Abner would eventually be fine, but his decades-earlier affair with Pauline would haunt him for the rest of his life—sometimes the truth doesn’t set you completely free. He would have taken the fall for Jessop, but he knew Jessop’s breakdown wasn’t over. In fact, Abner knew that Jessop wanted to harm me because of my snooping. When Abner asked me to the cabin, it had been his goal to make me stop my investigation. He was going to turn himself in that day, anyway—the drama of what happened in the woods made him wish he’d done it earlier. He thought that if he really did go to jail, Jessop would leave me and everyone else alone.
That might have been correct, but I wasn’t capable of leaving anything alone. I couldn’t let my friend go to jail for something he hadn’t done. My curiosity had almost done me in, but not quite.
I had been irritated at Abner for not sharing his address with anyone, but over the course of the last week, I had found that I’d been almost as guilty of such negligence. I hadn’t known where some of my closest coworkers lived, and I’d never invited them over for much of anything except maybe to help with the pumpkins. But I knew where they lived now, and this barbecue was the first step of what I hoped was a new phase of friendship in all our lives.
It really wasn’t that I’d made a lot of new friends as the result of a terrible tragedy, but that we all had become closer. And one of the new friends I had made and most looked forward to getting to know better was flipping hamburgers with a hand marked by a sun tattoo and was the owner of potentially magic spit.
I smiled at the memory of our kiss and at the fact that because I hadn’t been gunned down in the greenhouse, there might be more kissing ahead.
“Did you find the one you want, Mathis?” I stood slowly, favoring my sore hip, road-rashed leg, and stiff shoulder. It wasn’t pretty.
“Yes.” He pointed at the biggest pumpkin in the patch.
“Good choice. Let’s grab it and go have some dinner.”
“I don’t want a m’burger, Aunt Becca. I want peanut butter and some of your strawberry jam.”
“That sounds good. Come on, I’ll see if the cook will help me in the kitchen. He and I will find you some peanut butter and jam.”
I smiled at the thought and, hand in hand, we walked toward family, friends, and hopefully a fruitful future.
Recipes
Becca’s Jam, Jellies, and Preserves Canning Tips
Start with good fruit at its peak, not overripe. Canning doesn’t improve the quality of the ingredients you use.
Don’t add any butter or other fat to a recipe. These don’t store well and could increase the rate of spoilage, as well as slow the rate of heat transfer, which could result in an unsafe product.
Always “heat process” your products by water bath or pressure canning (I use water bath process). Ignore any recipe that tells you to invert the jars as the final step.
To sterilize them, boil small jars for at least five minutes, large jars for at least eight. Higher altitudes might require more time. Always check recipes.
To prevent darkening of your cut fruits:
Use a commercial product made to prevent the darkening.
Put the cut fruit in a solution of 1 teaspoon ascorbic acid (vitamin C, available in a powdered form from the drug store) and 1 gallon water. Drain before canning.
Or
Put the cut fruit into a lemon juice solution (¾ cup lemon juice to 1 gallon water). Drain fruit before canning.
Use standard mason / Ball / Kerr (etc.) jars for home canning. Commercial food jars, such as mayonnaise jars, are not heat tempered and often break easily.
Do not use jars larger than specified. Quart jars are the largest size you should ever use.
To remove scale or hard-water films on jars, soak the jars for several hours in a solution of 1 cup vinegar per gallon of water. Keep the jars warm until ready to fill them—this will help reduce breakage from thermal shock.
Prepare the two-piece metal canning lids by washing them in water and following the manufacturer’s instructions for heating the lids.
Check the jar seals twelve to twenty-four hours after processing for leaks and broken seals. Press down on the lid. If it is sealed, it will be sucked down tight. If it did not seal, it will flex and make a popping sound when pressed.
If it didn’t seal, refrigerate the product and eat it as soon as possible. If one of my seals is broken, I don’t take the jar to market, but just use the product myself instead.
Most important tip: enjoy every minute of your time within your crops and in your kitchens. There’s not much else that is as satisfying as growing something, preparing it, and then seeing someone enjoy the “fruits” of your labor.
