They Shall Rise Up and Call Her Blessed

 I sit here typing with berry stained hands, loving that I can even do that. We have had a bumper crop of raspberries and found an amazing blackberry patch, so I'm in seventh heaven. We get to snack on berries all day long, and I'm gathering gallon bags full in the freezer.

I pulled out one of my favorite antique Ball Blue Book canning books from 1932, and noticed this saying on the inside first page.

 "They shall call her blessed - this woman, who - loving and thoughtful of future joy and health - secures the goodness of Nature at her best, and cans against the barren sameness of the Winter months. Well does she look to the ways of her household. "

 

I love that paragraph as it speaks to my inner heart and soul. For me, gardening, canning, and preserving are a way to show my love and support our family in being healthy, staying out of debt, and enjoying the good things God blesses us with.

Tomorrow we go out for more blackberries because I've challenged my husband to try and eat what we have on hand, so we need plenty to go to.  He's very good about that sort of thing, so we are going to see how far we get into the winter without having to buy anything but dairy, meat and perhaps snack things like crackers. It will be fun to see how creative we can get. I will keep in touch.

Tasty Tuesday - Coconut Layer Cake with Raspberry Filling

 Somehow the coconut supply keeps replenishing itself in my mother-in-laws refrigerator. Don't know how, and neither does she as I've not ever seen it used for anything since I've been taking care of them. Be that as it may, I decided to try a luscious coconut cake recipe she kept telling me about.

 The recipe for the layers is pretty basic. We cut the sugar by 1/2 a cup and I can see why now that I've tasted the finished product. It would be way too sweet...
Start with 1/2 cup of butter, cream that and then add 1 cup of sugar, and cream until the sugar is almost dissolved. Add 2 eggs and beat well, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Combine 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and add to creamed mixture gradually, alternating with 1 cup of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Beat until well blended and pour into 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until toothpick tested in center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes then turn layers out of pans onto rack to cool. Grandma's kitchen is rather primitive so we don't have a cooling rack here so I had to use waxed paper. It works.

 For the seven minute frosting I had to be creative and use a bowl as the top of a "double boiler". Next time I will use a larger bowl. You start with 2 egg whites. The yolks will be used in French Toast for breakfast. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar to the egg whites in the bowl or top of double boiler, and a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon of corn syrup, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/4 cup of water. blend with hand mixer and then put on top of pan of boiling water and beat for 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

 Place one layer of cake top side down on cake plate and spread the up side with raspberry jam, just about 1/2 inch to the edge of the cake all the way around. Darn I wish I had photos. Then top with other layer, flat side down, and start spreading the frosting up the sides and over the top of the cake, being somewhat generous. Now sprinkle fresh coconut over the top and press into the sides of the cake, covering the frosting most of the way. If you like, top with fresh raspberries.

Taadaa! This cake is actually lighter and deliciously wonderfuller than I thought it would be. Okay I know that wonderfuller is not a word per se, but hey, it's my blog...;-)
Coconut Layer Cake with Raspberry Filling
1/2 cup butter, creamed
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon each salt and vanilla
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder


Raspberry jam for filling
Seven minute Frosting
2 egg whites
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon corn syrup
pinch of salt

Fresh coconut

Berry Rhubarb Preserves

I know it's been forever since I posted here but so much has been going on that it would take forever to share all. You can stop by my Art blog as well though to see some of the latest happenings.
While still in Oregon I was lucky enough to be given lots of rhubarb and harvest enough raspberries from my patch to make some preserves. I had some blueberries on hand as well so I combined 4 cups each of the two types of berries along with 8 cups of chopped rhubarb. All those stringy looking pieces among the berries are actually grated lemon rind, about 2 tablespoons. I also added the juice of half the lemon.
Preserves are different than jam in that you only add half the amount of sugar per cup of fruit. So I added 8 cups of sugar and then brought the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Be sure to put this in a large deep pot as the mixture does bubble and splash so you can be burned. I lowered the temp to allow the mixture to boil slowly, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn't scorch. After the mixture has thickened a bit, about 30 minutes of cooking I ladle it into sterilized jars, clean the rims, add the lids and and rings and tighten them down. I water bath process for about 10 minutes. Your yield will depend on the amount of fruit you use so I always have extra jars sterilized just in case. This is a good way to combine end of season fruits, make your sugar go farther, and create a delicious topping for toast, pancakes or waffles, or ice cream.