Widow's Endorphins: Happy Mothers' Day!

Widow's Endorphins: Happy Mothers' Day!: A bouquet of pink and white Ranunculus to wish a Happy Mothers' Day to all Mums, Moms, Mamas, stepmothers, adoptive mothers, grand...

Happy Mothers' Day!

A bouquet of pink and white Ranunculus to wish a Happy Mothers' Day to all Mums, Moms, Mamas, stepmothers, adoptive mothers, grandmas, and mother figures who love, nurture and protect us - always!

Photograph Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Crabapples

Widow's Endorphins: Crabapples: Glorious Crabapple trees are now in full flower in Toronto.  The trees, which will produce bitter little apples in the Fall, have the ...

Crabapples

Glorious Crabapple trees are now in full flower in Toronto.  The trees, which will produce bitter little apples in the Fall, have the sweetest Spring blossoms.  Crabapples are members of the Rosaceae family of flowering plants, which includes apples and roses.  The blossoms are white, light pink, mauve pink, deep pink, and carmine.  Some trees have flowers with five petals, while the semi-double blossoms have six to ten petals, and the double blossoms more than ten petals.  The double blossoms look like roses.

How did something so pretty ever get the moniker, "crab" apple?  It may be derived from the Scottish word, scrab, or scrabbe, which in turn may have come from the Old Norse, and later Swedish word, scabba for, "fruit of the wild apple tree".  Or, perhaps it has to do with how people, "crab on" about the sour, bitter taste, after they've bitten into a rock-hard little apple.

Don't let the wicked taste of the raw fruit fool you.  They are a heavenly delicacy!  Crabapple Jelly on a buttered, toasted English muffin, with a thin slice of Cheddar cheese is delicious.  Spiced Crabapples, served alongside a Roast of Pork are divine.

The tiny apples are packed with pectin, the natural thickener that makes jelly gel.  Unlike other fruit jelly and jam recipes that call for adding pectin, Crabapple's come fully loaded.  Unripened Crabapples have more pectin, while ripened apples have more flavour.  You can tell the difference by cutting one open, and looking at the seeds:  an unripened Crabapple will have light coloured seeds, while a ripe apple will have dark brown seeds.  One recipe says to provide the right balance between pectin and flavour, have about a quarter of the apples unripened, and the other seventy-five percent ripened.

It will be late September, before the Crabapples will be ready for harvest.  Meanwhile, anytime is a good time to read a recipe or two.  In researching on-line, I found two simple recipes for Crabapple Jelly and Spiced Crabapples.  One uses sugar, while the other uses honey. Crabapples are often spiced with cinnamon and cloves, and I found one recipe which uses cracked cardamom seeds.  Between now and Autumn harvest, you'll probably come up with the perfect recipe for the little apples.  It will also give you time to read up on the do's and don'ts of simple home canning.

Crabapple Jelly

6 Pounds (2.72 Kg) Crabapples

4 1/2 Cups (900 grams) Sugar

6 Cups (1.4 L) Water

Thoroughly wash the Crabapples.  Remove only the stems and blossom ends of the Crabapples.  The pectin is found in the apple peel and core, so do not peel or core the apples.

Place the apples in a large pot, and cover them with the water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the apples are softened.

Use a potato masher to crush the apples.  Cook for another 5 minutes.

This recipe instructs us to wet, and wring out a jelly bag and suspend it on a frame, over a large measuring cup or bowl.  I had to Google it, to see what the heck they were talking about.  Other recipes simply say to use a colander or strainer, lined with damp cheesecloth, and place this over a large bowl.  Fill the jelly bag, or cheesecloth liner with the cooked apples.

At this point, read a book, go for a walk, watch a movie, or go to bed, because it takes a minimum of two hours - even overnight - for all of the juice to drip into the bowl.  You may be tempted to squeeze the juices out of the jelly bag.  It will certainly extract more flavour, however, if you want crystal clear jelly, it's best not to squeeze the juices out.  Your kitchen, your call!

Measure out 6 1/2 Cups (1.62 L) of juice.  If there isn't enough, you can add up to 1 1/2 Cups (375 ml) of water to the juice.

In a large pot, bring the juice and sugar to a full rolling boil over medium heat.  It will take about 15 to 18 minutes for the juice to reach gel stage.  Remove from heat, and skim off any foam.

Fill hot, sterilized 1 Cup (250 ml) jars.  Leave 1/4 inch (5 mm) space at the top of the jar.  Cover with sterilized lids, and screw the bands on.  Boil the filled jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Use tongs and oven mitts to remove the hot jars from the canning bath, and set them on a kitchen towel.  Over the next few hours, you'll hear the soft,"ping" sound of the lids sealing.  Music to your ears!

That's it!

The recipe for Spiced Crabapples is even easier...

Spiced Crabapples

5 Pounds (2.26 Kg) Crabapples

6 Cups (1.4 L) Water
1 3/4 Cups (595 g) Honey
3 Cinnamon Sticks

Clean the apples, and remove only the stems and blossom ends.  Leave the pectin-rich apple peel and core intact.  Prick the apples, so that the Honey Cinnamon Syrup can be absorbed.  The pricking will also help prevent the apples from splitting open.

In a large pot, dissolve the honey into the water, add the cinnamon sticks, and simmer on the stove for 5 minutes.  Add the apples, and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Put the poached Crabapples in sterilized glass jars, and fill with the syrup.  Leave about 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) of space at the top.  At this point, some recipes say to use a spoon or chopsticks to release any airbubbles in the jars.  Cover each jar with a sterilized lid, and screw the band onto the jar. Place the jars in a canning bath, and boil for 20 minutes.

