Canning Recipes-Canning Week

Have you entered the awesome giveaways sponsored by Punk Domestics, Pacific Pectin, Pressure Cooker Outlet (operated by Red Hill General Store),  Tattler, and Ball Fresh Preserves? 

To enter to win a Tshirt from Punk Domestics, enter Here
To enter to win a Presto 7 Function Canning Kit from Pressure Cooker Outlet, enter Here
To enter to win 2 dozen reusable lids from Tattler, enter Here
To enter to win Pectin Mix from Pacific Pectin, enter Here (you can comment on ANY Canning Week post to qualify, either here or over at A Latte With Ott,A. Just remember to come back and fill out the Rafflecopter form)
To enter to win a Canning Discover Kit from Ball, link up your canning post here, then remember to vote for your favorite. The post with the most votes wins (recruit your friends).

We sure have been canning up a storm this week! But canning jars have many uses beyond putting away our favorite summer produce. Filling a jar with the dry ingredients for a delicious desert makes a great gift, or just an inexpensive way to have cake mix on hand.

This year, my dad has been picking up jars for me at auctions. Most of the time, the jars are perfectly fine, just need a good washing! But as with anything used, they need to be CAREFULLY inspected. Sometimes, the jars look really old, or just questionable. Rather than taking a chance with a jar breaking on me, I use these jars for making some of these quick mixes to either keep around the house or give out as gifts. Or, keep around the house in case you need a last minute gift!

For brownie mix, you'll need:

• 1 1/8 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 c chocolate chips (or enough to top off the jar)

Layer each ingredient in the jar. I use the headspace measuring tool to kind of level each ingredient out. 

After the brown sugar, I grab the lid lifter (yes, even canning accessories come in handy in new ways in my kitchen!) and pack the mix down,then finish it off with chocolate chips. Add lid and ring.

Don't forget to print out the instruction card that goes with it!

Now that you have the jar made up, use it in a gift basket with some kitchen items. Perfect for a housewarming or bridal gift!

This weekend, I'll be canning Peach Pie filling. Since I don't have it done yet, I don't have pics, but here's the recipe:

25 c. peeled and sliced peaches
2 tsp. almond extract
7 tbsp. lemon juice

3 c. peach juice (make this by cooking the skins you removed with water)

1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. instant clear jel (mix it in with the sugar, then add both together)
5 c. sugar

Pack into quart jars and process 20 minutes.  

I swear by that recipe....It makes the BEST pies!

What all do you use canning jars for? Link up for canning recipe here and remember to vote for your favorite! Guest Judge Kate from the blog The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking will choose the linked up blog post with the best recipes, pictures and overall write up and award a copy of her new book The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking. We also have a prize for the entry with the most "likes"! Now hop on over and check out A Latte With Ott,A to see what she's canning today.

Cream Style Corn-Canning Week

I finally got a pressure canner! I've been using a water bath canner for the last few years, which is great for fruits, but I was ready to expand my canning horizon, so I finally got one this year. Are you in the market for a pressure canner? Check out Pressure Cooker Outlet for some great deals!

Anyway, so now that I have this great new pressure canner, I'm ready to start canning some veggies. I'll admit it; the first time I used it, I was scared! I was sure the lid was going to explode and go flying, probably taking my head off in the process. I stood back as far as I could when taking the lid off, even though I waited over an hour after the pressure had gone back down to 0. Nothing exploded. Now, I'm pretty comfortable using it, but I still read the instructions every time!

 Even though there's more than corn in Indiana, it's still one of my favorites. I'll warn you upfront, this is a very long process, but to open up a taste of summer all winter long will be worth it.

To begin, you'll need sweet corn, lots of sweet corn! 20 pounds of corn in the husk will make 9 pints. That's about 2/3 of a bushel. After making my rounds with my garden and my family's gardens, I came home with a carload of produce, including about 17 lbs of corn. (I had way more than what's in the picture, but you get the idea!)

First step is to clean the corn. So we have to remove the husks and all the silky strings. I found the easiest way to do it is to lay down some plastic on the floor and toss everything down. Then when you're done, all you have to do is pick up the plastic and toss it.

