Plum jam, community pick hurrah

I am so excited that my Cheesy Mashed Potato Puffs were just chosen as a community pick on Food52. That is wonderful, and I'm thrilled. Thank you!

I also just made a wonderful new jam that was inspired by memories of happily eating the spiced plum and port jam I made last year (courtesy of a terrific Food52 cook) and the strawberry-rhubarb-orange jam I made just a month or so ago (courtesy of Marisa of Food in Jars). I had a bunch of little red plums and thought I'd try to break free from the self-imposed chains of plum-basil jam; my relative obsession with it remains intact, but this new jam is lovely!!! It's all plum with a bit of orange zest and juice, allspice and cinnamon. The boys declared it delicious, and I must say I agree. It's also extremely pretty because the red skin of these plums was positively glowing before going into the pot and really lent a beautiful hue to the finished product.

PS

Anyone see the photo on the front page of the NYT Dining section today? The one of the older woman in overalls going in for a bite of deep-fried butter on a stick? I haven't felt so vicariously, viscerally ill in quite some time.In tandem with last month's press on 7-11's new mashed potato vending machine and my own recent viewing of an all-in-one pancake maker (insert bag o' dough; press button; place plate at foot of conveyor belt), I feel we're really seeing industrialization gone too far. Lest you think I'm a Luddite, I'm not - although I've already abandoned pinterest and still don't get the hoo-ha about Blu-ray - but these items certainly demonstrate the unsavory lengths we'll take our desire for convenience, our quest for immediacy, and our frightening willingness to eat really gross stuff. Fried butter? No wonder health in America is so unimpressive!

Cod, cantaloupe, quinoa, coconut

Somewhere between saying goodbye to my mom and getting the kids to bed, I lost my sense of humor. I opened a bottle of Chablis in hopes of finding some bit of it, but so far, no dice. Nonetheless, I did turn out a good dinner, and the alliterative aspect of it, per the post title above, is charming. Quinoa with lemon zest, fennel and sultanas, cod roasted with shaved fennel, olives, more lemon, garlic, salt and fennel fronds, and the best cantaloupe we've enjoyed this summer.

I love quinoa, love that each grain looks like a tiny Saturn, love that it's so good for you and is so versatile. And while I don't often buy cod because the poor fish is being fished to death, literally, I saw some rated yellow at Whole Foods today and decided to splurge a bit. I love cod, and this did it justice, although it's unfortunate that the one time I over-salt anything happened to such a delicate meal.

The cantaloupe was ridiculous, and T and I ate a whole half. We're now trying to finagle some room for the magnificent coconut cream pie that's waiting for us in the fridge.

Did y'all hear about the John Sununu-Soledad O'Brien confrontation over Medicaire? She won, and when did he become such a wing-nut? Is NH considering disowning him? When did facts become opinions?

Bill and Real Time return on Friday! Two days hence! Yay!!