Jar-Cakes and Jackfruit

I wrote this awhile ago, drafted it until I could get the pictures uploaded and forgot about it until today...so , um, pretend its 5/6/08...


I've been meaning to try out making Cakes-In-A-Jar for awhile now...I'm sure most other bakers have already tried these things, but I really don't bake all that often, since baking normally involves more sugar than I like to use. But I decided, for Mother's day, since I won't be able to make it down to Boston until mid June, I'd make my mom some jar-muffins and send them down for a little Mother's day breakfast treat. After some not-so-subtle questioning about preferred sweet bread flavors, I settled on lemon-poppy seed. I ended up using the recipe from VWAV, though I added lemon juice to replace some of the rice milk (adding flavor and making buttermilk) and doubled the poppy seeds...and used spelt flour, since we don't even have "real" wheat flour in the house anymore. I decided to use 4-z canning jars, since they are just about muffin sized and would be easier to ship. I was a bit skeptical about the whole jar thing working, I do have to say...I only made half the batch in the jars, so I'd have some actual muffins to send just in case, but they sealed up just fine. Which worked out nicely, since now there are muffins for us to snack on...or there were, before breakfast this morning. They were pretty good, though I do have to say, I think the recipe calls for a bit too much baking powder...1 tbsp seems like a lot (though they didn't seem to be overleavened) and there was a tiny bit of a bitterness to them, though that could have been from me overzesting the lemon and going too far into the pith. I think next time, for the muffins-in-a-jar, I'll make a quick glaze with just some lemon juice and powdered sugar and put it on right before sealing them up.

here are some non-jarred muffins...just in case the jars didn't seal...really shows off all the random crap on my counter...

And, also yesterday, I finally found a way to use a can of green jackfruit I picked up a few months ago. Thanks to textual bulldog for bringing this recipe from the Urban Housewife
to my attention! Jackfruit carnitas tacos will definitely be made again here...not only are they super easy but they were so good! Next time, 2 cans of jackfruit though, because, even though I made it a bit too hot and it felt like we were breathing fire, I think we both could have eaten more and there were not nearly enough leftovers to pick at the next day.

Holiday giving

Yep, no post for weeks then two in one day, woohoo! But this one is only barely about food. I'm sitting here (still listening to the snoring dog) going over my list of holiday gifts I have and those I still need to purchase. A week and a half 'til Christmas, Hanukkah is in full swing and Solstice is only days away. So, if you've been slacking, its time to get going. According to the USPS, in order to get your gifts to people by Christmas via parcel post, they need to be mailed by Saturday and cards have to be mailed by the 22nd.

Anyway, so what am I giving this year? I'm trying to be as conscious as I can be about the message my gifts are sending, along with the potential global and environmental impact they might have. I'm not succeeding as well as I might like (I was at Christmas Tree Shoppe and K-mart last night, and at the *shudder* mall on Saturday...) but every little bit helps. Here's how I'm trying to share the love a bit this season;

Service/Donation gifts are one of my favorite things to give to my relatives who "have it all" and who don't seem to appreciate object gifts. The past few years, my grandparents have received a donation in their name to Heifer International. I love Heifer, they really embody the idea of paying it forward and they get excellent ratings from charity rating services. Plus, I get far too much pleasure out of giving my grandparents a goat or a pig or a flock of chickens for Christmas (you'd understand if you knew them...). However, this year, I've gone a different way. The Food Project, a group based out of Massachusetts, works to support not only sustainable agriculture, local food production and environmental responsibility but also empowers at-risk kids by placing them in positions of responsibility and offering them opportunities to learn about where their food comes from and how what they eat impacts their lives. Local and sustainable agriculture is something I feel quite strongly about and any group that helps out kids is good in my book, plus they get fabulous ratings. Though I was awfully tempted by the World Toilet Organization, though I can't quite afford it. Not only is is for a good cause, but really, how fun is it to say "Merry Christmas, I got you a toilet!"?

I am also donating money to the Rabies Challenge Fund, a group that is doing long-term (5-7 years) testing on the immunity produced by the rabies vaccine. There is increasing evidence indicating that not only is vaccination against rabies every 1-3 years unnecessary to protect against the virus but that the government-mandated overvaccination is extremely harmful to our pets, potentially causing cancer, neurological problems, behavior changes and other long-term problems. The Rabies Challenge is the first long-term study of its kind and hopefully will be able to produce the results necessary to change the rabies vaccination guidelines. This is a issue that has touched me personally, as 3 of the dogs I grew up with suffered (and one is still suffering) with the effects of vaccinosis following rabies vaccines. So they are getting a donation in honor of my mother and Kirby and in memory of Kima and Dani (I hope my mother doesn't read this...I don't think she does).

And if you are thinking of giving a donation as a gift, check out the group on Charity Navigator first. They do an excellent job at giving you the pros and cons of various groups and showing you where your money is really going.

I'm also trying to give local this year. My aunts and my cousin are getting a "Taste of Syracuse" gift basket, consisting of a jar of something tasty from Natural Disorder, a local hot sauce and condiment company (Riesling-marinated garlic cloves, need I say more?) , some local wine (still need to buy this so not sure which winery), some Dinosaur Barbeque sauce, some Speidie Sauce, some hard pretzels, some local honey, a few local apples and some salt potatoes. The honey, apples and potatoes are from the farmer's market, and I picked up the Natural Disorder stuff and pretzels there too. I'm also picking up some odds and ends for stocking stuffers for my immediate family at the market this Saturday as well.

Everyone on my gift list is also getting homemade goodness, either in the form of cookies or peppermint bark, depending on how far the food has to travel. And my petsitting clients are getting homemade treats and possibly toys too, if I actually get around to it!

And if I can't (or don't want to) make it and can't find it locally, there's always Etsy! This site is way too cool...page after page after page of awesome hand-crafted, -painted, -baked, -sculpted -whatever awesomeness. Really, I think there is something for everyone here...I got the coolest earring and "hair jewelry" for Katie's sisters and something quite awesome for Katie. Plus there are some awesome dog clothes on there (poor Ash!).

Hopefully, if anyone out there reading this if stuck for gifts this season, I gave you some good ideas or at least a place to start. Happy Holidays!