Honey Strawberry Preserves

6 cups sliced strawberries
2 packages (1 3/4-ounce size) powdered pectin
1 3/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine strawberries and pectin in large saucepan; crush berries to blend completely. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in honey and lemon juice; return to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Skim off foam. Ladle into clean, hot canning jars to within 1/4 inch of tops. Seal according to manufacturer's directions.

Place jars on rack in canner. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath with boiling water 2 inches above jar tops. Remove jars from canner. Place on thick cloth or wire rack; cool away from drafts.

After 12 hours test lids for proper seal; remove rings from sealed jars.

Makes 3 pints.

Curry Pickles

Curry Pickles
Family recipe from Steve Hougland

36 med. pickling cukes-thinly sliced

pour boiling water over slices and let stand 3 hours
mix together in large kettle:

• 1 qt. vinegar
• 6 TB. Salt
• 6 cup sugar
• 2 TB. mustard seed
• 1 TB. Celery seed
• 1 TB. curry powder

Let come to a boil & add pickle slices - simmer until they turn translucent - do not boil.

Pack into pint jars and seal and process in waterbath canner for time recommended in your area.

Makes 14 pints.

juice

With my mini orchard started, I'm looking forward to the rewards of having fresh fruit at various times of the year. Like most people, I really enjoy fresh fruit, the satisfying crunch of an apple and the mellow flavors of blueberries. But, also like a lot of people, I also like the blends of juices that you can find at the grocery stores. I'm a huge fan of V8 fusion juices and others that are similar. I've found copy cat recipes all over for all sorts of juices but I came across this site on juice and the do's and don't's of it.

I never really knew that there were so many fruits and vegetables to be juiced! 38 fruits and 58 vegetables! I'm definitely looking forward to breaking out a juicer and trying out some of the recipes found on the site. There are quite a few and with the collection I already have from various places on the web, we'll be juicing like crazy. Which is not a bad thing. If it means the kids get their vegetables, then I'm all for it.

Cherry!

One of my favorite things is a cherry lime-ade. I just adore the drink and we make them all throughout the summer. I found a couple of recipes for home made cherry syrup.

2 lb Sugar
2 c Water -- up to 3 cups
1 lb Sour cherries
1/4 ts Vanilla

Use only a porcelain or enamel pan. Boil the sugar and water together for
15 to 20 minutes. Add the sour cherries and boil again gently another 20 to
30 minutes or until the syrup thickens. Strain the liquid into a bowl
through a cheesecloth, squeezing the cherries to extract all of the liquid.
Add the vanilla extract. Bottle.

Dried sour cherries may be used instead of fresh ones. They should be
soaked in cold water 6 hours or longer.

Will kept at room temperature as long as the bottle is sealed. Refrigerate
after opening.

Can be used as a topping for ice cream, mousses, bavarians or frozen
desserts.

To serve syrups, add a Tbsp to two to a glass, fill with cold or sparkling
water and ice.

MAKES: 1 bottle

OR

6 1/2 lbs fresh sour cherries, stemmed and pitted or 4 1/2 lbs pitted unsweetened frozen sour cherries
11 cups sugar
5 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 6 limes)

Directions

Puree the cherries in a blender or food processor in small batches. Run juice through a fine sieve, pressing hard to extract all the juice.

In a large saucepan, mix cherry juice with sugar, water and lime juice and bring to a boil, stirring consistently, until sugar dissolves.

Cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes, skimming off the foam that rises to the top with a slotted spoon.

Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring and skimming, until syrupy, about 1 hour.

Strain the syrup into jars and let cool completely before storing.

Canning Butter

Canning Butter

Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.

Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.

While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.

Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.

Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids "ping," shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.

At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.

Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. Canned butter does not "melt" again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

Freezing List

Since we're on the topic of prepare ahead meals and the things that can be frozen, I thought I'd add a list of vegetables that can be frozen.

Leafy vegetables such as cabbage, celery, cress, cucumbers, endive, lettuces, fresh herbs, radishes, to name just a few. They just don't freeze well at all. They come out limp and water-logged and squishy. Some potatoes don't freeze well either, they end up mealy and well, yucky.

This isn't to say that you couldn't experiment with some of these in various stages of leaf production or chopped or flash frozen (good luck getting the liquid nitrogen for that). It would really depend but the general rule of thumb is no.

In most all cases, you want to freeze small pieces of whatever you're attempting to freeze. Stick an entire bell pepper in the freezer and then pull it out to thaw and see what happens vs cutting one into strips. There is a huge difference. Smaller pieces face less cell damage from the freezing/thawing process. So make sure to cut it up.

A lot of spices don't do well in the ice box either. They end up with a stronger taste that can over power or they become bitter. Pepper, cloves, garlic, green pepper, imitation vanilla are examples. Stuff like onion and paprika just plain don't taste the same after they've thawed. And to make sure that we're clear, this is raw, not cooked.

Cooked spices can often change their habits when in foods that are frozen, one example is that salt can actually increase rancidity in high fat items on top if losing it initial flavor. Ahem, not that anyone here has a lot of high fat items hanging around the fridge.

As for canning: There are suitable foods for different types of canning.

Fruits suitable for canning: pears, peaches, apricots, apples, plums, pineapple, cherries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries.

Vegetables suitable for canning: peas, corn, carrots, asparagus, tomatoes beans, beets

But then we have another entirely different world, preserving.

Fruits suitable for preserving: strawberries, large currants, plums, quince, grapes, gooseberries, blackberries, cranberries

Then there are jams: strawberries, plums, elderberries, grapes, raspberries, cranberries, blackberries, currants

And marmalades: apricot, plums, peaches, apple - sweet, sour crabapple, cranberry, grapefruit, lemon, quince, orange, yellow tomato

Butters: crabapple, quince, apple, grape

Conserves: plums, oranges, and lemon plums, lemon, raisins grapes, lemon raisins, rhubarb figs, rhubarb peach, lemon, orange peach, currants, lemon pears, lemon, ginger root prunes, lemon, orange orange, grapefruit, lemon kumquat, orange cranberries, lemon, raisins nuts in combination with any of the above

Jelly: Usually made from juicy fruits: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, plums, currants, grapes. Then there are the ones that are less juicy but still suitable: peaches, apricots, quince, cranberries, apples - sweet, sour, crabapple.

Pickling fruits and vegetables: tomatoes - red, yellow, blackberries, cucumbers, peaches, pears, peppers - red, green, green beans, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, onions

Fruits suitable for spicing are: blackberries, peaches, pears, red tomatoes

Fruits suitable for salting are: cucumbers, large and small

Fruits suitable for drying are: currants, grapes, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, prunes, cranberries, apples - sweet, sour, tomato


This by no means a complete list and I have recipes for canning that defy some of these guidelines. It's really all in experimentation.

Lavender Jelly

Lavender Jelly

3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dried lavender flowers*
Juice of 1 lemon (approximately 1/4 cup)
1 (1 3/4-ounces) box powdered pectin or 1 pouch (3-ounces) liquid pectin
4 cups sugar

In a large saucepan over high heat bring water just to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in dried lavender flowers, and let steep for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, strain mixture into a deep kettle or pot, discarding the lavender flowers. Stir in lemon juice and pectin; continue stirring until the pectin is dissolved.

Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil; add sugar. When the jelly solution returns to a hard rolling boil, let it boil for 2 to 4 minutes (see below), stirring occasionally.

Boil Times:
2 minutes - soft gel
4 minutes - medium gel

After boiling, transfer the jelly into hot sterilized jars. Fill them to within 1/4 inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them.

Makes five 1/2 pints.

Deli-Style Kosher Dill Pickles

Deli-Style Kosher Dill Pickles

Per gallon jar:

8-10 cucumbers for pickling (a medium size)
1-large handful fresh dill with flower heads (or add 1/4 teaspoon dill seed if flower heads are missing)
4-6 large cloves of garlic, flattened Water
1/2-cup coarse kosher salt or pickling salt
4 teaspoons pickling spice (Blue Ribbon, or other)
1-2 large bay leaves

1. Pack each gallon jar with cucumbers, sprinkling salt between each layer.

2. Add pickling spice, salt, dill (dill heads) and bay leaves.

3. Fill jar with water but leave two inches of room for brine to form.You may prepare this in large crocks (something non-reactive) and then transfer to glass jars when finished.

4. Weigh cucumbers down to keep submerged and cover.

5. After 2-3 days, remove scum (if any has formed)

6. Let ferment 3 more days and check for doneness by cutting off a slice of one cucumber.

7. Once they are fermented to the right stage (to taste), transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate. Ferment longer (12-20 days) for pungent sour pickles

Note:Real deli-style Kosher pickles have no vinegar added in the process unlike regular dills. They get their bite from fermentation. Just like when you go to the grocery store and see pickles in the refrigerated section, these pickles must be kept in the fridge. The fermenting will continue unabated if you don't stop it by putting them in the refrigerator. The cold greatly slows down the fermentation but won't stop it completely. It will continue to age but at a much slower rate. There is only one thing to do to stop the aging. EAT THEM ! Enjoy !

