Tahini and NMR spectrometers
17 August 2004, 2:51 PM

On one of my cooking-related lists, someone asked if their jar of tahini was still okay. It turns out it was the normal oil/pulp separation that happens if non-homogenized are left to sit for a while. It's normal, and you just need to stir 'em together before using. Refridgerate after opening. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

But in looking up the information I came across this nifty gem:

Mustang Grapes
17 August 2004, 9:47 AM

Last year about this time, a co-worker of mine brought in some boiled down juice from the wild mustang grapes growing on his property. I made some of the best grape jelly I've ever had out of that juice.

Of course this year I've been scanning the roadside to see just when it is that the grapes appear and sometime last month they finally did. The vines are everywhere but so far I've only found one stand that actually has grapes. Yesterday I think I discovered the reason why, as we drove by a doe happily munching on the grapes of another vine.

Unfortunately for me, all these vines are on someone else's property so I can't go picking myself a batch. (Unless I go over and ask if I can. Which I'm tempted to do soon.)

The same situation is true of the prickly pear cactus. Most of the ones I can see around here are devoid of fruit and the few that have some are out of my reach. When I visited my friend an hour south of here the fields in her area were full of red fruit-laden prickly pear. *sigh* I'd like to get some of those too, in order to make prickly pear fruit jelly. I'm going to have to find someone who has a large property and ask for permission to go picking stuff.

Here's some interesting info on my momentary obsession: