Spiced Pickled Beets

To say that I love pickled beets would be an understatement. I could devour an entire jar by myself and not feel an ounce of guilt for those that missed out.

I know this, because I have. Oops.

This recipe is from my Mister's grandmother, who passed along the recipe to me shortly before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Getting a recipe from Grandma Barbara was more than just a score for the recipe book.

It meant that she liked you.

~Spiced Pickled Beets~

 

~The Players~

 

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 t. ground cloves

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. ground allspice

fresh beets, greens removed

 

Wash the beets. Place in large pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and cook until beets are soft, but not mushy. Remove from stove and place beets in sink full of iced water to remove skins.

 

Heather & Mandie at the end of peeling 25#'s of beets~I'm thinking about getting another 25#'s just for Heather!☺

 

 In a separate pot, mix together the sugar, water, vinegar, and spices. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until ready to use.

 

Cut large beets in half, then quarter. Small beets can remain whole or be halved. Place beets in wide mouth jars. Pour hot brine over beets (leave an inch of headspace) and use a butter knife to remove air bubbles. Add more brine if necessary to cover beets. Wipe rims and place 2-piece canning lid/ring on jars.

 

Process in hot water bath canner; 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts. 

 

Remove from canner and allow to cool for 12 hours before removing rings and storing.

This post is linked to Laura Williams' Musings: Carnival of Home Preserving.

 

 

Mixed Berry Jam

When I was a little girl, my favorite meal was peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I could have eaten them all day, every day if allowed. It wasn't until I became a teenager and had to go strawberry picking that my love for those PB&J sandwiches dwindled. (So I could buy my own $40/pair jeans. Intelligence is NOT a virtue. Thankfully.) Seriously, what was my mother thinking sending me strawberry jam? It was cruel I tell ya.

After the Mister & I got hitched, it took a couple of years before the Betty Crocker Gene kicked in. During those years, I relied on store-bought jam. Now, if that's all you can do, so be it, but making jam at home is so simple, there's really no excuse not to. Unless you don't like jam. But that's just silly. Everybody likes jam.

Please don't tell me otherwise, this is my own little bubble.

Back to jam. It is good. And with berries at their peak, it's time to make some!

This recipe uses Clear Jel instead of pectin. You can use pectin, just follow the directions on the box. I'm using the Clear Jel for a couple of reasons.

1. It's very inexpensive.

2. It's simple.

Clear Jel is derived from corn starch and is used commercially in bakeries. One of the advantages of using the Clear Jel instead of pectin is that it requires less sugar. It's also easier to tell if the jam is setting up properly. The only problem with the Clear Jel is that it has to be mixed with the sugar before adding it to the berry mixture as it doesn't dissolve very well on its own. Or so I read. Instead of testing that theory, I just went with it and it worked. Beautifully, I might add. Clear Gel can be found in stores that sell canning equipment, or online.

~The Players~

4 cups crushed mixed berries (I used raspberries, wild blackberries, blueberries, and a couple strawberries that didn't find their way into a certain 12 year old's mouth.)

1/4 cup lemon juice

7 Tb. Clear Jel

1-1/2 cup sugar

Add the lemon juice to the berry mixture. Combine the Clear Jel with 1/4 cup sugar.

Add sugar/Clear Jel mixture to the berries and stir well.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the remaining 1-1/4 cup sugar and continue to cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and pour into jars. Wipe rims and place 2 piece lids on, securing tightly. Process in hot water bath for 10 minutes. 

Makes 3 pints or 6 half-pints.

This post is linked to Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesdays and
Laura Williams' Carnival of Home Preserving.  

when life gives you pineapples, can 'em!

Last week, our local Fred Meyer (Kroger, to others) had an incredible sale on whole pineapple. (10 for $10!) Since I'm an opportunist when it comes to sales, I grabbed the limit of 10 and high-tailed it home before the store managers had a chance to rescind their offer. The problem with opportunists in the grocery store is that most of us are impulse buyers too. I had 30 lbs. of pineapple and no idea what to do with it all.

