Hi,
The weather in the Pacific Northwest is 68 degrees F and overcast. Feverfew, Caryoptimis, Asters, and Sedum (Autumn Joy) are in bloom. You can hear a chirp from a hummingbird at the bottom of its J courting flights. Honeybees are cutting holes in the blueberries and licking out the juice, and here I am following directions from https://www.thekosherchannel.com/
How exactly did I end up at this web site? Pour yourself a cup of tea and I'll tell you.
Basically, I got distracted. I had brought some newly rooted plant starts outside to get into the ground while the weather holds. The Cecile Brunner climbing rose originally from outside my Mom’s kitchen window on Waters Avenue, went next to an arbor accompanied by a Rose of Sharon start from my beekeeper buddy Debra’s garden. I headed for our young orchard filled with a variety of young fruit trees including fig, plum, sour cherry, mulberry, persimmon, quince, and hazelnut. There’s also a native shrub planting area which is where I stuck a yellow butterfly bush (Buddleia) and another rose of Sharon start.
I was pleased and surprised to find about eight large ripe yellow green quinces ready to pick. Quince has a reputation for being sour and needing some processing before enjoying. I brought my floral smelling bounty inside, temporarily forgetting that I’d turned off the auto sprinkler deer deterrent.
The Kosher Channel provided a nice video, recipe, and instructions as well as some history and nutrition of this ancient fruit. It came out of Mesopotamia through Israel and to Greece and Asia. It’s full of iron, potassium, Vitamin C, tannin, and pectin. The cooking liquid will turn gelatin like when it's cooked down. After an hour of simmering in honey, lemon, and cinnamon syrup it smells lovely and floral.
While cooking, I looked out the window and a large doe has stopped by, so the sprinklers are turned back on.
So, the first fruit of the year for Rosh Hashanah has come a couple of weeks early and I’m really thankful for it and to be able to sit down with a cup of green tea and tell you my story.
What's your story?
Botanicals:
(Ficus carica, Prunus domestica, Prunus cerasus, Morus, Diospyros kaki, Cydonia, and Corylus respectively)
Nutrition:
Recipe:
Poached Quince Recipe from https://www.thekosherchannel.com/
Ingredients:
2 Cups Water
¼ Cup Honey
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Cinnamon Stick
¼ Lemon, including rind
2-3 large ripe Quince
Directions:
1. Combine Water, Honey, Sugar, and Lemon in medium saucepan.
2. Simmer 10 minutes.
3. Peel, Core, and Slice Quince
a. Note: Either put the quince pieces immediately into the simmering syrup or plunge into a cold water lemon bath until ready to strain and add to syrup. The Quince oxidizes turning brown very quickly.
4. Cover and simmer 45 minutes to an hour or so.
5. Strain out the Quince and reduce the syrup.
You can store the Quince in the fridge up to a week.
Uses:
Enjoy the Quince warm or at room temperature with a dollop of cashew cream.
This makes yummy jam and fruit leather.
Combine with other fruit into a pie or as topping for yogurt, ice cream, or cake.
Floral and refreshing as strained syrup added to sparkling water.