The Jarring Reality About Canning

The end of summer has left us with the last few state and county fairs there will be until next year and with the cool, football season air settling in on us most mornings, it seems more and more people I know have been scrambling to can. Most of these people are new to canning. As much as I support embarking upon new foodie pursuits I think that canning is one that too many people may have the wrong idea about.

The process of canning involves a lot more than just placing the foods you wish to last you through the winter season in a jar. Proper canning involves important factors like the application of heat, vacuum sealing, sterilization, and pasteurization. Improper canning has historically led to fatal tragedies by those who meant well or assumed they had all of the facts that they did not.

The purpose of canning is to preserve food by packing it in a jar to be immersed into a waterbath or a pressure canner where it will then be heated for a certain amount of time to a certain temperature.

When canning it is important to remember that it is not only important for you to have quality ingredients if you want the end result to be a quality project but to insure the quality of your canning supplies particularly your jars. Inferior quality or second hand jars nearly assure that you will find yourself without a good vacuum seal.

Canning jars differ from random jars because they are not only designed to hold food but they are made of thicker glass to stand up to the heat from waterbath or pressure canning. Once you've procured jars appropriate for canning you would still do best to check them for flaws of any sort or all of your hard work will be for naught.

As I'm sure it has already occurred to you the application of heat to your canned goods cooks the contents. During the heating the air is pushed out of the jar, creating the necessary vacuum seal.

The ins and outs of canning are many but if you're truly interested in it there are many books and even blogs out there dedicated to the subject.

The most common mistake I've been seeing this season is the absence of added acid to canned tomato products. The basis of this mistake is the assumption that because tomatoes are a high acid fruit they're ready to can immediately following your doing whatever it is you wanted to them. A jar of tomatoes or salsa does not contain the needed amount of acidity to prevent the bacteria that causes botulism to grow in your jar.

If you're interested in canning please do a bit of reading first and be sure to use an already tested recipe rather than assuming you know best. You can always play with the recipe once you know what you're doing.

A rose by any other name is no longer a rose. Just because it's in a jar does not mean it has been properly canned.

Nomming At The Mad Greek

For days now I have had a strong desire for gyro. I'm partial to The Pita Pit on campus, but because I no longer live on campus, some effort is involved with getting to Pita Pit. Effort the boy had no desire to exert.

I charged him with the task of finding gyro's in our own section of the city and he came up with a place we have passed frequently but never tried before called, The Mad Greek.

Online reviews passed his inspection and off we went.

Upon arrival I noticed a drive-thru window. The boy has in the recent past mentioned that he felt any Greek place with a drive-thru window runs the high likely-hood that it should be avoided. It seems he has not forgotten this statement but did not notice the window as we drive past it while looking for a parking spot.

When you walk in there is a small front area with a few deli counters full of what I assume was Mediterranean fare (I didn't really look because I was pretty focused on getting food into my tummeh'.) Off to the right of the counters we found a hostess ready to seat us right away.

The rest of the restaurant is still very small with tables that, for my taste, were disturbingly close together*, but there were a lot of windows making this tiny restaurant relatively light.

Appetizers will not be a problem at the Mad Greek, there is quite a list to choose from. I decided on the spanikopita and some skordalia.

Our waitress was very sweet and pleasant but not frequently where she was able to be found. However, it was only her second day working there and for all I know, her first time as a waitress. Any mistakes that were made throughout the night she smiled and was very apologetic.

The appetizers came at a reasonable speed. The spanakopita was alright. The kind of spanakopita I grew up with and love leaves you reeking of it by the time you have finished. This was not at all that sort of spanakopita. I would recommend this to first timers, those who may not be quite so picky about it, or those who crave it badly enough that it doesn't matter how dead on the taste is. Would I be willing to eat it again? Yes, but it doesn't even rank if I were to create a list of the top spanakopita's I have eaten in my life. Is it better than the spinach and feta in a pocket sandwich from Amy's Kitchen? That may be for you to decide.