Next we need to cut the corn. Cut kernel tips about 1/2 deep and scrape the cobs with the back of a knife to remove the juice and the heart of the kernel.

Dump the cut kernels into a measure cup (so you know how much you have) and then put the corn into a saucepan or pot. Add 1 cup of hot water for each quart of corn.  Heat the corn to boiling and simmer 5 minutes. While that's going on, get your jars and lids ready by heating them up, aka "hot pack" method. Next, fill up your quart size jars and leave an inch of headspace. Make sure you have enough liquid to cover the corn, add hot water if you don't have enough from your corn/water mixture. Make sure you remove any air bubbles using a plastic tool or a plastic knife. Wipe down the rims, add lids and rings and process. Corn takes 85 minutes at 10 lbs.

To process in a pressure canner, follow the instructions with your model. For my model, that means getting the canner hot until steam starts coming out. After the steam starts, I set a timer for 7 minutes.  Then add the weight, for this recipe, on the 10 lb notch. Once my weight starts jiggling and making noise, I know it's up to 10 pounds. Then, I set the timer for 85 minutes.

When the time's up, turn off the heat and let it cool down until the gauge shows 0 lbs. Then remove weight. When you can easily unscrew the wing nuts, take off the lid. Remove jars and let cool for 24 hours.

What's your favorite vegetable to put away? Link up for canning recipe here and remember to vote for your favorite! Guest Judge Kate from the blog The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking will choose the linked up blog post with the best recipes, pictures and overall write up and award a copy of her new book The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking. We also have a prize for the entry with the most "likes", so don't forget to vote for your favorite and recruit your friends to help you out! 

To enter to win a Tshirt from Punk Domestics, enter Here
To enter to win a Presto 7 Function Canning Kit from Pressure Cooker Outlet, enter Here
To enter to win 2 dozen reusable lids from Tattler, enter Here
To enter to win Pectin Mix from Pacific Pectin, enter Here (you can comment on ANY Canning Week post to qualify, either here or over at A Latte With Ott,A. Just remember to come back and fill out the Rafflecopter form)
To enter to win a Canning Discover Kit from Ball, link up your canning post here, then remember to vote for your favorite. The post with the most votes wins (recruit your friends)

Now hop on over and check out A Latte With Ott,A to see what she's canning today.

Sweet/Hot Relish-Canning Week

Have you entered your canning recipe yet? Make sure to link up your post, as well as vote for your favorite! The post with the most "likes" will receive a Ball Canning Discovery Kit!  That's also the place to enter to win a box of Pacific Pectin! For each comment you leave during Canning Week (either here or over at A Latte With Ott,A) make sure you enter using the Rafflecopter form!

We love having cucumbers in our garden, but it seems like we always grow way more than we could ever eat. We usually can a bunch of pickles, but again, you can only eat so many pickles! So this year, we decided to try canning some relish. Here's what you'll need:

• About 6 lbs of pickling type cucumbers to yield 3 quarts chopped cucumbers
• 4 cups chopped sweet peppers
• 2 cups chopped hot peppers (we used a mix of banana and jalapeno peppers)
• 2 onions (to yield 1 cup chopped onions)
• 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
• 4 cups ice
• 8 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tsp each of mustard seed, turmeric, whole allspice, and whole cloves
• 6 cups white vinegar  

In a large bowl, combine the quarts chopped cucumbers, peppers, onions, pickling salt, 2 cups of ice and 4 cups of water and let stand for 4 hours. Use more of each water and ice , if needed to cover the veggies.

After 4 hours, drain and discard the water. Now, cover everything with 2 cups of ice and 4 cups of water and let it stand for another hour. Drain again.


Combine the 4 tsp each of mustard seed, turmeric, whole allspice, and whole cloves in a large pot. Add spices to 2 cups sugar and 6 cups white vinegar. Heat to the vinegar and spice mix to a boil.

Strain the spice mixture through a cheesecloth and pour the spice/vinegar over the chopped vegetables and then cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, (up to 36 hours).
The next day, it's time to can! Heat the relish to boiling, stirring frequently. Fill the hot jars with relish and put the lid and rings on. Fill the pint or half pint jars with the relish leaving 1/4" to 1/2" headspace. Seal the lid and tighten the ring around them. Process 15 minutes in a waterbath canner.