Once home, I learned that after the rind is removed, pineapple can be frozen, dried, or canned to preserve it. Since our freezer is full of strawberries (in tubs for wine making), I opted for canning the pineapple. Because of it's high acid content, pineapple doesn't need lemon juice and can be canned in a light sugar syrup. Pineapple juice could probably be used, but I didn't have any and wanted to stick with a proven recipe. (If anyone has tried this, please let me know for any future pineapple buying opportunities.☺)

To can pineapple:

In a medium saucepan, mix 2-1/4 cups organic sugar with 5-1/4 cups water. Heat to boiling; reduce to simmer until needed.

Carefully cut the top and bottom of the pineapple off. You can use a pineapple cutter/corer, or you can do it old-school like I do by using a sharp knife and cutting the rind off in a downward motion. Remove the pineapple away from the core by cutting down in 4 sections. (I save the cores and dehydrate them. They can be used to flavor kombucha or tea later!) Cut the pineapple in chunks (or if using a corer, they can be left in rings) and add to a wide mouth pint jar. Leave an inch of head-space at the top of the jar.

Ladle the hot sugar syrup over the pineapple and use a butter knife to remove air bubbles. (Just swirl it around.) Wipe the rim and place hot lids with rings on top. Screw down tight. Place in hot water (boiling) bath canner and process for 15 minutes for pints; 20 for quarts. Remove from canner and let the jars cool before storing in a cool, dark area. Refrigerate and use any that do not seal within a couple of days.

For the record, 10 whole pineapples yields approximately 24 pints of canned pineapple chunks. Not bad for $10!☺

This post is linked to Laura Williams' Carnival of Home Preserving.

Spiced Applesauce~Chunky Style

Jars of spiced and unsweetened applesauce

It's apple season again, which means that it's time to make applesauce. I've always assumed that everyone knew how to make applesauce, but was recently informed that that's not true. It's surprising to me because saucing apples is about as American as apple pie, just a whole lot easier.

There are many ways to make applesauce. Some like it smooth, with just a hint of apple-y sweetness, while others prefer chunky with the added bonus of a little spice.

I'm the latter. I mean, I prefer the latter, not that I was identifying with the latter.

Because that would be weird.

And I'm already weird enough.

Back to applesauce since I'm clearly not having one of "those moments".

On our way to hunting camp, we passed through a little town by the name of Naches, which is known for their apples. Maybe not as well known as its neighboring town of Yakima, but since we were already driving down their main street, we stopped. And since their main street is also the highway, we knew we wouldn't get lost on some weird little side-street.

Because then we'd have to stop to ask for directions which would almost be worse than my Mister being caught by one of his buddies holding my purse in the bra section of Sears.

Or so I've been told.

Since October is the peak of apple harvesting, but the ending of the fruit stand sales, we were able to pick up boxes of apples for $5/piece.

How could we not buy all that they had? (Actually, we left 2 boxes just in case another family was passing through on their way to hunting camp. I think that was down-right kind of us, don't you?)

Needless to say, I've been making applesauce. And a lot of it. My plan is to try and stay one step ahead of this little one.

Emily likes her applesauce mixed with yogurt.

So far, Em's keeping up pretty good!☺

~Nana's Applesauce~

~The Players~

32 large apples (Any apples or a combination of favorites!)

1/2 cup water

juice of 2 lemons

3/4 cup sucanat*

1 Tb. ground cinnamon

1/2-1 t. ground nutmeg

2 t. pure vanilla extract

Optional: Vanilla beans from 2 or 3 beans

Peel and core apples. Cut into large chunks and place in large stainless steel cooking pot. Add water and lemon juice.

Cook covered until tender, about 30 minutes.

Using a potato masher, carefully mash apples. Do this slowly so you don't get burned!

Add sucanat, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir until sucanat dissolves.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. If using vanilla beans, add them now.

Spoon into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Wipe rim and seal. Process in water bath canner for 20 minutes. (Wait for water to boil!)

