Beauty in Babylon

Just Sweet Enough Blackberry Jam

beautyinbabylon — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 06:37:24 +0000

This is a pectin free recipe…Makes one jar

…..Ingredients…..

2 cups ripe blackberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp. lemon

…..Directions…..

Take your jars and take the tops off

Place your jars and tops in a large pot and fill with water at least two inches above the jars

Turn on heat and cover.. bring to a boil

let it continue to boil until you are finished with the jam

Add blackberries to a pan on low heat

Start smashing the berries with your spoon

Add in the lemon and honey and stir slowly

Next add the sugar a small amount at a time while your constantly stirring.. smashing the berries as you stir

After all the sugar is added then simply stir the jam until it forms a thick consistency

I usually take a spoon and put it into the freezer before I start and then when I think it is getting close I take a spoonful of the jam and if it falls from your spoon all together and not in small drops, then you know it’s done, you can do this even if the spoon has not been in the freezer

It should be a touch more watery then you would like it to be when served because when it cools it will thicken..this just takes practice to master

Add jam to your hot jars..be sure to wipe any jam off the rims..then put on the top

Put these jars back into the pan with fresh water and boil for ten minutes

Let that rest for a day in a cool dry place. I usually put a towel over them.. I am not sure if it’s necessary but for some reason it just feels like the right thing to do.

Decorate you jam with any fabric scraps you have lying around

Now you have your amazingly simple jam!!

Horray!!

These are party favors I made for the recent Champagne Brunch I had for my birthday…Blackberry Jam!

Goodbye Boydly Cat

beautyinbabylon — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:56:45 +0000

No words can express the love I have for Boydly. He transended cat and was my best of friends. I will miss you endlessly Boyd. My son…my kitty…♥ ♥ ♥ I love you boyd and I am grateful for every precious, loving moment I got to share with you….You will be in my heart forever

Vegan Blackberry Pie

beautyinbabylon — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:00:03 +0000

It’s berry season and I have such an abundance of blackberries on the property I could feed all the hungry with jam and pies! Last week I made this pie and added some peaches off my tree and it was incredible. This is my strictly blackberry pie recipe and it’s not the easiest. The pie crust can be a pain but if you get it right you will love this recipe for life. I don’t use much sugar so be sure to pick nice and ripe fruit!

…..Pie Crust Ingredients…..

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cold earthbalance butter

1/2 cup cold earthbalance shortening

1 Tb. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup cold water

…..Pie filling…..

4 cups blackberries

1/4 cup sugar (add more if buying blackberries from the store)

1/4 brown sugar + a sprinkle

3 tsp. lemon juice

2 TB. flour

2 TB honey

6 TB corn starch

…..Pie Crust Directions…..

Preheat oven to 375
Add four, salt and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl
Next cut up cold butter and shortening into pieces and put into flour
With your hands cover the butter with flour and start to smush the butter/shortening pieces between your fingers,do this until the butter/shortening has been mixed in well and broken up thoroughly.
Next add the water slowly to the dough while stirring, mix together well
Transfer dough to a floured work surface and work dough until all ingredients are mixed and it forms a soft light dough
Take you dough and leave it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

…..Pie Filling Directions…..

There is really only one step :-) add all the ingredients together

…..Puttin together the pie…..

Take dough out and cut in half
On a floured work surface roll out 1 half of the dough, roll it out so it’s long enough to just fall over the edges of the pie pan

Pour in the blackberry filling and sprinkle the brown sugar on top.

Roll out the other half of dough and place on top
Take the dough from the bottom that was hanging off the edge and fold it up on to the top to make your crust.

Poke holes in the top with a fork
Cook for about 20-30 until the crust is browned

Recipe by Tasha Delrosso

Coconut Macaroon Ice Cream Sandwiches With Blackberrys and Mint

beautyinbabylon — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:05:05 +0000

Dose this not look amazing???? This was not a hard recipe at all. I used Vanilla Coconut bliss for the ice cream and topped it off with some sweet berry’s and mint from the garden. This was by far one of the prettier things I have made. Thanks to my friend and her nice camera for helping me get this great pic.

Tasha Delrosso

Collecting Nori

beautyinbabylon — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:43:19 +0000

I went out to the ocean with a good friend today to forage some Nori from our California coast. We went out at low tide this morning, starting off with some amazing tea my friend made. We got down to the beach in a rather precarious spot, making our trip that much more of an adventure. After we finished picking the nori we both went and washed all the snails and bugs of in the ocean. I ended up just sitting in the ocean in my jeans. The water was warm and there was not much of a breeze, so my I was contented. When I returned home I took out the seaweed one at a time to make sure I got all the critters out and squeezing the excess water. I saved the water and put all the creatures I found in it. I added a little seaweed and rocks as well so they felt right at home. I will return them to their home giving me a great excuse to get back out to the water again soon. Mmm…. Nori for me and all my friends!

Homemade Vegan Tortillas and Refried Beans

beautyinbabylon — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:30:34 +0000

My partner and I have been trying to stop using canned foods because of waste and unknown health effects. One of our favorite canned delights is Amy’s refried beans with green chilis, so last night I made some of my own refried beans and flour tortillas. My meal consisted of rice, the beans, tomatoes, and a little vegan Daiya cheese all set on top of the hand made tortillas. No recipe today I have not worked out all the kinks.. just some photo’s to share.

A Sad Goodbye to our Big Red

beautyinbabylon — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:38:50 +0000

Our biggest Rhode Island Red chicken died last night. The gate to their run was closed but accidentally left unlocked. She is the largest of our chickens and we suspect she tried to fight the animal off. We were not sure what type of animal had attacked the coup, we assumed it was a fox we have seen lurking by the coup before until I saw the tracks of a racoon leading under our house. This is the first chicken we have lost to a predator. It’s really sad for both of us. We loved her very much. She was a beautiful chicken with the sweetest disposition, she was fat and gave us loads of big hearty eggs. We will miss her dearly, our big red.

She is that fat solid red chicken on the right

Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Orange Ginger Tofu

beautyinbabylon — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:42:04 +0000

Our Zucchini’s are going crazy right now and we have many male zucchini flowers blooming, which make me happier than anyone can know. It is time for fried zucchini blossoms! My mom and sister make the best but my own simple recipe takes a close second I think. I pared the blossoms with my famous Breaded Orange Ginger Tofu and a creamy mashed potatoes. Yummy!

…..Fried Zucchini Blossoms Ingredients…..

10-13 zucchini Blossoms

1 egg

1 cup flour

peanut or grape seed oil

salt and pepper to taste

…..Directions…..

Take flowers and cut in half

Remove the pistil from the center

in a shallow dish mix egg and set aside

Add salt and pepper to flour and set that aside

Heat a large frying pan

Add in about 1 inch of oil into pan

Dip flowers in egg and let most off the egg to drain away

Then dip it into the flour and set into frying pan

Fry in pan until browned on both sides

Set on top a paper towel and carefully dab off some oil

Serve immediately

Recipe by Tasha Delrosso

Chilean Artist Gina Intveen

beautyinbabylon — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:10:48 +0000

Artist: Gina Intveen

Carrots

beautyinbabylon — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:37:09 +0000

Mmm…. nothing like fresh sweet carrots from the garden