Looking for a Great Homemade Gift Idea? Try Blackberry Sage Vinegar

Blackberry Sage Vinegar

I grew up in a family that made everything from scratch. My mom was the oldest of 12 kids and my grandfather, great grandfather and aunt were all artists. I thought it was perfectly normal to make candles and soap by hand and when we celebrated the holidays at my aunt and uncles we made pottery and all sat around watching the raku firing. I think my love of making as many foods from scratch comes from this upbringing. We grew up with very little money, but I never really knew. I knew that my mother was a beautiful seamstress and for one of my birthday parties we went to the beach and made sand candles. My friends talked about the candles that they made for years to come. The idea of not spending money on things that you can make or re-purpose is something that I have passed on to my kids. My kids can't wait until their tomatoes are ready to eat and helped me to plant all my flower and vegetable posts. As many of you know I grow my own herbs. My new herb garden is doing great, so much so that I was swimming in sage last week. I decided the best thing to do with the abundance was to make Blackberry Sage Vinegar.

This recipe has three ingredients. It takes 2-3 days total (including time for the berries to soak into the vinegar) and makes one quart sized jar. I followed the recipe almost exactly as written. I did make two jars so I used a total of 14 sage leaves and two containers of blackberries. I filled the blackberries full in the canning jars since I wanted lots of flavor. Make sure to sterilize your jars before making the vinegar. Vinegar shouldn't grow bacteria, but I try to be as safe as a I can with any food prep. I let my jars boil for ten minutes to ensure that they were fully sterilized. After the vinegar was complete I made a funnel out of parchment paper and poured the strained vinegar into a cleaned and sterilized wine bottle.

I love how pretty this vinegar looks in the bottle once completed. Making homemade flavored vinegar is a great way to use garden herbs and makes a beautiful gift as well. I also made a batch of tarragon vinegar that I will post about later this week. Herbs can be used in a variety of ways and this recipe is a great one!

For the recipe go to Blackberry Sage Vinegar.

Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips

I absolutely love soup and stews. There is something incredibly comforting about making and eating a big batch of homemade soup. The last couple of months my two boys and I have seemed to be passing the same cold back and forth between the three of us. As soon as one of us gets better the next one gets sick. Since we have all been feeling under the weather I have been making a large number of soups. Plus cold weather and soup seem to go hand in hand, so it works all around. My whole family seems well this week just as the weather has gotten much colder so it's time again for a new round of soup and stew recipes. I love being able to eat the leftovers from a batch of soup I make on the weekend. It is a quick and hearty lunch option. Last month I made a new recipe for Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips from Everyday Food magazine, which looked hearty and perfect for the colder weather ahead.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes a total time of 1 1/2 hours, 25 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local store. I did make a few modifications in order to make the recipe gluten free. Instead of using all-purpose flour I substituted gluten free cornstarch. I do this frequently with recipes and it works very well. I made this dish in my dutch oven. If you don't already own and use a dutch oven, I highly recommend it for your holiday wish list. My dutch oven is one of my favorite kitchen tools. The recipe suggests letting the stew cook for an hour in the oven. I actually let my stew cook for slightly longer in order for the stew to fully thicken. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was really impressed with this recipe. It came out tender and delicious with little effort. I liked that this stew only takes an hour and a half instead of the 2-3 hours required by a lot of other beef stew recipes. Adding the vinegar at the end of the cooking takes this soup from good to delicious. I was skeptical when I added the vinegar, but after tasting it it made all the difference to the final taste. I will definitely make this stew again.

For the recipe go to Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips.