Of all the things that happened this weekend, this is really the only thing I want to talk about right now.

Because it's bacon jam.

Bacon. Jam.

And I pretty much licked out my dutch oven after I jarred this stuff up. It's crazy good.

I mentioned to a friend that I was making bacon jam when we were on the phone and she said (all in a rush), "Bacon Jam? Whoa! What do you eat it on? – – You know what, who cares what you eat it on! How about a spoon?!"

And she's right. Because it's jam, but – bacon.

You really have to taste it to understand.

(My recipe was inspired by Brittany Angell's version from Every Last Crumb.)

Bacon Jam Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb smoked high quality bacon (I buy bacon end cuts and trims at our coop. They are perfect for this.)

2 medium yellow onions, sliced

1/3 cup strongly brewed coffee or espresso (I used decaf) or mild chicken stock

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1 Tb apple cider vinegar

black pepper and salt to taste

1 Tb apple cider vinegar (reserved)

Process

In a large skillet or dutch oven, cook bacon until it begins to brown. Do not cook until it's fully crispy, but take it halfway there.

Remove from pan and set aside to cool.

Pour off half of the bacon grease (reserve for other uses).

Transfer onions to still warm skillet. Caramelize onions over low heat, stirring only occasionally (less stirring yields best caramelized results). Cook for ten to fifteen minutes or until onions are translucent and beginning to brown.

While the onions cook, coarsely chop bacon.

Add remaining ingredients with the exception of reserved vinegar. Stir well, then cover pan and cook on very low heat for 3 hours (or transfer to slowcooker if you prefer), stirring every hour or so.

When much of the liquid has cooked down and the jam is somewhat thick and caramelized remove from heat.

Allow jam to cool enough to handle, then transfer to food processor and pulse to chop. Add reserved vinegar. Taste and add additional vinegar, salt, and pepper if desired.

Serve with crackers, brie, grilled chicken or pork, on a frittata, omlette, or – yes – right off the spoon.

Will last 1 week in the fridge or 1 year in the freezer. (Theoretically. Because honestly. Who could make that happen?)

Makes approximately 3 cups.

 

We picked two bushels of apples at the nearby organic orchard about a week ago. And because we don't have a root cellar, keeping them on through winter means freezing or canning.

So we put by a few bags of apple crisp and apple pie filling, ate more than we probably should have, and turned the rest into sauce.

Homemade applesauce.

Until you've made a habit of shunning that flavorless store-bought sort and making your own, you just can't know what you're missing. Because alongside homemade sriracha, dilly beans, and canned tomatoes, applesauce is a pantry staple around here.

If you care to make your own (for canning or fresh eating), my recipe follows!

Easy Homemade Applesauce

(made with or without a food mill)

I will confess to never having made a batch of applesauce this small. Double or triple or exponentially increase as needed. But know that too many apples crammed into a small pot may scorch. So if you're making a bigger batch, divide it among a few large pans.

Ingredients for approximately 7 pints of applesauce

10 lbs apples

1 1/2 c water

optional spices – cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, clove, orange peel, etc.

optional sweetener of your choice

With a food mill

If you have a food mill, making applesauce couldn't be easier. As a bonus, food mill applesauce is often rosy pink from all of those apple peels.

1. Quarter your apples. No need to core or peel them. Remove any bad spots and compost.

2. Combine quartered apple with water in a cooking pot. Ideally you will have a large, thick-bottomed pot. (If your pot is undersized or thin-bottomed, watch your apples carefully to prevent scorching.) Add water and set over medium heat.

3. When the water begins to simmer, carefully stir your apples, then cover the pot and set to low heat.

4. Every five to ten minutes stir your apples. (I prefer a wide wooden spoon or spatula so that I can turn the apples effectively.) If the pan is becoming dry, add another cup of water.

5. After 20 to 40 minutes your apples should be soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool for one hour.

6. Set up your food mill and transfer your partially cooled applesauce into the hopper.

7. Process apples.

7. Return processed applesauce to cooking pot. Taste and adjust flavor as desired. You may choose to add sweetener, cinnamon, ginger, or other spices. (We left our batch plain.)

8. If you will be canning your applesauce, bring to a simmer over low heat before packing jars.

9. Hot water bath can for 15 minutes for pints or half-pints, 20 minutes for quarts.

10. Enjoy!

Without a food mill

If you don't have a food mill, making applesauce is still easy! There is just a different first step you need to take. The best part of not having a mill? Perfect. Chunky. Applesauce. Oh, yes.

