It’s a mishmash of random photos from this week. Not that it’s particularly fascinating or anything, but I’ll share them anyway. Thanks for humoring me.
1. A Pineapple Update – our miniature ‘plantation’ is up to 10 plants now. Ten. None of which fruited this year. Either this has been a bad year for pineapple mating, or next year is going to bring a bumper crop. I’m personally hoping for bumper crop.
This is only half of them; the one on the left is at least 4 ft tall.
Some are growing 2 to a pot; they’ll have to be transplanted later.
For a while, we had a tenant; can you see the little frog?
2. Oh, yes. We have da’ bananas – This is actually our second bunch of the summer. Last year = zero. This year = over 100 bananas. Just goes to show… you never can tell what kind of year we’ll have around here.
What do you do with 100+ bananas? You freeze most of them.
3. Speaking of Fruits & Veggies – I went by Froberg Farm to pick up apples for my apple butter. I love this place. You can see your veggies being grown and harvested right there by the farm stand. I don’t think they grew the apples (they’re not really in season here) but they were exceptionally crisp and fresh.
Honey Crisp, Gala & Granny Smith apples from Froberg Farm
Fresh Texas Cream Peas – kind of like black-eye peas or crowders
Greak’s Jalapeno Cheese Sausage from ‘The Sausage Man’
4. Turkish Delight Fail – I tried making Turkish Delight. It’s a little like making gummi candies. Unfortunately, it never got thick enough. You’re supposed to be able to slice it into squares & roll them in powdered sugar. Mine was too soft, so I spread it onto a silpat mat and I’m re-categorizing it as fruit leather. Or jellies I can roll in granulated sugar. I’ll get back to you on this one.
Beautiful color! I just wish it was thicker. Live & learn.
5. The Great Jelly Swap – It’s a thing. My friend Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic and I started this last fall. Each year, we make a variety of jams, jellies and preserves and then ship a box to each other. She gets to try what I made, and I get to try what she made. The beauty of this plan is that we both have access to different regional ingredients – I’m on the southern coast of Texas; she’s on the northern edge of Michigan. Here’s what I’ve made so far.
Blueberry Pomegranate Jelly – sweet & tart, just like I like it.
The clear, colorful beauty of a good jelly can’t be beat.
Made with Turkish apricots, this one is thick and luscious and tart.
Mom’s recipe for molasses apple butter – made with those oven-roasted apples.
These two are all dressed up and ready to go to Kirsten’s house.
She’s also getting another jar of my peach cherry & orange marmalade. She said her boys really enjoyed that one last year. Note to Kirsten: If that was you being polite, now is the time to speak up. Opt out now, or face choking down another jar of that marmalade. :)
6. Ziggy – Our 13 1/2 year-old Boston Terrier is mostly blind, mostly deaf, and sometimes smells like a sewer line break, but he’s hanging in there and we love him like crazy. It’s been a while since I’ve posted a photo, so here you go.
He hates being photographed & got a mani/pedi right after this was snapped.
So… what have you been up to this week? Are you following Beer Week and getting excited for fall yet? Hoarding pumpkin or bacon yet? Have you heard about the looming pork shortage? Do you care? As for me, I’m pricing chest freezers. I’m going to stockpile bacon the same way doomsday disciples hoard canned goods. When the baconpocalypse rolls around next year, you’ll find me in the garage – sleeping on that freezer with a shotgun. Kidding (not kidding).
Inside NanaBread's Head 
This post has to be my all-time favorite, of all you’ve put together. Loved the peeking frog, especially. It gave me a smile, first thing this morning.
Thanks for being around, NanaBread. It’s a joy to read your site :)
Thank you so much, Teresa. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I loved that little frog. Each time I go outside, I look to see if he’s back. I miss that little guy.
I love that you have bananas growing in your back yard!!! Excited to see what comes of your pineapple plants too. I used to love Turkish Delight chocolate bars. Think it’s really neat that you are making your own Turkisk Delight…even if it wasn’t thick enough I’m sure it tasted great. Looking forward to the update on what you did with it all.
I’m still trying to get the Turkish Delight to air dry enough to cut it. My dilemma is ‘how long do I let this go before I give up and throw it out?’ I wasn’t raised to be a quitter. :)
Bah, hahahaha!! That made me laugh. About the turkish delight – maybe, just maybe, it’s to hot & humid in the south TX area?? Maybe north TX would work? I might have to try and see. :)
Laugh at me now; beg me for bacon later. I’m going to have that put on a t-shirt.
