In the Kitchen

Been a while since you've been to the kitchen with me.

I brought back this Poppy Seed Cole Slaw on recent trips to the cabin. Good stuff and perfect for a potluck side dish, which also happened. 

We've been out of granola for a while now, so it was time to make up some more.

This recipe makes a very large batch, so that'll keep my husband in nuts and twigs for some time. It also keeps for 6 months stored in an airtight container, a bonus for my granola-loving husband.

I have to be very honest, that trying new things lately has been a little hit and miss. Our rhubarb is on, and this strawberry-rhubarb crumble was unfortunately a miss. My husband is really particular about rhubarb things and this one didn't measure up to his grandma's recipe for what he calls cobbler. 

Filing under kitchen experimenting, I tried bottling some chicken stock I made last weekend. It was my first time canning anything meat-related and it worked well after I got the lid put on my pressure cooker put on properly. It took me two tries but in all fairness, I've only had the pressure cooker a couple of years and it's a different type than the one I've used for years. I'm still getting used to it. The reason I decided to try this, is that it will make the stock shelf stable and free up a little more freezer space. This batch came off three chicken carcasses I had in the freezer. 

As I mentioned, the rhubarb is on and while I'm not really a fan, my husband and several of the kids are, so we always vacuum pack some of it, and I always make some strawberry-rhubarb jam. 

This year, I wanted to try a couple of new things. One of them was some rhubarb jelly. I put the thickest stalks in my steam juicer and got the prettiest juice from it.

...which I did make into this pretty jelly that actually tasted really good. I got enough juice to make 12 jars of varying sizes. Just one problem......it didn't jell, so I'm the proud owner of 12 jars, varying size of very pretty rhubarb syrup. I'm toying with the idea of emptying all the, um, syrup out of the jars and adding more pectin in hopes it might set. I hate to waste the pretty colored juice.

I'm not the only one who's been in the kitchen. I got this picture of these gorgeous sourdough bagels my daughter made. It's just a bit of a nanny-boo, because she knows I've never been successful at the bagel process. I've made all kinds of bread for literally decades, but have never been able to make a decent bagel. Mine always turn into hockey pucks of despair. Look at these perfect specimens....

Not only that, but she's made sourdough loaves as well. I'm intrigued by the whole sourdough thing, Maybe it will be a kitchen experiment soon.

Comments

[AP Man]

mmmmmmm rhubarb