Carrie, by “oat groats” do you mean whole hulled oats, as James did, or cracked oats--that is, Irish or Scottish oatmeal? Also, how do you prefer to reheat the groats, if they are to be eaten over several days?

In the mid-1970s I lived for a year in Davis, California, where my favorite treat at the local ice-cream shop was carob-honey ice cream. I was a chocolate addict, but that didn’t matter. The carob-honey was simply wonderful.

Thanks for the really interesting article.
I’m wondering about the roses and sea buckthorn: Is the rose-flavored vinegar combined with the fruit juice, or are the pickled rose petals combined with the juice? Or both? How is this sour drink served?

Harriet, I think Balaboosta would be a great title for your next book.

When beans are slow to cook, sometimes the problem is the cooking water. Because my well water is hard--it has a high level of calcium--I now buy distilled water for cooking chickpeas, lentils, and split peas. But I have no problem cooking New World beans in tap water.
Regarding the old-bean problem, it’s wise to look for a “best by” date. Even more helpful would be a harvest date, but apparently not even a “best by” date is required by law. Perhaps we should work to change this.

Thanks for the tip, Stephanie. The University of California publication has a lot of helpful details about olive curing, including aboutlye.

Nino, thanks for sharing the information on the Hood River Gravenstein Apple Celebration. I didn’t know about this festival--or even that Hood River orchardists were growing Gravensteins.

I have read that the Gravenstein is popular in Germany, where I would expect it to go by this German name, though I found the apple mentioned in one reference as Gravensteiner. The French name, according to another source, is pomme Gravine. According to the blog of Chilly Farm, Maine (http://outonalimbcsa.com), other names for the Gravenstein are Blumen-Calvill, Diel’s Sommerkonig, Early Congress, Paradies Adfel, Ripp Apfel, and Tom Harryman. But I am unable to verify any of this.

I’m sorry for my sloppy writing: I wrote “jam” four times when I meant “jelly”! But the last “jam” is correct: I use no more than three pounds of fruit when I make jam.

Hi, Harriet,
Because of the currants, this jam has a firm set.
I agree that you have to be careful with currants. Yesterday I made a small batch of red currant jelly, and I let it boil only a minute or two. I didn’t bother with a thermometer. I took the pan off the heat when the jam coated the spoon and fell in heavy drops, and then I waited perhaps five seconds before spooning ua bit more jam. This time I saw little wrinkles on the surface, and the jam sheeted off the spoon. I hurriedly got the jam into jars. It took about half a day to set completely, but this morning it was perfect.
I generally make jam with no more than three pounds of fruit. This keeps cooking times short.

Caraway comfits? That’s REALLY old-fashioned!
It’s funny that your mother kept the can in the linen closet. I use an old wardrobe for such things.

Giovanna, how do you use angelica?

Lye is a strongly alkaline substance made from wood ashes. Yes, it’s used to make hominy, and also soap. Lye is dangerous and must be handled with care, but it speeds the process of curing olives. Olives can certainly be cured without lye; as I wrote, I cured most of mine simply by brining them. You could also use Sarah’s method, which I may try next year.

Sarah, your method sounds like a good one. Do you add any vinegar?

My olives were from Penna, at www.greatolives.com. Last year the people at Penna knew they wouldn’t have enough olives to meet demand, so hopefully other olive farms are selling over the Internet.
Lye should be available in hardware stores.

Probably you’re seeing yeast, which looks much like bread yeast that’s been left to proof. Mold comes in various colors and forms, and it tends to grow only before fermentation really gets under way. Check your crock every day at the beginning, and skim off any yeast or, especially, mold right away. Once fermentation is under way, a lot of people let the yeast grow for several days at a time. The yeast alters the flavor a bit but doesn’t cause problems so long as you skim if off now and then. But mold covering a crock would be a bad sign. Starting the fermentation at a warmer temperature (68 degrees F. or higher) might keep mold from ever getting started. You can prevent yeast from growing by using a crock with a water lock (such as the Harsch gartopf) or weighting the kraut with brine-filled plastic bags.

I’ve grown these peppers for six or seven years, and I can tell you that they are indeed almost exactly like pimientos de padron, from which they probably developed. According to Hiroko Shimbo, the Japanese fry and salt shishitos just as the Spanish do pimientos de padron (although I doubt that the Japanese typically use olive oil). I poke shishitos with a fork and then deep-fry them very briefly, less than a minute.
Shishitos are very easy to grow from seed. They are always among the first of my peppers to sprout, and the plants are quite productive.