First, a note on production. I went a bit overboard in 2005 and made so many jams and jellies and chutneys that I didn’t finish distributing all of them until December of 2006, so in 2006 I was a little less compulsive in cranking them out.
On the other hand, demand for the pickles is so great that I can’t make too many of them, especially now that I’ve reduced the percentages of vinegar and salt. See, I find them more tedious to make, so demand always outpaces supply.
As in previous years, I can’t seem to remember to record when I make chocolate sauce, which I do fairly often as it’s also in demand. This year I have added two new cocoas to my repertoire: Navitas, a raw Peruvian cocoa that tastes very different from roasted cocoas and which very few folks actually prefer to the roasted. Still, it’s nice to have different ones. I’ve also discovered Arriaba, an Ecuadorian cocoa.
And finally, this winter in a moment of total chocolate depravity, I made a couple of batches of an utterly obscene sauce using a solid bar of 99% baking cocoa from Scharffen Berger. After it sits for a while, it separates, and you can look at the side of the jar and see that the damn stuff is half fat because the color is slightly lighter and the dividing line is visible. Shake before using, and whatever you do, don’t tell your doctor.
Anyhow, here’s what I turned out in 2006:
Pickled Brussels Sprouts – 1-30, 2-5, 2-23, 3-6, 3-26, 10-4, 10-17.
SAL – Strawberry Jam – 5-28.
CAL – Cherry Jam – 5-28.
SNJAL – Strawberry Nectarine Jalapeño Jam – 6-4. Note, I use seeded and deveined red jalapeños in these red jams.
NC – Nectarine Chutney – 6-4.
CC – Cherry Chutney w/fresh and dried Rainier Cherries – 6-4, 6-19.
CL – Cherry Lemon Raisin Conserve – 6-19. I will try to duplicate this next year, as it turned out faaaaaaaaaabulous. Alas, I took no notes.
TB – Tayberry Jelly – 7-1, 7-5, 7-11, 7-15. Bad year for tayberries….or at least for tayberry jelly.
Pickled Jade Beans – 7-2.
GGAL – Greengage Jam – 7-15. Actually, this year it was more like Greengage Sauce.
Pickled Romano Beans – 7-16, 7-26, 8-1, 8-9, 8-18, 10-18, 10-21.
Pickled Sugar Snaps – 7-26.
MC – Mango Chutney – 7-28.
BB – Blackberry Jelly – 7-29.
Pickled Okra – 8-3.
NC – Nectarine Chutney – 8-17.
Pickled Haricots Verts – 9-5, 9-18.
HJSAL – Hint of Jalapeño Strawberry Jam – 10-2, 10-15.
HJS – Hint of Jalapeño Strawberry Jam without the apple and lemon – 10-9.
CPC – Castleman Plum Chutney – 10-15.
SJAL – Strawberry Jalapeño Jam – 10-22, 11-26, 12-1. These have more than just a hint of jalapeño and the December one got pretty hot.
FC – Feijoa Chutney – 10-23, 11-27. The November one is hot! and has wild fennel I plucked down the street…on public land.
S3JAL – Reduced Sugar Strawberry Jalapeño Jam, moderately hot – 10-24.