rhubarb rose jam

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Happy Sunday!!! It feels weird to have my computer open on a Sunday but Cousin Elaine and I made this rhubarb rose jam yesterday that I am first-day-of-summer-camp excited about. I wanted to write it down ASAP so I wouldn’t forget it and also so that we can all have time to make it over and over before rhubarb season ends. 

It is based on Claire Ptak’s rhubarb and angelica jam from The Violet Bakery Cookbook, only I’ve swapped out angelica and added vanilla bean and rosewater. Rosewater might be my favorite friend of rhubarb and because I was making this jam as party favors for Rob and Hansaem’s very elegant wedding in Paris later this month, I figured rosewater would be the perfect addition. And the vanilla bean just kind of gives the whole thing a luxurious hug. 

The measurements below are for a very big batch (triple of Claire’s), this made enough to fill 25 cute 2-oz Weck jars, and my 5.5 quart dutch oven was the perfect size to hold everything. If you don’t have a jungle of rhubarb in your yard that you need to use up or a zillion party favors to make, you can either get your calculator out and calculate a third of these ingredients (the timings stay the same), or come over and take some of my rhubarb. 

In a good container with a tight fitting lid, this will keep in the fridge for up to a month, but of course you can also can it with sterilized jars and seals and the whole bit. Yesterday was my first time doing the latter! Cousin Elaine is the canning expert of the family, so she and I spent the afternoon sterilizing jars and dipping things into boiling water to kill the cooties. Canning always seemed intimidating to me when I read about it on paper but when Elaine walked me through the process it all made complete sense. So if you’re considering canning for the first time, my biggest recommendation would be to get yourself a Cousin Elaine.

Happing Jamming!!

Rhubarb Rose Jam

Makes enough to fill 25 cute 2-oz jars

ingredients

1,500g (3 lb 6 oz) rhubarb, chopped into small pieces

1,125g (5 1/2 cups + 2 tb) sugar

juice of 3 lemons

1 tsp rosewater

1 tb vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, scraped

clues

In a large heavy pot, combine the rhubarb and half of the sugar. Cover and macerate at room temp for 1 hour. 

Add the remaining sugar and lemon juice to the pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Once it comes to a boil, let it boil rapidly over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. It might get a little spitty, so be careful and wear an apron, and if it gets too wild you can reduce the heat a little bit. It’s ready when most of the rhubarb is translucent and the consistency has thickened (it will continue to thicken as it cools). Reduce the heat to low and stir in the rosewater and vanilla bean. Carefully give it a taste to see if the rosewater is where you want it. 

Spoon into sterilized jars and seal or transfer to containers and keep in the fridge for up to a month. 

-yeh!

tahini milkshakes

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We have a dog chicken. You know, like a dog cat, a cat that behaves like a dog, but a chicken. It started last month when we noticed that one of our chickens was looking blue and had a little blood on her head from getting her feathers picked out by the other chickens, it was so sad! We separated her so she could heal in peace, and gave her special treatment, like extra cucumbers and apples. Eventually we let her roam around the yard, freely outside of the run, and she became so personable! Not like the other chickens who run away if you try to come near them. This chicken comes up to you when you’re in the yard and lets you pet her. Occasionally she visits Eggboy in the workshop. On Mother’s Day when we presented Eggmom with her gift (a wagon to hook on to her lawn mower), Eggboy had all of us stand in one part of the yard to watch the big reveal, and as all of the Eggs and I assembled in a little group as the audience, Chicken also gathered with us and stood attentively waiting for the show. It was the best. She’s the best. I love her. I know you’re not supposed to pick favorite chicken children, but she’s my fave. 

