So, what’s new, you ask?

Here’s the thing. I fell in love with canning and, as it turns out, I’m pretty darned good at it. I decided (with the support of my husband, who also thinks I’m pretty darned good at it) that I’m going into business to sell my jams, marmalades, and assorted other products I’ve been canning. I’m incorporated (LLC), having my logo trademarked, and even have a bank account! The name?

Freakin’ Flamingo.

That’s me – all over. (Thanks, Barb.) I’m working on a retail website right now which, when it’s ready, will be found at FreakinFlamingo.com. But not yet. Soon. I’ll let you know.

You may find this strange, but I want to keep this small scale. Really small scale. The basic premise is that my stuff is not only hand-crafted and small-batch, it’s micro-batch. Everything is prepared and canned during it’s proper season (usually local, or as local as I can get it), and no more than about a dozen half-pints or pints at a time, and with my own South Florida twist. I’ll be offering it to you as it’s prepared, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. Until next season. At my whim, or if you demand it. As I like to say, you never know what you’ll find until I cook it up and write it down.

So, why am I telling you this now?

Because it’s the holidays, I wanted to do a turn on the iconic cranberry sauce. I found myself inspired by tweets from my friend Maria (@ViceQueenMaria on Twitter), who as it turns out, kinda lives in my ‘hood. Maria’s been doing a lot of traveling around Florida lately, and has kind of gotten into the coastal and Caribbean pirate culture.

I got to thinking about my favorite pirate, Ann Bonny. Yes, there were female pirates, boys and girls, and she was one of the best. What would Ann Bonny do? Well, you know, after she got out of pirate prison, got married, and had a bazillion kids. She’d infuse those whole cranberries (acquired on a daring New England coastal raid, no doubt) with lots of limes and just a tot of Jamaican spiced rum. I present to you my first offering:

Ann Bonny’s Pirate’s Reserve Caribbean Cranberry

Half-Pints $8.00 each plus shipping
(5 available)

Perfect with your holiday turkey, pork, chicken, and equally delicious on toast or English muffins.

Blueberry Mojito Jam

Half-Pints $8.00 each plus shipping
(6 available)

Feeling a little chilly? Imagine yourself on a sunny, warm Caribbean beach, sipping Mojitos in the middle of January. Well, this Florida blueberry jam, infused with lime, a hint of mint, and the merest suggestion of rum, might not get you there, but if you close your eyes…

Carambola Honey Jam. Carambola, also known as Starfruit, is a crisp and sweet-tart tropical fruit that is usually only seen as a garnish. I used locally-sourced carambola and local wildflower honey to make this a treat you’ll want to spread on toast, stir into yogurt, and spoon onto everything in sight!

Carambola Honey Jam

Half-Pints $8.00 each plus shipping
(1 available)

See the Freakin’ Flamingo Facebook page for more flavors. All are half-pints and are priced at $8.00 per jar.

Um, want some?

**NOTICE**

This is totally embarrassing, but these stupid PayPal links aren’t working. Again. If you’re interested in ordering jam, please e-mail me at: FreakinFlamingo@att.net. I will be more than happy to accommodate you. So sorry for the inconvenience, but hopefully, the web site will go live soon – watch this space!

This is the third and final installment of my Blueberry Trilogy prepared for Tigress’ Can Jam. It’s a tribute to Miami and the Latin vibe that’s such a big part of what the area is today. And of course, my summer blueberry fixation!

The lime and mint (can’t get any more local than my backyard!) in this jam is gently refreshing – not overpowering – and the subtle hint of rum gives it a bit of that tropical quality. A Caribbean vacation on toast! Oh, okay, maybe not a whole vacation, but you just might hear a palm tree rustling in the breeze as you take a bite…

Blueberry Mojito Jam (makes about 10 half-pint jars)

Ingredients:

3 limes
3-3/4 cups water (divided)
3 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 tsp. baking soda
3 dry pints (about 6 cups) blueberries, washed and de-stemmed
1 pkg. pectin
1/2 cup rum
10 4″-5″ sprigs of fresh mint

Preparation:

Wash and dry the limes and slice a thin strip off of each end.

With a mandoline or hand slicer (don’t forget your cut-glove!), shred the limes finely and place into a large, non-reactive saucepan. Add 3 cups of the water and bring to a boil. Continue to cook at a boil for 10 minutes.

Add the sugar and lemon juice, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the baking soda. The mixture will foam up suddenly, but will subside.

Add the blueberries, cover the pan, lower the heat to medium and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

In the meantime, wash and dry the mint sprigs, and cut or pinch off the top 1-1/2″-2″ of each sprig. Reserve those tips you just cut off.

Add the large mint sprigs and the rum to the jam, stir, and return to a boil on medium, for another 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, dissolve the pectin in 3/4 cup cold water, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir the hot pectin liquid into the still-boiling jam for one minute. Remove from the heat while you perform the “freezer wrinkle test”. Place a small amount of the jam on small dish and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes, after which you push the mixture with the tip of a spoon or your fingernail. If the jam wrinkles up, you’re ready to jar. If it’s runny, put the pan back on the heat and cook at a boil on medium for another 5 minutes. Repeat the wrinkle test.

