Canning is Cool!

Hopefully you all are enjoying the bounty of summer as we are. I'm pretty sure the harsh winters here and the sad state of affairs December-March vegetable-wise contribute to our enjoyment of the Farmer's Market and bounty of fresh produce in general. Last weekend, we took a day trip to Ann Arbor and visited a new place, The Produce Station and somehow got sucked in and bought 5 lbs. of blueberries! We also bought a bunch of peaches (are they Mackinaw Peaches, like from Seinfeld?) - which are SO good on the grill (just cut in half, brush a tiny bit of grapeseed oil and grill cut side down on high for 5 mins or so, sprinkle with a tiny bit of brown sugar and cinnamon, then turn down to low or off and leave them while you eat dinner. . then eat for dessert - yum!). Anyway, what to do with 5 lbs. of blueberries? Well, we had blueberry pancakes and blueberries in our cereal. . . then I made and froze some blueberry syrup for our winter pancakes, and IQF'd some berries for winter baking. Finally, I made jam! I know, sounds very old-school granny-ish, but really, I think it's kinda hip these days . .check out CHOW . . . So I made blueberry and plum jam. It's actually kind of cool because we like our jam tart and I like mine chunky and not too thick - so making my own gives me more control. After processing, the lids are on tight. . .but I guess I should do some research on botulism (can you see it??) before you all get jam for Christmas! I think tomato sauce may be next . . .

Time Flies When You're Doing Nothing

Happy Anniversary to me. Today marks a year to the day since I flew out here and joined Dave. I think living in a new place away from friends and family is an accomplishment, but other than that, I can't say that I've done a whole lot. Let's see. Five trips back to SF. 2 trips to NY. 1 trip to Au Gres (where Dave's mom lives). Las Vegas, Denver & Seattle somewhere in those trips. If I add it all up, it's about 14 weeks or 2.5 months outside of Michigan. Kinda funny when you add it all up! The most striking thing about living here has probably been the changing seasons. Something about the end and the beginning of a season that is exciting and a relief at the same time. Next would be the realization that in general people are people, no matter the geography. Not everyone here is a backward midwesterner, poor or drives a Ford F-150. There are good and bad drivers and mean and nice people everywhere! While I have confirmed that I like cities and the coast(s), it's not a bad temporary gig. In the next year, I hope we'll travel around more (Toronto in Sept. with the Tangs, already planned), definitely get to Chicago and maybe somewhere in the South (NOLA would be fun again). I hope to actually find a good restaurant that I want to return to again & again (and maybe miss when we leave). I hope Dave gets A LOT of work done so we can get out of here sooner, but for the time being, I'm content. . . .and can't wait for the fall leaves!

Michigan Sour/Tart Cherries

70% of the Sour or Tart cherry crop is from the state of Michigan, pretty much all from the Traverse City region (up north, west coast - right on Lake Michigan). Much of that 70% ends up in baked goods & preserves (think the tops of mini-cheesecake cherries). Sometimes though, you can find fresh ones in the stores and a few weeks ago, I found some! Of course, I had no idea what to do with them so did a bit research. First, you don't need a $15 OXO pitter to pit the fruit, just take a straw (yes, ours came from Starbucks!) and push it through the cherry from the top. The pit comes out cleanly and the cherry remains intact. Fantastic! So Dave and I pitted a pound of cherries in a little more than 5 minutes. From there, you can bake them like any other fruit, so I decided on "JohnnyCakes" from Baking with Julia - essentially a cornmeal cobbler. Served with vanilla ice cream (Edy's, east of the Rockies!), it was delicious and apparently, quintessential Michigan!

Mr. Ventimiglia's Blog

Dave taught a class for 2 weeks this summer. It was for the gifted/talented 7th & 8th graders from around the area (the kids stayed in the dorms & lived the college life). He and a local high school teacher taught the astronomy portion of the class. "Mr. Ventimiglia" created a blog for the students and it's pretty cool so I thought I'd post it. See if you can understand dark matter here.

Benvenuto Matteo! (Welcome Matthew!)

Say hello to my latest reader (that makes 4 of you!). The latest (and I'm sure not the last) addition to the Lau family. We hung out last week - but he said "Aunty Komi, I'm really tired and I think I'm going to sleep all day. Maybe we'll do glam shots with your cool camera on your next visit." and then he slept all day. Seems like a mellow little dude and one day, we'll figure out if his nickname is Matteo, Mad dog (courtesy of Aunty Lisa), Matty or just plain Matt (I think the mother wants Matthew, but we'll see about that!). He may not have been in the mood for his glamour shots, but his big sis, on the other hand. . . . .