Late to the Instant Pot Party

I saw that the Instant Pot 6-in-1 was 30% off on Amazon, so I asked for input on FB and was amazed at how much positive feedback my friends had. No one had anything bad to say about it, so I placed my order.

For those who are not familiar with this appliance, you can use it to saute and brown, and it also is a pressure cooker, rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer, and warmer. I have 2 Fagor stove top pressure cookers, as well as cookware and/or appliances to handle everything else, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy the Instant Pot. But we recently replaced our electric coil stove which wasn't ideal for pressure cooking, with a glass cook top which is even worse for pressure cooking because the cooking surface doesn't change temperature quickly. Also, babysitting a pressure cooker was kind of annoying--is it too hot, is it too cool, did it lose pressure, should I add an extra minute or two, etc., etc.. I know, it all sounds pretty trivial. But automating pressure cooking, replacing the rice cooker that has a plastic coated insert, and getting a larger slow cooker were all positives.

It arrived today. The unit is a little bigger than our rice cooker, which is what I expected. The cooking vessel is stainless steel, so that's a plus.



I made Broccoli Soup using this recipe, omitting the cream and cheese and adding celery. It took longer to chop the vegetables and blend it than the 5 minutes it took to cook. So far, so good. My friends were right on the money.

Raising Junior

We witnessed a little miracle on our front porch this spring. I noticed an Anna's Hummingbird hovering around a plant that didn't have blossoms on it so I wasn't sure what the interest was all about. Well, it turns out she was building a nest in spot that was visible from a front window. She used leaves, feathers, twigs, and spiderweb. Exciting!

Once it was finished, she sat on the nest and only left the area to feed. On April 1 I peeked inside and saw this:



Two days later, there was a second egg. Each was a little larger than a Tic Tac mint.

By now, we named the momma Ethyl. I don't remember exactly why, but I think it had something to do with how much energy she used flying around and her need to refuel constantly.

By day she sat on the eggs, turning them with her feet and leaving when she needed to eat. The nest was illuminated by our porch light at night and I noticed something I didn't expect--she left the nest unoccupied at night. It seemed like the eggs would get too cold unattended, but strangely enough, worrying didn't bring her back. We had to trust her instincts.

About a week into the egg watch, I peeked in the nest and only saw one egg. I searched the ground for bits of broken shell, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. We never figured out what happened. The potential yield was reduced by 50%.

So it went like this day after day--I looked at Ethyl through the window in the morning and checked to see if everything looked normal. When I got home from work, I'd wait until she left to feed and take a peek in the nest. A couple of times she didn't leave the area and chased me off when I got close. I started to think that my curiosity would cause her to abandon her little one, so didn't look in as often.

3 weeks into egg-watch, I thought we were probably close to the big event so I waited for what seemed like forever for Ethyl to leave. I rushed out the door but when I looked in the nest, I couldn't figure out what I was looking at. There was broken shell, a blob of black goo, and yellow & pink bits. My first thought was that some invader came in and destroyed the egg, but then I noticed the goo was moving--it was the baby!

The little guy looked more like an alien than a bird, but given he just busted out of a Tic Tac, how was he supposed to look? In a few days, he was much much bigger than the egg he hatched from.


April 25, 2015

He grew quickly and before long, Junior looked like a real hummingbird. lol. There was drama one day when neither of us had seen Ethyl for a day. I thought something happened to her, so I contacted my birding friend Spinnity. I was in a tizzy. She contacted resources on her side and found a nearby wildlife rescue where I could take Junior in the morning. As I was texting Spinnity, I heard a hummer chirping nearby. She landed on the nest and I stopped breathing in anticipation. Junior held his beak open, ready to be fed. Then the bird flew away. I was crushed! I stayed on watch, determined not to leave until I witnessed a feeding. Minutes later, Ethyl came back, fed Junior, and left in a blur. Crisis averted.

Here's Junior's weekly progress:


May 3, 2015


May 9, 2015


May 15, 2015

May 19 was a happy and sad day. It was the day that Junior fledged and left the nest. It was amazing to watch a new life begin. The nest has been empty ever since.



The hummingbirds have been flitting around the front and backyard as usual, but I can't tell which ones (if any) might be Ethyl or Junior. On May 27, a hummingbird flew up against a window in the back of the house. He hit hard and then landed in the nearby apricot tree to gather his wits. He flew away about 20 minutes later.



I wonder if it was Junior? The bird might be a juvenile, the beak looks a bit short. And perhaps it was due to inexperience that the bird flew into the window? Well, if it was you Junior, take care and watch out for glass and other dangers in the real world.