Wouldn't this be a great gift along with a grilling set?

What's your favorite thing to pickle? Eggs? Beets? Cucumbers? Link up for canning recipe here and remember to vote for your favorite! Guest Judge Kate from the blog The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking will choose the linked up blog post with the best recipes, pictures and overall write up and award a copy of her new book The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking. We also have a prize for the entry with the most "likes"! Now hop on over and check out A Latte With Ott,A to see what she's canning today. 

Peach Jam - Canning Week 2011

Looking for Made From Scratch Tuesday? It's taking a break this week for Canning Week 2011! Don't worry, it will be back next Tuesday! But don't forget to link up your canning recipes HERE

Don't forget, if you leave a comment on any of the Canning Week posts (here or over at A Latte With Ott,A) visit this page and enter the giveaway on the Rafflecopter form!
We love peaches around here. Really love peaches. So when I told the kids we were going to make peach jam, they all jumped in to help. And really, what's better than getting the whole family involved in making a delicious treat we can enjoy all year! To start, we need to peel and cut our peaches. We need four cups of chopped peaches, so time to get peeling! The easiest way to peel a peach is to boil them for just a few minutes, then drop them in ice water. From there, the skins will pop right off. Although, the best way to peel a peach is to have someone else do it for you!

Next, we need to cut the peaches.

Now we add four cups of chopped peaches to a large pot, along with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add in one box of pectin and bring it to a full rolling boil; add sugar, and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and skim any foam off.

Ladle into warm jars, wipe rims, add lids and rings, then process in waterbath canner for 10 minutes.

Let sit for 24 hours and check your seals on the jars. What's your favorite jam or jelly? Link up for canning recipe here and remember to vote for your favorite! Guest Judge Kate from the blog The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking will choose the linked up blog post with the best recipes, pictures and overall write up and award a copy of her new book The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking. We also have a prize for the entry with the most "likes"! Now hop on over and check out A Latte With Ott,A to see what she's canning today. 

Canning Week 2011

Ott, A and I are back this year with another Canning Week! Like last year, there will be a recipe contest and other prizes. This year, we'll have new prizes to announce each day so be sure to check here and over at A Latte With Ott,A daily. Each day you can check out the canning conversations we have going on in our facebook group "from garden plOTT to kitchen pOTT."  And if you are on Pinterest check out our Canning Board.  Also you can tweet along with us on twitter using #canningweek2011. If you're new to canning, or maybe you remember something about your grandma canning, but really not sure what this whole process is, here's a brief history.

Canning Week Linky

Link up your canning recipes here! Each entry should include the "Canning Week" badge found on my sidebar. Make sure to "like" your favorite post. The person with the most likes will win a Ball Discovery Canning Kit.  Recruit your friends, fans and followers to come vote for your entry!!!!

Big Thanks to Ball for being a sponsor of this weeks Blog Party Be sure to check back each day for more contests!

Made From Scratch Tuesday 8/16

 Time for the next recipe from What's for Dinner?

When life hands you lemons....we make lemon chicken! This recipe calls for boneless/skinless chicken, flour, salt, oil, chicken broth, chives, lemon zest, and lemon curd. Now, lemon curd isn't something I keep on hand, so I had to make my own. I used Alton Brown's recipe below:

• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 lemons, zested and juiced
• 1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Directions

Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. 

 Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. 

Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Remove to a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Now that the curd is made, brown the chicken lightly then remove from pan.

Add lemon curd and broth to skillet and heat until hot, but not boiling.

 

Add chicken back to skillet and cook until almost done.

 

Next, add in lemon zest and chives and finish cooking.

 This goes great with some wild rice and fresh veggies from the garden! I'm about half way through my Gooseberry Patch recipes....and half way to our giveaway! 


Don't forget...Canning Week 2011 starts next week! Made From Scratch Tuesday will take a break next week, but we'll have a Canning linky up which includes a recipe contest. More details here. 

Now, it's time to link up some of those great dishes you make from scratch!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. My only content rule is it has to be made from scratch.
3. The post you link up MUST CONTAIN A RECIPE!
4. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.