Happy Mutants food and drink topic (Part 1)

It’s that time of year. I’ve canned about two gallons of sauce so far. It’s been a productive summer.

10 Likes

Never canned anything. But planning to freeze some. :tomato:

7 Likes

We got a run of hot and dry weather that shriveled my tomato plants before I could water them. Only the cherry-type tomatoes survived, and the volunteers, enough for a few batches of fresh tomato sauce but no canning. I’m going to a farmer’s market next week to get tomatoes, because I can’t stand the thought of going into another winter without frozen fresh tomatoes.

9 Likes

I found the beans name: gusanito beans(Oaxacan beans)

8 Likes

caitlin-doughty-■■■■■

8 Likes

Gah! I knew when I saw you’d responded, I just knew it :joy:
Bake m o i s t cakes, get m o i s t memes. :woman_shrugging:t2:

8 Likes

The mystery citrus (calomondin/calamandi maybe?) is producing fruit, and enough ripened at the same time to make a small batch of marmalade.


Mystery fruit


Half pint (ca. 237g) jars

13 Likes

Mystery Marmelade! Yum!
In somewhat related news, a work friend in AL just sent me a bunch of jams and preserves that arrived this morning. I’d never even heard of muscadine before, but they’re delicious! Got one (half pint) jar each of wild and domesticated muscadine jam. Had a spoonful from the wild batch stirred into my yogurt this morning, so good!

10 Likes

source (7)

9 Likes

I love muscadines! They were a revelation when we moved here - sour, tannic, tough, leathery inedible skins holding juicy, simultaneously squishy and firm fruit with all those seeds. You have to pop the skins between your fingers, sometimes giving them a little bite to get things started, to get the fruit out, and ideally you pop them directly into your mouth. Finding a wild vine is a treat. We had one in our old neighborhood in the BHM burbs that no one else cared about. Since we moved to N AL, I buy the cultivated ones at u-picks and the grocery store. Still good but not the same.

I’m new to the whole business of making fruit preserves. So far I’m happy with using the fruit from my potted citrus - easy small batches and low risk of nasty things like botulism.

8 Likes

This is the only thing I know about muscadine:

8 Likes

This makes me want to open both so I can compare the flavors. There’s a distinct color difference, which I didn’t expect.
He also sent me: blueberry/peach/rhubarb; strawberry/peach/rhubarb; and some tasty looking pear preserves. A real autumn treat!
Ooh, I just remembered I learned how to make danishes this year…might be time to make some more with all these treats.

9 Likes

Muscadines come in at least two colors: the regular purple ones and gold-greenish ones one of my old neighbors called “bronzedines” but I think are more commonly called scuppernongs.

8 Likes

We used to have scuppernongs all over the place where I grew up, definitely agree on squeezing the insides out. I still prefer blackberries TBH.

7 Likes

Now you’re just making up words…
If this is real, what’s the name for mead made from scuppernongs?

11 Likes

That would be a scuppernongermel. Unless muscadines are close enough to be considered grapes. Then it would be a pymenternong.

10 Likes

NOW you’re making up words!

9 Likes

Outside grilling and watching the Blue Angels fly over on this Fleet Week weekend.
I have to admit I love to grill a whole chicken and eat it 4 different ways in the next few days.
Just rubbed with olive oil and salt and pepper.

12 Likes

Wild blackberries were fun too. Scratchy stabby fun, reaching into the thicket for the bigger ones, which are still tiny compared to the cultivated ones. It usually involved a few mosquito bites too, and peak excitement was when we’d scare a snake out of hiding too.

9 Likes

I am almost ready to bottle a blackberry mead made from neighborhood blackberries just as you describe, minus the snakes. Next weekend it should be ready.

13 Likes