Farmer’s Market, jam and dried herbs

Monday,  I was a busy girl. It’s true. The 107F degree heat, a yucky sinus headache and the threat of rolling blackouts did not faze me (much).

My daughter and I went to the Farmer’s Market. Here is what we bought.

We bought

• leeks
• corn
• onions
• peaches
• 8-ball squash
• garlic
• avocados
• zucchini and yellow squash
• spinach
• cucumbers
• green tomatoes
• grape tomatoes
• big, juicy red tomatoes
• 3 pints of blackberries

We also stopped at Sunflower (a grocery market) and picked up

• 1 bag of rainbow chard
• 2 bunches of cilantro
• 2 bunches of kale
• buttermilk
• half and half
• heavy cream

I spent a little more than $40 between the Farmer’s market and the Sunflower market.

When we got home, I knew that I wanted to make jam with the blackberries and I knew that I wanted to try using my dehydrator to dry the cilantro.

Making jam (adapted from a Ball Blue Book recipe)

I made blackberry lemon jam.

• 4 1/2 cups of fresh (washed and cleaned) blackberries
• 5 cups of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of grated lemon peel
• 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
• 6 Tablespoons of Ball classic pectin

Place berries in a pan large enough to accommodate the ingredients. Crush berries. Mix sugar and pectin together. Add the sugar mixture to the berries. Mix well. Add the lemon peel and lemon juice. Mix well. Add the pumpkin pie spice. Mix well.

Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard (rolling boil) for 1 minute.

Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head-space.

Place lids on, process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Cool, check the lids for proper seal, and store in a cool place. Can store for up to 1 year.

Now, on to the food dehydrator.

We washed the cilantro, dried it and pulled it off of the stems.

My super cute helper placed the cilantro on the drying racks.

Into the food dehydrator they went, 2 hours later they were crispy and crumbly.  My owner’s manual said it (any general herb) would take 8-10 hours, but these were totally dry and crumbly after 2 hours.

My conclusion: This was cheaper than buying the freeze-dried ones I usually buy (.49 cents for fresh vs. $3.99 for freeze dried), but I’m not sure it is worth the hassle.

How was your Monday? What do you have planned for your week?

 

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• Posted in: Birthday ♦ canning ♦ Cooking ♦ Family ♦ food ♦ food dehydrator ♦ Frugal living ♦ grocery shopping ♦ homemaking ♦ Texas ♦ Veggies
• Tagged: blogging, cook, Cooking, Family, Farmers Market, food, Food dehydrator, frugal living, Fruit and Vegetable, Garlic, Grocery store, Home, homemade, Homemaking, Jams Jellies and Preserves, Recipe, squash, Sugar, Tablespoon, Texas, Tomato, Veggies