On the move…

Those of you who’ve been reading Kitchen Jam since I launched it in August might have been wondering when the next recipes will be posted. Soon, gang – soon – and I promise you’re going to enjoy what I’ve got in mind for December!

But this weekend instead of writing posts, I was building websites – one at patsteer.com that will be the new home of my survivorship blog Life Out Loud and my freelance writing projects; one for Kitchen Jam in development here; and one for Dog Trainer’s Log, evolving here.

None of these sites is ready for prime time yet – although I’m aiming to launch all of them officially later this week. When all of the transitioning is complete, your links, bookmarks and RSS feeds to the WP.com sites will direct you automatically to their new domains. Until then, wish me luck as I work to make 30 years of writing and 10 years of tech training pay off.

I’ll update this site with the final addresses. Meanwhile, feel free to drop by and check out the construction. Look for my special December blog-warming project at the new and improved Kitchen Jam: The 12 Jams of Christmas, featuring 12 new and easy jam recipes perfect for quick holiday gifts. I’ve also got special things planned after the New Year for both Dog Trainer’s Log and for the same old me (working under my real name now!) at Life Out Loud. Stay tuned!

Shared Jam: Bounty in a recipe exchange

Image by SeattleRay via Flickr

I didn’t find out about Under the High Chair’s Virtual Jam Swap in a straight-line kinda way. I was reading my latest Foodbuzz headlines, and saw a new post called Jam Swap from Coco Bean, a blog from the Montreal food improv team of Ian and Christie. Seems they’d discovered that canning – at first intimidating – could pay off just like a cookie exchange at their friend Aimee’s real-life Jam Swap. I followed their link to Aimee’s Under the High Chair blog (don’t you love the way links are the internet’s version of a bread crumb trail?) At UtHC, I discovered that in addition to her live jam swap, about which Ian had written, Aimee had just posted a round-up of her virtual (blogging) jam swap. Her post includes the links to the adventures (and misadventures) and 25 recipes from jammers who personify the improvisational approach to preserving flavor.

Julie Powell cooked her way through Julia Child‘s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I want to cook my way through all 25 recipes in Aimee’s Virtual Jam Swap. Always on the lookout for unique and new jam recipes, several of the VJS entries caught my eye, and fit right in to the kinds of fruit available at this time of year in central New York:

Apple Pie Jam from Kim at Flavorista (lower sugar, with pectin)
Grapefruit Cranberry Marmalade from Cheri at Kitchen Simplicity (no added pectin)
Coconut Jam (Kaya) from Cheryl at Backseat Gourmet (no added pectin)

UtHC’s jam swap also collected recipes for jams, butters, marmalades and spreads made with plums, rhubarb, apricots, peaches, blueberries, cherries, mint, peppers, berries and apples.

I’ve got a lot of reading and recipe-sorting to do; I definitely need to put some of these recipes into my jam repertoire. Thanks, Aimee, for sending out the call for your Virtual Jam Swap, and then sharing all of the bounty with the world.

What jams will you be making next – for holiday gifts, or when the fresh fruits in your area come back into season? Will you share your jam plans?

More Online Jam: How-to-can videos

Image by upturnedface via Flickr

‘Net searches turn up the most amazing things.

Yesterday, searching for a more refined method for drying my overabundant herb harvest, I wandered into CanningUSA — a site which offers recipes, how-to videos and podcasts, and lots of very specific canning information. No longer do novice canners need to plow through tables of canning instructions; if you learn better by watching, then the videos of various canning and preserving processes are made just for you!

Need some visuals that explain how to make and can Jam and Infused Fruit?

Need an explanation of the differences between raw, hot and cold pack canning methods?

Hoping to put up some of the apples or pears filling your local farmer’s market?

If you’re looking for a visual guide to canning and preserving, as well as some interesting new improvisations on familiar preserving recipes, you might want to drop into the CanningUSA site, and investigate their online help section.