Remove the large mint sprigs before ladling the hot jam into the hot, sterilized jars. Push one of the reserved mint sprig tips into each jar of jam. Seal each jar with appropriately prepared new lids, screw on the rings finger-tight, and process in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes.

Remove the jars from the boiling water, allow to cool, and wait 24 hours to test your seals.

Go ahead – take a bite!

Have you checked out Part One: Blueberry Marmalade and Part Two: Grand Marnier Blueberry Peach Sauce?

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This is the second in my Blueberry Series for Tigress’ Can Jam, and today I bring you Grand Marnier Blueberry Peach Sauce! Sounds delectable, doesn’t it?

Strawberry season is over for us in South Florida. In fact, the farmers markets and local vegetable/fruit stands all pretty much closed by the end of April. Remember, the bulk of our fresh and local produce comes in the winter and early-mid spring. With our growing season kind of topsy-turvy to most of the rest of the country, finding “local” produce is going to present a bit of a challenge for future Can Jams.

I mention this, because we in the South tend to think pretty much of the whole South as “local.” If it came from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, or anywhere in Florida, well darlin’, that’s as good as our own backyard. Otherwise, we’d be pretty much fruit-less… at least until the mangoes come in. And our local mango season is running a bit late this year because of all the strange weather we had this winter. But I digress…

During the month of June, aside from the Florida blueberries, there is nothing quite like a Georgia peach. They just don’t come any sweeter and juicier – and they are coming into our markets right now. So, why not combine the two?

This dessert sauce is kind of a riff on, and adapted from, a hazelnut mango blueberry sauce I spotted in Small Batch Preserving by Topp and Howard. And I’d have made it with mangoes, too, except for the fact that, as I said earlier, the only mangoes available right now are those small, hard, stringy things from Mexico. Also? I don’t have any hazelnut liqueur.

But what I did have, were peaches. And mmm…. Grand Marnier. The result was something my husband said is so good, I could sell it. And it may come to that.

Grand Marnier Blueberry Peach Sauce
(makes about 6 half-pints)

Ingredients:

7-8 peaches
2 dry pints (approx. 4 cups) blueberries (washed and stemmed)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)

Preparation:

Cut an “X” through the skin of the bottom of each peach and drop them into a pot of boiling water. Allow them to blanch for 3 minutes, then remove them to a bowl of ice water for a minute. The skins should slip right off. Remove the pits and dice the peaches about the size of your blueberries. Slightly larger is okay.

Place all ingredients, except the liqueur, in a large, non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the fruit has softened and the liquid has thickened.

Add the liqueur and simmer an additional 5 minutes.

Ladle into hot, sterilized jars, seal with new lids and rings (prepared appropriately), and process in a boiling water canner. Ten minutes for half-pints, 15 minutes for pints.

Remove from canner and allow to cool. Wait 24 hours and check your seals.

This sauce is fantastic served over cheesecake, pound cake, or ice cream. Here, I’ve served it over some One-Ingredient Banana “Ice Cream” (2 banana recipe, to which I added 1/2 tsp. vanilla and a tiny pinch of salt). The combination of the cold, creamy banana with the blueberries, peaches, and hint of liqueur, is like a match made in heaven!

Stay tuned for Blueberry Mojito Jam!

And did you see the Blueberry Marmalade?

In a bit of epic timing, when Joel and Dana over at Well Preserved announced that this month’s Can Jam theme would be Berries, I was thrilled! Florida blueberries are in all the markets right now, and I’ve never seen them bigger and plumper – and less expensive!

So, of course I got a little carried away, and this is the first of three blueberry posts I’ve prepared for the Can Jam.

The first, is a Blueberry Marmalade, combining the best Florida has to offer right this minute – its blueberries and citrus. It’s a twist on the classic citrus marmalade and blueberry jam, and man! Is it tasty! The recipe I’m going to give you is adapted and modified a bit from Preserving the Taste by Edon Waycott.

Blueberry Marmalade (makes about 5 half-pint jars)

Ingredients:

1 large orange (preferably a juice orange, not navel)
1 large lemon
2-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups blueberries (washed & de-stemmed)
2 cups sugar

Preparation:

Cut a thin slice from each end of both the orange and the lemon.

With a mandoline or hand slicer (don’t forget your cut-glove!), shred the orange and lemon very thinly. Be careful to remove seeds as they appear. Place the shredded fruit into a large shallow pan with the water. Cover the pan and bring to a boil over high heat.

Cook on high for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Add the blueberries and sugar. Return the marmalade to a boil, and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes. Most of the blueberries will burst during cooking, turning the mixture that pretty, dark purple color.