~OR~

Spoon applesauce into freezer containers, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Store in freezer up to 1 year.

~OR~

Spoon applesauce into bowls. Add yogurt and enjoy!

I have it on good authority that that way is best.☺

*I use sucanat because it gives the applesauce a molassesy flavor. You could use brown sugar or white if you prefer.

Spiced Pickled Beets

Before I share this recipe, I need to apologize for my photography skills.

And by skills, I really mean, lack of.

Apparently, red beets + sunny day + flash on a digital camera = with the naked eye, you're just begging for permanent eye damage. These pictures require a pair of sunglasses with a valid seal of approval from the American Eye Association before viewing.

Go ahead and get some on. I'll wait.

*whistle*whistle*

Now that you are protected, I'll continue.

Beets. They don't care if my summer has been plagued with a late start, illness, or an-as-yet to be determined fall from a camper. They continue to grow regardless of the fact that our entire family was down with strep. Beets don't care if I am on crutches and have to lean over the sink, bearing weight on my "good" leg, which just so happens to be the one that is still suffering from numbness due to a back injury last year. They just continue on their journey to maturity.

Beets don't wait for no one. Not even me.

I prefer beets that are small in size; not too big to keep one's mouth from closing (grody), but not too small to be considered a choking hazard to small children. Alas, that is not what I got out of my garden this year. I got softball-sized beets.

Try putting one of those in your mouth. It's not pretty. 

If you are one of the fortunate ones who harvested the perfect beets, by all means, pickle them whole. But, if like me, where the craziness of life interfered with the gardening season and you were only able to harvest humongous beets, shredding is best.

Trust me. It's for your own good.☺

~Spiced Pickled Beets~ 

~The Players~

Brine: 2 cups water

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 cups organic sugar

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. ground cloves

1 t. ground allspice

Beets, washed with roots and shoots removed (save the shoots...greens...for dinner!)

In a large saucepan, mix the brine ingredients. Whisk to incorporate the spices. Set on med-high heat and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low until needed.

This smells very autumny!

In a large stockpot, cook washed beets until tender, but not mushy; 20-30 minutes. You want them to be firm, so do NOT overcook them!

Remove from pot and plunge into ice water to remove skins.

Use a food processor with a shredder attachment and shred the beets.

Still have your eye protection on?

Fill pint-sized jars about 3/4 full. Cover with brine. Remove air bubbles by running a butter knife down the inside of the jars. Add more brine if needed to cover beets.

Process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

Enjoy over salads this winter!



Cultured Salsa

When I think of salsa, I think of this...

Not to be confused with this...

(photo credit)

Which is just down-right dangerous in my book. Unless you think this is me in the picture, in which case, it was easy. Because I'm a pro.

Did you buy it?

I tried.

If you haven't made homemade salsa, you're missing out on a something special. Lacto-fermented salsa is not heated or water-bathed canned, so it tastes fresh up to 6 months after it's made. I make several batches every year and hide store them in the back of our spare fridge. Of course, the salsa never sees the arrival of Autumn, so it lasting a full 6 months is just an assumption on my part.

That, and I read it on other blogs, so it must be true.

Apparently, they don't like salsa as much as we do.

The key to lacto-fermenting salsa is the sea salt and whey. I have seen other recipes that do not use the whey, but use up to 4 Tb. of sea salt instead. I tried that my first year and it was way too salty for our tastes. Remember to taste test and adjust accordingly.

~Lacto-Fermented Salsa~

4 lbs. organic tomatoes (I used a variety of heirloom tomatoes.)

2 medium sweet onions, like Walla Walla or Vidalia

1 large, organic sweet red pepper, seeded and rough-chopped

**2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and rough chopped**

1 bunch cilantro, leaves only

Optional: 2-4 cloves garlic, minced

juice from 2 lemons or limes

1-2 Tb. sea salt

4 Tb. whey (from drained yogurt)

Peel tomatoes by placing in boiling water for 30-60 seconds, then immediately dumping into icy water. The skin will come off easily.

I guess mine would too.