In the garden

I'm a little sad. Our fruit cocktail tree is nearly finished producing for the year. On the positive side, the fruit has been delicious and we're still enjoying it.

The first to ripen was the Blenheim apricots. What we didn't eat fresh, we dried and froze.


Blenheim apricots

The Independence nectarines were next and they ripened about a week earlier than expected. That's okay, we were ready for them. I turned a bunch of them into a cobbler.


Nectarine Cobbler

The Santa Rosa plums are the last to ripen and they're really delicious. They're so juicy, I have to eat them over the sink. Seriously.


Santa Rosa plums and one nectarine

I used the cobbler recipe above and made plum compote. We've been spooning it over pound cake and also mixing it with yogurt. This weekend I used it to make a Red, White, and Blueberries dessert.


Red, white, and blueberries

I picked most of the remaining plums tonight, saving them from the pesky birds and furry varmints.


Santa Rosa Plums

In other garden news, we picked the first tomato of the season today, an Amish Paste tomato. This plant was a surprise as it was self-seeded from last year's crop.


First tomato of 2014

The heirloom tomato plants are doing really well. It seems like they're growing 2 inches per day. We need to corral them into the cages about every other day. Each plant has flowers, so the heirlooms are weeks away.


Heirloom Tomato Plants

7 is a good number

In the blink of an eye (or so it seemed) more artichokes are ready. They're small and tender. Get the steamer going!


7 Artichokes

I'm trying not to get too excited, but the Bartlett pears look good. Last year we had high hopes and they all fell off. Fingers crossed.


Bartlett Pears

The first of many

They don't look like they all came from the same seed packet. Where'd that globe-y guy in the back come from?


Artichokes

Let's eat!

Artichokes are popping up like crazy. We counted 6 on one plant! The good thing is they're not going to be ready to eat all at once, but it won't be long before we have them a few times a week.

This one is ready to be picked.


Ready for the pot

These need a little more time in the sun.


Backyard artichoke


A trio of artichokes

Let's not forget about the apricots. I'm sure the squirrels haven't.


Blenheim Apricot

First spring weekend

Nature marches forward in the garden. The pollinators are out.


Pollinating Bearss Lime Blossoms

The flowers that covered the fruit cocktail tree 2 weeks ago have moved on to the next stage.


Blenheim Apricots

And these plants decided to wait until the official start of spring before revealing their progress.


Artichoke


Fuji Apple


Bartlett Pear

Spring Forward

Our backyard is coming to life with this year's goodies. What's happening in your garden?

The fruit cocktail tree is blossoming on all fronts.


Independence Nectarine


Blenheim Apricot


Santa Rosa Plum

Last year we almost lost our peach graft in a pruning incident, but it's fighting back.


Gold Dust Peach

The Meyer Lemon tree has another crop ripening.


Meyer Lemons

And our raised bed has one plant that has been going strong through the winter.


Parsley

Our garden had a party

Hey look, it's a non-HKF post!

Our garden was quite happy this summer. We had more tomato plants than before and we also planted beans and artichokes. Because the artichoke seeds were planted late, we didn't expect much but we were pleasantly surprised. Without further ado, here'a a parade of photos that shows some of what our garden produced.

July

This is the plant that didn't do much last year. This year it's producing like gangbusters.

Jalapeño peppers


Santa Rosa Plums

We picked our first Sungold, Purple Brandywine, and Amish Paste tomatoes in the last week of July.

First tomatoes

The tomato plants and pole beans were easily over 6 feet tall.

Tomatoes and Beans

Surprise! There's an artichoke in the center of all of these leaves.

First artichoke

We weren't the only ones who enjoyed the Santa Rosa plums.

Bird treat

August

That didn't take long.

It's really an artichoke!

It was delicious.

So fresh

Here's a giant German Stripe heirloom that resembled a small pumpkin. When it was ripe, it weighed over 1-1/2 pounds.

German Stripe heirloom tomato


Beans and Tomatoes

We picked tomatoes every 3-4 days.

First sizeable harvest


A bounty of tomatoes


More artichokes


Tomatoes


Garlic


More tomatoes

We picked our one and only chocolate pepper in August. Maybe the plant will do better next year.

Fruit and vegetables


Tomatoes

With so many tomatoes, we made BLATs (bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato) sandwiches, Tomato Bisque, salads, and more salsa.

Fresh salsa


Tomatoes

September

The garden really slowed down in September. We don't expect many more tomatoes after these--

The last of the tomatoes and beans

We bought a dehydrator to help preserve the harvest. We dried about 10 pounds of tomatoes, and these apples and figs. This unit will come in handy with next year's fruit.

Figs and Fuji Apples


Dried fruit snacks

That's it! Thanks for staying with me through all the HKF posts.