2019 brings us a new Food In Jars Mastery Challenge, a handful of fun adventures, and a whole list of links – all in the latest edition of Thymeline.
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The FIJ Mastery Challenge
I promised more of these Thymeline posts, so I thought I’d spend a snowy weekend giving ya’ll an update on what I’ve been doing outside of writing and recipe development. It’s been a busy two months, that’s for sure.
First off, Marisa McClellan of Food in Jars fame has res-started the Food In Jars Mastery Challenge! I’ll be doing my best to play along, and you can take a look at the full schedule over on her website. If you are a home preserver/canner and aren’t part of her FB community, I encourage you to join up here.
January the focus is Citrus. You can make anything you want in relation to the category, its just about keeping to the spirit of mastering new things and trying out new techniques. After making limoncello for holiday gifts, I was inspired to infuse my own winter citrus vodka for my contribution. Assuming it’s any good, I’ll be posting up the recipe later, but you can see I’m well on my way.
The vodka is being infused with the zest of blood oranges and meyer lemons (and I froze the juices for another yet-to-be-decided use). Once that infusion is complete in about a month or so, I’ll filter out the peels and do a second, much shorter infusion of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. After a day or two, this spiced vodka should be set to mix into some tasty cocktails. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.
Winter Adventures
I’ve been doing a lot of traveling this winter to see friends and visit their local distilleries and culinary hot spots. So far I’ve spent weekends in Bethlehem and Lancaster Pennsylvania, as well as Jersey City. I have posts in the works for all three of these locations, but since they were a bit of a whirlwind its taking some time to get it all down in writing. Here are a few highlights so I can shout out some of my favorite places. All of them deserve a second visit for sure:
Gallows Hill Spirits (Allentown, PA)
Their creme liquors in salted caramel and chai are divine!
Thistle Finch Distillery (Lancaster, PA)
I have to say this was one of the best distillery tours I’ve been on.
We had planned to go bar hopping, but as soon as we had a drink we knew we’d be happy staying at this bar for hours – and we did.
New Wordmark!
You might notice a little change to the website’s header – I updated my wordmark! I’d always planned the last one to be temporary, and I finally sat down, purchased some fancy new fonts from Creative Market, and started playing around to make something from scratch. I’m really happy with the new look, in both circular and linear styles:
If you like it too, swing by TeePublic for some Feast In Thyme merch! You can have the new design on shirts, mugs, notebooks, totebags, and more
And now, some links!
- I’m kind of in love with these adorable classroom appropriate Valentine cards over on Minted. Enjoy free shipping on these card orders of $25+ with code CUPID19.
- So sad that state laws do not allow shipment of these to Delaware: Whiskey Pouches Are Like Capri Suns for Adults.
- The new wave of Tiki Parties are here to stay:
- Garret Richard’s new flair to tiki.
- Instagram’s month-long tiki party.
- A week-long “Tropic Like It’s Hot” Tiki Event over at Shot & Bottle in Lancaster PA (Jan 20-27)
- A whole list of bourbons to keep an eye out for: 10 Best Bourbons Beyond Kentucky
- A few recipes from the archives to keep you warm if you are in the snowstorm’s path: Cinnamon Spice Old Fashioned, One Pot Beef Stroganoff Soup, & Hard Cider Baked Mac & Cheese.
Until next time – Cheers!