Anyway, over the weekend we had a scare. We heard a flopping noise, ran outside, and couldn’t find her anywhere. All we could see was white feathers scattered about in two different parts of the yard, and we searched everywhere but couldn’t find her. It was the worst. A fox, a hawk, or a coyote had come to eat her, we figured :( But then!! Two very sad long hours later, she reappeared!!!!! A little shaken but still her happy self. She must have been hiding from whatever monster tried to get her. We sliced up celebratory cucumber, danced around, and then put her to bed and then went inside and ate celebratory Chana Masala and watched celebratory Breaking Bad.

This morning as I left for the gym, I saw her keeping Eggboy company while he weedwacked and it made me so happy. I am a little bummed that we’re going to have to move her back into the coop with the other chickens soon but at least she’s safe.

This is a pic of her I took when I was using up the rest of my shots on my Paris cameras:

So that’s what’s happening around the farm.

In tahini news, it occurred to me last month that it has been over a year since I had the earth shatteringly amazing tahini shake at Goldie, in Philadelphia. I decided that it was time to start making my own. But did you know that if you do a Google for tahini shake recipe, the internet automatically assumes that you also want dates?? And, worst case scenario, bananas????? Like I realize that tahini is classified as a health food in some brains and fits snuggly in with this practice of sweetening shakes with dates and creamifying them with bananas, but I just really wanted… sugar. And no date flavor. And real ice cream. Bananas can gtfo forever and ever. ❌🚫🙅🏻‍♀️

I wanted an old school milkshake, like the chocolate peanut butter ones we got at Steak 'n Shake in high school to have with their crispy shoestring fries, only instead of peanut butter I wanted tahini.  And I wanted a smaller milkshake too because one problem I have with the world of milkshakes is that they are always too darn big. They tempt me into bellyache sugar crash territory and these days I just never order them because of this and resort to stealing sips of my dad’s or Eggboy’s during our annual In-N-Out trips. If there was a universally understood kiddie cone equivalent option, or like a shot of milkshake option, that would be ideal. That’s what my future imaginary restaurant will have, shots of milkshakes. And then the cute as a button juice glasses in these pics will be the jumbo size.

My last opinion about milkshakes is that I appreciate when they have something in them to chew on, like cookies or a whole piece of chocolate cake, a la Portillo’s or the Oreo Dairy Queen Blizzard. So I’ve thrown in handfuls of crushed chocolate cookies here. They get so good and soft as they soak up the shake. The rest of the shake is as perfect as you’d imagine: nutty and extra creamy, thanks to the tahini, and perfect with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. A pinch of cinnamon enhances the tahini flavor, and an optional drizzle of chocolate syrup will do no harm. And rainbow sprinkles, doyyy.

Tahini Milkshakes

Makes 6-8 mini shakes or 4 medium (pictured)

ingredients

2 c (400g) vanilla ice cream

3/4 c (180g) whole milk

1/2 c (100g) tahini

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

a pinch of cinnamon

a drizzle of chocolate syrup, optional

a handful of crushed chocolate cookies (homemade or store-bought), optional but highly recommended

fresh whipped cream

rainbow sprinkles

clues

In a blender, combine the ice cream, milk, tahini, vanilla, and cinnamon, and blend to combine. Pour into glasses and top with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and crushed cookies (if using), whipped cream, and sprinkles and enjoy.

-yeh!

photos by chantell and brett! dress from gap!

everything i ate in paris

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Everything was miniature and everything was perfect. It was exactly the Paris I’d imagined in my mind, right down to the effortlessly fashionable couples walking home from work in the evenings, hand-in-hand with baguettes sticking out of their bags. All of the buildings were beautiful and boutiques lined the streets with clothes that didn’t really fit me but were elegant nonetheless. The bistros had great fries, the macarons were flowery yet not at all soapy, and street musicians played accordions! It was all like being in a movie.

Here is a list of all of the things I ate in Paris that I can remember. I ate them with Lily, Sarah, Christine, and Kelsi and Pia, the super awesome humans from Bonne Maman who organized this insanely delicious trip. Thank you 4ever, Bonne Maman!!!

