Thinking out loud

Apples provide such memories for me - beautiful fall days building forts while my mom made apple pies to freeze, my grandmother's fantastic apple butter (why did no one get her recipe before she passed) and family trips to the apple orchard.  Woodman, the girls and I go to the apple orchard every year - this is a tradition we began a few years ago when Woodman and I were dating - the orchard is only about 10 miles from our home - but this year we just didn't make it.  It has been one heck of a year!  So with some apples from my former in-laws, Woodman decided to make "Spiced Apple Rings".  I was skeptical, I don't like cinnamon candy or gum, and vinegar and apples do not belong together but I was willing to give it a try.  These were VERY good.  I am surprised but I really like them.  Woodman is not completely happy with the color, he expected much brighter red but I think they are fine.  Pics to come soon. Spiced Apple Rings 12 pounds firm t...

Can jam October was Peppers. It just so happened that I grew peppers this year. Some beautiful California Goldens, some Bulgarian Carrot Peppers, and some Scotch Bonnets.... all of which were pretty wimpy after the initial batch of peppers, which was back in July. But then, about three weeks ago, all three plants turned white with blooms, the Carrot Pepper, which had fallen victim to a tomato caterpillar, had sprouted new leaves and blossoms. The Californian Golden, which seemed to be on a swivel at ground level finally took root and was holding itself up! And the Scotch Bonnets were bushing up and out quite well and actually had new peppers already growing. None of those peppers are in this recipe. I have several green peppers out there in my pots, but all three of these pepper varieties turn orange when ripe, and not one is even close. They are in containers and I watch the weather, so I'll get those suckers. Anyway, DD and I were at the Farmer's Market, one of the las...

So, first I had to figure out how the hell I was going to get a some fruit to smoke pot. Ok, we tried three different recipes this time. We managed to score 25 pounds of peaches for 20 bucks, which we thought was pretty good; until DD found 50 pounds for 20 bucks. We also scored a bushel of tomatoes at the same time. And the cukes were finishing up, so it was pickle time again, as well as starting another batch of sauerkraut. After 8 quarts of spaghetti sauce, using a safer recipe, 8 pints of salsa, 4 pints of pickle relish, several random jars of pickles, and a 2 gallon jar of kraut it was time to look at the peaches. We did canned peaches in light syrup (6 pints), canned peaches in extra light syrup (6 Pints), canned pickled peaches (6 Pints), and peach butter (4 pints), and peach jam 12 jelly jars and 3 pint jars worth. Oh, and we ate some peaches too. Pickled Peaches 2 pounds of sugar 2 cups of white vinegar 2 T whole cloves 2 sticks of cinanananamon 4 quarts peaches...

My wife just asked me why the dog is in the last post..... Can anyone really look at that picture and wonder why I put the dog in these? Anyway, I have a container garden of peppers, used to have some tomatoes but they all died. Indiana is experiencing it's second year of blight since 1994, so almost all of my maters and about half of DD's are gone. No Green Zebras, no Mr. Stripeys, no Pineapple Tomatoes, just Black Plums, Rinaldos, German Johnsons, Whoppers, a few Pink Brandywines, and Golden Cherries. My peppers were doing quite well, I lost my habanero peppers a while back, bad soil and I think not enough water. My California Goldens are doing really well, my scotch bonnets are doing well. But, my hottest peppers are my Bulgarian Carrot Peppers, which fell victim to a evil caterpillar 5 hours and the whole thing was gone. I have three leaves and 4 peppers left, so I'll hope to get at least the last ones out. Oddest thing I realized, all our surviving peppers th...

While I do not have a glut of tomatoes, I am overfilled with peppers so what to do?  My family would never forgive me if I did not can lots of salsa!  They LOVE it.  My 17 year old even has her best friend bringing me tomatoes so I can "can" her some for when she is over there.  Seriously, this is some fantastic salsa and since there is concern over my Dried Tomatoes in Oil, I thought I would post this as well.  I have only canned two batches so far but I know this weekend the expectation is for much more! Sassy Salsa 10 cups tomatoes peeled and chopped 3/4 cup green pepper, chopped 3/4 cup banana pepper, chopped 3/4 cup onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic minced 1 tablespoon salt Mix all items in a heavy pot and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until desired thickness (about 1/2 to 1 hour).  Pour into hot, sterilized jars, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice per jar, seal.  Hot water bath can 10 minutes .Apparently this is not safe either f...

Tomatoes are a beautiful thing.  Are they veggies?  Are they fruit?  No matter they are delicious and can be used everywhere - in salad, sauce, salsa or simply sliced with fresh mozz cheese, basil and a little balsamic vinegar.  So again, we are faced with a choice, what to can for the can jam?  After much thought I settled on Dried Tomatoes in Oil, From Sensational Preserves (Hilaire Walden) 4 1/2 pounds fleshy, ripe tomatoes sea salt virgin olive oil Preheat the oven to the lowest setting.  Line the bottom of the oven with foil to protect it from drips from the tomatoes. Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and scoop out the seeds using a teaspoon.  As each tomato half is ready, place it, cut side down, on a wire rack, spacing them slightly apart. Sprinkle salt very lightly on each tomato half, then place them, cut side down, on a wire rack, spacing them slightly apart. Put the racks in the oven and prop the door very slightly ajar with a skew...

This months can jam was a challenge and a joy.  I LOVE pickles - you know the "real" ones made from cucumbers so when I saw the theme was cucurbits I was ecstatic.  Boy did I have a lot to learn.  I had no idea that cucurbits included not only cucumbers but squash and melon as well.  Well this opened new doors to me.  I started the search for the perfect can jam item.  Did I find it?  Well, Woodman can answer that.  I have often wanted to try Watermelon Rind Pickles.  There is something about making use of something I am just going to throw away that really appeals to me.  We had a watermelon on hand, the girls love them and eat tons this time of year, so guess what we had for dessert?  Of course the girls thought I was a little nuts when I wouldn't let them throw the garbage away.  I got my recipe from one of my favorite standbys.  At first glance, it seems a little intimidating and time consuming.  In reality much o...