On to that skordalia. Skordalia is a dip that I can always get excited about, yesterday was no exception and that's really too bad. This was definitely the worst skordalia of my life. What was supposed to be a thick puree of Greek goodness was what can at best be described as soupy (and not necessarily a particularly good potato soup.)

After a bit of effort to wave down our waitress we ordered. I had the large gyro sans banana peppers and the boy had the large gyro with only meat and sauce. Alright foodies and particularly you Greek food lovers like myself, I'm sure you noticed it. That's right. I had to say "without banana peppers." Never in my life have I heard of a banana pepper finding its way onto a gyro. I was a little horrified. The sauce to be found on these gyros was not tzatziki, it was what was described as "creamy garlic sauce." The boy also opted to order a side of fries.

The gyros came but the fries did not. It once again took a bit of effort to find our waitress and let her know but she worked to remedy the solution quickly.

The gyros were quite tasty and I wasn't horribly disappointed, I would and will eat these in the future.

The fries were covered in some sort of indistinguishable seasoning which immediately left me disheartened but I forged on anyway. Perhaps I shouldn't have. The fries were not very good. What started off as a tasteless fry as you tried more became an oddly sweet fry. We asked for ketchup seeing what this would do for these forlorn potatoes. There is no other way to put this: the ketchup was completely disgusting and sweet, almost like sugar or some sort of sweetener had been dumped in to make what it may have began life as go further.

I'm not sure what happened. Perhaps management noticed the issues of plates not being cleared away as they emptied and more food coming or our need to flag down the waitress and her returning with more food that may have been obviously overlooked, but we were suddenly being taken care of by multiple servers that we had not previously seen. Including what seemed to be the owner himself. Drinks were refilled and we were repeatedly asked if we were alright and if we needed anything.

When the time came to pay the check, I had a bit left on my plate. The waitress whisked it off and packed it up for me, which I didn't expect because I had seen another patron packing their own food up to go for them-self. I also ordered some hummus to go. I tried the hummus this morning for breakfast and it was similar to the skordalia experience. Worst. Hummus. Ever.

Believe it or not kids, I didn't consider the night or the restaurant completely awful. Maybe it was just because I enjoy date night with my husband so much but I don't think the Mad Greek experience was a bust.

My overall rating is three stars. I liked it but didn't love it. It's very convenient to where I live and the gyros were worth remembering for when I want some in the future. Would I travel from campus to get here and try it? No, definitely not. If you are looking for authentic Greek - this is not it. But really, you shouldn't look for authentic anything that isn't Ethiopian food in this area of Ohio because you probably won't find it.



* The people at the next table could not only hear what we were saying if they wanted to but the couple was pretty obviously attempting to do so. They also paid attention to what we ordered (even though they were there first) and made a comment on their way out (conversational and moderately polite but not at all necessary.)

Anniversary

Today is the boy and I's 2nd anniversary. Which feels a little funny to say when he and I have been together the majority of time since I was a junior or senior in high school.

Two days ago when I was looking for pictures for the most recent blog I found this. A picture of a cake we got when we had been together for 2 years. Just thought it was amusing to find this marker 2 days before our 2 year anniversary of another 2 year anniversary.

We went back to the restaurant where he proposed, Mozart's (N. High St. Clintonville, OH). In fact, without asking, we were seated at the very table we sat at that day.



From the moment I saw Mozart's when I first visited Columbus I knew I just really wanted to eat there. It wasn't long until I did and the wonderful food, atmosphere and wait-staff have left such an impression in me we have been many times in the years we have been here.

There are two other places that have left a lasting impression on me, Raising Canes (fried chicken so moist I insisted on having it at our wedding) which I didn't have until a bit later, and Jimmy Johns ("subs so fast you'll freak") which I had in some of my first visits.

The appetizer tonight was all me. While the boy ate bread I had the hummus. The portion seems much smaller than it used to be which made me sad because Mozarts always seemed far from shy about piling on the delicious veggies with your hummus. And I do so love take home.

