Friday, August 12, 2011
Bread and Butter Pickles
This easy and delicious recipe for bread & butter pickles is perfect for a beginner. Regardless of your skill level, you’ll produce canned pickles that you’ll be proud to serve. Because of the high acid level in pickled foods, you can process them in a pot of boiling water, rather than a pressure canner. And packing slices into jars is much simpler than organizing whole pickles like dills or sweet gherkins to fit neatly into a jar. These pickle slices are nice in sandwiches, chopped in tuna and pasta salads, or eaten on their own.
Look for cucumbers that are meant for pickling or that have been picked when they are no bigger around than 1-1/2 inches. If you are doing large-scale canning, ask your produce vendor if you can buy in bulk.
This recipe makes five pints.
You will need:
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups cider vinegar (5% acidity)
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed
1 Tbsp mustard seed
1-1/2 Tbsp mixed pickling spice (cinnamon stick, ginger, mustard seeds, cloves, peppercorns, chilies, etc.)
3-1/2 pounds cucumbers, cut into 1/4″ slices
Start heating your boiling water canner. This should be tall enough that your jars will be covered by at least one inch of boiling water and there must be additional room (2-3″) to avoid splashing during the boiling process. It should also have some sort of rack on the bottom on which to set the jars. Remember that your jars will displace water as you submerge them.
In a 5-quart pot (non-aluminum), combine sugar, vinegar, water and spices. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Add cucumber slices. Return to a boil, stirring gently and trying to submerge slices as they cook.
When the pot returns to a boil, boil for 90 seconds, then remove from heat. The slices should have changed from a bright cucumber green to a darker pickle green.
Using tongs or a slotted spoon, fill hot jars* with pickles slices, then fill each with pickling liquid, leaving 1/8″ headspace. (You may have extra brine; you can refrigerate this up to a week if you are making another batch soon.) Wipe rims clean with a damp paper towel and add lids and rings.
Process in a boiling water canner — 20 minutes for quarts, 10 minutes for pints. Begin timing when the water has returned to a boil after you submerge your jars.
Using a jar lifter, remove jars to a folded kitchen towel. Let cool 24 hours and make sure the jars have sealed. The lids should be sucked down in a such a way that they won’t “pop” when you press on them. If not, you can add a new lid and process again, or store your pickles in the refrigerator. Sealed jars can be stored one year or more. Remove the rings for storage to avoid them rusting onto the jars. (I usually put a ring back on if I am giving as a gift, in order to avoid accidental opening during transport.)
*Hot foods should go into hot jars to avoid shocking and potentially cracking the glass. You can heat your jars before filling them by placing them in the boiling water bath as it heats up.
The Lost art of Canning
I Love summer, there is nothing better than fresh veggies and fruits. It is a well known fact that most people are healthier in the summer than they are in the Winter. With all of the fresh produce it is easier to eat better when fresh foods are readily available.
So I am dedicated to having the same quality of foods year round. So how do you get that? I believe that processing your own food is the way to ensure quality and limit preservatives and sugars. For Generation the women would gather foods and either can, dry or freeze them so that they would be available year round, in our busy on the go lives we have started purchasing all of our food in cans or boxes, where they have been filled with salt and preservatives or had all natural nutrients washed out to the point where the product is just empty calories. So lets get back to basics, lets find a way to get healthier, and a way to have better foods for our families year round.
I am so excited to can and freeze food, to limit our intake of sodium and sugar.
I am Planning to can Beans, Jam and Peaches, I also want to try pickles. I have posted a few recipes on this blog and I will continue to post more to help you get started in feeding your families the best foods.
So I am dedicated to having the same quality of foods year round. So how do you get that? I believe that processing your own food is the way to ensure quality and limit preservatives and sugars. For Generation the women would gather foods and either can, dry or freeze them so that they would be available year round, in our busy on the go lives we have started purchasing all of our food in cans or boxes, where they have been filled with salt and preservatives or had all natural nutrients washed out to the point where the product is just empty calories. So lets get back to basics, lets find a way to get healthier, and a way to have better foods for our families year round.
