Bring it on Yak-ima!

Apparently Labor Day weekend = canning. Who knew. Our friends have the canning bug and invited us to go to Yakima with them to get mega deals on produce, and of course enjoy an adventurous road trip. We were totally in since, of course you know, Dan also has the canning bug. Our eyes were wide with hopes of quaint towns, fields of produce and cheap prices.

We were off! Dan and I in our car following the Jones clan in their car. This is one of my favorite photos from the trip...



We stopped in Cle Elum, which was kind of cute and quaint, for lunch. We were pretty hungry so we took the first place we could see to eat, which unfortunately wasn't very quaint or cute. But, the food hit the spot. We then went to the bakery where I enjoyed a frosted doughnut with walnuts. YUM!





I got this great photo of Dan. This is the Dan I LOVE with his dimple and smirk, isn't he cute?



We decided to take the "scenic route" from Cle Elum to Yakima which turned out to just be the "off the freeway route". I took some shots from the car to capture it's odd beauty. I was particularly fascinated with how hills looked like splitting fur (not that I really know what that looks like).




The river was pretty, and we saw a lot of people floating in the river on rafts, which looked like it would be fun.



There was a monument...



I'm going to blow past this next part. The Hotel. Let's just say there were bugs, and an overflowing toilet tank. Enough said. The town also left a lot to be desired, it was very sleepy which made it hard to find a good place for dinner. We saw some locals gathering on the side of the road and thought maybe there was a parade or something, so we asked and found out that there was a car parade of sorts going on that night. Tons of old cars were dragging up and down the street, it was kind of cool. We finally found a place to eat and went back to the dump we were calling a hotel to get some sleep for the next big day of produce collection.

We all decided that one night in this little town was plenty so we checked out and took off for the farmer's market. Finally the town was redeemed! The market was lovely, the people were nice, the sun was out, and the produce was huge and cheap as promised. Look at these cantaloupe!!! This guy practically begged me to take his picture.








They had hot food stands, bread and pastries even fresh cut fruit.




The big draw for this weekend were the u-pick tomatoes. Rumor had it they were .29 per pound so we could make salsa, marinara sauce, BBQ sauce or whatever! As we drove to the farm we passed miles and miles of orchards, apple, pear, plum. I thought it was really beautiful.



When we got to the farm we decided the prices for already picked tomatoes were good enough and we really didn't feel like getting down in the dirt to pick. This place also had gourds and pumpkins, corn, beans, pears, peppers all of which looked great.






The cutest was when the woman at the check-out gave Miles a free pumpkin. He got so excited!



We had a HUGE load of food when we were done. I think the total was $26.00 for 75lbs of tomatoes, 12 ears of corn, some onions and a bunch of peppers.



We wanted some fruit so we took off to one last place and picked up some plums and apples. They even had things I'd never heard of before...like a Santa Clause Melon.




It was a good trip. The best part for me was getting more in touch with where my food comes from and who grows it. In most cases the farmers were so friendly and really loved talking about their produce, you could really see they were proud of what they grew. I think this might be an annual tradition, except we'll probably stay overnight in Ellensburg.

Personal Temple Worship

It's no surprise, I often times have a hard time keeping motivated for weekly church attendance. I don't always see the value in the "every day" aspects of my faith, and what I associate as "the necessaries" involved with being an active Latter-day Saint. With that said though, I'm very much engaged in the importance of temple work and the opportunity it provides for personal spiritual development; a one on one personal connection with God. All separate from the other aspects of service and giving of your time, talents and energies that are associated with my religious faith and the service opportunities you are expected to be a part of.

I love the temple for the importance of doing work for those that have passed on. Saving ordinances I feel that each of us need in order to return to live in God's presence. The connection to genealogy and family ancestry in evident in the temple, particularly to my own family members who are no longer living.

This book was a nice reminder of the blessing and importance of temples on the earth today. And encourages not only Latter-day Saints to attend the temple often, but for all of God's children to learn about the importance of temple worship in their ongoing spiritual development. There were nice pieces of insight in this book.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes

I'll admit it, I love salt over sweet. I'll take salty chips on occasion over treats most any day of the week. However, when it comes to caramel, I could polish off a batch of homemade caramel myself! We had friends over for dinner and I was craving chocolate cake with either chocolate frosting or salted caramel icing. After perusing a few recipes I took inspiration from a Southern Living recipe, coupled with a Bon Appetit recipe and adjusted and came up with my own rendition. End result, a much better salted caramel butter cream product. Less meringue tasting, not too intensely salty; just the right amount. And a huge bonus in my book, it didn't dirty every known dish in our kitchen...!



