Ginger in the Dark

So, I’m literally sitting in a dark, because my bedroom light went off, and I’m too much of a sissy to climb up and change the bulbs. Or, rather say, I tried for like a second, but, since I’m afraid of heights and need two hands to hold on to the ladder, I had no hands left to unscrew the fixture and change the light. And, everyone who I know around where I live are either short or sissies ( or both) or have limited mobility and can’t climb up.

Of course, I have one tall male in my life, the one I gave birth to, who was asked to come home and help like 10 days ago. Did the mentioned male listen and actually did help? Nope. Did the same male even answer my calls and texts last weekend? Nope. Well, I see that he dropped a nice chunk of money on party “supplies” that weekend (how does he still not realize I can track his whereabouts by the charge card transactions, is beyond me – I promise, he is not stupid!). But, that’s the thing about money, it tends to run out rather quickly, especially in college. And, revengeful moms like me tend to “forget” to replenish his “party supplies fund” so I’m not contacting him anymore, just waiting…

In a mean while, I only have night table lamps working in the bedroom so getting dressed and especially putting make up on are challenging (and I don’t feel like dragging all that stuff to another room every morning, though, maybe I should sprinkle powder and blush all over the kid’s bedroom and say “oops, that was the closest room with a working light I could get to”).

I’m thinking I may try catching myself a handyman outside. You know how girls hike up a skirt to hail a cab? I may see if it works for a tall handyman too! 🙂

What’s Cooking This Week

Whatever is cooking this week, my kid is not getting it! Fall is actually a great time to make hearty jams and preserves with such a wide variety of crisp autumn apples around. Today’s recipe has a nice protein punch too with added chia seeds that are also eliminating the need to use any pectin to gel things together. This jam is low in sugar and has a definite bite of ginger with cinnamon. Try it on top of your morning toast or mix in with yogurt and oatmeal.

Cinnamon-Ginger Apple and Pear Chia Jam

Makes 7-8  8 oz jars:

8-9 small/medium apples (I used honeycrisp)

4 large red pears

1/4 cup of honey

1/4 cup of coconut sugar

4 Tbsps of ginger, grated or minced

7 Tbsps of chia seeds

1/2 Tbsp of cinnamon

1 tsp each nutmeg and allspice

2 tsp of cardamom

Core all apples and pears (don’t peel them), cut into halves/quarters and process in a food processor for a few pulses (don’t overdo it, you still need some small chunks).

In a large pot, combine honey, apples, pears and a small amount of water and cook on a low flame stirring often. Add all the spices half way through the process and cook till everything is soft, then add chia seeds and continue cooking another few minutes.

While jam is cooking, sterilize jars and lids in a large pot of boiling water, set them aside on a clean towel. Spoon hot jam into each jar leaving at least 1/2 inch on top, screw the lids on and process jars again in a pot of a boiling water for at least 10 minutes to seal the tops.

Remove jars on a towel again and let them cool off. You should hear pops as a tight seal is created (re-process any jars where a proper seal is not reached). Also, make sure you leave some jam to enjoy right now, it’ll keep in a fridge for at least 3 weeks.

And, of course share it with your family and friends. I had fun using my new Peddler labels. 🙂