Cheese n' Jam

This past year, I basically put my life on hold to finish my Thesis Film for my Animation MFA at UCLA. (Graduated in June woot! (still working on kinks in film booooo)) So a big fat NO time for updates to food blog. I definitely didn't stop eating, but posting photos and writing meant precious time away from "filmmakingprettypictures."

But, now that I have a smidgen more time....the food blog started gnawng at me.... And lately, I really started questioning what I would like to do for a living. Drawing and talking about food emerged at the top of my list of dream jobs.

So I'm going to give it a shot with this blog. Maybe I can get some kind of food illustration jobs from this....mayyybeeee not. But its worth a shot and if anything it will just improve my art skillz yo!

In honor of this new endeavor, I changed the name of the blog to "Cheese n' Jam" in homage to two of my most favorite foods. (I made 186 jars of jam for my wedding favors and dude, I joined a Cheese CSA ) Originally I tried some other food names but they are all taken by jerks who haven't updated their blogs since 2004 from it's original uno post...

My goal is to write twice a week until the end of the year and we'll see where it goes from there. If you have anything you'd like to see or curious to have me draw, please feel free to msg me or comment. Yay for cheese n jam!

Banana Jam

Wow! It has definitely been a while since I posted almost Thanksgiving! So many posts to catch up on so I will just go ahead and start out from the middle.

This year my Mr.Phi and I have made the valiant attempt to eat mostly locally. It's much harder than I had ever anticipated, especially when dealing with a certain favorite fruit. That is the BANANA!! Oh precious Banana, we thought we had wished you goodbye forever. UNTIL I met the lovely Banana Lady at the San Carlos Farmers Market. Not only does she grow mini "golden finger" Bananas but she grows HAWAIIAN APPLE-BANANAS!!! My favorite Banana of all time...drool.



So she saved my life and Mr.Phi's as well since hes nutso for banana bread. Recently at the Farmer Market, she informed me that the Apple-Bananas were at the end of their season and wouldn't be back till May of 2010! So I bought all the Apple-Bananas and decided to make Jam with them.

I found this recipe for Banana Jam and altered it a lil for my preferences.

Banana Jam
2 lbs ripe bananas or even better APPLE-BANANAS
2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup Honey
1 Cup water
juice of 3 limes (or lemons)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract
1 dash of ginger powder
1/4 Cup of rum (1/2 dl)

Peel and mash the bananas. Mix water, lime juice, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger over moderate heat and stir until syrup thickens. Add the mashed bananas and let cook 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rum during the last few minutes of cooking to let alcohol burn off. Immediately place in jam jars and seal.

I had given away a couple of jars of the jam and finally opened one for myself. Some may like it sweeter and I would suggest the original recipe for that. But I prefer a not too sweet. Thats a big turn-off in jams for me. I think this jam is amazing for peanut butter sandwiches and add some honey for a lil extra sweetness. Yum.