I am so excited to can and freeze food, to limit our intake of sodium and sugar.
I am Planning to can Beans, Jam and Peaches, I also want to try pickles. I have posted a few recipes on this blog and I will continue to post more to help you get started in feeding your families the best foods.
Peach Honey
As You can see I am in a Peach mood this Year, I love this recipe because it uses the skins that are left when you can peaches or make peach butter. Hope You enjoy!!!!
Ingredients
* 8 cups peach juice (either fresh, from washed, sound pieces and peelings from fruit used for preserves, pickles, etc - OR canned peach juice)
* 6 or 7 cups of water - if you are starting with peelings, you will need the water to cook them in.
* 4 cups sugar or Splenda or 3 cups of bee honey! (Sugar or honey work best; Splenda doesn't allow it to thicken very well)
Equipment
* Jar funnel ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) or order it as part of the kit with the jar grabber.
* At least 1 large pot; I prefer 16 to 20 quart Teflon lined pots for easy cleanup.
* Ball jars (Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger, Safeway carry them, as do some big box stores - about $7 per dozen 8 ounce jars including the lids and rings)
* Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar. They may only be used once.
Peach (and/or Nectarine) Honey-making Directions
This example shows you how to make fruit honey from peaches (and other stone fruits)!
If you are starting with peach juice, skip to step 6.
Step 1 - Pick the Peaches! (or buy them already picked)
Step 2 - How much fruit?
It takes about 5 to 6 cups of peach peelings, which takes at least several dozen peaches to get this many peelings. It does require a LOT of peelings, as they cook down!
Step 3 -Wash the fruit and sort!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in a colander of plain cold water.
Then you need to pick out and remove any bits of stems, leaves and soft or mushy fruit. It is easiest to do this in a large bowl of water and gently run your hands through the fruit as they float. With your fingers slightly apart, you will easily feel any soft or mushy fruit get caught in your fingers.
Then just drain off the water!
Step 4 - Peeling the Peaches
Peaches and nectarines should be peeled, as their skins can be tough / chewy in jam. Peaches have such thin skins, you really don't need to peel them.
For those you want to peel, here's a great trick that works with many fruits and vegetables with skins (like tomatoes): just dip the fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds.
Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice.
The skins will easily slide off now IF the peaches are ripe! The more unripe they are, the longer you'll need to heat them. You can now eat the peaches, or can them or make peach jam, etc.
For this recipe, we only need the peelings. Save all washed, sound pieces and peelings from the peaches. (if you are peeling the peaches in advance, keep the peelings refrigerated until ready to use).
I mentioned in the ingredients section that you can use canned peach juice. That's true, but it is much more difficult. The peelings add a lot of solid particulates which help the "honey" to thicken.
Step 5 - Make the juice from the peelings
Cover the peelings with water and slowly cook in a covered saucepan until they are soft. Then put in a cheesecloth bag and press to remove all juice. You may then drip the juice through a jelly bag and measure; or use the juice that was squeezed right from the cheescloth. The goal is to remove large chunks.
Step 6 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.
NOTE: If unsanitized jars are used, the product should be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result in a poor set (runny jam), it’s better to sanitize the jars.
Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot jam.
Lids: put the lids into a pan of boiling water for at least several minutes; to soften up the gummed surface and clean the lids. I just leave them in there, with the heat on very low, until I need them!
Need lids, rings and replacement jars?
Get them all here, delivered direct to your home, at the best prices on the internet!
Step 7 - Cook
Place the juice in the saucepan and heat over medium to high heat. When it boils vigorously, add the sugar at the rate of one-half as much sugar as juice. Boil it down rapidly until it achieves the consistency of honey.
