Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Cats

Sadly we had to say goodbye to our beautiful kitty Pearl last month.  Pearl was such a sparkling light in our lives, and we loved her dearly. 
We'll miss our gorgeous sweet Pearl:

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Shortly after Pearl passed away, we adopted a new homeless kitty from the local animal shelter. We've named her Sheba, and she is quite a beauty.  She looks a little ocelot-like, with unusual markings.  She's still only about 7 months old, so she is quite a feisty kittenish girl.  Our other cat Suki has been very patient with this new  impudent upstart.
Sheba:






Rosemary Garlic jelly



It's January...long past the season for making fruit jams and pickles, but it was easy enough to make some garlic rosemary jelly this week.  All you need is fresh rosemary and fresh garlic bulbs, vinegar, sugar, and pectin.  I love this jelly alongside any kind of roast chicken, pork, or lamb.  The hardest work is peeling all the garlic cloves (about 6 large heads' worth per dozen 8oz. jars of jelly), but it's worth it.  The house smells really good when making this jelly.  I wound up making about 22 half pints from 12 large heads of garlic and a bouquet of fresh rosemary sprigs.  That's enough for over a year of eating plus a few gift jars.