When you make jam or jelly, you need something to make it jell. Most folks use commercial pectin–a product extracted from fruit–usually powdered (although liquid pectin is available). But. BUT.

What if it was doomsday and there was no pectin in the stores? WHAT WOULD WE DO?????

The trick of making your own pectin was common knowledge in the olden days. Now, practically no one even knows it’s possible. The Damsel just learned it’s actually not that hard, especially if you have one of these trees:

If you have an apple tree you need to thin, (like described in this thinning apples post) the sacrificial baby apples can be used to make pectin. Their short lives were not in vain!

You can also use crab apples…apparently they make excellent pectin, and no one feels too sad about not getting to eat them. People have even used apple peelings.

Take your little apples, wash them, cut them in half if they are on the big side, and throw them whole into a pot.

Add water to the pot until the apples are nearly covered. Cook on medium heat for a long time. At least an hour, until the apples look sort of like bizarre lumpy applesauce, full of stems and skins and so on. Stuff no self respecting applesauce would normally have.

Stretch some cheesecloth (or a mesh strainer) over a container and let the cooked apples drip a couple of hours, or overnight. You could stir them lightly to get a few more drops, but don’t press them. That will make the pectin cloudy. It won’t hurt its jelling ability but cloudy pectin? Seriously?

After you’ve waited all you’re going to wait on the dripping, pour the liquid off into a container. You can use it right now to make jam or jelly, or it can sit in the fridge a couple of weeks till you’re ready.  Some people cook up enough to make it worth processing it in a canner. (email mhovley at gmail dot com for instructions)

Here’s how to test if your pectin is the right strength: Pour a little rubbing alcohol into a dish. Pour in a teaspoon or so of pectin. Wait one minute. Scoop the pectin with a fork.

The pectin will cling to the fork in a glob if it is “strong” enough. If it runs off the tines of the fork, put it in a pan and boil it till it reduces, let cool, and repeat the rubbing alcohol test. (The pectin needs to be cool.)

And for heaven’s sake, don’t taste the “test.” It’s rubbing alcohol, people! Does the Damsel have to tell you everything?

Now, how do you use the stuff? Because every batch of pectin is a little different, and different kinds of fruit jell better, there’s no hard and fast rule. But here’s a place to start–mix 1/4 to 1/3 cup of pectin per cup of crushed fruit (or juice, if you’re making jelly). Then stir in sugar equal to the amount of pectin+fruit. Boil until it foams. Skim that stuff off, but don’t fuss.

Jam doesn’t set until it’s cool, so it’s hard to tell if things are okay. If you’d rather not wait around, scoop a little out in a spoon and hold an ice cube on its back. (Normally the Damsel doesn’t advise holding an ice cube on someone’s back. This is mean. Spoons don’t care though.)

If it’s still runny, add more sugar and pectin and reboil. Some people say adding lemon juice also helps pectin to work better. And, there’s always this rescue runny jam post, for any kind of runny jam, whether made with commercial pectin or homemade.

Now celebrate! Making your own pectin is really kickin’ it old school.

The Damsel would like to gently insist that you flash freeze your raspberry treasure. Do it this way:

1. Wash the berries. This means put them into a strainer and rinse well with cold water.

2. Let them drain a bit.

3. Spread them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Careful! Raspberries are very fragile!

4. Put the cookie sheet, uncovered, into the freezer. Have a lie-down or clean a bathroom. Your choice.

5. When the raspberries are hard-frozen, sweep them off the cookie sheet into ziplock bags or freezer containers. You may need to nudge them off the cookie sheet with a pancake turner or something. Put the bags or containers into the freezer until you want to eat them.

Before the Damsel learned about flash freezing, she’d just put the freshly washed berries directly into a ziplock and froze them that way. But if she wanted to use a recipe that required say, one cup of raspberries, she’d quietly cry for a minute or two, because the frozen raspberries would have become a single, solid frozen block. She’d have to thaw the whole thing or attempt to ice-pick the thing into pieces. Sometimes she just couldn’t face it.

