FitSugar

12 Days of Edible Gifts: Bacon Jam

partysugar — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:50:32 -0800

Sweet edible gifts not your thing? Then how about something savory? Even better, how about something bacony? Inspired by Top Chef's Kevin, I decided to try making bacon jam. I'm glad I did, this bacon jam is to die for. Seriously, it's amazing.

It's so good that I could only give one jar away. The other jar I gifted to myself. It's smoky, sweet, porky, and spicy. A long, slow cook ensures that the onions caramelize and the bacon melts. It has the chunky texture of tapenade and is easy to spread.

I've enjoyed it on toast, crackers, pasta, and simply, devilishly, by the spoonful. If you want someone to fall in love with you, I highly recommend giving them bacon jam. The words themselves are magical: say it with me, bacon jam. Bacon jam. You get the idea, now get the recipe!

Blueberry Jam

YumSugar — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 07:57:14 -0700

Blueberry Jam
Makes 1 Dozen 8oz Jars

8 cups of frozen blueberries
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 packets of 100% fruit pectin
10 1/2 cups of sugar

First of all, you will need to sterilize the jars.
Wash the jars & lids in hot, soapy water, rinse and then sterilize by putting them in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Since it's best to fill the jars when they are hot (to prevent breakage) you may want to leave them in the hot water until you are almost ready to pour the jam in. Remove them with tongs, they're going to be very hot.

Now on to the jam...

Thaw and drain blueberries. We forgot to thaw our berries, so we ran cold water over them instead.
Place one "layer" (enough to cover the bottom of the pan) of berries into the pot and crush. If you have to crush/mash the berries outside of the pan, you can, however you may end up losing a lot of juices.
Add another "layer" and crush. Repeat until all berries are crushed.
Add lemon juice and stir.
Stir in Fruit Jell pectin and bring to boil. Stir constantly.
Add sugar, stirring to dissolve - again, I thought this was too much sugar...
Return mixture to a rolling boil. You really want this to get going, you're looking for deep bubbles emerging from the bottom. Boil at rolling boil for one minute. Stir constantly.
Remove from heat and skim off any foam (if necessary).
Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4" below the rim. You lose some of the jam this way, but we found it easier to ladle it into a cup measure with a spout and pour from that instead.
Wipe rim clean, place inner lid on jar, and tighten band (just until there is a bit of resistance).
Process jars in boiling water bath. Keep the jars covered with 1" of water and keep the water boiling. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove from water and cool for 12-24 hours. Lids should be concave in the center. Note: For whatever reason we actually didn't do this step. We made sure all of our lids were concave though. Only one did not stick and we just decided to eat it first. The processing step is to help hinder spoilage.
Decorate with cute cloth if desired!
Label the stickers that come with jars and stick them on your lovely creations!
Once it's cooled, pop-it open and serve with bread, crackers, scones, or even vanilla ice cream!

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Head of Def Jam records, Shakir Stewart, dies in apparent suicide

justingirl1989 — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:03:17 -0800

Shakir Stewart, the head of Def Jam records, was found dead in the bathroom of his Atlanta home on Saturday of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound. The 34 year-old music executive had taken over the top spot at Def Jam, formerly held by Jay-Z, in June.

Known as a tireless, resourceful worker committed to finding new talent and acts, Stewart first signed Beyonce to the Hitco Label in 2000. While some friends are expressing disbelief at his death, his fiancé said in a statement that he was facing some personal trials and was not himself in the past few weeks:

On Sunday (November 2), his fiancée, Michelle Rivers, released a joint statement with the rest of his family.

We would like to thank Shakir’s friends for the tremendous outpouring of love and support we have received during this difficult time,” the statement reads. “It has helped us to cope with our overwhelming grief and sadness. It is difficult to express or explain in words what led to the tragic occurrence on Saturday. Over the past several weeks, Shakir’s behavior was inconsistent with the man we all know and love. As much as we all tried to help him, Shakir was in deep pain and largely suffering in silence. Please remember Shakir for who he was … a wonderful father, partner, son and friend.”

Stewart was 34 years old. Cobb County Police spokeswoman Cassie Reece was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, telling the paper that his body was found in the bathroom of his home around 4 p.m. Saturday. He was taken to the Kenne Hospital with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and later pronounced dead.

The Oakland, California, native was known in the music industry for his hard work and an ear for talent. He was recently instrumental in fattening Def Jam’s roster with Southern rap staples Rick Ross and Young Jeezy. Both MCs released albums that debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts.

Def Jam released a statement Saturday night in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“L.A. Reid and all of us at Island Def Jam Music Group are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and colleague Shakir Stewart,” the statement reads. “Shakir was an amazing man, in every sense of the word. A truly incredible friend and father who was an inspiration to not only our artists and employees, but to his family and the many people who had the privilege of counting him as a friend. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family at this very difficult time.”

[From MTV.com]

People are commenting that it doesn’t really make sense that this guy would commit suicide. He was an incredibly successful and well known music executive at the top of his career. We don’t know his situation at all and depression doesn’t spare people with money. We’ll have to see if police find any signs of foul play. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family at this sad time.

http://www.celeb*tchy.com/19666/head_of_def_jam_records_shakir_stewart_d...

Jay-Z Leaving Def Jam

justingirl1989 — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 05:54:22 -0800

Rapper/entrepreneur Jay-Z is stepping down as president/CEO of Def Jam Records after three years with the label.

Says Jay-Z, “It’s really about trying to invest in the future, trying to invest in maybe coming up with a new model. Because going in hard making records with artists and throwing those records into a system that’s flawed is not exciting for me. It’s not the music; people ingest music the same way. It’s just that the model of selling CDs has changed. So doing things the typical way is not in the best interests of anyone and not exciting for me. My whole thing is, how do we invest in the future? If everyone is committed to doing that, then I’m sure there’s a deal to be made.”

