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But, Wait . . . Am I a Travel Writer?

Zora, the writer and explorer behind Roving Gastronome and Astoria Ugly, just tagged me in the My 7 Links meme that travel writers are passing around amongst themselves. I don't participate in blog memes very often; in fact the last time I did was just around this time of year in 2007, and the meme was "seven things about me." This time, I am choosing to participate because I've got a string of posts in the works that I just can't seem to finish. Perhaps by looking through my own past writing, I can get myself moving forward.

1) Most beautiful post:
In Harriet, I write and post pictures about my grandmother. I love this post because I loved my grandmother.

2) Most popular post:
Strangely, it's tied between two recipe-only posts Midsummer Jams and Homemade Spiced Rum. That makes me a little sad, as I hoped my writing would get more attention than my recipes; the recipes, I hoped, were frosting.

3) Most controversial post:
Controversial? Hmm, I write about gardening and food and memory, so I don't tend to be terribly controversial. Nevertheless, I've received some emails over my posts (here, here, and here) on small-scale, high-density home orchards, telling me that I'll never be able to grow them organically. As if to throw a middle leaf in the face of these critics, my high-density, organically fertilized (manure, worm tea, and liquid seaweed), heavily mulched trees are cropping and growing healthily. As an added bonus, I use less water on them than I do on lawn. So, take that, disbelievers.

4) Most helpful post:
Hmm, these two, The Rules and Handy Tips for the New Homeowner, are tongue-in-cheek helpful, but the most helpful one for me personally to write was Graduation, Death, and Chickens. Oh, and the people who aren't disagreeing with me about the orchard posts seem to have found them helpful as well.

5) Post whose success surprised me:
Way Way Up got a lot of local attention when I posted it. In fact, people blogged about it. I'm always surprised when someone finds my little blog, and when lots of people find it at one time, I'm very, very surprised.

6) Most underappreciated post:
I really enjoyed researching and writing Psalmanazar, but very few people have read it. It's light on pictures, is only obliquely personal, and contains no recipe, characteristics that lead to light readership at A Thinking Stomach, yet I felt the story was fascinating enough to make up for what it didn't have.

7) Post of which I'm most proud:
This is a toss up. Books and Mantids explains how I got here. The post Survivor hints at what kind of book I'd like to write someday. Both blend personal, natural, and cultural history into the color of light in which I view the world.

Though the meme asks for five new people, I'm only tagging four. I've chosen these four because they each demonstrate unique ways of talking about the world in which they live, they are distinctly different from each other, and I've learned from each of their voices. (To the writers who I am tagging, I understand being hesitant to complete this meme. Do not feel obligated to do it or pass it on; I've completely ignored tags before just because I really didn't want to write the meme. However, I hope tagging you brings you more readers, for I believe each of you should be read by everyone, and if you do choose to complete the meme, I'll be delighted to read what you write. )

Altadena Hiker: A very talented writer, Karin (as another blogger put it so well) is the "master of the micro epic." I would love to see how she reflects on and sifts through her own writing with this meme.

Nourish Me: Lucy and I began blogging at around the same time, and I feel like we grew up in the blogosphere together. I'm lucky to get see how Lucy looks at the world.

Soilman: Soilman is the shizzle. His writing and bitter humor crack me up. Really, who knew gardening could be so funny?

Whole Larder Love: The stories Ro tells with his photos blow me away and make me want to move to Australia right now. Plus, he's funny, and he loves good food, and he hunts. Expect to get hungry reading this site.
Posted by Christina at 3:11 AM 8 comments: Links to this post 

Something New and Very Old A former student is spending her summer at an architecture program in Spain. She's writing about her experiences and posting pictures of what she sees and learns. Among her adventures was a weekend trip to Portugal, and as I read her memories, I could imagine myself a few years ago in exactly the same spots she described. It has also made me remember the food: the pasteis de natas, the bacalhau, the polvo, those melons that blew my mind, and the way that the Moorish influence wiggled its way into at least part of every meal. Such a nice balance of salt, sweet, and spice—when I found that, I felt like I was tasting Portuguese history.

Tomato Jam
Last week, I canned seven quarts of tomatoes to use in sauces and the like in the winter. I know that jars of my homemade tomato paste will be happening soon, but since I have lots of tomatoes, I wanted to try something that I've never made before. I've had boring tomato jams (tomatoes plus sugar plus pectin) and I've had delicious, complex tomato jams that are as good with cheese as they are on toast as they are with meat. This is one of the latter. In fact, this rocks the latter category. I found the original recipe here on Food52, but I wanted to add lemon, a little heat, twist the acid a bit to up the Iberian inflection. If you can stop eating this directly from the jar with a spoon, try smearing it on a turkey burger. You can thank me later.

The recipe I adapted claimed this made 1 1/2 pints, but with the addition of the lemon (and the added pectin from it, leading to a need for less cooking time), I ended up with a generous 2 pints.

1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seed
3 1/2 pounds of ripe garden tomatoes, roughly chopped (don't peel or seed the tomatoes since both add pleasant texture and beauty to the finished jam)
1 whole large, ripe Meyer lemon, chopped (discard seeds as you find them)
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes (my chile flakes are really hot; if yours are just warm, you may consider adding more)
1/4 cup Sherry vinegar

To make the jam:
In a small frying pan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant. Remove from heat and crush the seeds in a mortar and pestle. Don't grind to a fine powder, but instead leave the seeds chunky.

Dump the seeds along with all the other ingredients into a large, heavy pot and bring all the ingredients to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and keep at a healthy simmer, stirring occasionally. The recipe I adapted calls for three hours of simmering, but my jam was ready after two. Once the mixture has reached a glossy, jam-liked consistency, you're ready to jar the goodness.

Pour the jam into sterilized jars, wipe the rims clean, lid with new, warmed lids, and screw on the ring until "finger tight." Process in a boiling water bath, fully immersed, for 15 minutes. Posted by Christina at 3:04 PM 3 comments: Links to this post 

On Fresh Salsa 

This is how I learned to make salsa.

Posted by Christina at 9:18 AM 8 comments: Links to this post Posted by Christina at 2:27 PM 11 comments: Links to this post