Good karma

Working will call at the annual SF Botanical Garden sale is definitely a far more athletic assignment than cashiering -- lifting full boxes of recently watered plants above your head, scurrying back and forth. I LOVED IT! Plant sitting, running around, and chatting with people is way more fun than counting tags and calculating change.

One woman even gave me the best compliment ever. She reads my name off my name tag and says I should be a writer. Or a philosopher. Made my day.

That and a little catching up with John this morning. I'm glad you could top off your April with a bit of sun time.

And! The rest of my seeds came in the mail today! I can't wait to try out some of these ground cherries and the stevia.

Not only that! The SFSU folks got back to me today finally. I guess by 'early April' they meant 'before May.' But they accepted me! I'm two for two on internships! I'm sad to have to turn them down, but I've decided I'm still happy to be doing grassland plant ecology stuff with a shorter (and bikeable!) commute and a little more money even though marine microbiology would have been cool. If the rainforest birds guy had said he needed me to come to Africa to do a little field work it would have been tough, but this will be good.

Canning your own strawberry rhubarb jam

Jam making always seemed to me like one of those old-time household sports like quilting and barn raising that is so much better with friends. I've been making jam for years now, but today was the first time I actually managed to get a little crowd together to help stir the pot. I'm so pleased to revive not just home made jam but the act of getting together and making practical household things fun. So, yay.


Canning supplies:
Canning jars. Ball and Mason make them, but you can use just about any glass jar with a standard sized rim. I like to use half pint jars for jam for a few reasons: 1. I usually have only one jar open at a time and like to cycle through different flavors, 2. Smaller jars are easier to fill all the way, which is important for getting a good seal. 3. Smaller jars means there are more jars to share! Check your recipe to see how many pints of jam it makes and plan to have at least that many jars handy (or twice that many, if you're using half pints).

Lids. Even if you still have the lids from other jars, it's good to use a new lid each time to ensure a good seal. There's a good chance old lids will seal, but you can't know for sure till you're done.








Rings. Rings are reusable. You can use single piece lids, but using two piece lids is great because the metal screw band doesn't need to be kept in boiling water during processing, so you can screw them on without burning your fingers. It's also nice to be able to reuse part of your lid, since once you have your rings, you can get additional lids separately.


A canner.You can get fancy canning equipment, but I like to use a big pot with a cake rack inside. The cake rack is important because you don't want your jars sitting on the bottom of the pot, in contact with the metal, which is in direct contact with the flame on gas stoves or burner on electric stoves. Make sure your pot is deep enough to be able to hold your jars and enough water to cover them. The deeper, the better. Bigger pots also allow you to process more jars at once. It's nice to save a little time during canning since the rest of the process can be time consuming, and I'm usually ready to be done already by the time canning is happening.



Another big pot. You'll use this one for actually making the jam. I like using a wok since the greater surface area helps the jam thicken up faster. The shallow sides also make scooping the jam into jars easier, but any old pot will do.



Wooden spoon. Something big to stir the jam while it's cooking. I like to use a bamboo spoon, but anything big will do the trick.










Tongs. These are for taking jars in and out of the boiling water bath in your canner and for fishing out lids from their boiling water bath. (I recommend sterilizing your lids in yet another small pot). The longer the tongs, the better.




Oven mitt. Or two or three or four. You'll need these for handling the sterilized jars, which will be HOT! It's good to have extra oven mitts because they get wet what with all the boiling water around and wet mitts make for burnt fingers.


A ladle. You'll need something to scoop the hot jam into the jars. I like to use a small measuring cup with a handle for this. The quarter cup size works great!




Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
A good jam for April and May when rhubarb is in season and strawberries are starting to ripen. Rhubarb ginger jam is another favorite. Yum. So many folks were able to make it to the party that we had to expand the jam recipe, but here's the original...

Ingredients:
2 pounds rhubarb (about 8 cups chopped fruit)
2 pounds strawberries (about 4 cups chopped fruit)
6 cups white granulated sugar
Optional: juice from a lemon or two.

Makes 5-10 half pints.

