Food: Apple preserves

October 10, 2010 | Apples,Food

This is for @mommadona.

Prairie Rose Acres Apple Preserves
12 cups apples, peeled, cored & sliced
2 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice (we used lime juice because we didn’t have lemon juice in the house)
2 packages powdered pectin
8 cups sugar
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg

Combine apples, water and lemon juice in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer up to 30 minutes. Run the apples through the blender and return them to the pot. Stir in pectin and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring often. Add sugar. Return to a full rolling boil, then boil hard for 1 minute, stirring often. Remove from heat. Add nutmeg. Immediately pour hot mixture into sterile jars. Put on lids. Boil in a water canner for 40 minutes. (You can halve this recipe. It’s our version of a couple of recipes, and we doubled the amounts.)

Music: The Snake Charmers, Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, oh my!

September 23, 2009 | Music,Twitter

I’ve been following Marie of The Snake Charmers on Twitter (@Snakecharmers) and Facebook for a while. I’m not sure how I found her, but she’s fun. I’d sampled her music here and there, but I just bought her CD, “Been Gone too Long.” (I first read that, “BEER Gone too Long.) Good stuff. Good, good stuff. Next time I’m in Houston? I’d love to see them live … and buy Marie a margarita.

As for Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, I bought their CD the same time I bought The Snake Charmers. I tell you what. They go well together. Both sing the blues. And, wait … what. You didn’t know Willie & Wynton had a CD? Yeah, OK. I laughed when I first saw that. But I tell you what. YUM. That’s what.

I met Wynton Marsalis in Thomasville, Georgia, when I was living in Tallahassee, Florida, after what was — I swear — THE BEST CONCERT EVER. It was in the auditorium of the old grade school where my dad taught fifth grade during the first year of integration in the schools there. I hadn’t been in that school for 20-some years, but I remembered being in the auditorium the minute I stepped inside again. It was a small venue. Comfortable. Intimate. Memorable.

In any case, if you like the blues, go get some from Marie, Willie & Wynton. They serve it up … hot.