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2011 Fun Facts

Notes from the Kitchen formerly Notes from the Orchard

California State Fair I had great success at the fair this year! I entered four items, and each of them were awarded First Place: Strawberry Jam, Plum Jam, Passion Fruit Jelly and Blood Orange Marmalade. The Plum Jam (which I dubbed Independence Jam as I made just one batch on the Fourth of July), also took Best of Class and Best of Division (the single best Fruit Jam of the fair, not including Berry). Along with this I was also awarded the C&H Sugar Award for using C&H for my jam (I think cane sugar tastes better than cheaper sources).

The Fair generally uses the Danish system of judging: every entry is scored on defined criteria and can receive up to 100 points.

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Karl’s Jam Class This fall several of my friends at work encouraged me to teach a class on jam making. We found a friendly NetApp reseller in Palo Alto, Integrated Archive Systems (IAS), who had an ideal kitchen facility for the class. (Have I told you how great NetApp storage products are? ) We had fun, everyone received a jar of freshly-made Red Raspberry Jam to take home, and IAS staff sent me a nice thank you note afterwards. Even IAS CEO and Founder Amy Rao stopped by for the class!

Total Batches

24

Jars Canned

197

New Flavors

Grape Jelly (is back!) Passion Fruit Jelly (improved!) Black & Red Jam (berry)

Orchard Report Rained Out Rainy cool weather this spring kept the bees from flying, or knocked the pollinated blossoms off the trees. We had about six to eight weeks of daily rain from mid February through April. The only stone fruit crop I had was a modest amount of Pluots and Santa Rosa plums (enough for one batch each). Julia’s berries did OK, but we didn’t get many Olallies this year.

I planted a new Blenheim apricot tree this year to replace my old tree as its production fades due to age and Eutypa. It did very well this summer and should bear fruit in another year or two.

Father Karl Seduces the Bees For the past ten years I’ve sprayed bee pheromone to entice the neighborhood bees to visit. I spray early in the morning on days when it will be warm and still. Julia caught me on camera while spraying my old apricot tree in my robe!

California State Fair

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Scores of 90 or more are awarded First Place, 80 to 89 Second Place, 70 to 79 Third Place, and below 70 get no award. So there can be multiple First Place awards, for example. Best of Class, Division and Show use the American system (one entry is awarded based on merit at the judge’s discretion). This is the second Best of Division award I’ve received.

It’s a good bit of work to submit fair entries and I then have less jam to share (as each entry requires sending two jars). So I may not enter in 2012 (and let someone else win!).

I canned this jam under sanitary conditions using the USDA Boiling Water Bath Method. Canned jam is a very safe product due to the high sugar content and boiling water processing.

I recommend you open and consume within a year. Refrigerate after opening. If mold occurs on the surface of the jam, it’s safe to scrape it off and eat the rest.

You may wonder what to do with the jam jars after they are finished.

The flat metal lid may be recycled with your cans; it’s single use.

You may return the jars and rings to me for reuse (I sterilize them), or recycle the jar with your glass bottles and the ring with your cans.

Karl L. Konnerth 708 Encina Grande Drive

Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 856-4240

karl_konnerth@usa.net

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