1. Peel and core your apples, then cut into approximately 1" cubes. Remove any bad spots and compost.

2. Combine your prepared apple with water in a cooking pot. Ideally you will have a large, thick-bottomed pot. (If your pot is undersized or thin-bottomed, watch your apples carefully to prevent scorching.) Add water and set over medium heat.

3. When the water begins to simmer, carefully stir your apples, then cover the pot and set to low heat.

4. Every five to ten minutes stir your apples. (I prefer a wide wooden spoon or spatula so that I can turn the apples effectively.) If the pan is becoming dry, add another cup of water. After 20 to 30 minutes your apples should be soft.

5. For chunky applesauce, proceed to step six. For smooth applesauce, either puree with an immersion blender while hot or allow to cool for one hour, then puree in batches in your blender. (Do not puree hot applesauce in your blender as it can volcano out the top!)

6. Return processed applesauce to cooking pot. Taste and adjust flavor as desired. You may choose to add sweetener, cinnamon, ginger, or other spices. (We left our batch plain.) If you won't be canning your applesauce, simmer with optional spices/sweetener for five minutes, then cool and refrigerate or freeze.

8. If you will be canning your applesauce bring to a simmer over low heat before packing jars.

9. Hot water bath can for 15 minutes for pints or half-pints, 20 minutes for quarts.

10. Enjoy!

 

P.S. When did this applesauce helper…

…become this one?

Oh, my heart.

 

As I type this for you today my table is covered – covered! – in quarts of raspberries.

A kind-hearted neighbor invited us to pick last night. Just as he has done every August since we first moved here.

His berries are sustainably grown and he accepts no payment for the fruit he so generously shares (unless you count the jams and dilly beans we leave on his porch.) Last night we came home with not only ten quarts of berries but also a box of tomatoes and a couple of watermelons from his housemate.

Such a deal.

We left them a jar of Sunshine Jam as a small thank you for the epic haul of organic food. Though a tragically undersized token of our thanks, it seemed apropos in content since the raspberries inside are from his farm.

When we got home I poured one quart of fresh berries into a mason jar, added a few slices of fresh ginger root, and covered it in vodka. That will be a gift for our neighbor in a week or so.

Because, why not? You can only eat so much jam and I suspect I'm not the only one leaving jam on his porch ever week or two.

But you still need jam, don't you friends? I thought so.

I developed this recipe over the weekend with our first raspberry harvest. It's so good that I'm making a second batch today. Maybe a double.

Care to join me? Here's my recipe.

(Before we dig in, please note that I use Pamona's pectin. It's the only pectin I know of that still works when you sweeten with honey. I buy it at our natural foods coop.)

Sunshine Jam

with peaches, raspberries, & ginger

(makes approximately 9 half-pint jars)

Ingredients

3 C raspberries

6 C peaches, pitted and chopped

1/4 C + 2 TB lemon juice

1 1/2 C local honey

2 TB Pomona's Pectin powder

2 TB + 2 tsp Pomona's calcium water (included with Pomona's Pectin)

1 Tb ginger root, peeled and grated

1 tsp dry ginger

2 tsp ground cardamon (optional)

Process

Prepare Jars, Lids and Canner

Sterilize 9 half-pint or 14 quarter-pint canning jars and their lids in boiling water.

Fill your canner with water and set on high heat to bring to a boil.

Turn off heat when it reaches a boil.

Prepare your Jam

Combine peaches, rapsberries and their juices with calcium water in a medium sized cooking pot. (Mix calcium water according to package directions.)

Add lemon juice, ginger root and dry spices and stir to combine.

Bring fruit to a low boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, combine room temperature honey with pectin powder and stir well until fully combined and free of lumps.

When fruit begins to boil, add honey-pectin mix and stir well until honey is completely dissolved.

Taste for sweetness and add additional honey if needed.

Bring to a boil again, then remove from heat.

Jar it up

Fill sterilized jars to 1/4" from top. (I find that this works out perfectly to be just beyond the bottom of my canning funnel.)

Wipe jar rims with a damp towel.

Lid jars with sterilized lids.

Lower jars carefully into your almost boiling water in your canner and set over medium-high heat.

Bring to a boil again, then simmer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes lift jars out and allow to cool, undisturbed on a towel for at least 2 hours.

After 2 hours check each lid for a good seal, then allow to rest for 24 hours.

After 24 hours check lids again and move your preserves to your pantry.

After my last peach adventure I took a year off from buying peaches.

It felt like a good choice, considering.

