Showing posts with label kitchen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kitchen. Show all posts

Monday, June 4, 2012

It's that time again

Canning season has begun at our little homestead.


Yesterday I made 8 half-pints of apricot jam. I found this recipe online. I used it as a guide, along side the recipe in the No sugar/low sugar Sure-Jell. I used the 1/2c. lemon juice from the online recipe in place of the 3/4c of water that the Sure-Jell calls for. I also used the online recipe tip of using 20% extra Sure Jell. I had 3.5 pounds of apricots and used 4.5 cups of sugar. It made 8 half-pints of gorgeous jam!


Then, last night, I made salsa! Two years ago I purchased a mix to make kosher dill pickles, by Mrs. Wages, at the Supercenter. Those pickles were AMAZING! So I tried the salsa mix by the same company. I haven't tried any yet, but it looks and smells yummy!


This batch I made with canned, petite diced tomatoes. This was an option on the package of mix. Six cans, 1/2c vinegar and 1 packet of mix. Fresh salsa!

Over the course of the next few days, I will be making Strawberry jam, Peach jam and Grape jam. I'm loving it!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Lemony kind of day


Ah fresh squeezed lemon juice. Beautiful! This juice is for fresh homemade lemonade. The juicer...it belonged to my mother and has been around for as long as I can remember. It is likely at least 50 years old. I love the thing!


Lemon peels. These will be made into lemon infused vinegar for household cleaning.


"King of the lemon peels"!!! Well actually, this cute little 4oz jelly car of fresh squeezed lemon juice will go into jam tomorrow.


Fresh squeezed, freshly made lemonade. Yum! How do ya like that neat glass pitcher? Under 5 bucks at everyone's favorite (or not) Supercenter. 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 cup of sugar and 7 cups of water. So easy!


This, my dear friends, will be some of the most awesome household cleaner known to women(or whomever cleans house). I just dug all of the fleshy part out and cut the peels up in half or so. Put them into a pint jelly jar and filled it to the top with vinegar. It will sit for a couple of weeks and voila! See the lemon seeds? Ima gonna see if they will grow. Likely not, but hey, can't blame a gal for trying.


Heck, I even had on a lemon yellow t-shirt. I just love this shirt! It came from one of my most favorite stores, Tractor Supply. Oh and I didn't plan all of this lemon-y goodness around my shirt....it's just what I picked to put on this morning.


Lemon blossoms SMELL.SO.GOOD! I bought myself a Meyer lemon tree about a month ago. I have often been curious about Meyer lemons. I know they have a distinct shape, are much larger than typical lemons and are quite spendy.


Baby lemon!!! The tree has likely around 15 little tiny babies on it! So...on with the story about Meyer lemons. So since I was curious, I put a post on Facebook and lo and behold...got all the scoop on Meyer lemons: "Meyers Lemons are have a slightly higher sugar content (because they are a cross between an orange and a lemon), are more spherical and have thinner peels. They are a hybrid so if looking for "heirloom" - go the other route. Meyer's also get a lot taller than regular lemon trees (15' vs. 8-10'). I like Meyer's for lemonade, but not as much for baking."

So there you have it. A lemony kind of day.



Tomorrow's agenda: Apricot Jam

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Staples in your kitchen

In my pursuit to get further and further away from processed foods and eating out too much, I am making a list of the staples I feel I need to keep in my kitchen. These are items to do as much *scratch* cooking and baking as I can.

After reading through my list, please feel free to comment with any items you include on your staples list that I haven't listed. Any tips are so welcomed, too!

all-purpose flour
whole wheat flour
granulated sugar
brown sugar
powdered sugar
white vinegar
apple cider vinegar
baking soda
baking powder
yeast
olive oil
lard (and/or shortening)
oats
evaporated milk
powdered milk
pepper corns
salt
corn starch
pasta (we use vermicelli and egg noodles the most)
ketchup
yellow mustard
mayonnaise
salad dressing (miracle whip)
bread crumbs
saltine crackers (yes, they are staples at our house)

So what have I missed?