Jasmine Liqueur and Organic Rum

We entertain more in the Winter Holiday Season and we go to more parties. I like to bring a unique hostess gift and make interesting new cocktails. So I am repeating this.

Corporate distillers use additives that ordinary folks would not use, if we made our own spirits. An excellent cookbook which has a chapter on home liqueur making is Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine. Making liqueur at home used to be common in American life as this scene from Arsenic and Old Lace attests:

Greenbar Organic Distillery makes their own Vodka, Gin, Tequila, Liqueurs and Bitters without additives, using classic distillery techniques and all organic ingredients.

A bottle of anything Greenbar makes would be a welcome hostess gift. I have nothing to gain from any transaction you make with Greenbar beyond the success of the company. Quality counts.

TRU Jasmine Martini                                 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 oz TRU vodka
1 oz FRUITLAB jasmine liqueur
1/4 oz simple syrup

Glass Types: (Martini/Coupe)

Instructions:

Shake + strain into a martini glass
Garnish with an edible flower

Happy Holidays! 
Joy to the world.

Best Party Meatballs

No matter how elegant a buffet I turn out, these delicious bites are always the first to be consumed. Mildred Albert did everything well. And her recipe for Sweet and Sour Meatballs is an example of her culinary and social talents.

MILDRED ELIZABETH LEVINE ALBERT

1905 – 1991

BibliographyDiscuss

by Sara Alpern

“M.A.” and “The Mighty Atom,” as Mildred Albert was called, charmed the fashion world as an international fashion consultant, lecturer, columnist, and radio and television personality.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Makes 75 to 85 Meatballs

1 clove Garlic, minced

2 pounds ground Beef
2 Eggs
3 tablespoons Chili Sauce
2 tablespoons dried Parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper, divided
1 quart (32 ounces) cocktail Vegetable Juice (V8)
1 box (1 pound) light Brown Sugar
1 cup white Vinegar
3 cloves Garlic, halved
30 prunes, pitted

Mash minced Garlic with ground Beef, Eggs, Chili Sauce, Parsley flakes, Salt and 1/4 teaspoon Pepper. Shape the mixture into 75 to 85 meatballs.

Combine Vegetable Juice, Brown Sugar, Vinegar, split Garlic cloves, and remaining Pepper. Bring the sauce mixture to a boil.

Drop Meatballs into the Juice mixture. Reduce heat to low. Cook at a low simmer for 40 minutes. Add prunes to the sauce and cook 30 minutes more. 

Drain off most, but not all, of the sauce before putting meatballs and prunes into a chafing dish. Serve hot with toothpicks.

Note: 
Make these a day ahead, refrigerate and skim fat from surface before serving. I find if I use a very lean grind of meat, there is hardly any fat.  I also add 1/4 cup of very fine dry bread crumbs to this mixture. It makes a difference if you use fresh parsley. However, both are optional and to your taste. You can increase the recipe to 115 to 125 meatballs by adding 1 more pound of ground Beef to make a total of 3 pounds. But be sure to leave the sauce ingredients as they are. Do not increase the liquid. Use exactly one quart. 

Pennsylvania Potters - Eldreth Pottery

I am a collector of vintage American Pottery. I have over the years collected some fine pieces of McCoy and Stangl among many other American Potters. I collect both useful and Art pieces. In this era of mass production, I prize the beautiful and unique.

I make old time pickles and preserves. I want pottery crocks that will do the job and look good on the counter. I made Brandied Seckel Pears (divine and never cooked or refrigerated) in a covered clay crock from the turn of the century. The alcohol content kept all bad buggies and mold away. I am going to make natural sauerkraut in a crock as I have no room for a barrel. The best book I know on home food preservation is Marion Brown's Pickles and Preserves. Marion Brown was one of the foremost food writers of the 50s and 60s.

As I began the search for clay crocks suitable for preserving and pickling, I discovered modern Pennsylvania potters whose work is beautiful and useful. I am not the only lover and collector of American Pottery. There are Pottery Tours. Who knew? I am going to share with you what I discover about Pennsylvania's Potters and pottery lovers as I discover it.


Eldreth's Christmas Art is lovely and each piece is one-of-a-kind. Every object represented here made by Eldreth Pottery.

I found the perfect one gallon Crock. It comes from Eldreth Pottery. You can pick the design on your Crock. Your choices range from this Pig to more traditional designs. You can even have your Name on it.

Can City Gardens Feed Us?

I live in Philadelphia. The urban gardening movement is strong here. Just like London.

Right now I am inundated with Roma Plum Tomatoes from one plant grown in my tiny backyard. I am giving them to neighbors.

In other news, City Farmer News has received another award for their coverage of sustainable and urban agriculture and related urban planning. Greenys interested must go there for good information. 

The Christian Science Monitor has an excellent article about urban agriculture helping the working urbanite to fresh food self sufficiency. And the photo below is part of an excellent slide show that helps us understand the vastness of our food chain. Do you know that 60% of the apple juice sold in the US comes from China?

Could city farming be a solution for Bangkok’s urban poor?

A group of nutritional experts say the trend could be harnessed to improve access to food for Thailand’s growing numbers of urban poor. 

By Flora Bagenal, Correspondent / August 10, 2013

The garden was set up in 2003 by a group of janitors who decided to use empty space on the building’s roof to grow food to take home to their families. In the 10 years since, it has blossomed into a fully functioning urban horticulture center, complete with trellises crisscrossed with vines and rows of potted herbs and spices. It covers an area roughly 4,000 sq. meters (about 4,300 sq. feet), that otherwise would be an expanse of unused concrete.

The guerrilla garden is one of several small city farms dotted around Bangkok. And now, a group of nutritional experts say the trend could be harnessed to improve access to food for Thailand’s growing numbers of urban poor.