It’s Time For Jam Making Here At Tiny New York Kitchen. First Up Is Strawberry Lime Jam. Sweet, fresh strawberries get a little kick from lime and a touch of salt, for a vibrant, fresh tasting jam. Put it to use on crumpets, toast, or spoon over yogurt. It makes a beautiful homemade gift as well.
“Work With What You Got!”
©Tiny New York Kitchen © 2018 All Rights Reserved
It’s that magical time of year when Mother Nature reinvents herself. I love watching everything come to life after a long winter. Spring is also the time when people take a look at their homes and decide to tackle long delayed projects. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the inside of your home bloom along with the outside? Most of us feel overwhelmed when we look at a large project that we just can’t get started. Here are some ways to declutter and spruce up the inside of your home.
Clean & Declutter: Just take one room at a time. Get rid of all the extra “stuff” that has accumulated and give each room a good cleaning.
Paint: It is amazing what a new paint job in a pretty updated color can do for a room. Are any of your rooms looking a bit tired? Wake them up with a new color.
Window Treatments: If you don’t have a privacy issue and have a nice view, take everything off the windows and let the sun shine in. The view will be Mother Nature’s artwork in the room. If you do need window treatments, keep them simple. Side panels on a pretty rod, roman shades, or plantation shutters are fun options.
Kitchens & Baths: New faucets, light fixtures, handles, and pulls on the cabinets and new towels in the bathroom will add sparkle without breaking the bank.
Lamps: New lampshades and bulbs are quick fixes that can brighten things up.
Foyer: Do your guests feel immediately welcome when they enter your home? Open your front door and what do you see? Perhaps a rug, mirror, small bench or chair. Flowers can create a warm, cheerful welcome.
Rugs: For a quick update to a living or family room add a new area rug that will define the conversation area.
Pillows: It is amazing what a couple of pretty new throw pillows can do to add sparkle to a room. This is an easy and inexpensive update.
“Work With What You Got!”
©Tiny New York Kitchen © 2018 All Rights Reserved
Welcome Spring. We rejoice in longer days and the vision of growth and rebirth after a long winter. The seeds planted last autumn have germinated over the winter, have become buds, and are beginning to break through the cold earth. These are signs of renewal and hope that start to stir within each of us. The seeds of change that we planted within ourselves now push through with the new energy we feel. A sense of renewal gives us the vision and inspiration to bring our creative energy to fruition.
“Work With What You Got!”
©Tiny New York Kitchen © 2018 All Rights Reserved
Probably the first vegetable to be cultivated by man, ancient peas and beans have been found in settlements from the late Stone Age onwards (nearly 8,000 years ago). They are a highly nutritious vegetable, containing essential carbohydrates and proteins, as well as useful supplies of vitamins and minerals. They were particularly valuable to ancient man as they could be dried and stored, which meant that food was available throughout the year.
Garden Peas: These are one of the delights of summer, although they are one of those vegetables that are best when absolutely fresh. Pick your own (if you don’t grow them yourself) is the best way to enjoy peas at their best. There are many varieties of peas, some of which can be eaten whole, including the pod. Peas are one of the few vegetables that taste almost as good when frozen. Because freezing takes place soon after picking, frozen peas often have a higher nutritional content than fresh, and are available all year round.
Mangetouts: These are eaten whole and are valued for their pods, rather than the peas, which never mature. Mangetouts have a delicate, sweet flavor. To prepare, young, freshly picked mangetouts simply need to be topped, tailed, and washed. They should be cooked only briefly to retain their delicate, mild flavor and crisp bite. They can be blanched or stir-fried and are also good served raw in salads.
Petits Pois: These are not, as you might expect, immature peas, but are a dwarf variety. They are wonderfully tender and have a sweet, delicate flavor. Gardeners grow their own, but petits pois are not widely available fresh in the shops as they are mainly grown commercially for canning or for freezing.
Snow Peas/Sugar Peas/Sugar Snap Peas: These have the distinct fresh flavor of raw peas and are plumper and have more “snap” than mangetouts. They are delicious added raw to salads. They are also good steamed or boiled, but should only be cooked for about 1 minute or they will lose their wonderful flavor and texture.
Buying And Storing: Only buy really fresh peas. If they are old they are bound to be disappointing. In top condition, the pods are bright green and lively looking. The more withered the pod, the longer ago they were picked. Use fresh peas as soon a possible.
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“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2017 All Rights Reserved
Strawberries are the irresistible taste of spring. They’re juicy, refreshing, great for pies, excellent for picnics, and perfectly in season.