If it doesn't thicken, you can mix 1/3 of a packet of pectin with 1/3 cup of sugar and mix it in. That will thicken it.
Or you can cook it down in a Crockpot overnight, on low!
Step 8 - Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into the boiling water canner!
Step 9 - Process the jars in the boiling water bath
Keep the jars covered with at least 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling. In general, boil them for 5 minutes. I say "in general" because you have to process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea level, or if you use larger jars, or if you did not sanitize the jars and lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of pectin will tell you exactly.
Note: Some people don't even boil the jars; they just ladle it hot into hot jars, put the lids and rings on and invert them, but putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage! To me, it makes little sense to put all the working into making the jam and then not to process the jars to be sure they don't spoil!
Step 10 - Remove and cool the jars - Done!
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!
Ingredients
* 8 cups peach juice (either fresh, from washed, sound pieces and peelings from fruit used for preserves, pickles, etc - OR canned peach juice)
* 6 or 7 cups of water - if you are starting with peelings, you will need the water to cook them in.
* 4 cups sugar or Splenda or 3 cups of bee honey! (Sugar or honey work best; Splenda doesn't allow it to thicken very well)
Equipment
* Jar funnel ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) or order it as part of the kit with the jar grabber.
* At least 1 large pot; I prefer 16 to 20 quart Teflon lined pots for easy cleanup.
* Ball jars (Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger, Safeway carry them, as do some big box stores - about $7 per dozen 8 ounce jars including the lids and rings)
* Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar. They may only be used once.
Peach (and/or Nectarine) Honey-making Directions
This example shows you how to make fruit honey from peaches (and other stone fruits)!
If you are starting with peach juice, skip to step 6.
Step 1 - Pick the Peaches! (or buy them already picked)
Step 2 - How much fruit?
It takes about 5 to 6 cups of peach peelings, which takes at least several dozen peaches to get this many peelings. It does require a LOT of peelings, as they cook down!
Step 3 -Wash the fruit and sort!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in a colander of plain cold water.
Then you need to pick out and remove any bits of stems, leaves and soft or mushy fruit. It is easiest to do this in a large bowl of water and gently run your hands through the fruit as they float. With your fingers slightly apart, you will easily feel any soft or mushy fruit get caught in your fingers.
Then just drain off the water!
Step 4 - Peeling the Peaches
Peaches and nectarines should be peeled, as their skins can be tough / chewy in jam. Peaches have such thin skins, you really don't need to peel them.
For those you want to peel, here's a great trick that works with many fruits and vegetables with skins (like tomatoes): just dip the fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds.
Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice.
The skins will easily slide off now IF the peaches are ripe! The more unripe they are, the longer you'll need to heat them. You can now eat the peaches, or can them or make peach jam, etc.
For this recipe, we only need the peelings. Save all washed, sound pieces and peelings from the peaches. (if you are peeling the peaches in advance, keep the peelings refrigerated until ready to use).
I mentioned in the ingredients section that you can use canned peach juice. That's true, but it is much more difficult. The peelings add a lot of solid particulates which help the "honey" to thicken.
Step 5 - Make the juice from the peelings
Cover the peelings with water and slowly cook in a covered saucepan until they are soft. Then put in a cheesecloth bag and press to remove all juice. You may then drip the juice through a jelly bag and measure; or use the juice that was squeezed right from the cheescloth. The goal is to remove large chunks.
Step 6 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.
NOTE: If unsanitized jars are used, the product should be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result in a poor set (runny jam), it’s better to sanitize the jars.
Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot jam.
Lids: put the lids into a pan of boiling water for at least several minutes; to soften up the gummed surface and clean the lids. I just leave them in there, with the heat on very low, until I need them!
Need lids, rings and replacement jars?
Get them all here, delivered direct to your home, at the best prices on the internet!
Step 7 - Cook
Place the juice in the saucepan and heat over medium to high heat. When it boils vigorously, add the sugar at the rate of one-half as much sugar as juice. Boil it down rapidly until it achieves the consistency of honey.