But because you know better and flash froze them, they will stay individual. You’ll be able to take out just what you need, without having to face a discouraging frozen mass. You can use them all year long for smoothies, desserts, or just popping into your mouth.

You can use this method for practically anything little you want to freeze. This is the Damsel’s wish.

By Lupe Fernandez

I found this 1954 article about Children’s Literature on a defunct website. Submitted for your edification and amusement.

“How To Write Books for Boys and Girls”

“Always portray the military, politicians and religious figures in a positive way. Remember, these responsible authority figures keep Americans safe against atheists, beatniks and Communists.

“The family in your story should consist of married parents. Divorce has no place in reading material of teens. Broken homes make them nervous and might put unnecessary worries in their heads about whether Mom and Dad are getting along. While many classic stories feature orphans, today’s modern family is more educated and healthy, and orphans are old fashioned characters.

“Dad should always work in an office or to a responsible job like a fireman or a policeman. Fathers should never be an unemployed loafer or a union organizer. Mothers should always be homemakers. Mother’s who work in offices set a bad example for impressionable girls.

“Boy characters should have healthy, manly hobbies like playing baseball, collecting bubble gum cards, and outdoor camping. Girls should like sewing, cooking and talking with other girls about like clothes and boys. Activities that keep boys inside like reading, writing or thinking are not suitable role models for young men. Those are girl activities. On the other hand, too much physical exercise by girl characters would be unrealistic and your reader would lose interest. If your story has a Tomboy, make sure she is not a major character. Make the Tomboy a supporting character who longs to act like a real girl.

“Dress your characters in appropriate clothing. Boys: short sleeve shirts (only puny boys who spend too much time reading in their rooms wear long sleeve shirts), loose, comfortable pants with pockets and Keds sneakers with tied laces.

“Girls: ankle-length skirts (absolute no pants), Mary Jane shoes (only girls with loose morals wear high heels unless attending special occasions like a funeral or a wedding), hair tied in a pony tail or neatly trimmed.

“Language is very important. As boys and girls are often not in control of their feelings, they make many exclamations of surprise.

“Appropriate phrases:
‘Jeepers!’
‘Golly!’
‘Holy Moley!’

“Inappropriate phrases:
‘Crazy man!’
‘What a gasser!’
‘Kookie!’

“Never show a boy and a girl holding hands unless accompanied by an adult or riding in a hay wagon with other boys and girls.

“Never have a girl romanced by a foreigner, especially greasers, scratch-backs, potatoes, pachucos, fruitpickers, or braceros.

“If your story is a crime mystery, make sure your youngsters deal with bunco artists, robbers, or counterfeiters. Never put your youngsters in peril with murderers or social deviants.

“Everybody likes a good ghost story, but stories with supernatural happenings should be confined to misunderstood blithe spirits, college fraternity pranks or escaped convicts in disguise.

“If you follow these tips, your story is sure to be a delight to boys and girls everywhere, and stand the test of time just like the classics you read as a youth.

“End your story with a good, hearty laugh at the dinner table. Perhaps, Skippy the family dog runs through the house chasing Fluffy, the neighbor’s cat.

“These are a few tips for a good writing and wholesome reading.”

The Damsel would just like to add that she is grateful for haywagons.

The Damsel was going to show you a magnified picture of a spider mite but they gave her nightmares. So no.

Last year the garden managed to still produce fairly well but many plants were really stressed from spider mite attacks. By this time last year, our potatoes were pretty much dead, with just a fraction of the yield we’d hoped for. The Damsel felt sad about it. She knows how it feels to be picked on by little creatures. So this year the Knight has been trying something new, and so far it’s working.

Soapy water has been used for over 200 years to control insects, and with the new interest in “going green” and growing organically, people like the Knight are giving it a try. A little soap has long been used by farmers to make water “wetter” by breaking its surface tension. Apparently it’s also lethal for little bugs. Too bad!

How can you tell if you have a spider mite problem? Take a piece of white paper out to the garden, hold it under some leaves, and tap the leaves briskly. Stuff will fall onto the paper. Some of it will be dust and other garden debris. Look closely. Do any of the dust specks move? They’re probably spider mites–after all, they are super common.

Put some soap (we used cheap dishwashing soap) in a dial sprayer. Set the dial for 3 ounces per gallon, connect your hose, and the sprayer will automatically mix the soap with the spraying water in the right dilution.

These spray dealios are really quite neat. You can of course use them for other things you might spray…just make sure it’s clean before you use it for the soap. (The Knight likes him some Roundup now and then, for example. You don’t want any of that kind of residue)

Spray the plants, trying to hit the undersides of the leaves as much as you can. That’s spider mite hometown. Then spray the tops.

You can dial it back to 2 ounces–just use enough that you can see a light amount of suds on the leaves. Too much isn’t good for the plants.

In the interest of full disclosure, some internet sources say that dishwashing soap isn’t the best choice, and there are special soaps made for spraying in the garden you ought to pony up for. Apparently some plants don’t care for cheap dishwasher soap at all. The Knight has used it on potatoes, tomatoes and roses and things seem good. Your mileage may vary. Why not try the cheap stuff on a small percentage of your garden and see how it goes?

In order to get rid of a spider mite infestation, you have to do this every two or three days until they seem under control.

Soap–a good thing, in more ways than you thought.

Human Family Reunion

Link to the Bloggernacle

Thank you, Emily!

From the baking soda post, we learned that baking soda needs an acid to activate it. And so maybe you can guess: baking powder is baking soda with an acid already combined with it, plus some starch to keep things free-flowing and make measuring easier.

Okay now then. Have you heard of “single acting” and “double acting” baking powder? The Damsel knows of people reading the words “double acting baking powder” on a recipe and deciding that they’d better add twice as much. This practice must come to an end. Listen carefully, now, sweet students. Most baking powder you can buy nowadays is already “double acting” and adding twice as much might make things taste off.

Single acting baking powder activates as soon as moisture hits it. So a person would need to hurry and get that baked whatever into the oven immediately after mixing it. Double acting activates with moisture, but has a second kicker that activates with heat. Thus you can dilly-dally a bit before baking. Not that the Damsel advocates dilly-dallying, but things happen.

So the next question is: can soda/powder be interchanged? You can actually make your own baking powder by adding acid to baking soda. You can accomplish this easily by adding cream of tartar. You’ll need 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda. Measure the resulting mixture just as you would purchased baking powder.

If the recipe has an acid in it, such as lemon juice, buttermilk, vinegar, etc. you can skip the cream of tartar.

BUT. There’s no way to “make” baking soda. Just sayin’. If you have baking powder but no soda, you can use baking powder in its place…sorta. Baking soda is 3 to 4 times stronger than baking powder, so you’d need to use at least 3 times as much. It might make things taste a bit off, and the fact that you’ll also be adding the acid built into the baking powder may throw off the recipe as well.

The Damsel feels a bit dizzy.

To recap:

1. baking powder is made of baking soda plus acid.
2. baking powder can be made by mixing 2 parts cream of tartar plus 1 part baking soda.
3. you can substitute baking soda for powder by mixing up #2, or by adding acid to the recipe such as buttermilk or vinegar.
4. you can substitute baking powder for soda by using three times as much and hoping for the best.

The Damsel would also like to announce that she consistently wins the “Biggest Baddest Can of Baking Powder Contest.”

Krystal lives in Colorado with her husband, a self-proclaimed broken hipster, and their son, whom they lovingly refer to as, The Bug.  The list of things she loves includes (among other things) sewing, decorating, the Pacific Ocean, classic films, classic literature, cooking and baking, chocolate, shoes, and nail polish.  She spends her days chasing after The Bug, picking up her husband’s wet towels and dirty socks, blogging, sewing, cooking, and trying to make her home as comfortable as she can.

See? The Damsel told you she was nice. Now then. The Clever Mommy.

