Strawberry Jam, Home Ec, and Potential Pumpkin

 1.) Strawberry Fig 

I found a new use for the figs! 

I believe we're finally at the tail end of our fig harvest, but we still had enough to combine with some strawberries I bought on clearance at the grocery store to make a half batch of jam. 

I hadn't originally planned on making jam, but the sudden presence of some rapidly fermenting figs and some strawberries I knew were going to turn moldy at any moment meant I needed to find a quick use. 

Looking up "strawberry fig jam" online turned up some rather...strange results. Apparently it's a fairly common thing in Louisiana to take Jell-O powder and use it in fig jam to turn your harvest of figs into whatever type of "fruit" you want. Seems a little odd (and missing part of the point of home canning) to me, but to each his own. 

I finally half used a recipe I found online, half used a recipe I had on hand for fig jam. (This was probably pretty unsafe of me; you're supposed to be very careful when canning, especially with low acid fruit. I actually ended up adding more lemon juice than either recipe recommended, and I was very careful about processing the jars. I think I'm ok (acid content and adequate processing are the two big concerns with water bath canning) but I would still follow the linked recipe if you want to try this). 

The result just straight up tastes like strawberry jam. Pretty tasty, and I'm happy I found a way to use up more figs!! 

(Please note that the Jell-O fig recipe is included for curiosity value only. The fact that she doesn't process the jars in a water bath (she also doesn't add any additional acid, which is a must for figs) probably mean this isn't the safest recipe to store long term. If you do make it, eat it right away). 

2.) Home Economics

I recently realized I have a weirdly large collection of vintage home economics books in my house.

Some are vintage cookbooks and sewing manuals. Two are textbooks, one from 1933 and one from 1955. 

The first textbook was a thrift store find. 

The cover pages are absolutely filled with recipes and notes in a dense cursive scrawl, with a few recipes carefully pinned in. 

The actual book reads like a college level nutritional science text. Lots of discussion of the importance of proteins, various vitamins, and how to properly feed a small child (lots of milk and extremely bland strained food) backed up with scientific evidence and photographs. 

There's also chapters on proper table manners, food preservation ("don't use food preservation powders from the store that may contain borax!"), and several recipes in the back. 

The second was my grandmother's high school text book and covers a lot more subject matter. 

Food and nutrition are covered, but there's also attention given to child psychology (pictures show both teen girls and boys interacting with and caring for small children), 

sewing (entirely and completely addressed to girls),

 and a whole section in the final chapters on cultivating a good personality (also aimed at both girls and boys). 

Going into the other books in detail would probably entail another post (stay tuned!) but include a sewing machine manual and dressmaking/style guide from the 1920s, a sewing idea book from the 70s, a cookbook given to my great grandmother as a gift by her high school home ec teacher in 1935, bread making cookbook from the 60s, and a copy of a 1935 Hershey's chocolate cookbook reprinted and updated in 1971. 

I'm not entirely sure why I've ended up with all this, but if you ever want style advice from the 1920s, 1950s, or 1970s, or recipes from the 1930s, let me know. 

3.) Sewing 

I've let the mending and smaller projects pile up, and now I'm in the process of clearing out as many as possible before starting on a big project -- an apron. 

I'm thinking the one on the far right. 

I've noticed my t-shirt collection is looking more and more ratty, and I have less and less "nice" shirts for when I leave the house. Ergo, apron. I'm making the assumption that if I have something pretty that can protect my clothes during housework, I'll wear it. 

But in the meantime, I've been mending kids' shirts, adding some embroidery or patches to boy's hand me down pants and shorts so that my daughter will wear them, and cutting down some old shirts of Chris's to fit Little Boy. My work area has gotten a little cluttered; I need to clear it out before working on something new. 

How to tell your fondness for stickers has gotten away from you...

4.) Possible Pumpkin 

Hard to believe, but planting season has started already. Sort of. 

I found a Ziploc baggie with the words "sugar pumpkin 2019" written on it. They were obviously seeds I'd saved from a pumpkin, but I have no idea if they're still viable at all. 

I harvested them a miscarriage, a world wide pandemic, my son starting school, a new baby, and a new-to-us pick up truck ago. Given the history that's passed during these seeds' existence, I'm going to be in awe if they come up. It'll be downright existentially weighty. 

Turns out planting for pumpkins is August 10 in our neck of the woods, so I trooped out there with three kids in tow. We dig and shaped the dirt into hills, added some (purchased, unfortunately. Sigh.) cow manure, and then mulched the hills with cardboard and leaves. 

Even if they don't sprout, next month is planting season for several other types of squash. I can just plant something else in those hills, and the work won't be wasted. 

And that's the news here.