Thursday, January 23, 2014

Spicy Plum Chutney

Image from Wikimedia Commons
When I first started developing an interest in canning, I was looking for a way to preserve some of the fruit off the trees in my yard, especially my rather prolific plum trees.

While eating plums fresh are okay, they are not my favorite fresh fruit, so I was looking for ways to use them in other recipes.

Hands down, my favorite thing to do with the plums in my yard is to make plum chutney. So so so SOOO good! And by canning it, I get to enjoy it all year round.

What is chutney, you ask?

Well, chutney means different things to different people, but basically it's a condiment of spices and fruits (and/or vegetables) that is usually both savory and sweet at the same time. It's a fruit or vegetable relish that is served with a main dish to complement its flavors.

Most chutneys you get in Western countries have Indian roots but have been Europeanized, so they're not truly "authentic." Still, these chutneys have plenty of charms. They usually involve cooking fruit, vinegar, onion, garlic, and spices together, then concentrating the flavors by cooking things down in a reduction.

Now, that may not sound that great if you are new to it (fruit, onions and vinegar cooked together?), but it really is quite good. A little sweet, a little sour, a little savory, a little spicy ─ all in one. Goes great with meats and cheeses.

The best-known fruit chutney is probably Major Grey's Chutney, which uses mangoes, onions, vinegar, raisins, lime juice, and spices. (If you've never tried it, you definitely should!)

Image from 
There are many other types of fruit chutneys out there, but my personal favorite is plum chutney.

The best way to eat plum chutney, in my opinion, is on pork tenderloin, which is a good lean cut of pork. There's a good recipe here.

Basically, roast the tenderloin, let it "rest" for a few minutes after taking it out of the oven, then slice it up and serve with the plum chutney on top.

You can put some chutneys on meat before roasting it, but my family agrees that this chutney is much tastier when it is added after the meat is cooked.

The recipe above has you make the chutney fresh, at the same time you are roasting the meat. However, it's also useful to make the chutney ahead of time and then can it. Then it is available whenever you want it, whether or not plums are in season. It shortens your prep work to have it already made and shelf-stable, and the flavors intensify if they are on the shelf for a while.

This is the recipe I use, which is taken from Put 'Em Up by Sherri Brooks Vinton. It's a little on the runny side and it's not as pretty-looking as I might like, but the flavor really can't be beat.

Plum Chutney

2 c. cider vinegar
2 c. sugar
4 pounds plums, pitted and diced
2 large sweet onions, diced
1/2 c. diced prunes
2 T. freshly grated ginger
2 T. mustard seed
2 t. salt
zest of one lemon, cut into thin strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t. ground cloves

Bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil in a large non-reactive pot. Add the plums, onions, prunes, ginger, mustard seed, salt, lemon zest, garlic and cloves and return to a boil. Simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Can with the boiling-water method for 20 minutes (adjusting for altitude if needed). (Canning directions for beginners can be found here.)


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Spicy Ginger Applesauce















image from 





Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Personal Pet Peeves in Plus-Size Clothing

A fluffy filler post today about plus-sized clothing shopping. It began life as a comment on another website, but I decided it deserved some airspace here too.

I'm normally not one to spend a lot of time blogging about clothing. I have more important topics to discuss, and while I enjoy good clothing, I generally place my emphasis on comfort and function over fashion.

But I'm making an exception today to complain about some pet peeves when shopping for plus-sized clothing. These things REALLY make me frustrated when I'm simply trying to find decent clothes in my size.

My personal plus-size clothing complaints:
1. Stock more high-end sizes - While I commend some plus-size stores for stocking larger sizes (26/28 and sometimes larger), PLEASE STOCK MORE THAN A COUPLE OF THE HIGH-END SIZES. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a plus-sized store, found something cute, and then realized that they had a zillion of that item in a size 16/18, but NONE LEFT in the larger sizes because they only stocked a few high. Know your customer base! Many women who wear in-between sizes (like size 16) shop at regular stores. A plus-sized store clientele is going to have more women in the mid and upper range of sizes, not the lower range. I understand that statistically there are more people in the 16-20 range, but the clientele who is going to come to your store is going to be more in the 22 and above range. Stop ordering mostly the lower size range and just a few in the upper sizes. It alienates the upper-size customers when you cater mostly to the smaller plus-sizes.
2. Make the same range of sizes available in women's sizes as you do in men's sizes - Many online and big-box stores have a wide range of plus sizes available for men (often going to 4x or 5x), but only limited plus-sizes for women (often stopping at XL or 2x). This doesn't reflect demographics; there are plenty of higher-sized women out there. It just reflects the sexist attitude that it's more socially acceptable for men to be big. BOTH genders have folks who run large, and both need clothes that work for them. If you have 4x or 5x in men's clothes, have 4x or 5x in women's clothes too.
3. Design for actual plus-sized people - Don't just take a design made for a smaller-sized person and randomly add 5 inches to every measurement and think that will work for a plus-sized person. It makes the neckline way too wide (meaning that bra straps are constantly showing) and the arm holes are often too large (sometimes halfway to the waist). I can't tell you how many cute things I have wanted to purchase but didn't because my bra straps were going to show, or because the giant arm holes left nothing to the imagination underneath. Gah!
4. Make more non-underwire bra choices available, especially in larger cup sizes -While underwires should be available for those who want them, many large-busted women find underwires to be an exercise in pure torture. They aren't comfortable, and it doesn't take long for those stupid underwires to poke through and stab us. Yet even in specialty stores, non-underwire choices are quite limited. We need more varieties available, and dang it, we want the non-underwire bras to be pretty too.
5. Improve the quality of specialty goods available in plus sizes - I have posted before about the difficulty in finding GOOD plus-sized winter coats, cold-weather gear, and exercise clothing. I'm glad that you now can find specialty stuff in plus sizes (see, but honestly, the quality is not always there. When I look at the gear I buy for my kids or my in-laws from REI and similar companies, I'm amazed at the sheer quality of the goods and how well they work. When I buy a similar product from Junonia, I don't always find a similar quality. (Some of their stuff is good, but some stuff is mediocre.) The material is not as good, the cut is bulky, or the quality of finish is poor. And for cold-weather or sports gear, cheaper materials could harm our health or even result in injury. Retailers, I'm not going to continue to buy from your company if the product is of inferior quality. Use the same high-performance fabrics and standards that are used for smaller sizes!
The thing that probably bugs me the most is that I've been complaining about some of these things to clerks and managers for THIRTY YEARS and never have I seen any changes. I know I'm not the only one complaining, either.

To me, that shows just how incredibly unresponsive and uncaring the management of plus-sized clothing businesses are towards their clientele. Honestly, I think most of them actively disdain plus-sized women and that's why they have such short-sighted and discriminatory business practices towards their own clientele.

Why should I buy from companies who obviously don't value my business and who apparently don't think I deserve quality clothing because I come in a larger size? The answer is....I won't.

What are your top pet peeves when shopping for plus-sized clothing?