There are few memories of my mother and myself in the kitchen that I remember with more fondness than the days that she would let me help her make tortillas.  Of course helping was more like watching, but I didn’t know that then.

We would spend a few hours in the afternoon, while my brothers were outside playing, making a huge batch of soft delicious tortillas.  They would be used in various meals during the week, and heated in a pan, topped with a little melted butter for snacks.  She would tell me about how she learned to make them from the mother of one of her friends in school, who had come to the United States from Mexico.  Inevitably the story would turn to the time that she was spending the night at that friend’s home and was asked to stir the soup that was cooking on the stove.  I would cringe and giggle at the same time when she told me about the goat eye ball floating in the soup when she lifted the lid to stir.  Apparently they didn’t waste any parts of the animal when they cooked.

These stories still float through my head as I make tortillas in my own home, without Mom.  And the tortillas are still super soft and super delicious.  So delicious, in fact, that I forsake my gluten-free diet every once in a while simply to make and eat these tortillas.

Authentic tortillas are made with lard.  If you want a truly authentic flavor, you should use lard, too.  I am a vegetarian, however, and the shortening that I use works just fine.  I’ve even used butter in a pinch.
To make 18 tortillas, you’ll need the following ingredients:

3 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 C. shortening (or lard)

3/4 C. HOT water (as hot as you can handle it)

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and then cut the shortening in with a pastry cutter or your hands.  The mixture should look crumbly.  If it’s not crumbly, and more resembles flour, you need to add a bit more shortening.

Add the hot water and mix with your hands or a fork (I’ve heard a stand mixer is great for using nearly boiling water without having to touch it).  Press against the sides of the bowl to pick up all of the dough.  If it’s sticking to the sides, you need to add a bit more flour.  You should have a nice moist dough that can be formed into a ball.

Form the dough into 18 balls, and then let them rest, covered with a damp kitchen towel, for an hour.

Lightly flour your working surface, coat your rolling pin with flour, and roll out a dough ball until paper thin.  It will not be perfectly round (unless you have some magical tortilla rolling powers that I lack).

Heat a frying pan (I prefer stainless steel) over medium heat, and place the tortilla in the pan.  Let it cook until it starts to bubble up, about a minute, then flip it over.

Let it cook another minute or so, and place it in between two kitchen towels.

All of my kitchen towels were dirty, so I had to use paper towels. Don’t judge.

Continue the process with the remaining balls of dough, and stack them all in between the two towels.  Store them in a large ziplock bag in the fridge to keep them soft.  If they do get a bit hard, all it takes is a few seconds in the microwave or in a hot pan on the stove to make them soft and pliable again.

Enjoy!

You’ll see a version of this in the sidebar now, complete with the code you’ll need to snatch this for your own site. The Damsel happily promises extra credit for any student installing said button.

The button may receive a few tweaks in the next little while, but don’t worry. The button on your site will automatically update to the new tweak. The internet is magic!

The Damsel has, and until she found out what bread flour really is, she always quickly rejected any such recipe. Things are cramped in the Damsel’s pantry. She can’t keep a zillion kinds of flour hanging around. She needs the room for other important items like chocolate chips and cheerios.

Bread flour is in fact flour with a high gluten content. And if you have one magic ingredient, you can make your own so easily, you won’t ever pay extra for the stuff again.

The magic ingredient: Come closer, and the Damsel will whisper it in your ear: Gluten flour, or vital wheat gluten. This stuff used to be sort of hard to find, but it’s becoming pretty common in the baking aisles these days. It’s often used in whole wheat recipes to make them turn out more bakery-like, instead of doorstop-like, by increasing the percentage of gluten.

The vital wheat gluten comes in a sort of small package, so you’ll sacrifice only a little pantry real estate in trade for having a pretty versatile and somewhat magical ingredient on hand.

It’s ridiculously easy to make all-purpose flour into bread flour. Just add 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten/gluten flour per cup of all-purpose flour to your recipe. You don’t have to mix it into the flour ahead of time or say any magic words. Just add it as part of the flour measurement.

That. Is. All.