If it doesn't thicken, you can mix 1/3 of a packet of pectin with 1/3 cup of sugar and mix it in. That will thicken it.
Or you can cook it down in a Crockpot overnight, on low!
Step 8 - Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into the boiling water canner!
Step 9 - Process the jars in the boiling water bath
Keep the jars covered with at least 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling. In general, boil them for 5 minutes. I say "in general" because you have to process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea level, or if you use larger jars, or if you did not sanitize the jars and lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of pectin will tell you exactly.
Note: Some people don't even boil the jars; they just ladle it hot into hot jars, put the lids and rings on and invert them, but putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage! To me, it makes little sense to put all the working into making the jam and then not to process the jars to be sure they don't spoil!
Step 10 - Remove and cool the jars - Done!
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Peach Butter
How to Make Homemade Peach Butter - Easily!
You think making and canning your own peach butter is difficult? Well, it used to be! Until crock pots and slow cookers came along!
Now, it's easy! Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated. The peach butter will taste MUCH better than anything you've ever had from a store.
Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of 18 months to 2 years, and require no special attention. A side benefit is that your house will smell wonderful while it is cooking - much better than potpourri!
Directions for Making peach butter
Ingredients and Equipment
* Peaches - About 35 peaches for a full 6 quart crock pot batch (See step 1)
* Cinnamon
* Cloves
* Allspice
* Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
* Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
* Jar funnel ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
* 1 Crock pot (slow cooker)
* Large spoons and ladles
* 1 Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars of peach butter after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall kitchen stores, sometimes at big box stores and grocery stores.))
* Ball jars (Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger, Safeway carry them, as do some big box stores - about $8 per dozen quart jars including the lids and rings)
Peach Butter Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Selecting the peaches, plums, cherries or nectarines
The most important step! You need peaches that are sweet, and to make the work easier, cling-free (also called freestone). This means that the peach separates easily from the pit! Same with nectarines, and this doesn't apply to cherries or plums.
Choose ripe, mature fruit. They should not be mushy, but they also should not be rock hard: just as ripe as you would eat them fresh. Green, unripe peaches will soften but will not ripen, nor have the flavor of tree-ripe peaches.
After this step, I'll just refer to "peaches" but it applies to plums, cherries and nectarines.
Step 2 - How many peaches and where to get them
You can pick your own, or buy them at the grocery store. For very large quantities (more than a few bushels), you'll find that real* farmer's markets, like the Farmer's Market in Forest Park, Georgia have them at the best prices.
It takes about 7 good sized peaches or nectarines (or about 15 plums) to make one quart of prepared peaches. And each quart of prepared peaches cooks down to about 1 pint of peach butter.
So that means you'll need about 7 large peaches per pint of peach butter that you want to make!
For one batch in a 5 to 6 quart crockpot you'll need about 35 to 40 medium to large peaches! The rest of the measurements assume you're making one full batch!
Step 3 -Wash the peaches!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the peaches in plain cold or lukewarm water.
In boiling water for 60 seconds,
then in cold water for 2 min.
Step 4 - Peeling the Peaches
Nope, we're not going to peel them by hand; that's way too much work. Instead, here's a great trick that works with many fruits and vegetables with skins (like tomatoes): just dip the fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice. The skins will easily slide off now!
Nectarines do not need to be peeled, if you don't mind the skins.
Step 5 - Cut up and blend the peaches
Cut out any brown spots and mushy areas. Cut the peaches in half, or quarters or slices, as you prefer! Remove pits!
If you want REALLY smooth peach butter, run the cut up peaches through your food processor or blender until they are pureed!
Step 6 - Fill the crock pot
Fill the crock pot to within an inch of full with the peaches. My crockpot holds about 5.5 quarts. Now, you CAN do this using a regular large pot on very low heat on the stove, but the crockpot works much better, because its heat is very low. I've never had a batch burn in the crockpot.