But when a friend cued me in on a bulk buy of organic peaches that a local farmer was organizing I had to join in the madness.

Only two bushels, I said.

I could restrain myself.

Really I could.

They ripened after a few days on our shady porch, and only one was lost to marauding wild life. (A song bird found her way into the box and devoured our ripest peach. I guess she feels the same way I do about peaches.)

 And so, this weekend at our farm, Saturday was Peach Day.

The kids and I bagged and froze diced peaches that we'll use in winter smoothies, muffins, and other treats. Then I canned peach-raspberry-ginger jam (I'll share that recipe too if you're interested!) and my favorite, a mildly spicy, kid-friendly, tomato-free peach salsa with just a few hot peppers from the garden (a crazy addictive recipe I found in this book).

We had cobbler for breakfast on Saturday too, because, well, why not? It's only peach season once a year.

And I jotted down my cobbler recipe to share with you today.

Because it's gluten-free, refined sugar-free, vegan, and can be made either nut-free or grain-free (and by subbing sweeteners you can even make it GAPS legal and Paleo), I named it Everybody's Cobbler.

The kids each made an additional cobbler batch to stash in the freezer, too. (Sage subbed in blueberries for the raspberries and added 2 Tb lemon juice.)

Everybody's Cobbler

Ingredients

Fruit filling

7 fresh, ripe peaches, pitted and cut into bite-sized pieces (approximately 7 C)

1 1/4 C fresh raspberries (if using frozen, thaw first and drain off excess juice)

1/4 C plus 2 Tb coconut sugar

1/2 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger root

pinch salt

1 tsp ground cardamon

1/4 tsp dried ginger root

2 Tb coconut flour

2 Tb tapioca flour

Topping

1 c rolled oats (or chopped nuts, coconut, or a combination)

1 c almond flour (or oat flour, your choice)

1/4 c sugar

1/3 c tapioca flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 c coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare your cobbler pan by lightly oiling a large pie pan or 8×8 oven-safe dish.  (I used coconut oil.)

Combine fruit filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and topping ingredients in a second, smaller mixing bowl.

Stir each to combine.

Allow fruit filling to sit for ten minutes. If it is exceptionally juicy add an additional tsp each of tapioca flour and coconut flour.

Transfer fruit filling to prepared pie pan and top with oat/almond crumble topping

Place pie pan on a cookie to catch drips. Bake for approximately 40 minutes until bubbling and nicely browned on the top.

Allow to cool somewhat before serving, and enjoy!

(Since we ate ours for breakfast we served it with fresh, homemade yogurt or coconut yogurt. Needless to say, homemade vanilla ice cream would be a win as well.)

 

Last fall I began my three part series outlining how we managed ECCs (early childhood caries) in our home as well as normal, run-of-the mill tooth troubles and decay. It's been a big series to put together, but finally (finally!) I have finished step 3.

You can find the rest of the series here.

Part One: Hygiene

Part Two: Diet

Part Three: Supplements

If you're just joining us now, I urge you go back and read parts one and two before digging in with supplements. While starting with supplements may be a tempting easy fix, supplements alone won't get to the heart of the issue and cause healing. 

Holistic Tooth Care, Part Three: Supplements

As some of you know we're not supplement-crazy over here. I am not a fan of vitamin pills and prefer instead to nourish my family with healthy, whole foods that provide us the nutrients our bodies need.

That being said, there are a few supplements we keep on hand and rely on. And as we have worked our way through several healing crisis through the years, I find the same supplements often bring healing for a variety of conditions.

We have used the supplements below to heal everything from tooth decay to anxiety to eczema. (All of those things along with diet changes as well, of course.) I believe our modern diet – even as healthy as we can make it – is often lacking in the vital nutrients these supplements provide.

Here are the few that we do take, along with some options depending on your budget.

I have broken the supplements down into two groups below, "Vital Supplements" and "Good to Have". I suggest adding all that you can, but if you aren't up for the whole shebang then I suggest you begin by adding the supplements on the "Vital" list.

Vital Supplements for Tooth Health

Fermented Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil (best option)

The addition of fermented cod liver oil and butter oil to the diet to heal tooth decay is based on the work of Weston Price. They are a very available source of vitamins A, D, and K2 and are ideal for healing or maintaining healthy teeth.

Fermented cod liver oil (1 tsp/day)

The single most important supplement we have provided for our family is Green Pastures Fermented Cold Liver Oil (FCLO). We began taking FCLO when Lupine was at the peak of her tooth decay and along with daily bone broth supplements I feel this was a key step in stopping her decay.