Making a quick caramel with sugar, salt and water. Cooking it undisturbed until it got to the desired amber color.



One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is my infrared digital thermometer. Holly picked this up for me several years ago. When I started taking up candy making at home, the need for precise temperate, while stirring was crucial. I made a water bath in a both with the kitchen aid mixer bowl and whisked egg whites with granulated sugar until it came to 140 degrees to ensure no food borne illness etc.



Whipping the egg whites until hard peaks are formed.



Adding the cooled caramel sauce to the whipped egg whites.



Beating and beating and beating this mixture, while adding butter, one tablespoon at a time. To get it to this consistency I always add powdered sugar. I find from scratch swiss meringue style butter cream is on the runny side and does not hold it's shape when piped. The powdered sugar ensures it will hold it's piped look and feel.



The finished product with some Maldon sea salt flakes for garnish. Even the texture of the from scratch chocolate cake was good. It was a new recipe I tried. Next time I'll add some sour cream to the batter to keep it a tad more moist for the days following.

Dan's Salted Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp + 2 tsp (40 mL) heavy cream
2 egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1. Put 1/4 cup of sugar and water in saucepan over medium-high heat. Do not stir of you will get sugar crystals, but you can swirl the saucepan gently. It will bubble itself into a deep amber. Remove immediately from heat and add cream (careful - it will bubble up furiously). Stir until smooth and set aside.

2. Put the egg whites, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a heatproof stand mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture reaches 140 degrees. Best to use infrared thermometer. Transfer to stand mixer once temperature is reached. It's fine to start whisking hot. The incorporation of air will cool the mixture down.

3. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Add butter one tablespoon at a time, and continue beating on medium. Reduce speed to low, add vanilla extract, and then caramel. Beat for 4-5 minutes. Mixture will look like it is separating, but then it comes back together. Add powdered sugar to get butter cream to desired consistency.

Meeting Laura Does London

I'm not really a girly girl. I don't like a lot of make up, I have no patience for hair-do's, I love clothes, but don't always love to window shop, I'm all about buying and moving on to the next place. So while Dan's sister was visiting us we all went shopping and I was introduced to Sephora. Now, I've been in a Sephora before (I don't live under a rock), but found my self overstimulated so I bolted. This time however, Rebecca was busy checking out the latest "Laura Does London" (new to me lip gloss line) so I looked around.

I did a few things I never do when shopping, first I asked for help. I decided I wanted a new perfume and had seen something in a magazine about one with pomegranate in it, the woman wasn't sure what I meant but was very helpful taking me around and showing me different options. The second thing I did was let her talk to me for more than 2 minutes which resulted in me finding two perfumes I liked and being able to take samples home to try before I buy. It was great.

I probably won't pick up any purple or green lip gloss, or glitter eyeliner, but I'd go back again since they were helpful and not pushy. After our visit to the store I promptly told Dan how lucky he was that I wasn't so into that stuff or our our money would probably vanish out of our savings account, because like I said, I do love to buy.

The Monster Ball

While the Lady GaGa concert was amazing, controversial, over-the-top, creative, obnoxious and clever all rolled into one, we all walked away with varying opinions on the evening. She's known for shock value and she definitely delivered! I had a fantastic time with Holly and Rebecca. Lots of energy with the 20K sold out stadium. Dancing, singing along and screaming. It was a fun and interesting time.

David & Ziggy

This has been a fantastic CD to add to the Craven household music repertoire. The whole CD is full of top hits. I particularly like the joint project with Nine Inch Nails, "I'm Afraid of Americans." China Girl. Fashion. Modern Love. It's got all the good stuff on this, including some Ziggy Stardust tracks.

Shout out

It's been a while but I wanted to say how proud I am of Dan for his weight loss and healthy lifestyle reform (Go Da-an, you're so awe-some...insert cheer-leading moves here). He really has and is motivating me and I'm thankful to him for that. I've also been impressed by my friend who recently participated in the Danskin triathlon. I am considering joining her next year but need to get on a bike with actual wheels and try my hand at swimming again before I can decide, both of which I haven't done since high school. So we'll see, I'm not considering this a full commitment yet, stay tuned.