Jay-Z will continue to release his own music through his label Roc-a-Fella, which is under the Def Jam umbrella. Ella ella ella ey ey ey!

justjared.com

Call your state legislaturs

Grandpa — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:42:31 -0700

For health-care opponents getting a busy signal when calling the capitol, Rep. Pete Hoekstra has a message for you: All politics is local, so swamp the phone lines of the state legislators too. “If the people in Washington aren’t willing to listen, if the Democrats aren’t willing to listen, then call your local state elected officials and tell them that you’ll hold them personally accountable to what Nancy Pelosi is going to do the American people in Washington this week,” Hoekstra told The Daily Caller of his “Make it Local” idea. Hoekstra has taken to Twitter with a number of Make it Local messages, claiming that lines are jammed in part because some Democrats have taken their phones off the hook. The busy signals have also been attributed to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who earlier this week gave out the capitol switchboard phone number over the airwaves, encouraging listeners to call in. In one tweet, Hoekstra wrote, “Switchboards clogged or turned off in DC. Problem? NO Opportunity! Call every state elected D and tell them how furious you are!” In another, he tweets, “MAKE IT LOCAL. Call D state reps and state senators. Hold them accountable for what Pelosi is doing. People loving this idea! Make it work!” Hoekstra said he and other Washington lawmakers devised the idea. “I was talking to all the other members, we’re taking a look at everything we can do to try to influence this debate and we thought we had kinda run out of ideas,” he explained. “And we started hearing that Democrats were starting to take their phones off the hook and no longer taking constituent phone calls and we said ‘you know, where else can they call?’” A number of Tea Party groups are encouraging their activists to go the local route too. In an e-mail to supporters last night, Tea Party Patriots encouraged those who oppose the bill to call and visit the local district offices of the targeted members of Congress. They also pushed activists to call state elected officials to “remind them that they have political influence and you want them to exercise it.” It’s something Hoekstra said is an effective means of putting pressure on Democrats. “There’s no doubt that if my state reps’ phones started ringing off the hook on a federal issue they would call me and want me to know, and say, ‘Hey Pete, you know the people in Michigan are really feeling passionate about this.’” Hoekstra, who is running for governor, flew into West Michigan for a campaign swing on Thursday and plans to be in Detroit on Friday, though said he’s prepared to fly back to Washington for the vote if called this weekend. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/18/hoekstra-tells-health-care-opponents-to-swamp-the-state-legislatures/#ixzz0iYSWurQ1

Call your state legislaturs

Grandpa — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:39:16 -0700

For health-care opponents getting a busy signal when calling the capitol, Rep. Pete Hoekstra has a message for you:
All politics is local, so swamp the phone lines of the state legislators too.
“If the people in Washington aren’t willing to listen, if the Democrats aren’t willing to listen, then call your local state elected officials and tell them that you’ll hold them personally accountable to what Nancy Pelosi is going to do the American people in Washington this week,” Hoekstra told The Daily Caller of his “Make it Local” idea.
Hoekstra has taken to Twitter with a number of Make it Local messages, claiming that lines are jammed in part because some Democrats have taken their phones off the hook. The busy signals have also been attributed to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who earlier this week gave out the capitol switchboard phone number over the airwaves, encouraging listeners to call in.
In one tweet, Hoekstra wrote, “Switchboards clogged or turned off in DC. Problem? NO Opportunity! Call every state elected D and tell them how furious you are!” In another, he tweets, “MAKE IT LOCAL. Call D state reps and state senators. Hold them accountable for what Pelosi is doing. People loving this idea! Make it work!”
Hoekstra said he and other Washington lawmakers devised the idea. “I was talking to all the other members, we’re taking a look at everything we can do to try to influence this debate and we thought we had kinda run out of ideas,” he explained. “And we started hearing that Democrats were starting to take their phones off the hook and no longer taking constituent phone calls and we said ‘you know, where else can they call?’”
A number of Tea Party groups are encouraging their activists to go the local route too. In an e-mail to supporters last night, Tea Party Patriots encouraged those who oppose the bill to call and visit the local district offices of the targeted members of Congress. They also pushed activists to call state elected officials to “remind them that they have political influence and you want them to exercise it.”
It’s something Hoekstra said is an effective means of putting pressure on Democrats. “There’s no doubt that if my state reps’ phones started ringing off the hook on a federal issue they would call me and want me to know, and say, ‘Hey Pete, you know the people in Michigan are really feeling passionate about this.’”
Hoekstra, who is running for governor, flew into West Michigan for a campaign swing on Thursday and plans to be in Detroit on Friday, though said he’s prepared to fly back to Washington for the vote if called this weekend.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/18/hoekstra-tells-health-care-opponents-to-swamp-the-state-legislatures/#ixzz0iYSWurQ1

The Jam - In The City

BellaSugar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:02:11 -0700

I cannot get enough of Paul Weller! Oh, what a dreamboat - and what an amazing song. Check out Tony Wilson (and is that Poly Styrene? I assume so) before the clip, too.

The Jam - A Town Called Malice

BellaSugar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:43:25 -0700

Oh, Paul Weller. SO DREAMY. I love a mod man in a suit, especially when he fronts a great band. Where are the men in natty suits these days? Why was I not born in time to date Paul Weller? (I thought about this, then realized he had a son, then realized his son, though BEAUTIFUL, is still in his tortured-youth phase and realized that I may never love a Weller.)

Pearl Jam - Black

jennjennnbubba — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:19:52 -0800

Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam - Can you feel the beat

Ice_Queen — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 18:52:37 -0700

Oh yeahhhh baby! woo hoooo!
LOL