Step 7 -Add the spices and sweetener of your choice
To the crockpot full of cut up peaches, add:
* 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon of allspice
* 4 cups sugar (or other sweetener)
The sweetener can be sugar, Splenda, fruit juice (peach juice or white grape juice work well) or none at all! Generally, a fruit butter, like peach butter is a fairly sweet concoction, so you might want to add some sweetening. I usually add about 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of Splenda, so it's sweet, but not loaded with sugar.
Step 8 - Cook the Peach butter
Set the crock pot on low or medium heat.
Cover it loosely or use a large pot splatter-guard. It will spatter as it boils slowly, so I also cover nearby surfaces with towels. You don't want to seal it tightly because you want the steam to escape so it can reduce in volume and thicken.
A visitor suggests, take a couple of butter knives, and lay them across the top of the crock pot. They are parallel and located about 2/3 of the way out from the center. Then put the lid on these supports, leaving it "covering" the pot and keeping the splatters under control, but, leaving a good gap for steam to escape.
Leave it to cook for 6 - 12 hours. How long depends on the size and power of your crockpot, and how thick you like it, If you want to stir it occasionally, that's fine but not necessary. I let mine go overnight.
It will reduce in volume by about half overnight.
Step 9 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.
Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot peach butter.
Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Step 10 - Blend the peach butter (optional)
You want a smooth, creamy texture, right? If the peach butter is not as smooth as you'd like, just use a hand-held drink blender. It does a great job for finishing it up! You can also put it into a regular blender, but if you are going to do that, you might want to blend the peach sauce before you put it in the crock pot (it will be much thicker afterwards and won't move in a regular blender). Another visitor says running it through a food mill with a fine screen or through a sieve works, too.
Tips:
* Too thick? if the peach butter cooks down too much or is too thick for your liking, just add a little bit of peach juice and blend it in.
* Not thick enough? Just let it cook some more, with the lid off so the steam can escape!
Step 11 - Fill the jars
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled peach butter of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. if you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 min. If you are at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, see the chart at the bottom of this page.
Step 12 - Done
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
You think making and canning your own peach butter is difficult? Well, it used to be! Until crock pots and slow cookers came along!
Now, it's easy! Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated. The peach butter will taste MUCH better than anything you've ever had from a store.
Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of 18 months to 2 years, and require no special attention. A side benefit is that your house will smell wonderful while it is cooking - much better than potpourri!
Directions for Making peach butter
Ingredients and Equipment
* Peaches - About 35 peaches for a full 6 quart crock pot batch (See step 1)
* Cinnamon
* Cloves
* Allspice
* Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
* Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
* Jar funnel ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page)
* 1 Crock pot (slow cooker)
* Large spoons and ladles
* 1 Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars of peach butter after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall kitchen stores, sometimes at big box stores and grocery stores.))
* Ball jars (Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger, Safeway carry them, as do some big box stores - about $8 per dozen quart jars including the lids and rings)
Peach Butter Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Selecting the peaches, plums, cherries or nectarines
The most important step! You need peaches that are sweet, and to make the work easier, cling-free (also called freestone). This means that the peach separates easily from the pit! Same with nectarines, and this doesn't apply to cherries or plums.
Choose ripe, mature fruit. They should not be mushy, but they also should not be rock hard: just as ripe as you would eat them fresh. Green, unripe peaches will soften but will not ripen, nor have the flavor of tree-ripe peaches.
After this step, I'll just refer to "peaches" but it applies to plums, cherries and nectarines.
Step 2 - How many peaches and where to get them
You can pick your own, or buy them at the grocery store. For very large quantities (more than a few bushels), you'll find that real* farmer's markets, like the Farmer's Market in Forest Park, Georgia have them at the best prices.
It takes about 7 good sized peaches or nectarines (or about 15 plums) to make one quart of prepared peaches. And each quart of prepared peaches cooks down to about 1 pint of peach butter.