For an entree both had the wiener schnitzel (I had the veal he had the chicken). It only occurred to me to take a picture for you after I mowed through most of my meal. At that point his was long gone.


For dessert I had an amaretto truffle and the boy had a slice of chocolate mousse torte (which is the cake he proposed with. And I do mean the cake. He proposed with an entire cake).

I believe that's all for now kids and sorry for all of the dark cell phone pictures (I forgot the digital at home).

Pod People, Mr. Bacon, and My Whole Foods Mugging

My husband may have been taken over by a pod person, but it's cool - this pod person is awesome!

About a week ago I made a tea and lunch date with a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in possibly two years (said date had to and was cleared by the boy since all money of my own comes from Etsy - and there's pretty much never any of that).

Lunch at 12 is usually no big but I had stuff to do before I got that far.

Little known fact. I actually get up around 5 - 6:30 AM. Why? Because it's when my husband gets up for work and if I sleep in too late then I will want to stay up later. And I can't be left alone to stay up late. No no. I insist he stay up with me and keep me company. Because I "like-like" him you know?

Before meeting up with Misty A. (initial added because some of you may remember it was a "Darling Misty B." who supplied me with dreamsicle cupcake info) I had to get in a work-out, shower/wash my hair, go grocery shopping, and take the dog out for her second walk of the day. I'd also planned on a trip to Hobby Lobby but ended up choosing not to go today.

We have been running low on a few items and were totally out of even more so for the last three or so days I had been warning the boy that more money than usual would be spent on groceries. Groceries ran over my quoted price and he was kosher with it. SCORE! I realize they are just groceries but we have been so poor for long I usually feel guilty spending any money.

The chosen lunch spot was a favourite to so many women that I know here - Zen Cha Tea Salon (where you can easily get a pot of tea for around $5). I tried their beef sukiyaki and was far from disappointed. We didn't get any knitting done but we didn't really notice or care. Yet again, the final price ran over my initial quote. He said it was fine and he loves me anyway.

From lunch I headed over to Whole Foods in search of a grouper burger. Giant Eagle used to sell these and loved them but I haven't been able to find them anyplace in over a year - not even Giant Eagle.

Going to Whole Foods can be a dangerous endeavor for a foodie but thankfully I was at least full from lunch so part of the danger was removed.

I hadn't been there long (all I'd picked up at this point was a sale bottle of beaujolais-villages and two packages of Snøfrisk (a Norwegian goat cheese I am particularly fond of). While I was still standing at the mouth of cheesetopia I notice the woman next to me is staring, and not that try-to-hide-it-side-stare but an unapologetic, carefree stare. I move to the other side of her, because it will take more than a bit of staring to scare me away from cheese, but her head continues to swivel and follow me. Pretty sure it was at this point I just look right back at her. I now have a clear view of a middle-aged Asian woman (later she told me she was from Hong Kong).

She tells me she likes my hair and goes on and on about how very different and pretty it is. She also seemed convinced it was some sort of extensions and was not my own hair. Had it not been still wet and up in buns I probably would have let her touch it for herself. I got the very distinct impression she had never seen dreadlocks. She made a few remarks about being sure she would never be able to wear hers the same way.

Usually this is where a conversation would end.

She asked me if I were a student, about the tattoos on my leg, and a bevy of other things. The two things she seemed to focus in one were:

1) I live in Whitehall - which is nowhere near as safe an area as the online crime reports had made it look. For instance, just two days after moving here the boy and I were jumped by six people - and those people even managed to get away with it all.

She asked how much my rent was (cheaper than our house on campus had been). And insisted I move to an apartment complex that was pretty much right across the street. She told me they were cheaper or at least as cheap and much safer. I then received repeated offers for her to go over there with me now to go look at these places. Repeated, insistent offers. Later I got the impression she may live there as well.

2) I used to be a culinary student.

Here is where the "mugging" began. She wanted to know everything. Where I have been to school? What sort of food do I cook? Have I cooked anyplace? She even looked over each item in my cart and asked questions. Like how to make cheese - specifically the Snøfrisk.

