The Green Tomato Experiment

It's that time of year again when gardeners start to ponder what to do with all those green tomatoes.  Last year I posted about my experiments here.  The relish was a hit, and I made it again this year, and I have actually used the Green Tomato Cake recipe for some of my green peaches with great success.  Because I want to build a repertoire of recipes, I decided to try some new stuff.  With the plethora of green cherry and plum tomatoes, I made Dilled Green Tomatoes from my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving book.  They have only been aging for a few weeks, so it's probably a bit premature for a taste test, although I'm salivating thinking about them right now.  I'll have to give you an update when I do taste them.  My other preserving experiment came to me via this post: 

http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/2011/11/canned-green-tomatoes-for-frying.html

Leigh decided to can her green tomatoes for frying at a later time.  Now, raise your hand if you love yourself some fried green tomatoes.  My hand is totalling waving in the air!  I didn't can mine, although I would in the future depending on how she says her turn out.  I decided to slice and freeze mine.  I sliced them on my mandolin about a 1/4 inch thick and froze them in a single layer on parchment paper.  I also diced up the shoulder like so

and froze the pieces in a single layer as well.  Once frozen, everything was put in freezer containers.  The diced tomatoes will be used in the Green Tomato Cake recipe at some point. 

You may wonder if my experiment worked, and I, too, wondered.  So, last night, with the last fresh green tomato I had and some frozen slices, I did a controlled experiment.  I did not defrost the frozen tomatoes, but breaded them straight from the freezer and put them immediately in the pan.  I breaded the fresh tomatoes with the same breading.  The frozen ones looked and tasted exactly like the fresh ones.

Yippee skippee.  Now, I can have fried green tomatoes all winter long. 

Roasted Winter Squash Seeds

I've never thought of roasting winter squash seeds before until I came across this recipe a few days ago.  We're having roasted butternut squash tonight, so I thought I would give this recipe a whirl.  One review said not to wash the seeds, so I didn't, one because if washing is not really necessary why waste the time and water to do it.  I did make sure there were no strings hanging from them though.  I started them at 275 as given in the recipe, but after 10 minutes, they didn't seem to be doing anything at that temperature, so I cranked the up to 375.  That did the trick.  They turned out crunchy and tasty.  So, if you aren't saving your seeds, or have saved enough, roast them and enjoy.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-winter-squash-seeds/detail.aspx

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Are You Ready To Can?

My canning season officially started today with none other than peaches.  Most of the peaches on the tree are still hard, and I am not 100% squirrel-free, contrary to my previous post, so it's really a race for the peaches between us and the squirrels.  So, after breakfast, Nate and I picked the peaches we felt were ripe enough for canning.  They really could have spent another day or two on the tree, but I'm not taking any chances with the tree rats.

(Disclaimer:  Sometimes I sub things in canning recipes.  That's a no-no since you can alter the acid content.  You can take inspiration, but don't necessarily do what I do.) 

I started with the Summer Salsa recipe in my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving book.  It called for 2 cups of chopped peaches and 2 cups of chopped pears, but I used all peaches.  It was supposed to yield approximately 6 pints, but I got 4 pints exactly with none left over.  I used the wide mouth jars, and I think they hold more than the regular mouth jars so I know the yield is probably off in that regard. 

Next, I made some Peach Cardamom Jam.  It's basically the peach jam recipe found in the Sure Jell Less or No Sugar Needed pectin box with cardamom and vanilla extract added.  I didn't have an vanilla extract, so I used almond extract.  I love cardamom, and I think it turned out quite tasty.  Although it doesn't seem like it's setting up that well.  I seem to be hit or miss with the low sugar pectin.  Regardless, it will be eaten and savored.  We can certainly use it as pancake syrup or an ice cream topping.

http://www.food.com/recipe/peach-cardamom-jam-390047

I'm saving my peelings and pits to try this recipe.  Hopefully I'll accumulate enough to give it a go.

http://www.food.com/recipe/peach-peeling-peach-seed-jelly-41035

(There is a warning from a reviewer about using the pits as pits contain cyanide.  So, use your best judgment if you decide to try this recipe.)

If you haven't checked out http://www.food.com/, you should.  It's loaded with hundreds of canning recipes, and what I love is reading the reviews from other canners. 

I hope to harvest enough peaches every few days to can some additional salsa and jam, and I want to try the Zesty Peach Barbeque Sauce recipe in my canning book as well.

So, peaches, pumpkin, apple pie, if you're ready, holler I!