BECCA
Becca ’s Strawberry Preserves
4 pints strawberries to yield 4 cups crushed berries
7 cups sugar
3 oz. liquid fruit pectin
Strawberry Hullers (if you don’t have a huller, you can
use a small knife, or some people even use a paper
clip)
8-fluid-oz. canning jars
Baking sheets
Canning lids
Colander
Food processor
Big saucepan
Boiling-water canner (some people use a pressure canner,
but I prefer the boiling-water method)
Tongs
Boil jars (at least five minutes). My dishwasher has a fancyschmancy sterilize mode, but that feature is still rare.
Remove the jars with tongs and place them on a cookie sheet to dry and cool.
Prepare lids by placing them in a saucepan of gently boiling water. I don’t ever use the dishwasher for the lids.
Prepare the strawberries by dipping them in a sink of cold water and immediately putting them into a colander to drain.
Hull strawberries, using a sharp paring knife or a strawberry huller or even a paper clip. Place half the strawberries at a time into a food processor and process for 5 to 10 seconds; they should still be slightly chunky. This step becomes intuitive over time. Some people like larger chunks of fruit in their preserves, but I prefer uniformly sized pieces that make an even “spread.” (Hint—the chunks of fruit are what make the preserves. Jams are made with totally crushed fruit and, typically, less sugar.)
Place the strawberries into a 6- or 8-quart pot. Stir the sugar into the fruit and mix them well. Bring the fruit to a full, rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
Add fruit pectin and return the mixture to a full, rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.
Remove the preserves from the heat and skim off and discard any foam, using a metal spoon. Ladle the preserves into a liquid measuring cup and fill the jars immediately to within 1/8 inch of the tops.
Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth.
Place the lids on the jars and screw them on tightly.
Fill the canner half full with water; then cover it and heat the water to boiling.
Using a jar lifter, place the jars filled with food on the rack in the canner. If necessary, add boiling water to bring water 1 to 2 inches over the tops of the jars. Do not pour boiling water directly on the jars. Cover them and boil for at least five minutes. Longer for higher altitudes (check the recipe on the package of pectin).
As soon as the processing time is up, use a jar lifter to remove jars from the canner. If liquid boiled out of the jars during processing, do not open them to add more. Do not retighten screw bands, even if they are noticeably loose.
Check the seals after one hour to make sure the lids are curving down. If seals are not tight, refrigerate and use the product as soon as possible.
Becca ’s Pumpkin Preserves
The preparation and preserving methods used for the strawberry preserves are the same for the pumpkin preserves. The ingredients and recipe are different and are as follows:
4 lb. pumpkin. Wash the pumpkin and peel off the rind.
Use
the inside “meat” but don’t use the seeds.
2 lbs. sugar
2 to 3 lemons
2 to 3 oranges
½ teaspoon salt
1 dozen or so whole cloves
Cube the meat of the pumpkin. Layer the pumpkin, sugar, salt, and orange and lemon slices in a roasting pan. Allow them to sit overnight, refrigerated. Transfer to another pot.
Place the roasting pan over medium heat, add the cloves. Cook until pumpkin is transparent, stirring frequently—this will take a couple of hours.
WATER-PRESSURE PROCESS:
The texture of this preserve is very similar to a marmalade.
This is amazing on toast, biscuits, and ice cream. This is one of Becca’s co-vendors’ favorite holiday gifts.
Mamma Maria’s Mmmm-Amazing Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one ten-inch pie
PIE TIPS:
1. Make the pie on a sunny, nonhumid day so meringue doesn’t fall.
2. Use ultrafine white sugar, anything else won’t make good filling or meringue.
3. Eggs shouldn’t be fresh; the best meringue is made with eggs around a week old.
4. When separating egg whites from yolks—NO yolk can get into the whites or the meringue won’t set. If yolk does get into the whites, DON’T use your finger to remove it; only use egg shell or meringue won’t set.
5. Freshly squeezed lemons make the filling just tart enough to offset the meringue’s sweetness.
6. A glass pie pan works best for all pies because it does a better job of evenly distributing heat.
7. Mix meringue in a bowl that has not been used to make anything with oil or grease, or meringue won’t set.
Bake pie shell in a glass pie pan at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. If you’re using ready-made pie crust, follow package directions.