So that means you'll need about 7 large peaches per pint of peach butter that you want to make!
For one batch in a 5 to 6 quart crockpot you'll need about 35 to 40 medium to large peaches! The rest of the measurements assume you're making one full batch!
Step 3 -Wash the peaches!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the peaches in plain cold or lukewarm water.
In boiling water for 60 seconds,
then in cold water for 2 min.
Step 4 - Peeling the Peaches
Nope, we're not going to peel them by hand; that's way too much work. Instead, here's a great trick that works with many fruits and vegetables with skins (like tomatoes): just dip the fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice. The skins will easily slide off now!
Nectarines do not need to be peeled, if you don't mind the skins.
Step 5 - Cut up and blend the peaches
Cut out any brown spots and mushy areas. Cut the peaches in half, or quarters or slices, as you prefer! Remove pits!
If you want REALLY smooth peach butter, run the cut up peaches through your food processor or blender until they are pureed!
Step 6 - Fill the crock pot
Fill the crock pot to within an inch of full with the peaches. My crockpot holds about 5.5 quarts. Now, you CAN do this using a regular large pot on very low heat on the stove, but the crockpot works much better, because its heat is very low. I've never had a batch burn in the crockpot.
Step 7 -Add the spices and sweetener of your choice
To the crockpot full of cut up peaches, add:
* 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon of allspice
* 4 cups sugar (or other sweetener)
The sweetener can be sugar, Splenda, fruit juice (peach juice or white grape juice work well) or none at all! Generally, a fruit butter, like peach butter is a fairly sweet concoction, so you might want to add some sweetening. I usually add about 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of Splenda, so it's sweet, but not loaded with sugar.
Step 8 - Cook the Peach butter
Set the crock pot on low or medium heat.
Cover it loosely or use a large pot splatter-guard. It will spatter as it boils slowly, so I also cover nearby surfaces with towels. You don't want to seal it tightly because you want the steam to escape so it can reduce in volume and thicken.
A visitor suggests, take a couple of butter knives, and lay them across the top of the crock pot. They are parallel and located about 2/3 of the way out from the center. Then put the lid on these supports, leaving it "covering" the pot and keeping the splatters under control, but, leaving a good gap for steam to escape.
Leave it to cook for 6 - 12 hours. How long depends on the size and power of your crockpot, and how thick you like it, If you want to stir it occasionally, that's fine but not necessary. I let mine go overnight.
It will reduce in volume by about half overnight.
Step 9 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.
Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot peach butter.
Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Step 10 - Blend the peach butter (optional)
You want a smooth, creamy texture, right? If the peach butter is not as smooth as you'd like, just use a hand-held drink blender. It does a great job for finishing it up! You can also put it into a regular blender, but if you are going to do that, you might want to blend the peach sauce before you put it in the crock pot (it will be much thicker afterwards and won't move in a regular blender). Another visitor says running it through a food mill with a fine screen or through a sieve works, too.
Tips:
* Too thick? if the peach butter cooks down too much or is too thick for your liking, just add a little bit of peach juice and blend it in.
* Not thick enough? Just let it cook some more, with the lid off so the steam can escape!
Step 11 - Fill the jars
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled peach butter of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. if you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 min. If you are at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, see the chart at the bottom of this page.
Step 12 - Done
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Always a Bridesmaid
I was thinking about this the other day and I have actually forgot how many Weddings I have been part of. I remember my first wedding it was 1982 and I was almost 6 years old I wore a white eyelet dress that my mom made and it was a great twirling dress. This wedding was 29 years ago but I remember almost every detail of the wedding. The next wedding I was part of was my Sisters and I again was a flower girl and the dress was amethyst which is still my favorite color. I think what I remember most about Leah's wedding was all the work my mom and Leah and many of my moms friends and relatives put into the wedding, it was beautiful and a very special day.
