Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Fruits of their Labor


Nancy came by this weekend to help me figure out why I have a "beard" of bees at the hive entrance every night. It's like there's not enough room in the inn-- even though I added a shallow "honey super" a couple of weeks ago. By taking the hive apart and looking at the frames, we found that the bees haven't built out a bit of the comb in the shallow super at the top, and have instead been storing the sugar syrup below. (The idea of this was to feed the young bees who do not yet go out an forage for nectar and encourage them to focus on building wax.) Apparently it has been too hot this week for my plan to work. Upon inspection, we found lots of brood, so the queen is strong and doing good work, and a full frame of honey on each end. We'll just leave them to work out the space issue on their own. There were two full frames of honey in that box--one on each end--so I harvested one.

Extracting the honey was an unbelievably sticky mess--clearly a once a year "hose down the kitchen when you're done" job!
The full set of photos are here.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Francestown, NH wildflowers


1. heal all, 2. goldenrod, 3. white and purple phlox, 4. cardinal flower, 5. wild geranium,
6. spotted touch me not, 7. bull thistle, 8. rose canpion, 9. joe pye weed, 10. wild aster,
11. blazing star, 12. queen anns lace, 13. birds-foot trefoil, 14. rose hips, 15. blue vervain,
16. common tansy, 17. red clover, 18. harebell, 19. boneset, 20. orange hawkweed


These are all flowers I photographed last week on a short walk around Jim & Sue's farmhouse in Francestown, NH. I've included the common names--please let me know if I have any wrong.

Lemon Beehive Cake

I don't think you can go wrong with lemon and honey. Last week when I was out with Debbie, I found this cake pan at Williams-Sonoma.
The recipe that came with the pan is excellent.
In fact, I think I'll use it for the cupcakes next time.

Photo credit: Thanks Felicia!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Francestown, NH


It didn't take much for me to talk Jim McCarthy into taking me fly fishing on Saturday night.

There's a small pond connected to a stream behind their farm house in Francestown, NH that is stocked each year with trout.

This is the brown trout that he caught before the sun went down and the bugs got the best of us.

Lowell Quilt Festival

I met up with Sue McCarthy at the Lowell Quilt Festival on Saturday. This quilt was made by Catherine Harnish from Methuen, MA from 63 neckties and 6 denim shirts that were given to her to make a quilt for a friend whose step father had died.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Beach Day

It was a perfect beach day, spent at Fourth Cliff in Humarock/Situate, MA--an Air Force recreation area.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

What's Blooming Today

This week in the neighborhood, I found (my?) bees on globe thistle, russian sage and echinacea (purple cone flower).

Red Pepper Jam with Tequila


In June the last two years, I've joined my family on a week-long "fishing trip" to Buckhorn Lake in Ontario. After finding Kwartha Country Wines last year, I made sure to head back again--they have a really great tasting bar and gift shop. In addition to making traditional red and white grape wines, they have a quirky selection of wines made from Ontario fruit, including rhubarb, pumpkin and maple syrup. Most of all, I have liked their wine jellies, and have brought home a merlot wine jelly and red pepper jam with tequila each year. This year the red pepper jam was gone far too soon, so today I went about recreating it. I think I came very close.


Red Pepper Jam with Tequila
2 red peppers
3 serrano peppers
2 jalapeno peppers
1 1/4 C. white vinegar
5 C. sugar
2 pkg. liquid pectin (Certo)
1/3 C. tequila

  • Seed and roughly chop the red and hot peppers, pulse in food processor until finely chopped.
  • Heat peppers and vinegar in a 4 quart pot, bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes .
  • Add sugar and return to a boil for 5 minutes.
  • Add pectin and tequila and boil again for 1-2 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and skim off foam.
  • Fill sterilized jars and process according to the manufacturer's directions. (I put the sealed/filled jars in a boiling hot water bath for 10 minutes.)
From this batch I made 7 weck small tulip jars (1/5 liter each).

It seems to me that how many of the serrano / jalapeno peppers you use is a judgment call. At first I only used one of each, but I tasted with the vinegar and sugar, and it seemed to need more. When I open these in a week or so, I think I'll have a better idea if I over did it!

I serve this on crackers or thin slices of toasted baguette with a mild cheese. I love the sweet-spicy-creamy balance and the cheery color.

Making jam yourself?
Join the virtual jam swap hosted by"Under the High Chair"

An update from UtHC...