Chili Sauce

Chili Sauce

2-cups sweet red peppers, chopped
2-cups chopped onions
24-large tomatoes (4 quarts peeled, cored, chopped)
1-tsp. ground allspice
1-tbsp salt
1 1/4-cup vinegar
1 1/2-cup sugar
1-tbsp celery seed
1-tsp ground ginger
1-tsp ground cinnamon
1-tsp ground cloves

1. Combine and add all ingredients to a heavy saucepan or cast iron skillet.

2. Bring to a boil and simmer 1 to 2 hours or till desired thickness has been reached. Stir often to prevent sticking

3. Pack hot jars with hot prepared tomato mixture leaving 1/2-inch headspaceRemove air bubbles. Wipe rim and screw threads and adjust lids and screw bands.

4. Place jars in Boiling Water Bath Canner 1/2 Pints 15 minutes Pints 15 minutes

5. After processing, remove jars immediately, place on a rack to cool.Test for Seal.Makes about 6 pints

BBQ Sauce for Canning

BBQ Sauce for Canning
Basic mild BBQ sauce with hint of a bite. Intended for canning.

25 cups quartered ripe tomatoes
1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
2 onions, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, minced
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

1 Cook tomatoes and vinegar until soft.

2 Chop fine.

3 Return to pan.

4 Add other ingredients.

5 Bring to boil.

6 Cook until thick.

7 Ladle into hot jars.

8 Leave 1/2 inch head space.

9 Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes

Blueberry Syrup

Blueberry Syrup

Makes about 3 (16 oz) pints

You will need:
8 cups blueberries , crushed (about 3-1/2 lb)
6 cups water, divided
1 Tbsp lemon zest
3 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 (16 oz) pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

1.) COMBINE blueberries, 2 cups of the water and lemon zest in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.

2.) TRANSFER to a dampened jelly bag or a strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip, undisturbed, for at least 2 hours.

3.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.

4.) COMBINE sugar and remaining 4 cups water in a clean large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, and cook until temperature reaches 230°F, adjusting for altitude. Add blueberry juice. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

5.) LADLE hot syrup into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

6.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

Blueberry Grand Marnier Jam

1 1/2 quarts blueberries (5 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
7 cups sugar
2 packages liquid pectin
1/4 cup Grand Marnier

Directions

1 Place blueberries in large pot.
2 Add water and lemon juice.
3 Mash slightly.
4 Let stand 10 minutes.
5 Add sugar and mix well.
6 Place over high heat, being to full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
7 Remove from heat.
8 Stir in pectin and liqueur.
9 Stir and skim for 5 minutes.

Basil Tomatoes

Basil Tomatoes

10 lbs tomatoes
6-10 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped
bottled lemon juice

Directions

1 Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 45 seconds.

2 Plunge in cold water, peel, core and quarter.

3 Put 4 cups wedges in a pan and crush.

4 Quickly heat to boiling.

5 Add the rest of the tomatoes and bring to a boil.

6 Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring frequently.

7 Remove from heat and add basil.

8 Stir well.

9 Put 1 T. lemon juice in each sterilized pint jar or 2 T. lemon juice in each sterilized quart jar.

10 Ladle tomatoes into jars leaving 1/2 inch head space.

11 Remove bubbles, seal, and process 35 minutes for pints, 45 minutes for quarts.

12 If freezing product leave 1 1/2 inch head space, seal and freeze.

Black Raspberry Jam

Black Raspberry Jam

Makes about 8 (8 oz) half pints

You will need:

3-1/2 cups crushed black raspberries (about 5 pints)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 3-oz pouch Ball Liquid Fruit Pectin
1/2 tsp butter or margarine, optional
7 cups sugar
8 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.

2.) COMBINE prepared berries with lemon juice and sugar in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Add up to 1/2 tsp butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring frequently.

3.) ADD pectin, immediately squeezing entire contents from pouch. Continue hard boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

4.) LADLE hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

5.) PROCESS jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

Canning Labels

I just love stuff like this. Free canning labels print offs.

http://alenkasprintables.com/free_labels.shtml

http://asonomagarden.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/canning-lids-download/

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/acProject?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&extcat=labelscovers&project=canninglabelsandgifttags

http://www.graphicgarden.com/files17/eng/print/labels1e.php

http://rainbowrowgraphics.com/printables/canning%20labels/index.html

http://www.morriscookbooks.com/cc/cc.asp

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!

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!