Lavender Ice Cream

Fresh Lavender Ice Cream

2 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup sugar
4 cups light cream
1/4 tsp. salt 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 handful fresh Lavender angustifolia flowers*

*The deeper the colour of your Lavender flowers, the more colour your ice cream will have. I use our deepest coloured "Hidcote " Sweet Lavender. Pick when just freshly opening, not older over bloom for the freshest taste.

Gently heat the milk and fresh Lavender together. Do not boil.

Strain out the Lavender & stir in the salt & sugar while still hot.

Stir in vanilla extract & cream.

Chill immediately, minimum 2 hours.

Churn or process as your ice cream maker directs, then skip to step #8.OR by hand follow steps #6 & #7~

Pour mixture into a stainless steel bowl and place in your freezer.

Every 15 minutes, whisk or beat until icy or thickened.

In the last few minutes or just before you remove from the ice cream maker: sprinkle in a few fresh florets of Lavender! Fresh raspberries an option or Lemon peel zest.

PS: Dried angustifolia Sweet Lavender can be used, try 3 Tbsp. and add when milk is already heated, time 5 minutes, strain immediately. Then follow as above. Over steeping with dried Lavender makes the taste bitter & the colour grey. If you like a stronger Lavender flavour, use 4-5 Tbsp. dried Sweet Lavender.

Zucchini Crisps

1/3 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsps Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
dash garlic powder
4 small unpeeled zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1/4 cup melted butter

Combine crumbs, cheese and seasonings; place in a plastic bag. Dip zucchini strips in butter and shake in the crumbs to coat. Place on a baking sheet; bake5F for 10 minutes or til crisp. 4 servings.

Oh and by the way...

The second Carnival of Home Preserving is out. You can find it listed on the Quiverfull Family blog page. I am very excited about being apart of a second one! So make sure to have a look at the other tips and recipes over there!

Busy busy bee

If I get any busier I'm going to bust! Once again I'm coming home to presents on my door knob. I just adore my neighbor. So much to do so little time! Going to getting some tomato relish made again this year and I'm still trying to figure out new and interesting ways of cooking zucchini. The ones he is bringing me are just monstrous. So lots of Parmesan zucchini crisps and such. I'll have to get some of that stuff posted here. Give me some time I'll be back!

Tomato Relish

I grew up on tomato relish and last year I made an incredible batch of them. We canned 12 pints and I put together some smaller jars for folks I work with. And I got good reviews. Good mostly because in the area I live, no one knew what it was. I had to explain. But it is really good, especially with a big batch of black eyed peas or purple hull peas and cornbread! Or to eat with fried okra. It was a hard transition I had to make eating salsa with my fried okra because I was far away from home. But no more!

30 large tomatoes
10 large yellow onion (or something with more bite if you prefer)
5 large green bell peppers
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground allspice
3 tbs salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups cider vinegar

Peel and seed (or leave the seeds to have that bitter flavor if you prefer) tomatoes. Chop tomatoes, onions and peppers. Combine with rest of ingredients and cook on medium to low heat for several hours until relish turns a deep red color and is very thick. Spoon into sterile jars and seal. This is excellent on hamburger patties, leftover roast and black eyed peas. It can be made with canned tomatoes, about 7 (28 oz.) cans of a good brand, frozen chopped onions and green peppers.

Yield: 6 to 8 half pints.

Because my neighbor was hanging grocery bags on my back door, I only had to purchase the onions, the rest was given to me because he'd had about enough!

My husband discovered it was awesome putting in a roast with potatoes and carrots, the relish made a tangy addition to the same ole boring roast. And adding more flavor to the party is always a great thing.

The awesome thing about making and canning your own foods is that you know exactly went into them. There is something truly magical about slicing up vegetables to create something magnificent. Especially this recipe. It doesn't take as long to do this as it has other canning project's I've done throughout my life. This would be a tasty one for beginners because it is so easy, there is just a lot of prep work.

After we set it up, I popped open a can one night while making purple hull peas and I drizzled the relish over some zucchini as I gave the greens a good run in a pan. It was delicious!

If anyone decides to take on this little adventure, let me know how it works out, I'd love to see comments!