How to make jam:
Wash the rhubarb and remove the leaves. (Do not eat the leaves -- they are poisonous!). Chop stems into 1/2" chunks and measure how many cups of fruit you have. Add rhubarb to a big bowl with half the sugar and leave to mascerate for an hour.

While the sugar is breaking down the rhubarb, wash and chop the strawberries, removing any stems. You can leave the strawberry chunks pretty big. Strawberries don't need to mascerate, so these can just hang out for now.

Now is a good time to get started with the jars for canning. Take out all your jars, lids and rings and wash each piece thoroughly with soap and water.

Take out the big pot you'll be using as your canner and set your cake rack inside. Add as many empty jars (without lids) into the canner as will fit and cover the jars with water. Bring to a boil. Boiling that much water takes a long time, so I like to fill up my kettle (or hot water boiler) with water and add the boiling water to the pot to help speed things up.

Once the sugar on your rhubarb has turned to runny syrup, add the rhubarb mixture, strawberries, and the rest of the sugar (as well as any lemon juice, if you're using it) to your wok or other big pot and bring to a boil, stirring more or less constantly.

When to stop stirring and start filling up jars is up to you. The longer you wait, the thicker your jam will be as more water evaporates. Since your jam is boiling, it looks runnier than it will at room temperature once it cools, but you can get a good idea of how thick your jam will be by pouring a bit onto a frozen metal spoon to cool it down. If you want your jam to set (to be a solid gel at room temperature) this can take a few hours. Beware! Strawberry rhubarb jam can get pretty thick if you wait long enough, but I like to leave this one somewhat runny. Canning your jam sooner rather than later gives you bigger chunks and more jars of jam since your volume is higher (without the excess water evaporating with continued boiling).

As long as the jam is boiling, it's safe to start canning.

Canning:
While your jam is cooking, you'll need to sterilize your jars and lids in boiling water. Keep your jars at a rolling boil in the canner and sterilize the lids in another small pot with boiling water.

When you're ready to start canning your jam, fish out an empty jar from the canner, returning any water in the jar to the canner. Use your oven mitt to handle the jars -- they will be hot! Make sure your ladle / measuring cup is clean and use it to pour the hot jam into your jar. Fill jars until there is about 1/4" of space at the top. You want your jars to be full to make sure there is enough suction to seal the lid as the jam cools.

Once the jar is full of jam, carefully clean any jam from the mouth and sides of the jar. Use the tongs to get one of your lids out of its boiling bath and center it on the top of your jar, then take one of the screw rings and screw it on until just starts to get tight. No need to over do it -- you want to be able to get it off again later. Once the jar is sealed, set it in the canner, making sure there is still enough boiling water to cover the top of the jar.

Full jars of jam need to be processed at a rolling boil in the canner for (at least) 10 minutes. Fill up as many jars will fit in the canner at one time, then put the lid back on the pot you're using as the canner and start timing the ten minutes once the last jar is in.

After ten minutes, use the tongs to remove the jars from the canning bath and leave them to cool on the counter. I usually let them cool upside down. Supposedly this also helps test the seal. It is probably unnecessary, but I do it anyway just in case.

Once the jam is cool, you can have at it. Processing your jam this way should preserve it for up to a year without refridgeration, but make sure each jar has a good seal! If the lid pops up during cooling, your jar does not have a good seal. It's still edible, just keep it in the refrigerator and consume within a month. Always always take a look at your jam before digging in. If there is any mold or other sign of contamination, throw the jam out! Sad as it is to dump out your precious homemade jam, a bout of botulism is worse! (You can reuse the jar after sterilizing it).

And that's it!

Q and A
Can I use other jars I have around the house?
Yep. You can use any old jars, especially if the tops fit either the regular or wide-mouth lids and rings Ball makes. If the lids with rings don't fit your jars, you can use the original lids that came with them, just keep the lids in the boiling water bath to sterilize them and watch for a good seal. It's probably a good idea to store any jam made with a reused lid in the fridge.

What if I don't have enough jam left to fill the last jar to the top?
No worries. Fill up the last jar as high as you can. There isn't really any need to process this last jar in the canner since you'll want to eat this jar of jam right first. Store it in the refrigerator for up to a month.

