Winter Joys

We've had an epic winter. Even now, several days after the vernal equinox, there's drifts of snow on the ground, ice glazing the roads and sidewalks, and single-digit temperatures to make the morning lunge for the newspaper interesting.

What to do when summer feels a million years away? Eating local can get challenging when winter stretches on, and I'll freely admit to eating produce from far away. This winter held a joyful local treat: Meyer lemon rose petal marmalade, made from Mom's backyard Meyer lemons and rose petals I tried last summer. The recipe comes from Liana Krissoff's outstanding cookbook, Canning for a New Generation.

While Krissoff's cardamom-plum jam is, in my opinion, the book's best recipe, her marmalade recipes keep body and soul together through those long dark cold days. I've made the bitter orange marmalade as well, and both are delicious with brie and pistachios on bruschetta. The sparkly tartness chases the sun back into one's kitchen with mirthful simplicity.

Hiatus Terminus

It's been four years since Tiny Urban Farm saw a fresh post. Why the abandonment? I returned to work...turns out being a working mother is just as hard as they say it is. My garden has suffered its share of neglect as well. It's been a time for me to appreciate the plants that give food with little or no attention from the gardener. First place goes to my cherry tree, which yields gallons of pie cherries even when I am most derelict in its care. This tree was a wedding gift from my mother almost seven years ago. In the middle of winter, I pull out a freezer bag with about 5 cups of cherries in it, and make cheery almond crisp with this recipe, adapted from Chef Rachel Lang-Balde. This recipe is good with just about any fruit and nut combination - sometimes I use 3 cups of cherries with a quart of drained home-canned peaches for the fruit - yum.

Cherry Almond Crisp

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into quarters lengthwise and then chopped into cubes
3/4 cups sliced almonds
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp sea salt
Defrosted cherries, about 5 cups back when they were fresh

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
To make the topping, place first 6 ingredients in a large bowl and stir lightly with a spoon. Use fingertips to work butter into dry ingredients until mixture comes together in moist clumps. Stir in almonds.
Mix next four ingredients together in a 9"x11" baking dish. Add the cherries and toss to coat. Spread evenly in pan.
Sprinkle topping over fruit.
Bake until topping is crisp and golden, about 45 minutes.
Eat warm and watch out for pits.