And we make really good hermits.
So mostly we have been sitting around reading, or watching movies based on video games (which are as good as they sound). It has started to get dark early, maybe by about 10:30, so that adds to the wintery feeling, and somehow we have become morning people, who get up before we have to. I'm blaming the transition from the basement for that.
I have just started the second year of a 10-year Buddhist practice program, and what I am doing right now is fairly physically demanding (kinda like yoga maybe?), so that is taking up a lot of my time right now, and I am all sore. I will get used to it.
I picked blueberries today, this time with the intention of making jam. There are so many out in our yard that you can't even tell where I have picked. My per-quart time split is about 40 minutes, and I'm sure I could knock several minutes off that time if more than half of the berries I picked ended up in the container. Alas, there is nothing I can do about that. But all of the berries are ripe now, and since I am going to cook them, I don't have to be too picky. I try to avoid the berries that have been predated on by birds or squirrels(?), but I am not worried about the ones with tiny holes.
You see, every wild Alaskan blueberry has a chance of having a worm in it. Well, everyone calls them worms, but they are really a tiny caterpillar. As a biologist, I wouldn't go near any food source that I knew had the chance to give me some sort of intestinal parasite, no matter how delicious (except maybe cheese, but not maggot cheese). But I would, and certainly have, consumed caterpillars. (I draw the meat line at flesh; organized muscle fibers.) There is a way around larvae-eating though. The trick is to soak the berries after picking. This causes the worms to crawl out of the berries in search of precious air. (It makes sense that you would have to soak them longer than the average Juneau downpour, I just do it for "awhile".) When you soak berries that have a large gouge out of the side, all of the remaining flavor leaks out. When you soak berries that have a tiny wormhole in them, they are still pretty good afterwards, maybe even better for the lack of worms. (And maybe you can travel through that wormhole to an alternate blueberry dimension.)
Now you know.
So I am soaking the berries now, and will make jam this evening. I'm pretty sure I should be cleaning the bathroom right now, which is why I am blogging.
I will understand when nobody wants my blueberry jam as a Christmas present...
5 comments:
I'd eat that jam. Also if you are planning on making a blueberry pie, mint leafs are not a good secret ingredient. Jennifer wanted to point out that our sunsets are around nine fifteen.
Those blueberries are delicious, worms or not. I made blueberry pie last week, and did not include any mint. I'm pretty sure sour cream and lemon in the crust was the secret ingredient there.
Also, I know that the sunset is a small complaint, but it never gets fully light here on the rainy days, and we have lost 45 minutes of daylight on the nighttime side (in the last month).
So, while I was writing this comment to you I had to go and get a pressure canner because we have a glass top stove and the one I bought originally was the type that could fuse to the stove or crack the surface. Now the jam is done and it set up beautifully and seems delicious, though it is too hot to try.
Silly Sarah...the worms (caterpillars)are just protein!!! Lord knows a vegetarian needs her protein. Any ways, I came home from work and Sarah was in the kitchen picking them out of the bowl and placing them on her fingers. A true Buddhist, she was saving the little creatures. She then proceeded to take them outside and release them, silly, now she will have to take them out of the next shift of berries. LOL. Sarah just let me taste her jam, and well, NONE of you get any, I get it all!!! YUUUUUMMMM!!! Ha ha ha, just joking I will share. C ya!
You had me at blueberries...this bear hopes that you hide a jar for me when I come this fall, the Berries aren't as plentiful lol. It's funny to see that now I have joined the Alaskan porn wagon...and sailboats lol? I've come to take my first step towards sailing and plan on saving up a few thousand to make a 14ft or so, "build-yourself" sailboat. YOOHOO! I'm really excited and hope to use some advice from you guys to make my fist baby(a name for her though hasn't been decided yet)
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