Core the tomatoes, then place in food processor. Pulse until tomatoes are chopped up, but not liquefied. (Unless that is your preference.) Pour tomatoes into large bowl.

Place onions, red pepper, jalapeno pepper, and cilantro leaves in food processor and pulse until chopped fine. (If using garlic, add this too.) Add this mixture to the tomatoes.

Add lemon or lime juice, whey, and sea salt. Stir will. Taste to check flavor and heat; adjust as necessary.

Pour salsa into wide-mouthed jars (I ended up with 1/2 gallon + 1 quart). Wipe top of jar and place screw-top lid on. Leave on counter for 2 days; then place in the refrigerator.

Then send the kids to Gramma's house and enjoy!

Oh wait, the kids saw me making this...darn.☺

**Remember to use gloves when cutting hot peppers! The "heat" doesn't wash off with soap and water, and can bring new meaning to the song, "Come On Baby Light My Fire"...

...just sayin'.☺

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday.

Garden Murders...and Redemption

I am a cold-blooded murderer.

There. I've said it. It's out there. I have taken a life. That's not even accurate, as I've taken about 1,000 lives this week.

I'm talking about a plant that bleeds red.

Beets. (What did you think I meant?☺)

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who finds it difficult to rip the tender little seedlings from the ground, but that is what must be done in order for the beets to grow their bulbous roots. I say this with "tongue in cheek", but the reality is that it is very hard for me to do this chore. Last year, I tried to transplant my thinnings, but the beets didn't appreciate my efforts. Of course, the crows did, but that's a touchy subject.

So what can you do with beet thinnings?

Here are a few ideas...

1. Make pesto. Substitute half the basil with beet greens and process as you normally would. This is surprisingly good!

2. Add beet greens to your salads. If you look at the packaged (boxed) mixed salad greens in the grocery stores, you'll see that beet greens are quite often included. And they look pretty while adding extra nutrition to your meal.

3. Saute or cream and serve over rice, polenta, or pasta.

4. Sneak in a handful into a strawberry/peach slushie. Use this recipe and substitute the greens for the spinach.

5. Freeze for winter use in soups.

This is the one that I decided to take advantage of. Freezing beet greens or any other green for that matter, is pretty simple. It does require blanching first to preserve color and quality, but it only takes minutes to do.

First, wash the thinned greens thoroughly. Tiny slugs tend to stick to the underside, so check well. Cut the bottom stems/roots off and feed to the chickens, goats, or a hormone-crazed pregnant milk cow. (Just sayin'.)

Bring a pot of water to boil. Fill another large bowl with cold water and add ice cubes.

When water is boiling, add a couple of handfuls of greens. Don't overcrowd, you want the greens to float freely.

Blanch for 30 seconds. Any longer than that and the greens start to get mushy. Mushy greens are what adults who refuse to eat greens remember from their childhoods.

We want to avoid future green haters.

Using a slotted spoon or skimmer, remove greens from boiling water and immediately place in ice water.

The next part can be done in 2 different ways. Either drain the leaves in a colander, or gently remove the leaves one at a time and place in a freezer container. The goal is to not allow the leaves to bunch up, and remove as much water as possible. I've tried both ways and the latter was the better for me.

Gently layer the leaves into the freezer container. Some leaves may need to be folded over, but that's okay.

Label the container and place in the freezer. Use within 6 months for best quality.

Now that the beets are thinned, it's time to plant the second crop of beets!

Yum!

 

This post is linked to The Homestead Barn Hop.

Sweet & Spicy Pickles

Once upon a time, there was a dill pickle. The dill pickle was always comfortable being a dill, but had aspirations to be more than just a condiment on top of grilled burger.

It had dreams of topping egg salad.

And in a perfect world, just being eaten straight out of the jar.

A couple of years ago, my in-laws decided to pull us out of our dill pickle comfort zone. Initially, I declined to try one of their newly discovered pickles, but after hearing the "ooohs and ahhhs" of my Mister, I relented.

Since then, not a day has gone by that we've been without having these dill pickle converts in our fridge.