You might be right about the Turkish Delight and the humidity. This afternoon, I put it back into a pan and heated it back up. Boiled it for another 30 minutes and it seemed to get much thicker. I spread it on a silpat mat and now I’m being more aggressive about drying it – I’ve got it in the oven at 175F until that $#it’s like shoe leather. I am not a quitter. :)
Sounds like there’s a Turkish Delight fight a brewin’ between the two of you guys. I say, Bring It!, to Thankmas that is. North vs South (Texas) I’ll be the judge plus anyone else who wants to jump in 😍. Mmmmmmmmm, Turkish Delight!
That fight’s over before it really began. Mine went into the trash can this morning. I fought valiantly for 3 days to make it work, but when it stuck permanently to a sheet of waxed paper this morning, it was more than I could take. Big Sis might be right – our Houston humidity does not lend itself to this type of confection. I’m bummed. On the bright side, we found crabapples yesterday and I made my first batch of crabapple jelly in more than 25 years. I’m so excited!
Jeanne, you know that nothing makes me smile more than your Pineapple “plantation.” I just love it so much because it embodies all of the things that Minnesota does not. Between that and your bananas, I just…well it makes my heart a little bigger. :)
I feel the same way about seeing apple and cherry orchards in Washington state and the hazelnut farm we saw in Oregon. It makes me furiously happy (except when the fruit is laying in the ditches rotting, and then I lose it a little). There’s just something magical about growing something you can eat.
Oh, Nana Bread, those jams look so delicious. I am wiping a puddle of drool off my chin as I speak. Do you ever sell your jams and jellies and marmalades? I would buy them from you in a heartbeat :)
Hahaha… thanks so much! I’ve never sold any of my stuff, but then nobody’s ever asked me. I usually give them as gifts to friends and family. I’m so flattered you think they’re purchase-worthy!
Well, then your family and friends are high fortunate :). I’m also fascinated by your Turkish Delight attempt…after reading Chronicles of Narnia, I have ALWAYS wondered what Turkish Delight was, exactly! Now I know! Ha!
Turkish Delight is delightful. We tried the real deal on our trip to Istanbul last year, and we couldn’t get enough of it. Here’s a pic from that trip. Also, we learned that it’s always better when toasted pistachios are involved. :) Yummy. https://insidenanabreadshead.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/istanbul-the-food/
I absolutely love the frog – what a great shot! I don’t know much about Turkish Delight – hope it works for you! If not, at least all your jams and marmalades look amazing – would stop by for toast and jam any day!
Thanks, Anita. My Turkish Delight went in the trash, sadly. I finally got it to thicken up, only to have it stick permanently to a sheet of waxed paper. It was a kitchen tragedy, but the thrill of finding those crabapples more than made up for it. Some day, I WILL try again.
1. I love frogs & I love pineapple. so the fact that cute little greenie took up residence in one of your pineapples is beyond awesome. Here’s hoping the ancestor’s of Baby Pineapple bring friends next year.
2. SO looking forward to The Great Jam Swap 2012! I am totally going to have to Up My Game in the craftiness department, since your jars are so stinking cute I could just DIE! My boys better be nice to me, or they aren’t going to see that peach/cherry/orange marmalade–that’s the stuff dreams are made of, right there in a jar.
3. Also, just tried some of my cherry jam and it sucked. Big time. Gonna try some from another batch to be sure I didn’t mess up the whole endeavor.
4. OH MY GOSH!! THERE”S GOING TO BE A PORK & BACON SHORTAGE?!!
Oh!
5. I loves me some Zig-man.
Hahaha… well, I wouldn’t sell all my belongings and stock up on ammunition just yet. There have been just as many stories on the news saying it’s been overblown as there are saying the “aporkalypse” is coming. Personally, I’m going to hoard a few packs of piggy just in case and hope for the best. When or if the day comes when artificial bacon-flavored bits are all that’s left, then I’ll look at ammo.
PS – please tell me the cherry jam issue was just one jar! It would break my heart to think of your local cherries being lost. If nothing else, could you just dump it all back in the pot and cook it again? More sugar? More juice? More anything that keeps you from throwing it out?
You really don’t need a reason to stock up on pork, but if we come to the point where Bacos and Spam are the only options, I’ll be right next to you in the ammo line.
Holy schmoley… I’d forgotten all about Spam. {shivers}