Using oven mitts, and tongs, remove the hot jars from the canning bath, and set them on a kitchen towel.  While waiting for that lovely, "ping" sound, make pretty labels, and take pictures of the glistening jars of Spiced Crabapples.

As my Dad used to say, how do you like them apples?

Crabapple blossoms last only a week or two, but you can make a lasting impression with this bodycon dress and matching draped kimono, both now available in my Art of Where on-line shop!

http://bit.do/AOWbodycon
http://bit.do/drapedkimono

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Cherry Blossom Haiku

Widow's Endorphins: Cherry Blossom Haiku: Whatever your plans, put them aside to gaze up, into fragrant, blossoming cherry trees, for if ever there was a flower which symbol...

Cherry Blossom Haiku

Whatever your plans, put them aside to gaze up, into fragrant, blossoming cherry trees, for if ever there was a flower which symbolized living in the present, it's the cherry blossom.  The Sakura are revered in Japan.  The delicate blooms last only one short week, before their petals start to fall, or the wind and rain tear them from the tree.  The Japanese have a word for flower gazing:  hanami. 

Cherry blossom

I fold my resume

into a crane.    

This winning Haiku poem, by Barry Goodman of Hackensack, New Jersey says it all!  Take time to stop and smell the flowers.  The future can wait - the cherry trees are blooming!  Or, perhaps, "I'm going to sit under this tree, contemplate life, and rewrite this resume from a fresh perspective". Goodman's Haiku won Best US Poem in the 2006 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational.   

More than 40-thousand flowering trees blossom each year in Vancouver, Canada. Many of the oldest trees were gifted to the city, by the Japanese.  In addition to celebrating the beauty of the cherry blossoms, the Cherry Blossom Festival, which this year runs from March 1 - June 1, promotes tree preservation, history, and culture.  People paint the blossoms en plein air;  take bicycle rides through tree lined streets, that look like ribbons of pink;  photograph the blossoms;  picnic under the boughs; and simply flower gaze.  They also take part in a contest for the best Haiku to the cherry blossom.

Haiku is an ancient Japanese poetry style, known for simple, subtle, and sensitive verse.  One of the earliest, by Arakide Moritake (1473 - 1549) delights in the - you guessed it - cherry blossom.

A cherry petal
flies back up to a branch
oh, a butterfly!

Masaoka Shiki is another master Haiku poet.  His work from the late 1800s was written in Japanese, however, because of its simplicity, and imagery it translates beautifully.

Moon at twilight
a cluster of petals falling
from the cherry tree.

The traditional three line haiku poem follows a 5-7-5 syllable count.  Every haiku must have a kigo, which is a word establishing the season, and a kireji, or word that cuts the haiku into two parts. English language haiku is not nearly as strict.  As long as the poem has three short lines, has a word to establish the season, and if necessary, uses punctuation to create two distinct parts, it's considered haiku.

Judges for the Haiku Invitational say that haiku is simple, clear and concise.  It uses everyday language.  Haiku doesn't rhyme.  Juxtaposition is commonly used, although metaphor is not.  The poem flows smoothly, then, pauses and pivots with an element of surprise.  The poems are sensory, in that they create images around sight, sound, touch, scent and taste.  They are also subtle.

A winter blizzard
I turn my calendar
to cherry blossoms.

Not surprisingly, this winning Haiku was written by a Toronto woman, Marilyn Potter.  How many times have I actually done that - flipped my calendar pages for pictures of Spring blossoms?!!  In the dead of Winter, we long for the rebirth of flowers, for the energizing force of colour.

When the blossoms begin to appear in High Park, Trinity Bellwoods Park, or over on Centre Island, the peak dates are listed in newspapers, and on-line.  Calendars are checked, friends are called, the weather report is checked over and over again, and camera batteries are fully charged.  Parks are filled with people quietly strolling under the cherry boughs, gazing at the blossoms.  (See Widow's Endorphins archives for 2015:  It's Blossom Time! 07/05/2015).

This year, heavy rain washed away the red circle on my calendar.  So, I went the next day, to Mount Pleasant Cemetery under grey skies, and sublte light.  High Park's many, many cherry trees have white blossoms, which resemble Spring snowflakes.  While the cemetery's tiny grove of trees has heavenly pink blossoms!

Rain, although the subject of many a haiku poem, is the enemy of cherry blossom worshippers.  It shakes the petals from the branches, and leaves the rest looking like shrivelled kleenex.  It stains the petals with rain spots, which become brown spots.

It is part of life, and therein lies the beauty of blossoms on a rainy day.  Port Moody's Garry Eaton wrote this winning entry back in 2014.

Subway platform
she brushes cherry petals
from her black umbrella.

If you'd like to write haiku, there's still time to enter the 2017 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational contest. Since it is Canada's 150th birthday, this year's theme is Freedom.  The contest is open to people from all over the world. There are six categories:  Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the US, International and Youth.  

Perhaps this lovely haiku from one of last year's Haiku Invitational winners, Rachel Enomoto will inspire you...

Double cherry blossoms
I breathe in
the entire sky.

As I wrote this blog, the sunshine gave way to black, ominous clouds and by evening we were deluged with heavy rain, high winds, thunder and lightning.  I doubt that any of these blossoms survived the storm.  They are, however, forever preserved by my camera!

...and preserved in my clothing designs!  The bodycon dress and draped kimono are now available in my Art of Where on-line shop...

http://bit.do/AOWbodycon
http:/bit.do/drapedkimono

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Lettuce Celebrate Earth Day!

Widow's Endorphins: Lettuce Celebrate Earth Day!: Today marks the 47th anniversary of Earth Day. I was going to write about the history of Earth Day...about the destructive oil spill...