Nature's bounty...

I thoroughly enjoy cooking, baking and preserving food. There's nothing like eating summer fruits and vegetables in the middle of winter.  This is a good thing because my family LOVES to eat. One of my husband's favorite sweets is blackberry jam. He is not a big breakfast person but offer him bacon and french toast w/ blackberry jam and he's at the table before you say it's time to eat.

We have a small patch of blackberry bushes by the barn but not quite enough for making jam or cobbler. But plenty for picking as you go by, enjoying on some ice cream or by themselves. So I put a request on facebook and got a wonderful response. The next day my son and I went picking and WOW did we hit paydirt. We filled up half a bucket within an hour and a half. If Jon would have put all the one's he picked in the bucket instead of his mouth we probably would have had another quart or two...haha.

The Ball Blue Book has a very simple recipe for jam. It's simply berries and sugar. Wash the berries in cold water and remove any bad ones or leaves. Crush your berries and mix them with the sugar. Cook it to gel stage and them process it in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Remove to a towel and wait for that tell-tale "pop".  Sooo good! When my husband tried it he said it was better than Smuckers. From one recipe I got 10 small jelly jars and 2 larger ones...and for only the cost of the sugar.

 

                                      

Jon had football practice BEFORE we went picking. Within 10 minutes of walking in the door he was sound asleep on the couch. And stayed there for well over an hour.

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere...

Ahhh, autumn!!! My favorite season! The falling leaves crunching under my feet, juicy apples ripe for the picking, the warm sun followed by the cool evenings made for sleeping...what's not to love. And of course, the foods of fall; apple dumplings, pumpkin pie, caramel apples, pumpkin cookies, roasted vegetable medleys...I could go on and on.

I enjoy canning todays treats for winter and early spring consumption when 'cabin fever' is making us all a little glum. My family love many treats made from pumpkin. Hubby's favorite is pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (acquired from my 1995 Country Woman magazine), the kids love pumpkin cookies and I just love anything pumpkin...even when roasting them I take frequent tastes...to ensure goodness, of course.

Preserving pumpkin is probably one of the easiest things I can, and inexpensive too.  Our local farm markets usually have small pumpkins, usually labeled pie pumpkins. Locally they are .29 a pound. I purchased 20 pounds and netted 22 cups of roasted flesh.  When you get your pumpkins home you will want to wash them, remember they are grown in a field :-)

Then I use a serated knife to cut them in half and scrape out the seeds. I seperated alot of the seeds out and after washing them in a strainer coated them with salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven til dried...my sons favorite. After all the pumpkins are halved and cleaned place them cut side down in a jelly roll style pan that has a layer of water in it.  The water keeps them from drying out...you can add to the pan while they are cooking. Be careful not to have too much water so when you pull them from the oven the hot liquid doesn't spill and burn you.

I roast them at 350° until they are soft and you can pierce them with a fork. I would estimate 45 min to an hour. Remove them and allow to cool a bit. They will be mushy and very easy to scrape the flesh away from the rind/skin. You can use a potato masher or blender or food processor to obtain the smoothness you prefer.

Now you only need to decide what to turn your puree into and for me the list is long. I made cookies and muffins, canned several pints and froze some for pumpkin roll at holiday time (premessured for the recipe). You could also mix some puree with some brown sugar and put in a baking dish, top it with marshmallows and bake until lightly golden for a healthy and delicious side dish.

Before the season is over I will be roasting more delicious pumpkins. Thank you for stopping by.

What's your favorite food of the season?

Preseving summer...

I haven't had the time to can very much in the last couple of years.  So, I am taking advantage this year.  I made a trip to White House Fruit Farm yesterday to see what all local produce they had availabl.  Boy was I surprised!  They already had beautiful purple beets by the peck, prickly cucumbers overflowing their baskets and tender string and wax beans pile high in their bin. They also had, not only the classic Bing cherry, but some shiny yellow/pink Ranier's as well.  Less than 20 minutes and my cart was overflowing with goodies.

I know some people wonder why I can.  I hear..."but you can buy pickles at the store" or "you're not saving any money" or "that's so much work".  Yes it is alot of work, but I enjoy not only the process and hearing that distinct "pop" but seeing the look on my family and friends faces in the middle of winter when they taste a beet that 'tastes' like a beet.  Or my kids rationing their pickles to make the last until next year. (you see they could eat a quart a day, seriously...and we won't even talk about the peppers).

For those of you who have never canned I will give you a very basic (shortened version) tutorial.

The two most common sizes are pints and quarts coming in regular or wide mouth size.  I have come to prefer wide mouth.  They are easier to clean, pack and get the goodies out of later.  I have also recenty developed a fascination for the half-gallon sized jar.  I actually saw some at the vegetable market, so I must not be the only one.  However, I found they do NOT fit into a regular sized canner.  The two most important words in canning are...HOT and CLEAN.  Those two ingredients are essential for safely preserving your bounty.  Along with your jars you will need 2-piece lids, they consist of the lid and the ring.  You can reuse the rings...you CANNOT reuse the lids.

You will also need a canner w/ rack, wide-mouth funnel and jar tongues...a Ball Blue Book is a great idea as well...I still use mine.  Now all you need is water and your bounty.  Some recipes are very involved and require alot of time. i.e. pickles, chutneys, jams  Other recipes are basic without a whole lot of preparation.  For example beets.  Just wash them and boil them until the skins come off (and they slide right off) then you slice them to your desired size or leave them whole, pack in jars with a little salt, pour boiling water over and process.

Process...I know...what's that?!  After you have your bounty packed in their jars with their lids and rings on.  Ooops, almost forgot...warm up your lids in a small pan of HOT water.  This softens up the rubber ring so they will conform to the jar and seal.  Now put your jars into your canning rack in your canner that's about 1/2 full of water.  Water level will change depending on if your using pints or quarts and how many.  I usually start with 1/2 full and then add after my jars are submerged. AFTER the water comes to a boil you start your timer for however long the directions say, usually anywhere from 15 to 35 minutes.  When the timer goes off, life out your jars, place on a towel and wait for the "pop"...this sound tells you the jars have sealed...and that's a good thing!  That "pop" can take several minutes to an hour, so don't panic.  As the jar cools it pulled down the lid, so it does take a little time.

That's basically all there is to hot water bath canning.  This is a great tool for people with health issues or those wanting to eat organic.  You control the ingredients.  Say you are watching your sodium...if you make beets don't put any salt.  Or diabetic...you control the sugar.  While there are some recipes you have to follow to a T, most have some room for playing (those are my favorite). 

Canning can also be a holiday saver..REALLY!  I like canning my own pumpkin puree.  We enjoy not only pie but bread, muffins and cookies made from pumpkin. Last year there was NO pumpkin on the shelves of local grocery stores due to some flooding down south.  My family did not have to go without their pumpkin goodies! And afterall, what would Thanksgivng be without pumpkin pie?!

From a time gone by...

My Mom always says I was born with an old soul. And I think she's right! My favorite show EVER is The Walton's. I would've loved to live back then. Maybe it comes from growing up with my Grandparents on the same property. I watched them can vegetables from the garden, keep the woods/pasture as clean as the house and keep the house warm (toasty warm) with coal and wood. I enjoy all of those things today. OK, maybe not getting the wood ready for the woodburner :) I really enjoy canning. Crazy, huh?! It's very rewarding. I planted one 79¢ bean packet, grew 3 healthy rows of beans and got 15 pints plus a few side dishes made straight from the garden. As an added bonus, my kids love to snack on raw beans, much healthier than chips.