Non-Consumer Photo Essay — Jam For Salmon

by Katy on June 14, 2011 · 13 comments

It’s time for another Non-Consumer photo essay, where you get a sneak-peek at the tidbits that make up my world.

My back porch has a tendency to become a catch-all for just about everything.

It may not qualify for an Apartment Therapy post, but this is my back porch after I tidied it up. Spent batteries went to be recycled, a paper bag of nasty sneakers are ready to go to the Nike store to be transformed into playground surfacing and the dried old leaves went into the compost.

I just moved my hummingbird feeder to a more visible spot on my front porch. No point in having one if I can't watch the birdies. I also mixed up a new 4:1 water/sugar solution with a wee droplet of red food coloring.

My experiment with making The Frugal Girl's strawberry freezer jam was delightfully drama-free. Plus, I was able to hand one over when my friend came over bearing . . .

Freshly caught salmon!

Which I immediately cut into steaks to put into our freezer. She, of course was happy to receive a still-warm jar of strawberry jam.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

 

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

Mary June 14, 2011 at 4:08 am

Please, no food coloring in the hummingbird feeder! Not needed and it can be dangerous to the birds.

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Stephanie June 14, 2011 at 5:23 am

That salmon looks SO GOOD!

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NMPatricia June 14, 2011 at 5:36 am

What are you going to do with the tail?

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Katy June 14, 2011 at 5:52 am

I’ll bake it and pick out the meat.

Katy

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Linda H. June 14, 2011 at 5:47 am

My friend who is a hard core birder warned me that red food coloring gives hummingbirds cancer. Safer to attach a red bow or something to your feeder. It attracts them just the same.

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Katy June 14, 2011 at 5:52 am

Crap. I guess I’ll mix up a new batch of syrup.

Katy

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Jackie June 14, 2011 at 11:58 am

Mmm. Fresh salmon. I bought some frozen stuff at the grocery store a while ago. Never again! It turns the color of chicken when you cook it. Your’s looks delicious though!

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Practical Parsimony June 14, 2011 at 2:55 pm

Katy, hummingbirds are attracted by anything red. That is why so many feeders have red on them. It seems the little feeding places on yours are red. Some people tie multiple long, red ribbons to a bush to initially attract hummingbirds. How do you keep ants out of your feeder? Mine always gets full of ants, large black ants that drown themselves in the sugar water and clog up the feeding holes. I have never managed to attract a hummingbird because of ants. Nothing works.

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Katy June 14, 2011 at 4:30 pm

I have not had this be an issue, but ants aren’t a big problem in my neighborhood.

Anyone else?

Kayu

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Birdy June 15, 2011 at 1:22 am

To keep away ants I put a little bit of vegetable oil on the hanger. Ants won’t walk through the oil. Every time I clean and refill the feeder I re-oil the hanger. No ants! Works like a charm.

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Elinor June 14, 2011 at 4:11 pm

That salmon is oddly morbid…in a LOL way. The jam sounds awesome!

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Tracy Balazy June 14, 2011 at 7:01 pm

Great pics! I love your photo essays.

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Glenn June 14, 2011 at 8:55 pm

They make several ant guards for hummingbird feeders; usually some kind of little water trap that you hang your feeder from. I don’t know how well they work though.

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