Happy canning,

Candace

Waste Not, Want Not

We've lived in our house for over 8 years, and soon after moving in, we planted two peach trees.  One of the trees remains, and each year it produces peaches.  Yet, we never get any.  Even before the peaches ripen, the squirrels gleefully help themselves.  Not this year!  I am going to harvest peaches this year!

Did I ever tell you about the squirrel slayer?  He's our across-the-street neighbor.  He's the same neighbor who generously gives me access to his huge fig tree and who brought me boxes of bound-for-the-trash-can canning jars from a friend's basement.  He kills squirrels in his yard with a pellet gun because they eat the pears off his pear tree and the pecans off his pecan tree.  I know because of his efforts, I will get peaches this year. 

About a week ago, I moved my fake snakes from the blackberries canes to the peach tree.  I know they are helping because before I put them in the tree, we saw a squirrel run across the backyard with a peach.  Since placing the snakes, I haven't seen a squirrel with a peach at all.  I know because of my efforts, I will get peaches this year.

I also know I'm going to get peaches this year because I ate my first one this morning.  It wasn't quite as ripe as it could be, but it came off the limb when I squeezed it, so I ate it. 

The tree is covered with peaches, and it can't possibly ripen all of them, so in the last day or so, it has dropped probably about 15 green peaches on the ground.  I really hate to see them wasted, so I did some research on green peach recipes, and while I didn't really find anything great for green peaches, I did find some recipes for green mangos.  So, in the tradition of waste not, want not, I used the following recipe, but subbed green peaches for the mangos:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cheryl-smith/green-mango-chutney-recipe/index.html

I also subbed some of my Chinese five color peppers for the jalapenos, and they gave this chutney quite a kick. 

So, if you have green peaches, waste not, want not, and give this recipe a try.  It cooked up beautifully and has a wonderful flavor. 

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Blackberry Sherbet

We love ice cream at our house, and we especially love homemade ice cream, but I hate how time consuming it is to make.  I like simple recipes that are quick yet delicious.  I don't have time to stand over a saucepan and heat the half and half and egg yolks until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.  So I went looking for a recipe that would take the hassle out of making ice cream, and I found it.  It's not ice cream but a fruit sherbet recipe.  It contains cream and milk, close enough for me.

I modified the original recipe, and this is what I did.

2 cups blackberries (I used frozen.)
2/3 cups sugar (The original recipe called for 2 cups.  Yikes!  That's alot of sugar.)
2 cups whole milk (or sweet milk if you want to be old-fashioned)
1 cup heavy cream

Mix the blackberries and sugar in a saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved.  Cool completely and stir in the milk and cream.  Get this mixture as cold as possible!  I don't have any patience and should have chilled mine longer.  Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Next time I may steep some crushed mint leaves in the blackberry/sugar mixture or change up the fruit.  I have some pureed figs in the freezer that would be heavenly in this recipe.

Please let me know if you make this and how you like it!

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Holy Moly!

In case you didn't know, today is National Pi Day.  The Greek letter "pi" is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.  To celebrate, I made a pie.  I'm not a baker and have never ever ever made a pie crust or pie that I'm proud of until today.  I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

Here are the recipes I used:

Blueberry Raspberry Pie (I used blueberries and blackberries, and I took a reviewer's advice and baked it on a pizza stone at 450 for 20 minutes, and 400 for 30 minutes.)

Pie Crust

What's your favorite pie recipe?

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Super Duper Good and Easy Breakfast

We LOVE pancakes at our house.  Writing that sentence made me think, "If you love 'em so much, why don't you marry 'em?"  He! He!  Anywho, with a few slices of bacon, it just doesn't get much better.  And what makes this breakfast even better is how fast it is to prepare.  When I mix up a batch of batter, I put it in a recycled ketchup bottle (36 oz.), which is the perfect container for squeezing out the amount of batter I need for each pancake.  Plus, I never use the whole recipe at once, so keeping it this way allows me to store it in the refrigerator for next time.  We like them plain with maple syrup, but sometimes after I squeeze the batter onto the griddle, I sprinkle chocolate chips or berries on each.  Oh, and to give them the ultimate flavor, I rub the griddle with butter before I pour each pancake.  Yummy!  Yummy!  Butter and bacon in the same post.  Enough said.  Here's the recipe.  I hope you try it and like it.  

Disclaimer:  I tend to do my own thing when it comes to recipes, so my descriptions are not textbook.  Most things I eyeball, such as the size of my pancakes and a really hot guy, but that's another post.  And I don't squeeze the hot guys, just the ketchup bottle.  I am married, after all.

