One of my greatest preserving successes this year was my Elephant Heart Plum Moonshine.  This stuff is incredible.  I will give instructions for making this in a separate post.  It is a gorgeous color and has the most potent plum taste.  Using moonshine and a little less sugar than is generally called for prevented this from being too thick and sweat like cough syrup.  Sharon approves!  Speaking of Sharon, she just had her birthday a few weeks ago and I have been meaning to write about the tea room she celebrated it in – so – another post to catch up on!

Chelsea and I just visited a Thai market and an Asian market here in Santa Rosa.  We’d never been to the Thai one before and this is the coolest thing I found there – anime packaging for noodle soup!  Oh – and I came home with 6 tinned curries to try that have no fish or shrimp in them.

At the Asia Mart we discovered that if we want it, we can buy a lifetime supply of turmeric for only $22.

I have never before encountered a spread that made me feel like a dirty old man.  This brand name suggests that this spread may not be appropriate for men.  But is “sandwich” a euphemism here?  I’m so scared of this spread.  I need to go back and read what ingredients are in it cause I can’t quite read them in this picture.

And here’s a happy weiner-eating lady!  She’s so festive!  It’s right next to the Lady’s Choice “sandwich spread” (may as well just put the whole suspicious thing in quotation marks) so I’m wondering if this is all lady food in this isle?

This red palm oil doesn’t tempt me.  I’m sure it looks appetizing when not solidified.

Lastly – we found these.  What are they?  I thought they looked like horns  but Chelsea thinks they look like ovaries.  If you know what they are – will you please tell us?

Here’s a closer look at them.  Seed pods?  Roots?  The dried ovaries of fairies?

There has been a lot of noise this year getting in the way of my food adventures.  There were the months I spent looking for work and spending time at the hospital and there were the months I was mostly dealing with Max’s school and medical issues.  I did a lot less cooking, very little gardening, and a lot less blogging.  What I want for this year is to get back to my favorite things: writing, gardening, and cooking.

So here’s to great food adventures with friends in 2014!