I made a lot of jam and I couldn't finish it all in one year. Can I still eat it?
If you can't eat it all, home made jam makes awesome presents. If you still have more than you and yours can put on toast in a year, it's probably ok. Just between us, I have jars in my cupboard now that are more than a year old. It's probably just fine, but be extra careful checking that the seal is still good, make sure there's no sign of contamination, and eat at your own risk. In general, though, it's a good idea to label your jars of jam with the date when you make them so that you know how old it is. That way you can make and effort eat older jars first.

Bartery

I've been having this inkling for a while now about bringing back barter. It seems like such a great way to connect with people.

I've been fascinated for a long time with how things work and where things come from, especially food, and I feel like lots of folks have a lot to offer on that front. And wouldn't it be great if we could all share?

To start things off, I'm throwing a little jam making party. I've made jam most years for the past few years now, and I almost always let people know when I'm planning to do it, but no one has ever taken me up on joining in until now. I can't possibly eat all the jam I make. I still have tons of jam from previous years, but there is something therapeutic and good-feeling about making jam or bread or anything that was once a mystery.

I'm taking this bit of interest as a sign of what I hope will be a sea change, and this year I'm hoping to step it up a notch. I went on a little seed ordering spree -- Ok, a big seed ordering seed spree -- and I now have thirty some varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers all waiting to get in the ground. I'm trying to sign up for a community plot near me, but if that doesn't pan out, there's no way I can plant all of these in the little planters on my roof I intend to claim. So, I'm hoping that maybe my seeds and I can make friends with folks with a bit of extra space in their yards. I would love to trade either seeds for some of the vegetables/herbs/flowers they produce or maybe I could offer vegetables/herbs/flowers to someone in exchange for a bit of earth. Or some of my seeds for some of your seeds. Or some of my seeds for some of your vegetables. Or some of my seeds for a smile and some good will. I've already got one taker!

Life just feels so good these days. Things feel so Right. I'm so ridiculously busy, with five classes, four volunteer gigs, and a propensity for throwing parties, but I'm reminded of The Alchemist, or Jack and the beanstalk, or a proverb that suggests keeping seeds in your pocket to expand your wealth. I love the way you can take one seed, set it in the earth, nurture it for a bit and get a hundred seeds back. How beautiful is that?

Happy Earth Day!

...and if anyone is interested in a little bartery, let me know!

Mini me

After a whirlwind Regents Scholar overnight and Cal Day tour, Tatiana is pretty much decided on coming to UC Berkeley in the fall! Woo hoo! Mission accomplished!

I have already planned out our life together many times over. She is going to move up early. We are going to watch Examined Life in Moffitt Library. We'll have a little sleep over and watch Dr. Strangelove. We'll have tea/coffee and study times at the I-House, which I have never been to. She is going to join GiANT (the film club) and make movies and invite me to screenings. She will play music, possibly in the Cal Band (which I just finally learned is the same thing as the (other) Cal Band - craaazy). She will tell me all the good books to read and invite me to her best lectures that are on Mondays or Fridays or at other times convenient for me. We will have dinner parties and tea parties and play music together.

My mother has also requested that she make friends with her grad student TA's and shop for manfriend material for Julianne and me. Ha.

In any case, life is going to be good!

Good news Thursday

Unless there is some last minute complication, I shall be working at UC Berkeley in my ecology lab for a solid 12 weeks full time this summer! With the potential to possibly maybe continue on in the fall! Woo Hoo!!

Paid internship! Or 'lab training position,' they are calling it. I shall make more in one week than I've made this entire school year! Granted that's not saying much, but still!

A year ago I knew zero about this stuff and had no idea how to get closer to where-ish I want to go, and now I'll be getting paid to do Science! How great is that??!?!

Today's ounce of inspiration

After catching up on my Sartorialist and Garance Doré (see: Blogs of Note <---), watching westerns with Nat, and dining with Amélie, I am really wanting to get sewing.

Here's one more bit of fuel in that fire:



I love when texture gives another dimension to monochrome. I'm kind of excited that neutral tones are in this season. Maybe I'll be able to actually buy some clothes I like.