It. Is. Expensive. But then so is dental work, so for our family we made it work. Yes, there are times we can't afford to restock. But we save up until we can and then try to keep a bottle on hand at all times. Buying with other families reduces the cost as well since Green Pastures offers a case discount.

I understand that this supplement isn't in everyone's budget to take, but if it is within your means buy some and start taking it immediately.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil differs from other fish oils in how the fats are extracted. Rather than using heat (which destroys the natural vitamins D and A found in the liver) they are extracted slowly using a natural fermentation process.

Substituting other fish oils will not achieve the same goal for healing teeth or slowing decay.

Butter oil (1 tsp/day)

At the same time that we added FCLO to our daily routine we also added Green Pastures Butter Oil. Also extracted without heat, Butter Oil provides a dose of K2 to the body, a vital nutrient that was only discovered recently.

K2 appears to be a key in healthy teeth, especially when used in conjunction with FCLO.

Butter oil is also pricey. If you can not purchase this supplement be sure to include plenty of fresh, raw grassfed dairy in your diet.

OR Vitamin D and K2 supplements (second best choice)

If FCLO and Butter Oil are out of your budget or if you simply can't stomach them, a second option is to supplement with the appropriate amounts of vitamins D and K2.

We tried Dental Essentials for Sage who found it much easier to take than the two oils above. Since his teeth are solid I was fine with him using this supplement but never used them for Lupine since she loved the FCLO and butter oil.

When I spoke with someone at Dental Essentials about the source of the vitamins in their tooth health supplements they were straightforward and told me that if our family could take the Green Pastures products that was idea, but if our kids struggled to take them (which Sage does) then their product was a great option.

I agree. While it is not a naturally sourced supplement, these vitamins are vital to tooth health and even a less than ideal delivery is a very good option for many families. (Especially if the FCLO and butter oil are out of your budget.)

A vitamin D level test might be prudent to determine your child's baseline as well.

Good Additions for Healthy Teeth

Magnesium

More than 80% of Americans are magnesium deficient – thanks to depleted soils, lifestyle choices, diet, and our health. (More on the reasons here.)

And while we think calcium equals health teeth and bones, magnesium is key for the absorption of calcium. They go hand in hand. Without magnesium you can't absorb that calcium! And if 80% of us are deficient, what does that say about the health of our teeth?

Magnesium Calm is a good choice for an oral magnesium supplement, but topical is best when dealing with tooth decay since Calm is slightly acidic and quite sweet. 

You can find my DIY Magnesium Oil recipe here.

Probiotics

In part two I outlined foods to add, including an abundance of live-fermented foods.

I list probiotics here as well because while we do not often supplement with one, for some families it is a more efficient way to ensure a child consumes enough gut-healthy flora.

When we take a probiotic in addition to eating live fermented foods, I prefer Bio-Kult and Three Lac.

Trace Minerals

Healthy teeth require more than just calcium and magnesium. Get a variety of trace minerals through a purchased supplement, or better yet by adding kelp to your diet and choosing unprocessed sea salt in place of table salt. (Himalayan pink salt or Celtic grey salt are both great choices.)

Calc Phos and Calc Fluor Cell Salts

Finally, we took the homeopathic cell salts calc phos and calc fluor. I honestly can not say if this worked, but it didn't hurt and was an easy supplement to add to our regiment.

Take three pellets each per day apart from food and dissolve under tongue.

And that, my friends, is what it takes! By setting in motion the steps outlined in all three posts in this series you can find tooth health again.

I know that we did.

: :

If you are dealing with a tooth crisis in your home I suggest you do a little homework now by reading this thread on Mothering.com. It will take you several days to work your way thorough (take your time) but it's absolutely rich with information that can help get your family moving in a healthy direction.

Please note: I am neither a dentist nor an expert. The information above is based on our unique experiences as a family, and is not intended as medical advice. Work together with a holistic dentist and find a course of action that works best for your family.

If this post left you with questions or a hunger for more information I suggest the book Cure Tooth Decay and this thread on Mothering.com.

I also strongly recommend Nourishing Traditions. While we don't follow a strictly Weston Price style diet any more, during our crisis it was immensely helpful. During our time of acute decay this book was an indispensable resource that helped us re-learn how to eat.

Another wonderful book to pick up to help you find a new relationship with food is Practical Paleo. So much wonderful information there on how our food choices effect our health.

None of the links above are affiliate links. Just my own opinions! I was not compensated for this post in any way.