Canning + Taka

A few months ago, I got really interested in canning and picked up a few books at the library on pickling, but was completely daunted by the tasks of sterilizing and then boiling the jars. I wanted to try it without buying all the formal stuff, but it just sounded so complex that I never did. We did buy two boxes of Mason jars from Public on a whim, but they sit untouched in the closet.

N let me know earlier in the week that she would be canning peach jam and offered me the opportunity to go over to her house to watch and learn so I spent a few hours over there. Basically, it's fairly simple though time consuming if you don't keep the water boiling. Once you sterilize the cans and tops, you can keep them hot in a 200 degree oven which is better than trying to time it all perfectly. I also learned that you pretty much want to buy the stuff from the start because otherwise you are going to struggle. N uses a lid sterilizer in addition to the rest of the gear because she says that the lids stick to the bottom of the pot.

I've found the best deal for the pot + basics at my local Ace Hardware. I'll probably pick the stuff up next weekend.

We also went down to the Forest Park state farmers market so N could pick up 7 lbs of cucumbers to make pickles. That market isn't anything that I expected. Rows of "loading dock"-style setups some with crates and creates of one thing (onions or watermelons yesterday) or a big mix of things. Always no prices posted.

It was a far cry from the pickup trucks I expected, the memories of Parisian fresh air markets that I conjured without realizing it. I'm glad that I went and with someone who knew how it worked, but also I probably wouldn't go without the intent to buy a lot (that's how N says it's worth the trip down there) which is rare.

For dinner, M&N took us to Taka, of which they have always spoken highly. J and I started off with the sashimi sampler, two pieces each of salmon, tuna, and yellowtail. Except they were out of yellowtail and toro because a to-go order had taken it all. So we substituted Konpachi (known as young yellowtail) because it was similar. The sashimi was excellent: buttery, smooth, very yum. We also got three rolls: the diet coke roll (an eel roll topped wit salmon and yellowtail (some sub this time) that I liked, the spicy tuna ny style (spicy tuna with daikon and wrapped in shiso leaf that I did not care for at all), and also the salmon crunch roll (good, except I didn't expect the smoked salmon. I prefer the non-smoked.). Still in need of more food, we ordered the konpachi carpaccio (which was good but in retropect I would have preferred it just have the fish raw). We also ordered the hamachi kama but as they were out of this, we got the sea bass marinated in sake and miso. The taste of the sea bass was good but I felt it was overcooked a bit and was buttery but a little tough.

All in all, I've been used to going to Sushi Mio and we've bitten the bullet on the cost of getting all the sashimi we like. The next time we go to Taka, I'll do the same because their selection of fish is impressive and I'd like to try more of it.