[I'm going to add here that this morning at the first grocery store I visited I was asked about the tattoos and if I were a chef and where I currently work.]

Then she started pointing at what seemed like everything in front of us saying that everything there was too expensive and how does she make that (assorted raviolis stuffed with tasty bits) and that (egg noodles).

At this point I'm haphazardly throwing out answers (I went to school in Philly. I can cook pretty much whatever anyone wants. No I do not cook anyplace here. Egg noodles? Those are totally easy for you to make!), not considering the possible repercussions, and leaning in for her to repeat things that didn't seem to make sense to me. Thankfully I didn't speak of having studied to be a sommelier. I can only imagine explaining it and the questions that would ensue.

Somewhere around this time I am looking for a way out and see none. Not even when a Whole Foods employee comes by and asks how we are doing or when my phone started madly bleeping with text messages.

I have no idea how I managed it, but what I sensed was a reasonable time to make a short break away from her (remember people there is still cheese at arms length that I have yet to even look at! I can't leave now!)

This was still not the end of the conversation for her. I had nearly nabbed my first piece of sweet, sweet cheese to ogle, and apparently this was a too daring and vulnerable move. She moved around to the other side of me, not quite but nearly blocking any escape that doesn't involve my interest in the cheese.

I should teach her to cook. It is not a question, but a statement. The haphazard answers are now no longer a problem. I have them in check - or so I thought. She begins asking specific but still very vague questions mingled with statements like "how do I cook fish? I do not know what spice to use. What spice do I use on fish." I tell her there is no one way to make fish and that she will need to first decide how she wants it prepared before spices are an issue. Her response? "I know you use bay leaf in soup." What do you say to this? That had nothing to do with fish. I said the first thing that came to mind that didn't invoke any further fish conversation, "well ya' can".

Shortly after she cornered me I started treating her like someone handing out fliers I have no interest in. I did my best to make very little to no eye contact. The questions keep flying. Now they are about chicken and turkey (which I now notice is all she has in her cart).

I have no idea how it happened. But the storm was winding down. But it still came with some damage. She wants my phone number so I will teach her to cook. I tell her what is actually the truth, "I have no idea what my phone number is". And I honestly don't, I haven't known what number someone can reach me at for well over eight months now. She doesn't understand. I do my best to explain that I don't know what it is because I never bothered to learn it. Before I had a chance to do a thing about it, another haphazard statement flies out of my mouth. I have e-mail and she can e-mail me. Mind you, if she is willing to correspond this way I think there is a chance that I could survive it ([in]famous last words). I give her the e-mail for Om Nom Nom Studios, she mentioned the apartment complex once more and once I (again) declined - she went away.

I was now let alone with the cheese.

In the end my trip to Whole Foods, despite how few items I bought, was more than I expected or wanted to pay. Again, the boy was fine with it all (in addition to okaying my purchasing some knitting patterns online as well as a little bit of yarn from Knit Picks).

Believe it or not kids that was the abbreviated version of all that happened with the nameless woman from Hong Kong.

Fancypack Review and Genji Overview

Warning (before you read): Since there is so much to cover more of the hypertext links take you to items that are related but not directly covered in todays blog to make sure you still get just about everything in.

Now on to today's blog . . .

Blogging while fancypacking all weekend turned out to be more of a time strain than anticipated. Bad for the blog but good for me. I was pretty busy from Wednesday until Sunday.

Thursday the belt was just used for taking my sweet pup out for a walk and for this purpose I have to say I really love this. During the winter I am usually bundled up and have pockets, during spring I wear a light jacket, but now that summer is upon us I got really sick of wearing the track jacket around my waist so that I could have pockets. When I take Perfect out, in my pockets I usually carry 1 plastic grocery bag, 1 pair of latex gloves, my cell phone, and my keys. I am able to carry all of this and more in the fancy pack. Since I prefer to always be prepared ahead of time I just keep more bags and gloves in than usual instead of grabbing some each day.