Strawberries aren’t truly berries, because of their seeds that are on the outside. An average strawberry has approximately 200 seeds. If you don’t want the seeds on your strawberries, you can gently peel off the outside with a paring knife.
Strawberries are known for sweet jams and tarts, but they are an excellent base for savory recipes as well, like spicy salsas, glazes for meats, and endless fresh green combinations in strawberry salads.
Ounce for ounce, strawberries have more vitamin C than an orange. They are also full of antioxidants. Consuming a serving a day (about 1 cup of sliced strawberries) will even boost your immune system. These same qualities make strawberries a great exfoliating face mask. Just mash 9 strawberries, mix in 2 tablespoons of honey, and apply over your face (avoid your eyes). Wash away the mask after 10 minutes and your skin will shine.
It’s so disappointing to buy strawberries and they end up having no flavor. Here are ways that you can tell if you’re buying the best strawberries.
The Smell Test! Strawberries that are ready for eating have a sweet, delicious scent.
Color Check! Look for a bright red color. That’s the best indication of flavor. A strawberry with too much white was not picked in its prime.
Bottoms Up! Most of the strawberries are hidden in the box interior. Check the bottom of the box will let you see if there are small pools of juice leaking and if any strawberries have been squashed.
After you’ve brought home your delicious strawberries make sure to keep them dry. Don’t wash them until just before you’re ready to use them. This will keep them lasting longer.
When hulling strawberries you may want to give this trick a try. Instead of chopping off the whole leafy top of a strawberry, poke a drinking straw into the bottom of the strawberry and push it all the way through to the other side, until the top pops off, or use a paring knife or teaspoon to scoop out just the green.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2017 All Rights Reserved
It’s Jam Making Time Again!
The orange carrot we know and love today came originally from Holland, but up until the Middle Ages, all carrots were purple. Gardeners often delight in such oddities, but you will be very lucky to find any purple specimens available in stores or supermarkets.
Carrots contain large amounts of carotene and vitamin A, along with useful amounts of vitamins B3, C and E. When eaten raw, they also provide potassium, calcium, iron and zinc, but these are partly destroyed with cooking.
Almost all vegetables have a better flavor if they are grown organically, but this is particularly true of carrots. If possible, buy organic ones, or look for the young, pencil-thin carrots that still have their feathery tops attached. These young carrots can be eaten raw, or steamed for a few minutes. Older carrots should be unblemished and feel firm. Carrots should not be stored for too long, but they will keep for several days in a cool airy place or in the salad drawer of the refrigerator.
The age of carrots is a guide to how they should be prepared. The valuable nutrients lies either in or just beneath the skin, so if the carrots are young, simply scrub them. Medium-size carrots may need to be scraped with a knife before cooking them and large carrots will need to be scraped or peeled. Carrots can be cooked or eaten raw. To eat raw, they can be cut into julienne strips and tossed with a dressing, or grated into salads and coleslaw. They can bee cooked in almost any way you choose. As an accompaniment, cut them into julienne strips and braise in butter and cider. Roasted carrots are delicious, with a melt-in-the-mouth sweetness. Par-boil large ones first, but younger carrots can be quickly blanched or added direct to the pan with a joint of meat.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2017 All Rights Reserved
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is one of the first delights of spring, and there are many ways to use it. If you have an abundance of rhubarb in your garden, it will freeze successfully. After you have cut rhubarb up and thrown away the leaves, steeping it overnight has several advantages. You don’t need to use as much sugar as the average recipe calls for, the rhubarb will then cook quickly, and you have the dividend of pure rhubarb juice (no water added) to use as a cooking drink.
To cook rhubarb: Use a proportion of 4 cups sliced rhubarb cut in 1/2 inch pieces to 1 cup sugar. Toss the rhubarb and sugar together and let steep overnight (you will be amazed at how much juice the rhubarb gives off). Pour off 1/4 cup of the liquid and use for a drink. Cook the rhubarb slices in the remaining liquid until just tender, but still holding their shape (less than 5 minutes). The rhubarb is ready to eat as is, to freeze in containers, or to use in recipes.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2016 All Rights Reserved
One of the things that I love about New York City is the abundance of interesting signs. I love this sign that describes spring so well.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2016 All Rights Reserved
It’s finally the most perfect weather ever and it’s nice to see the fruit and vegetable vendors set up on the street corners. I say hello to this friendly vendor in the mornings when I’m on my way to the gym.