Buttermilk Pancakes 

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbls sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (99.9% of the time I use whole milk because I never have buttermilk.)
4 tbls oil
butter for greasing griddle

Preheat and lightly grease a skillet or griddle.  Whisk the dry ingredients together (flour through sugar) and then lightly whisk in the eggs through oil.  I try to make it fairly lump-free so it squeezes out of the bottle easily.  Either squeeze or scoop with a cup whatever you think is a decent-sized pancake (maybe 1/4 cup?) and cook until lightly browned on both sides.

What a really wacky post!  It must be the rain outside.

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Hello Old Friend

My house smells of cinnamon, and on such a rainy, dreary day, I can't think of anything better to do than make granola.  Okay, I could think of a few things better, but we have to eat, and the granola doesn't make itself, at least not my granola.  I love to tell Nate this when he is wolfing down a whole pan of brownies at once or eating 4 bowls of stew.  I try to make enough for two meals or even enough to last more than a day, but that doesn't always happen.  I say, "Chill, I didn't intend for you to eat the whole pan of brownies at once.  They didn't make themselves."  His response is, "The greenhouse didn't put itself together either, did it?"  Ha!  Ha!  If he weren't so witty, I could just smack him sometimes.  Honestly, I never smack him, but maybe I should start.

I digress.  After a long hiatus from granola making, and I'm not really sure why I got off track, it has come back into my life.  I thought I would share my recipe.  It's super simple and versatile.

Granola

-4 cups of old-fashioned oats, or any combination of nuts, seeds, or oats you want.  I always use at least 2-3 cups of oats and then whatever I have on hand, sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts, flax seed.  Just make sure you don't go over 4 cups because this ratio works well with the honey coating.
-1 cup shredded coconut
-2 tsp of cinnamon, or in my case, a good sprinkle over the oat mixture
-dash of salt
Mix all of this together in a large bowl.

1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup honey
Heat this on medium, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Pour over the oat mixture and stir until evenly distributed.

Pour mixture into a single layer in a baking pan.  I use a 12x18 pan, which works perfectly, but if you don't have a pan that large, you cold divide it into two pans.  I also line my pan with parchment paper, which keeps it from sticking.

Bake at 325 for approximately 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until it takes on a light golden brown.  Occasionally stir as it cools and break apart any large chunks.  Once it's cooled, add any dried fruit you like.  Today, I used figs I dried this past summer.

Store it in a pretty glass container and enjoy!

It's just sweet enough and has a nice, almost crunchy coating.  Plus, it doesn't get soggy in milk, my pet peeve for granola.

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Black(berry) History and Recipes

One of my favorite fruits is the blackberry.  We planted a few bushes along our driveway last year, and they managed to do okay and even produce a few berries.  Mostly, our supply comes from the wild though.  We have a few different spots we hit each year, but our favorite and most plentiful one was mowed down by the county last year, a terrible disappointment for sure.  I'm hoping they leave it alone this year, so we can once again forage to our hearts' content.

I was enjoying a dish of blackberry cobbler this afternoon and decided to look up the history of blackberries and share a few recipes with you.   

Did you know the vine-like growths are called brambles, and blackberries are not berries, but aggregate fruits composed of a cluster of drupelets?

From History of Blackberries:

Blackberries were perceived by the ancient cultures as being a wild plant, and historical accounts for a backyard culture of blackberry bushes are few. The Greeks used the blackberry as a remedy for Gout, and the Romans made a tea from the leaves of the blackberry plant to treat various illnesses.


John Bartram, the early American explorer, botanist, and writer founded the first United States Botanical Garden, in 1728. In the early American colonies, William Bartram in his book, Travels, noted that General Oglethorpe was sent to the colony of Georgia in 1733 to investigate the possibility of establishing various temperate and subtropical plants which might "prove valuable for Georgia farms and orchards." William Bartram noted further in his book, Travels, that he his father, John Bartram, were sent to explore the Southern colonies that included East Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Alabama to take an inventory of plants growing there after the Spanish were expelled by the English. Bartram reported that just outside of Mobile, Alabama, it "grows here five or six feet high, rambling like Brier vines over the fences and shrubs."

Blackberry plants, Rubus spp., can not be truthfully separated accurately by taxonomists into species, because the original species that existed centuries ago have intercrossed themselves in the natural state so completely, and the natural selections have reached a critical composition and complexity, that cannot be adequately recreated through backcrosses. Blackberry vines and bushes grow in the native state on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
Thorns are present in native blackberry plants and the thorns prevent grazing wildlife, animals and birds from eating the vines before the berry bushes flower and later when blackberries are produced. When the blackberries grow and ripen, they are not only consumed by wildlife animals and birds, but they have been enjoyed by humans for centuries. Luther Burbank wrote in his book, Fruit Improvement, in 1921 that many hybrids had been developed by his efforts and others to grow thornless blackberry bushes and vines. These thornless creations were at first inferior in taste and quality to the thorny species.  Older thornless blackberry releases are: Apache, Hull, Thornfree, Black Satin, Arapaho, Navaho, Chester, and Boysenberry. All these blackberries have overcome the sticky problems of the original thornless blackberry hybrids.

