the Food in Jars challenge this year.  If your interested check out the blog:  https://foodinjars.com/

Normally this time of the year the canning supplies are put away and there isn't much to put up in the way of abundance.  Who knew ......... CITRUS!  So I signed up for the challenge during a wintery day while the dust settled on the second floor and I slowly conquered the flu.  Yes, I think I have enough energy to sit on stool at the sink and segment grapefruits and oranges.  WooHoo, the local grocery store was having a BOGO on citrus!  Let the good times roll!  2 bags of Texas pink grapefruits, 1 bag of Cara Cara oranges and 1 bag of blood oranges (for color).

This took way longer than I ever imagined but the results were amazingly delish!  Most participating in the challenge made marmalades and I now see why (much easier!) but I am not a marmalade fan; find marmalades quite gaggy, it's a texture thing.   The segmenting took so long I had time to bake a loaf of bread too. 

My Dad used to tell me I thought too much.  Who tells a kid to stop thinking but I was told this quite often growing up and have been a complete disappointment to my family as I have never been able to stop thinking.  After the citrus challenge I am starting to understand why my Dad said this to me

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When one is segmenting 4 bags of citrus one has time to ponder how one will eat this stuff.  As I stuffed the last little segments into the jars I discovered I had 2 cups of mixed citrus juice leftover.  I could not bring myself to toss it.  As I lowered the 7 jars into the canner I pondered; what to do?  Oh curd, I can make citrus curd! 

Cracking and separating 8 eggs, I stirred the yolks into juice heating over the water bath from the canning jars; for 20 minutes.  Twenty minutes to ponder what to do with all the whites.  As I filled 3 jars with curd my brain spit out Angel Food Cake!  I don't even like Angel Food cake!  and don't even ask about the blueberries...... 

The end of day one: 

7 jars of citrus, 3 jars of curd, one loaf of bread and one angel food cake.

Sunday morning I looked in the fridge and saw the 2 cups of very light syrup leftover from the citrus.  I never needed it as I had so much juice!  Pears were on sale so I bought 6 pounds.  The canning stuff was still out so no problem and way easier to can pears than citrus!  Dilemma; not enough syrup for 7 jars of pears.  No problem I had 2 cups of rhubarb ginger cordial leftover from New Years celebrations so that got added to the very light syrup. 

But wait, what goes with pears?  Gingerbread!  I had some funky bananas on the counter so I made Banana Gingerbread with walnuts.  I also had a half cup of heavy whipping cream leftover from the holidays soooooo.....  Somebody save me!! 

and maybe a photo shoot for my dishes..... oh ya the studio..... remember the studio?

But then we had to go for a walk, we went to the beach because we were being whipped into a weather frenzy about some storm coming.  Best excuse ever to not go to the studio..... storm coming get outside while you can!!  This works every time! 

By Wednesday I had finally cleaned the studio and looked at my clay.  And why am I having such a hard time getting back in the studio this year?  Maybe because I did my taxes and contemplated getting a job somewhere but then realized I am pretty unemployable ....... (because maybe I think too much) so I finally made a few pots and I love making pots.  Not too many pots as we are talking baby steps here!  

But then there really was a storm..... I am always shocked when it really happens.  

One of us loves this stuff!! 

The hoop house is finally insulated!! 

7:15 am and it's home and the wood stove is going 

and we have food in jars and I am finally making a few pots. 

And as for this stupid shut down..... I am baking a big old batch of cookies and taking them down to our Coast Guard station!  They are there working and not getting paid.  Not that cookies are going to make one bit of difference but I have written letters and I just feel compelled to do something because I am paying attention and it's January and somehow we gotta get through this mess.