That night I also tried out Genji, a Japanese steakhouse here in Columbus for my birthday dinner. There are two, I chose the one out of the two that had the higher approval rating on Urban Spoon.

My entree was okay, I had the fillet and sesame chicken. Since this looks like it will be a long blog I will just give you the pros and cons of the experience.

Cons:
*No choice of a mushroom or chicken liver appetizer.
(Which I have gotten used to being a standard offer)
*The sushi menu was minuscule at best.
*Instead of miso soup we were served beef broth.
*The "show" was the worst I've seen
(Do not take this to mean total disappointment - I've just seen much better)
*Needlessly surly hostess

Pros:
*Endless dipping sauce
(So long as the "chef" is still at your table. Every other place I have been, once you're out - you're out!)
*Clean
(Nothing felt grubby, sticky, grimy, or just yucky in general)
*Nommy food
*Birthday photo

(On the far right you can see my friend DreemGypsy from I Can Knit That)
*Birthday chopsticks

*Birthday pineapple
(Nicely sliced and came at the same time as the drumming, singing, chopsticks, and right before the photo)

Friday was actually one of my cousins birthdays (and a few other people I'm not related to as well. Happy public belated birthday once more to those people.) Grandma was kind enough to take five of her grand-children to the Columbus zoo to see the new polar bears, for birthday fun, and a great place for continued Fancypack testing. When one of our cousins saw the bow he immediately remarked that it was "fancy" - good call on the name Carla! Grandma's reaction to it was that it was a great idea instead of carrying her purse and headed off for her "lime green" fannypack.

I had cause to use it before we even left grandmas house when she gave me her second parking pass and then immediately once we were all through the gates when we needed to grab a map. The fancypack got constant use that day with all of my picture taking. One recommendation about carrying your camera is to make sure if you keep your camera in any sort of camera sock, try to choose one that wont constantly try to stick to the Velcro like mine did. Eventually I just had my husband carry the camera sock to make everything easier.

Despite the fact I have an actual camera sock I made for myself,

I have been using this coffee cup cozy for months now instead.

Saturdays plans to go to The Wilds were thrown over for mischief with some of my family which included a trip to the dollar store where the Om Nom Nom Studios model you may remember from the grand opening, Lizzie K., found cute sidewalk chalk.

But I did still get to experience just a tiny bit of the "wilds" in the form of Columbus zoo stuff in Raising Canes (chicken so good I had it at my wedding!) where we had lunch.


Sunday, Lizzie, one of my brother-in-laws, the hubbo, and myself trekked down very close to Cincinnati to go to Kings Island. When we stopped for gas Lizzie and I had a mini DeLorian adventure.

The temperature Sunday was in the high 80's to the mid 90's so we chose to head to the water park portion first. There my Fancypack was relinquished to a rented locker, where it spent the majority of the day.

My rating for the Fancypack after this weekend is four stars. I would have given it five but I want to see how long this Velcro lasts and see how it does in a few other environments.

Since this post was so long I plan to blog about the most recent episode of Cupcake Wars tomorrow.

Tis only a flesh wound!

I. LOVE. BURGERS. Specifically double cheeseburgers and for anyone who has viewed my shop I'm sure you got that impression. However, I don't know that I'd be willing to eat one that was canned.

German company Trekking Mahlzeiten, has developed the canned burger for those who love both burgers and the outdoor life. To prepare you boil the can for a few moments then open and enjoy a hamburger complete with ketchup and pickles.

Despite how unsure I am that I would be willing to eat this I am more than certain that if I saw this item anyplace for sale I would buy it.

There are a lot of strange foods that you can find in a can. Behold:


Okay so this one isn't a food but it's worth a mention:


What does any of this have to do with the blog title "Tis only a fleshwound!"? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It has to do with the fact I got an early Christmas present. A new tattoo. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ink - loves it! No pics just yet because it's fresh. But soon - I pwomise. And in that post I will tell you where I got it and a bit about the experience and the tattoo artist who did it.