Blackberries please the taste of humans as well as that of animals and are believed by many wildlife conservationists to be the most important naturalized growing plant that provides food for wildlife.  Wildlife animals and birds eat blackberries as food or receive a thorny protective cover from blackberry bushes or vines that wind along fences.
Blackberries fresh from the vines are useful in many foods; they are delicious in frozen packs, canned, as blackberry wine, ice cream, fresh blackberry juice, blackberry pies, blackberry jelly, blackberry jam, and best of all when eaten as a fresh fruit. Many health benefits come from eating blackberries that are rich in anti-oxidants and vitamins along with being a good source of the minerals potassium, phosphorus, iron, and calcium.

Blackberry Recipes:

Fruit Cobbler

Berry Vinegar

Blackberry Syrup

Freezer Berry Jam:  This recipe calls for raspberries, but you could substitute blackberries easily.

I don't have it on hand, but one of my favorite canning recipes is the triple berry jam provided in the Sure-Jell No Sugar Needed Pectin box.

Do you have a favorite blackberry recipe?

Happy homesteading,

Candace

Recipe Share

I just finished supper and having enjoyed it so much, I thought I would share the recipe with you. This dish ranks as one of my favorites, and this time of year couldn't compliment the ingredients more. Plus, it's super easy and quick to make, which is an added plus. Thank you vegetariantimes.com. I hope you make it soon, and if you do, please let me know what you think of it.

Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil



* 1 cup jasmine rice
* 2 Tbs. peanut or vegetable oil
* 1/2 to 1 tsp. crushed red pepper, or to taste
* 3 baby eggplants, peeled, cubed into bite-sized chunks
* 1 medium-sized onion, diced
* 1 medium-sized red bell pepper, seeded and diced
* 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
* 2 Tbs. white vinegar (I use Rice Wine Vinegar.)
* 3 Tbs. dark soy sauce, such as tamari
* 2 Tbs. dark brown sugar
* 20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn

Directions

1. Cook jasmine rice according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat a deep skillet or wok-shaped pan over high heat. Add oil and crushed red pepper, and let sizzle for 10 to 15 seconds. Add eggplant, and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic, and stir-fry for 3 minutes more. Add vinegar and soy sauce. Sprinkle with sugar, and toss for 1 or 2 minutes longer.
3. Remove pan from heat, add basil leaves and toss to combine with eggplant. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Crock Pots and Beer Bread

Sunday is usually so busy for me. It's my garden/yard work day. The last few Sundays have been especially busy as I've planted and mulched all 8 of my vegetable raised beds and 35' of climbing vegetable space along the fence. To make it more interesting, Nate and I have planted many ornamental plants and flowers given to us by a friend's mother. On Sundays, I also try to pre-cook many things for the next week. I try to make as much from scratch as possible, so if I don't get some things done on Sunday, it throws off my whole week. Plus during the week, when I get home from work, I would rather be outside than cook. I like quick, easy meals during the week. So this morning, bright and early, I made granola to have for breakfast next week. While the granola was in the oven, I pulled out one of my best friends, the crock pot! I LOVE crock pots so much, I have two large ones and two small ones. It's so easy to put everything in one pot, turn it on and go on with my day. It's become my habit to make a large crock of soup on Sundays, and that often serves as our lunch with a salad and usually fruit or yogurt through the week. I also like to make bread from scratch, but I just didn't have time today for yeast bread. When time is short, I make beer bread. Each time I make it, I wonder why I don't make it more often. It is unbelievably easy to make and so scrumptious! Here is my recipe for Cheesy Beer Bread:

3 cups less 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp salt
4.5 tsp baking powder
(or you can ditch the salt and baking powder and use 3 cups self-rising flour)
1/4-1/2 cup sugar, depends on how sweet you want it
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar works well)
12 oz room temperature beer
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together. Stir in the cheese. Stir in the beer. Scrape it into a greased loaf pan. Pour the melted butter over the top, and bake for 45-50 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before removing, and let it cool an additional 15-20 minutes before slicing. Believe me, it's much easier to slice when it has cooled some.

Enjoy! I did. Until next post, happy homesteading!

Candace