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This is a nice picture I found on the web, entitled ‘Taking Stock’ and I’m just doing that for the year 2011. I thought I might share a few facts and factoids. First, the production numbers — I made a little more than 3500 jars of jam in 2011, and in more than 90 different varieties. I sold in four different markets and in a number of private sales.

I don’t have good records but the most popular jams were the pie cherry, strawberry rhubarb, strawberry with basil and balsamic vinegar and the red pepper jelly. I particularly liked the nectarine with basil and lemon, the apple, lemon and honey, the meyer lemon and Murcott Tangerine marmalades — oh hell, I liked them all. I enjoyed working with fruits new to me — quince and crabapple were both great. My best invention was the fig with date, lemon and espresso.

I enjoyed working with my Farmer’s Market pals — Craig from Tandoozi, Susan the Ebelskiver gal, Heather from Skagit Sun, Dave from Island Apiaries, the guys from Hand Farm, Jennifer, Icel and Geza from Crown S. Ranch.  Don’t forget those hard working and lovely market managers — Edie and Lori.

I’m looking forward to a new year. If you really like me, you’ll look for a source of reasonably priced wild huckleberries, tayberries, local figs and local quince. See you in 2012.

Mincemeat was originally made with meat. It probably part of the medieval confusion of when to mix savory and sweet, and the medieval love of spices.

My Fanny Farmer has a recipe for mincemeat which starts with 4 pounds of ground beef and 4 pounds of suet.  Modern mincemeat is more often vegetarian, and this recipe was also vegetarian.  I thought I’d try to make it using Northwest ingredients.

You start by melting some brown sugar in apple cider.  I had some Rockridge Farms Cider in the refrigerator, so I was able to use it up. Then you simply add ingredients and cook it up. I used some quince from a nameless stall at the University District Farmers Market, and Newton Pippen Apples from Booth Canyon Orchards. The recipe called to shred the quince, but I cut it up fine with my knife. Ms. Nicol used Bramley apples, and if you can find them, they are the best cooking apple I’ve found.

The recipe called for cinnamon, nutmeg and what she called ‘mixed spice’. I made my own mixed spice with a star anise, some cardomon pods, a couple of cloves, and a few black pepper corns. I ran them thought the spice blender.

She has ground ginger in her mixed spice. I dislike the taste of ground ginger so I added ½ a box of candied ginger.

The next ingredient is dried fruit. I used raisins, not very northwest, but necessary. I substituted dried cranberries and blueberries for the sultanas and currents. I skipped the glace cherries, and used dried Bings instead. I couldn’t find candied orange peel at Whole Foods, so I used the grated rind and juice of three clementines.  Instead of pecans I used Northwest hazelnuts.

The original recipe adds brandy at the end. Since I don’t drink, this was a little bit of a challenge. Our local liquor store had no miniatures of brandy, so I bought a miniature of Irish Whiskey. I added it at the beginning to give the alcohol a nice long chance to cook out.

NORTHWEST MINCEMEAT

2 Cups Apple Cider

2 Cups light brown sugar

1&1/2 pounds tart apples, peeled and finely chopped

1 pound fresh quince, peeled, shredded or chopped

½ t freshly grated nutmeg (about 1/3 of a nut)

½ t ground cinnamon

Spice blend – one star anise, 4 cloves, 4 cardamom pods and 4 peppercorns, ground

2 oz candied ginger, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)

2 Cups raisins

1 cup dried sweetened cherries

1 cup dried blueberries

1 cup dried cranberries

Juice and zest of three clementines

Juice and zest of a lemon

Miniature bottle of booze of your choice – brandy, whisky  etc.

¼ cup real maple syrup

Put the cider and the sugar in a nice big pot with a heavy bottom. Heat and melt until the sugar is dissolved. Add all the other ingredients except the maple syrup.  Cook for about one hour at a low simmer until dark and delicious. Add the maple syrup at the end. If you like a more alcohol flavored mincemeat, add the liquor at the end.

I canned this in pint jars, in the normal way, but it will last for a long time (months) in the refrigerator. Its best after it rests for a while, a couple of weeks is great.

Day after postscript. I tried this this morning in a little tart. It’s fruitier than traditional mincemeat, and the cherries stand out. The hazelnuts (filberts to some of you) are a great flavor and texture addition. I’m looking forward to a pie at Christmas.

I was using my great cranberries from Rainier Cranberry company and getting to the bottom when I saw this recipe for pickle cranberries from Serious Eats. I made a batch, and probably won’t be making them again for the stall — although they are delicious. The benefit was the leftover brine, which was suggested to be mixed with sparkling water as a kind of cocktail. Wow, is it delicious. The spices in the pickle are a little unusual, including juniper berry, which is a flavoring in most gins. It makes a great drink

Mark Bittman is the New York Times food columnist and his Thanksgiving column is a good place to get an overview of the leading edge of change in the world of food. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/no-turkeys-here/?scp=4&sq=mark%20bittman&st=cse.  I recommend spending a lazy afternoon or Sunday morning reading the column and surfing the links. I especially like his lean towards local and self-sustaining agriculture.

I try to get most of my product locally, and I always credit a local producers in the ingrediants lists. I’m irritated that nobody makes good local organic sugar, even tho sugar beets grow in the Northwest. But I’d rather have some nice jam from a local berry bush, or apple tree, then a fancy-pants jar from France or Denmark.

and they live in the  most beautiful place in the world, with happy, contented and organic, neighbors like this:

But my book club was reading a book about immigrant cooking, and we needed appropriate snacks for lower East Side tenement dwellers. (The book, 97 Orchard, is very good, by the way.) The net result, chopped Methow Chicken Livers, which is a contrast in cultures in a whole number of ways.

The chickens have better accomadations:

But the chicken livers are delicious.