Remove from the heat while you perform the “freezer wrinkle test”. Place a small amount of the marmalade on small dish and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes, after which you push the mixture with the tip of a spoon or your fingernail. If it wrinkles up as a whole, you’re ready to jar it up. If it’s runny, put the pan back on the heat and cook at a boil on medium for another 5 minutes. Repeat the wrinkle test. The marmalade will thicken further as it cools, so try to avoid overcooking it.

Ladle the marmalade into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe the rims with a damp paper towel, seal with new lids and rings (prepared appropriately), and process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes. Remove the jars and allow to cool.

Notes:

Shredding the citrus whole on a mandoline or hand-slicer is my now-preferred way to prepare it for marmalades. No more onerous zesting for me. Juicing oranges (such as Valencias), lemons, and limes, all have naturally thinner skins and zests, so you get the benefits of the whole citrus with very little waste and all the benefits.

Waycott’s original recipe calls for 1-1/2 cups of water, which I discovered boiled nearly completely away during the first 15 minutes of cook time. The original recipe also calls for 1/8 tsp. of cinnamon and a “dash” of freshly grated nutmeg. I omitted the spices simply because I don’t find those flavors consistent with the fresh fruit of summer.

Use this marmalade as you would any marm or jam – on toast, bagels, muffins, whatever! You see it pictured here on a toasted sesame bagel, along with my new favorite: Basted eggs. Yum!

(That’s pepper on the eggs)

Next up: Grand Marnier Blueberry Peach Sauce!

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I’ve got two – count ‘em – two treats for you today! Maybe even three!

I was on the web recently, looking at platform beds for my new space-age foam mattress, when I was struck by an idea for another frozen and healthy concoction (it happens that way, sometimes), and inspired by the new Flickr group,

created by Elle and Heather, I give you treat number one:

Vegan Blueberry “Ice Cream”
(makes about 1-1/2 pints)

Ingredients:

1 dry pint blueberries
1/2 cup agave nectar (divided) -or-
1/2 cup sugar (divided)
1 cup soy milk
1 cup silken tofu
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

Preparation:

Make the blueberry syrup at least one hour before preparing the base.

Wash the blueberries, removing any stems in the process. Do not dry.

To make the syrup: In small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries and 1/4 cup agave nectar or sugar. Bring to a boil, and allow to cook and reduce for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer contents to a heat-proof container, and refrigerate. You should have about 2/3 cup of blueberry syrup. When the syrup is completely cooled (it doesn’t have to be cold – just room temperature is fine), make the “ice cream” base.

To make the base: In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk, silken tofu, remaining 1/4 cup agave nectar or sugar, vanilla, and salt. Transfer this mixture to the bowl of your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Put the now-soft ice cream into an air-tight container and mix in the blueberry syrup. Cover and freeze – minimum an hour or two.

So, if you’re vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, diabetic, or just want a sweet, frozen sump’n-sump’n on a hot summer day, that won’t kill your diet and might actually be >gasp!< healthy, give this a try while the blueberries are in season!

I promised you a second treat, didn’t I? I don’t think you’ll be disappointed…

I was contacted recently by CSN Stores – you know, the hugely popular web company with over 200 internet stores that carry everything from patio furniture to (my personal fave) Cookware.com? They asked if I would like to give you – my dear, dear readers – a gift certificate for $50! Think about it – $50 to spend anyway you like in any of those 200 stores! It’s like Christmas in June, isn’t it? I said, “Heck, yeah! My readers deserve a little something special!” Because I love my readers. All of my readers. So I know you won’t be mad when I tell you that only those of you with U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses can play. Sorry!

And because I love you, I’m going to give you several ways to win:

First way, go to CSN and find something you’d love to blow $50 on, come back here and leave a comment about it.

Second way, follow me on Google Friend Connect (over there in the sidebar), and leave another comment that you did.

Third way, follow me on Networked Blogs (also over there in the sidebar), and leave another comment. If you already follow me on Google Friend Connect and/or Networked Blogs, leave a comment for each one that you do.

Fourth way, tweet about this giveaway on Twitter and/or mention it on Facebook, then come here and leave the link to your tweet or mention in another comment. You can tweet and FB everyday – but only comments about tweets and mentions with links will be counted. Above all, make sure I have a good e-mail address for you – if I can’t contact you within 3 days after the end of this giveaway, I’ll choose a new winner.

Fifth way, “Like” Flamingo Musings on Facebook, and of course, come back and leave a comment that you’re a “liker” (I really hate that… What was wrong with “fan,” anyway?). Again, if you already like Flamingo Musings, please leave a comment saying that.

Winners will be selected by random.org next Sunday night, June 13, 2010 at 11:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern time. I’ll tweet, FB, and e-mail the winner shortly afterward.

Fun, right? Well, guess what? Here’s your third treat: My buddy Barbara, over at Barbara Bakes, is also giving away a CSN gift certificate this week! Double your chances of winning by visiting her, too!

One post, three treats – isn’t that a great way to start off the week?

*Disclosure: I have not been paid in any way or given any inducements of any kind to write this post or participate in this giveaway.

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