Mary Jones's Page

I wrote earlier about how adding some pepper relish to meals like tuna salad can liven it up. Well, here's a recipe for that relish:

7½ C diced sweet red peppers
6½ C diced green peppers
6 C diced white onions
2 qt boiling water
3 C cider vinegar
2½ C sugar
1 tbs canning salt
2 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed

You will also need:
1 pressure cooker
8 or 9 pint-sized canning jars and lids

To dice the peppers and onions, it'… Continue

I was down in University City today, and come lunchtime, I walked over to the food court across from Van Pelt Library on Walnut Street.

Look, I admit what I did was stupid. I admit I should have gone for any number of other foods, from the vegetarian roach coach to even the Quiznos at said food court. But I just recently ate at a Quiznos, I didn't feel like burger or a pizza, and I didn't see any sushi around. It's no excuse, but it's an attempt at an explanation. I saw the Taco Bell, and said… Continue

Earlier this summer, Lansdale (where I live) started a farmers' market. Why they hadn't had one before is a little beyond me, since we're surrounded by farmland up here, both large agribusiness (i.e. Hatfield Meats, Rosenberger Dairy) and smaller, family farms. For all its faults, Pennsylvania does have a lot of good farmland.

Well, someone apparently thought as I did, and actually did something about it.

I love farmers' markets. When I was a… Continue

Spätzle* is a type of German boiled noodles which is much better than it sounds. It's a great side dish for German/Austrian meals, especially Wienerschnitzel, but it's also great with scrambled eggs.

Ingredients:
2 C flour
1 C milk
2 eggs
1 tbs. Nutmeg
1 tsp. Salt

Mix ingredients and boil water. When water is boiling take the spätzle maker (if you have one) and squeeze the mixture into the water. Boil for 10 minutes or until the noodles float. Remove them from the water, draining the ex… Continue

Sounds simple, no? The tuna fish sandwich, pb&j's nerdy bookworm sister, the staple of Lent in my Catholic high school, causer of bad breath. Why write about something so obvious, so simple? Well, naturally there are plenty of ways to dress it up beyond mayo and onion, and this is one of my favorites:

1 can tuna
1 (large) tbs mayo
1 half white onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 tbs pepper relish
5 large green olives with pimento, diced
salt & pepper to taste

Naturally, how much mayo… Continue