Can I admit that I'm kind of into the idea of those one piece jumper things? I don't think I've ever even tried one on, but I secretly love them. I would also love whatever this girl is wearing as a fun little sun dress, but not so much as a shirt. Adding shape to a dress with a little elastic is one thing, but somehow I just can't do it in a shirt.

Also, I have discovered via lucky trials and lots of error that sleeve length can really affect the vernacular of a top. My brain, thanks probably to easy Simplicity patterns, used to see the world in two lengths -- three if you count sleeveless: 1. Long sleeves, which come to your wrist, 2. Short sleeves that stop half way between your elbow and your shoulder, (And 3. No sleeves at all). But since throwing ready made patterns to the wayside, I have become enamoured with sleeves that go to the bottom of your thumb, or maybe two inches above your wrist, or 3/4 length sleeves and 2/3 length sleeves, and cap sleeves or sleeves that come down maybe a third of the way from your shoulder to your elbow. One curious thing about sleeves, though, is that the possibilities do not seem to be endless. There seem to be a finite number of lengths that look good, and chancing upon them is kind of like using a stud finder -- no no no no no no no no YES no no YES no...

One more thing I love and then I'll stop - slubbed cotton! Slub is great because it adds texture and even some tonal interest, and not only that, it doesn't seem to pill or look as drab as other cotton knits. I am all for it! If only I knew where to find a decent bolt of it...

Old pals

I met up with an old friend from the co-ops here in Seattle who I haven't seen or really chatted with in probably five years. Last night we went to a lecture on the role of aerosols in climate change, which, in this case, is slowing the rise of global temperatures. Then today lunch and chats about Life and The Future. All of which is looking bright!

And then tonight waayyy too much Chinese food in the International District followed by a totally unnecessary dessert in Capitol Hill with Nat. It was so good to see him. Yay for reconnecting with old pals. I love keeping good people. I will also never need to eat again! Then again, we're meeting up at the Farmer's Market tomorrow morning...

Mesdames et messieurs!

Je vous présente le cirque Calder!
en deux parties...




So amazing and fantastical I sat in the SAM and watched it twice with wonder in my eyes. If I didn't love Alexander Calder before, I would love him now.

People should be doing this now. I want to go see this show.

Live from Seattle

Even though the weather forecast showed Thursday with a 90% chance of rain all day, I was thinking about how nice it would be to see the sky. And what do you know? I woke up this morning to shadows coming through the blinds. And shadows mean sun! I opened the blinds, and there it is, blue sky!

Were you aware of it? vol. 28: Raining fish in Australia

No joke. I am reminded of Kafka on the Shore and Magnolia.

2 March 2010.
Lajamanu, Australia.
Residents of a small outback Australian town have been left speechless after fish began falling from the sky.

Hundreds of spangled perch bombarded the 650 residents of Lajamanu, shocking local Christine Balmer, who was walking home when the strange 'weather' started.

She said: 'These fish fell in their hundreds and hundreds all over the place. The locals were running around everywhere picking them up.

'The fish were all alive when they hit the ground so they would have been alive when they were up there flying around the sky.
'When I told my family, who live in another part of Australia, about the fish falling from the sky, they thought I'd lost the plot.
'But no, I haven't lost my marbles. All I can say is that I'm thankful that it didn't rain crocodiles!'

Meterologists say the incident was probably caused by a tornado. It is common for tornados to suck up water and fish from rivers and drop them hundreds of miles away.

Mark Kersemakers from the Australian Bureau of Meterology said: 'Once they get up into the weather system, they are pretty much frozen and, after some time, they are released.'

Lajamanu is located half-way between Darwin and Alice Springs, on the edge of the Tanami Desert.

This is not the first time residents of the small town have experienced fish falling out of the sky.

Resident Les Dillon, 48, said: 'In the early 1980s I was at the Alice Springs Tavern Hotel and, when I walked out the door, I saw all these little fish, fallen out of the sky.

'Yes, I had a couple of beers, so none of my friends believed me. I have rung heaps of people to let them know I wasn't drunk back then. It had really happened!'

**Courtesy of the Daily Mail via the Skeptics Guide to the Universe. See the original article for an extra list of crazy things falling from the sky through history.

Plus this from the BBC