This is by far the easiest "canning" recipe I have ever used. It requires no canning and uses dill pickles that can be picked up at Walmart for just a couple of dollars. Within 3 days, what once was dill is now sweet & spicy.

It's magic.

~Sweet & Spicy Pickles~

I had these on hand, but prefer the Vlasic from Walmart.

~The Players~

1/2 gallon kosher dill pickles

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2-1 cup sliced, canned jalapenos

4 cups organic sugar

1/2 gallon jar with a tight-fitting lid

Drain the dill pickles in a colander for about 2 hours.

Cut pickles into 1/4" slices.  Put into a half-gallon jar.

Shake the jar to help settle the pickle chips. In order, add jalapenos, sugar, then the vinegar. You may need to add the sugar slowly and allow it time to fall down into the jar. I used a butter knife to create little "canals" for the sugar to drop into. Do not add the vinegar until all of the sugar is in the jar though.

After the vinegar is added, cover top of jar with plastic wrap before screwing the lid down tight.

Turn the jar upside down and set in a pie plate. (Just in case the jar leaks!)

Flip the jar 2-3 times a day for 3 days. The sugar will dissolve and you will be left with a sweet pickle that has a little "kick" to it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some egg salad to make!

Enjoy!



Honey Barbecue Sauce for Grillin' Season and Our First Backyard Campfire

Since it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind, I've decided to change mine. Last week I declared, rather foolishly I might add, that it is good to have a couple days of sunshine, followed by a little rain. Something about allowing the muscles a chance to heal...blah, blah, blah....

I forgot momentarily where I live. Saying that out loud was like giving permission for the rain to return.

So, I've officially changed my mind. Please, please, please bring back the sun. My mental well-being depends on this.

We did have one rather nice day. Since I can hardly believe anything the weatherman says, I wasn't prepared for this at all.

So I improvised.

Kids like fire and hot dogs, right?

Guess who was the favorite parent of the day?

Not to mention, the favorite owner of a singing beagle!

Yesterday, we started and ended our streak for longest days without rain.

One.

Could be one for the record books.

~~~~~~~~

With summertime fast approaching (ahem!), I decided to can some barbecue sauce. The stuff in the grocery store is questionable at best and one of the quickest ways to ruin a good, healthy piece of grass-fed meat.

This is a recipe I learned from Anne Marie at the Cheeseslave during her "Surf & Turf" classes. She just kept a jar in her fridge to use when needed, but I can't do anything small like that.

I dream big!

And then I have to bring out the canner!

Homemade Honey Barbecue Sauce

~The Players~

1/2 onion, chopped

1 Tb. unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tb. paprika

1/4 t. black pepper

1/2 t. sea salt

1 cup organic ketchup (Only use organic to avoid the high fructose corn syrup!)

1/2 cup apple cider or white vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1/8 cup Barbados molasses

2 Tb. Worcestershire sauce

*chili powder or *cayenne pepper to taste

I quadrupled the above recipe to make 7 & 1/2 pints of barbecue sauce.

In a saucepan (use a large pot if making enough to can), saute onions in butter. When onions are soft, add garlic and cook a little longer.



Add paprika, black pepper, salt, ketchup, vinegar, honey and yellow mustard to the pot and simmer to melt honey. Stir well. Add molasses and Worcestershire sauce and mix. Bring pot to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.



Add chili or cayenne pepper to taste.

Wipe rims and put 2 pieced lids on, screwing down tight. Process in hot water bath for 20 minutes.

Cool on a towel in a draft free area.

Be sure to label the cooled jars!

*For this large batch, I added 1 t. chili powder and 1/2 t. cayenne pepper. This gave it a pretty nice kick without being too spicy to enjoy.

In my next batch, I will saute the onions in bacon grease and instead of adding cayenne pepper, I'll add a little hickory smoke.

Since our old barbecue made the poor decision to singe our eyebrows instead of searing the steaks, I guess I'd better put in a request for a new barbecue too, huh? 

This post is linked to the Barnyard Hop.