09.17.08
Posted in Canning and Preserving, conserve
at 12:00 am
It’s time for the Saint Mary’s County Fair again. I can not wait. Again this year I am doing multiple entries. I am entering my Bread and Butter Pickles,my blue ribbon winning Peach Preserves, Light Apple Butter, and finally Peach Walnut Conserve. I don’t know if I stand a chance this year but I just enjoy entering and seeing all the different items people enter. I especially love seeing the decorated cakes. Some of the cake just blow me away. The on that won Best in Show last year looked like something you would see on Ace of Cakes. It was fantastic. The cake looked like a hay ride wagon filled with the summers bounty. It was beautiful. I wish I had a photo of it to share with ya’ll. But the camera just would not work for me. I am a better cook than I am a photographer.
I will know tomorrow if I placed anywhere this year. Hopefully I can work the camera this year so I can share the fair with ya’ll.
Here is my recipe for Peach Walnut Conserve.
Peach Walnut Conserve:
4-6 lb. peaches
1 cup sugar to 1 cup of peaches
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 rind and juice of lemon
1 package Certo to jell
6 pint jars for canning
1 large pot, enamel is not good
Peel and slice peaches and measure by cup. Add equal amount of sugar to peaches. Add rind and juice of lemon, and bring to a boil until foam starts. Turn down to low and cook until fruit starts to clear. Turn off and add Certo and nuts and place in hot jars; seal. Process in a water bath for 20 minutes.
Have a great day.
Hope to see ya’ll real soon.
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08.10.08
Posted in Canning and Preserving
at 12:00 am
This is one vegetable I do not think I will ever try to can again. I will probably always freeze my fresh corn.
Let me explain why. I had put up about 25 quarts of corn in one afternoon. I was pretty darn proud of myself for getting it all done in one day as I had the two boys needing mommy’s attention several times that afternoon along with several phone calls but I had gotten it all done.I decided to put the lovely jars of corn on my dining room table to cool as there were so many. The boys and I then went out for pizza.
When we got home we decide to watch movies in the family room which was just off the dining room. Well to make a long story short as we were watching the movie I kept hearing this pop, pop, pop, sound. At first I did not worry about it as I thought it might be other kids playing outside. Then I realized it was coming from my dining room. Needless to say I ran to the dining room only to find out my corn was EXPLODING it was going everywhere. I had one heck of a mess to clean up. To this day I have no clue as to why my corn EXPLODED but it did and I have never canned corn since. I just freeze it.
So here is my canning method I used oh so many years ago. Maybe one of you can figure out what I did wrong in the canning process.
CANNING WHOLE KERNEL CORN:
Corn from garden
Salt
Boiling water
Pint jars (canning)
Lids & rims
Pressure cooker
Remove husks, silk and wash corn. Cut corn off the cob and rinse. While removing the silks from the corn, wash and sterilize pint jars (enough for corn you have). Pack hot jars loosely with raw corn. Cover with boiling water. Leave 1 inch head space. Add 1 teaspoon salt if desired. Be sure to wipe top of jar clean. Adjust hot lids and rims. Process in pressure cooker for 55 minutes. Reduce pressure normally.
My freezing method was posted earlier so check it out also.
This is a recipe that I truly love to use fresh corn with. I hope ya’ll enjoy it.
Fresh Corn Fritters
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups whole-kernel or cream-style corn, cut from cob
2 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons onion, minced
1/4 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pepper to taste
Heat the oil to 375degrees in a skillet or fryer. In a bowl, combine the corn, egg yolks and onion. Mix well. Add the sifted flour, salt, baking powder and pepper. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the corn mixture. Drop the mixture by teaspoonfuls into the hot oil. Cook fritters until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot. Makes about 2 dozen.
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08.06.08
Posted in Canning and Preserving
at 12:00 am
As fall approaches, so does harvest time. Your green beans are just about ready, but what to do with the bushels you’ll bring inside? Canning is one option, as is freezing, and of course, eating! There is nothing better than fresh green beans. I could eat green beans with every meal, every day of the year. I do not really like to can green beans because I really don’t can green beans all that well. I prefer to freeze my green beans but decided to share my canning technique with ya’ll. I hope some of ya’ll give this a try.
Canning
Sort and snip or string, if necessary. Leave whole or cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Place precut whole or cut beans in boiling water until pliable (2 to 5 minutes). Pack hot into jars, standing the whole beans on ends or packing cut beans up to the beginning of the jars neck.. Add salt (1/2 teaspoon for pint jars, 1 teaspoon for quarts). Cover beans in each jar with boiling water or cooking liquid, leaving 1/2 to 3/4 inch head space. Seal.
To pack raw, use pieces cut no larger than 1 inch. Pack tightly into jars up to the beginning of the jars neck. Add salt and boiling liquid as directed for hot pack.
Place jars in pressure cooker which has 1/2-gallon of hot water in it. Be sure to fasten cooker lid on good. Place on burner. Bring pressure up to 10 degrees, pressure for 25 minutes. Turn off fire. Let cool down to zero.
Open the pressure gauge to let off the steam. Be very careful when opening cooker. The heat coming from inside the pressure cooker is very hot, it can burn you.
Freezing
Wash and snap off ends. Cut in 1 inch pieces, or cut lengthwise. Blanch 2 to 3 minutes. Chill. Pack in plastic freezer bags.
Old-Fashioned Green Beans:
6 bacon strips cut in half
2 lbs fresh green beans
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar
In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add beans, brown sugar and water. Stir gently; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Remove to a serving bowl with a slotted spoon.
I hope ya’ll drop me a line and let me know how your canning has gone this season. We love hearing from ya’ll.
Hope to see ya’ll soon.
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