A Goldfrapp Inundation

So, I could be content and happy listening to music 24/7, every day, for the rest of my life. I LOVE music, and can't seem to get enough of it. I like all types, but typically am a sucker for fast paced pop alternative. My sister Rebecca was up here this past weekend for the Lady GaGa concert at the Tacomadome. She introduced Holly and I to a bunch of tracks from three Goldfrapp albums. Needless to say, while we were listening to the music at home, I was downloading music on my iPhone while we conversed I LOVE it...!



Rocket, Believer & Alive. Excellent tracks. This whole CD is my favorite.



Ooh La La, Lovely 2 C U, Timeout From the World & Number 1. Excellent tracks.



A fantastic CD as well. I have more music to add to my work out and running routines. She reminds me of a cross between Kylie Monogue, Oliva Newton-John and Metric. What's NOT to like about this music.

Honey Sweetened Pineapple

It's definitely a full canning season again. This is really something that I enjoy doing for a myriad of reasons. First and foremost, I like to ensure the quality of the food that I'm eating. In that vein, canning my own products ensures no additives or preservatives. Secondarily, canning and creating in the kitchen makes me feel close to my deceased mother. The time I spend in the kitchen, reading her recipes, adjusting them or following them exactly, makes me feel like she is right there with me, chatting and laughing, just like we did when she was alive. So for many reasons; memories, food quality and long term food storage, this is a hobby / talent that I enjoy.



This recipe has fresh pineapple, lemon juice and a honey syrup. I try to stay away from refined sugar as much as possible. For this canning project, I purchased some local blueberry honey. The taste with pineapple is naturally sweet. Holly and I both look forward to having this fresh fruit in the long winter months when fresh fruit is scare, and we don't want to pay a fortune for it to be shipped off season.

Mustard Pickles & Spicy Red Pepper Relish

I really enjoy canning and putting twists on traditional family recipes. One of my favorites as a child was Mustard Pickles. The pickled cauliflower, red peppers, onions and cucumbers in the tangy mustard sauce was always a nice accompaniment at Sunday dinners of pot roast, mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables and home made rolls. This family recipe always immediately transports me back to my childhood. The recipe started out with my Great Grandma on the Craven side, and has been passed down through my Grandma Craven, my Mom who made these for my Dad, and now my generation. Just slight recipe adjustments. Gone are the measurements of "a half bushel of this, a handful of that" to more precise measurements of cups or quarts. But the end product still has the century old flavor that four generations have come to enjoy.



Prepping the vegetables for an overnight salt soak.



Starting the slow simmer of the vinegar mustard sauce.



Adding the spices and the flour to thickener for the right consistency.



A quick cook of the vegetables in the prepared sauce, prior to water bath processing.









I love the bright golden yellow color of the finished product. And I really love how home preserved food looks in glass jars.



I also was in the mood for a spicy relish of some sort for a condiment when we grill chicken sausages or brats. I like sweet pickle relish in small quantities, and prefer more the spicy version or savory version of relishes. I looked at some family recipes, and a few of my canning cookbooks, and came up with my own newer version. Swapping out the pickles for all red bell peppers. Omitting sugar, and adding more spice like hot sauce, poblano, ancho powder and lots of onions and garlic. The vinegar had to be adjusted so it could be preserved. And I put in a small amount of honey to give it a sweet bite. This turned out great. Just the right amount of heat during the initial taste.



The mound of vegetables, prior to prepping.



The easiest prep for vegetables is in a food processor. I love mine.






Cooking the vegetables down for a few minutes and adding the vinegar and spices to get ready to water bath process.









The finished product ready for my food storage shelves in the basement. And probably a few holiday gifts as well.



Loved how the multi-color red peppers looked in the jars post water bath. The bits of ancho chills suspended in the other pepper and onion mixture looks fantastic.



In my uptight urbanite nature, Holly is always so good to make me custom labels for all my canning projects so they can truly be 100% professional looking. Her graphic design talent, with my culinary talents always makes a superb combination. We are a fantastic team.



Another view of the custom labels.

The Book Thief

I just finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is a young adult novel about how a young girl's love of books helps a community survive World War II and the Holocaust. I REALLY enjoyed this book. Mostly because of the unique perspective it was written in, narrated by death. I thought this would be a good book to read as Dan and I prepare to go to Munich, particularly to the Dachau concentration camp as the book is set in that area. I'll warn you, there is some swearing but most of it is in German so I didn't really know how to pronounce the words or know what they meant so it didn't stick. I'll also warn you that it will make you cry, but feel good all in the same moment.

Today I'm going to start reading The Holy Temple by Boyd K. Packer. I'm trying to do a better job at balancing fiction (my escape) and personal enlightenment through church books.