A warm baguette with a lot of soft butter and a pile of perfect ham. A warm baguette with a lot of soft butter and a pile of perfect ham!!! Sorry, I just sit here for a few minutes and relive this experience in my brain. *Closes eyes and tilts head back* 

Chewy crunchy nests of kadaif topped with whipped cream and flavored with rhubarb, rose, halva, pistachio, and mastic, and shared with my all time favorite speed skater who just happened to also be in Paris, Sugar Todd!! 

An omelette that looked like a shiny yolky yoga mat but tasted like custard and cheese at Ladurée.

A large airy coffee flavored sphere of meringue and cream, a merveilleux, “like a structured Eton mess,” as Kelsi so perfectly described it. 

Rice pudding. Pardon, riz au lait. I like rice pudding now. Actually I love it! I’m turning into my dad. In fact as soon as I post this blog post I am going to get working on a replica of the kind I had at Chez Georges, which was very loose and vanilla-y. We also had some at L’Ami Jean which came with some crunchies and ice cream underneath it and it was delicious but it was much thicker than Chez Georges'. I like it loose, I discovered.

Chèvre chaud salad, my new favorite salad, and an instant newcomer to my arsenal of dinner recipes. Essentially fried goat cheese on mustardy dressed greens. Until we tracked one down, Lily wouldn’t shut up about them and their greatness. And now I refuse to shut up about them and their greatness. They’re peak simple and peak amazing. The one at Chez George had the best dressing, and the one at Les Antiquaires was covered in bacon and prosciutto. My ideal would have been a combination of the two but honestly they were both freaking ideal.

A crêpe from the street stand with a halo of crispy cheese.

Extremely thick white asparagus at L’Ami Jean that had some excellent salty crunchy business all around it, followed by a pot of pork that came with some flaming sticks on top that smelled like a campfire. 

One perfect soft doughy flaky croissant from Des Gateaux et du Pain. 

Cute miniature colorful snacky bites on the Bonne Maman boat! For two of the days that we were in Paris, Bonne Maman decked out a boat in the Seine with recipe demos, craft workshops, candle making, tea bag sewing, and manicures, it was like a fancy French summer camp! Complete with a David Lebovitz sighting! It was so fun. 

Bonne Maman preserves galore. We sat at a table on the Bonne Maman boat with every type of Bonne Maman preserve you could imagine (and even some unimaginable ones because half of them aren’t even available in the U.S., like rhubarb and black cherry) and a spoon. It was a dream! And then it was a very put-together dream when Sarah and Lily styled it all as I ate my raspberry crêpe. We got to try a delicious new line that is about to be released in the U.S., called Intense, which has even more fruit than their original preserves. I'm so excited for you guys to try it.

Cheese and lots of it. Duh. 

Tonka macarons!! Which moved me to smuggle back some tonka beans. Can I say that? Is that legal? And the aforementioned flowery non-soapy macaroons that made me want to track down the exact flowers/flower flavorings that Ladurée and Pierre Hermé use. And an asparagus macaron which didn’t taste asparagusy so much as just springy and fresh.

Eclairs and cream puffs and caramels and chocolates that were all just like little works of art. We got like one of everything and I tried the pistachio flavors first, the rose flavors second, and the hazelnut things third. None of them sucked. 

Things I Didn’t Eat

L’as Du Falafel- It was closed and I was very sad! But I am going back to Paris next month for my friend Rob's wedding so I will definitely be eating that falafel.

The fries at Bistrot Paul Bert- One day!!!!

Jam! I know, I thought all Bonne Maman made was jam, but brace yourself for a tidbit: jam is what happens when all of the fruit cooks down until it’s smooth, while preserves maintain the integrity of the whole pieces of fruit. So Bonne Maman doesn’t actually offer jam! Mainly preserves, and some jellies.

-yeh!

Thank you sooo much, Bonne Maman, for the most epic and delicious trip ever!!! 

All photos taken on this fancy contraption.