FILLING
5 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2½ cups and 1 tablespoon ultrafine white sugar
½ cup corn starch plus an additional 1 tablespoons
2 ½ cups water
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 teaspoons grated lemon peel
For filling, stir together sugar and corn starch in medium saucepan. Blend egg yolks and water in a separate bowl; once they are blended, stir them into the sugar mixture in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the filling mixture is thick and begins to boil. Let it boil for 1 minute—remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and lemon peel, and pour the mixture into the baked pie shell.
MERINGUE
5 egg whites (NO YOLK!)
¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup ultrafine white sugar
teaspoon vanilla
For meringue, beat egg whites until stiff, adding cream of tartar as egg whites are beaten (hand mixer or electric mixer works best). Once the cream of tartar is added and the egg whites are stiff, begin adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, continuously beating the meringue mixture. Continue mixing until soft peaks form (they should look like soft mountains), add vanilla, and mix for a few seconds more so vanilla is completely mixed into the meringue.
Heap meringue onto pie with a rubber spatula, taking care to seal the edges where the meringue and pie crust meet. Make peaks on top of the meringue with the spatula and bake the pie at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until meringue peaks are golden brown.
Let pie completely cool prior to serving.
HUGE MERINGUE
10 egg whites (NO YOLK!)
1½ teaspoons cream of tartar
2 cups ultrafine white sugar
teaspoon vanilla
For meringue, beat egg whites until stiff, adding the cream of tartar as the egg whites are beaten (hand mixer or electric mixer works best). Once the cream of tartar is added and the egg whites are stiff, begin adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, continuously beating the meringue mixture. Continue mixing until soft peaks form (they should look like soft mountains), add the vanilla, and mix for a few seconds more so the vanilla is completely mixed into the meringue.
Heap the meringue onto the pie with a rubber spatula, taking care to seal the edges where the meringue and pie crust meet. Make peaks on top of the meringue with a spatula and bake the pie at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until meringue peaks are golden brown.
Let pie completely cool prior to serving.
Mamma Maria acquired this mmmm- amazing recipe from Amy Snyder Hackbart and Patricia Snyder. Many thanks!
Linda’s On-a-Hurry Easy and Amazing Razzleberry Pie
2 ready-made pie crusts. These usually come two per
package.
2 cups or 16 ounces raspberries
2 cups or 16 ounces blackberries
cup sugar
2 ½ tablespoons flour
pie tin
cooking spray or butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Thaw fruit if it is frozen, and pour it in a colander to strain the juice.
In large bowl, mix fruit, sugar, and flour together. Line bottom of pie tin (sprayed with cooking spray or lightly buttered) with crust. Fill with fruit mixture.
Before adding the top layer, cut some vents into it. Lay it over the top of the fruit, moisten the edges with water to “glue” the two crusts together. With the back side of a fork pinch edges together, or pinch them with fingers.
Lightly brush the top crust with water.
Sprinkle sugar over the top.
Cover edges with a 1 ½-inch strip of foil.
Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove the foil and bake the pie for an additional 10 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
Most of the time Linda makes her crusts from scratch, but either way this pie is mouthwateringly delicious.
Mathis’ Favorite Grilled Peanut Butter and Preserve Sandwich
This is for one sandwich. You can increase or decrease the amount of the ingredients per your tastes or to accommodate more sandwiches.
2 teaspoons or so butter
2 slices bread (Mathis prefers white bread)
2 tablespoons or so peanut butter
2 tablespoons or so Becca’s strawberry preserves
Heat griddle or skillet to 350 degrees.
Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Spread peanut butter on unbuttered side of one slice of bread, and the preserves on the other. Place one slice, buttered side down, on the griddle. Top with other slice, so that peanut butter and preserves are in the middle. Cook for 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown, and heated through.
Mathis can’t get enough of his aunt Becca’s strawberry preserves, especially when they’re mixed with peanut butter!
Farm Fresh Murder Page 24