I then worked my way through candle lighter, junior bridesmaid, then to bridesmaid and finally to maid of honor. I actually can somewhat relate to the movie 27 dresses, I believe my count ended between 12 and 15 weddings, but I then went into planning, doing flowers and then catering I have flown cross country to help make a day special and I have worked for weeks on end to help make it the greatest day of the couples life.
I am a sap and I cry at the special ones and I love to see the pure love that the couple is feeling on that special day. There are so many things that can go wrong, I don't think I have ever been part of a wedding that did not have some issue that we have had to make work. I truly have a fear of wedding cake I have ended up having to make sure that that there was a cake whether the baker forgot the cake or they did not support it right there is almost always something to stress about on a cake.
I move into food several years back, when I am in the kitchen I know what it is suppose to be like and I desire no matter how big or small that the food be amazing I want all the flavors to be perfect, honestly my biggest fear is that my food would be like other wedding food.
I believe that you can have a amazing wedding on a budget and that there are places to cut corners I also hate what the TV is teaching young brides about having to have dresses that cost thousands of dollars and that you just go into debt for a wedding.
What are we teaching out young couples? If you spend $50,000 dollars or more on your wedding how long will they be paying it off? I believe that we should be teaching them to pay cash for the wedding and save money so that they can buy a house or pay off their student loans.
I love to get a great deal for everything and I have never paid full price for anything, yes this means that sometimes I may have to settle for something that is close but not exact but at the end of the day what does it matter. I tell every young girl I meet to think about what they want even if they are not in a relationship because then when they do get to that special time they know what they are looking for.
I also tell brides to be mindful of your wedding party as most of their friends are on very tight budgets and it is not fair to expect them to pay $150-200 for a dress and $50 for shoes $100 for hair and make-up and then expect them to travel and bring a gift to each of your showers so remember they are your friends and you should do things that keep them your friends after the wedding.
Another thing that I tell a young bride it to really think about the people that you choose to have in your wedding, pick family and lifelong friends, but do not feel obligated to have every friend you have. There are plenty of jobs that you can assign to these friends.
My final tip is to take the advise of those who have gone before you, I know you will feel overwhelmed by all the advise but at least listen and catalog it so that you can avoid some painful issue that can arise.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Party till the New Year Comes
Well it is once again December and the parties and festivities are in full swing, everywhere you look the lights are hung and trees twinkle in the windows, no wonder this is allot of people's favorite time of Year.
It is defiantly one of my favorite times, I think it is because of the calm that can be found even in the midst of all the Hustle and Bustle. It is those moments when you come home from whatever activity you have been at so tired you can't even think but then you find that calm, it might be as you light the candles just because or when you climb into that bubble bath and sink into the moment. I love the moments in the evening when I can sit in the peacefulness of home and write out cards or just look at the lights on my tree and just for a few minutes all the crazy of that day and all the rest disappear.
I Love the busyness of this time of year also I love the music and Parties, I love to have people over and share a meal or just treat with them, I am excited that I am able to be with loved ones and great friends.
This Year I am looking forward with much anticipation, I know that this time of year makes most of us reflect on the past twelve months but instead of doing that this year I am going to Party till the New year comes, there may be times when the party consist of me some music, candles and hot cider but still it is a party. I am excited that I can look forward with hope and anticipation of what the New year Might bring, so I say but on your Santa hat or bundle up and go for a sleigh ride and make this year the best Christmas ever.
It is defiantly one of my favorite times, I think it is because of the calm that can be found even in the midst of all the Hustle and Bustle. It is those moments when you come home from whatever activity you have been at so tired you can't even think but then you find that calm, it might be as you light the candles just because or when you climb into that bubble bath and sink into the moment. I love the moments in the evening when I can sit in the peacefulness of home and write out cards or just look at the lights on my tree and just for a few minutes all the crazy of that day and all the rest disappear.
I Love the busyness of this time of year also I love the music and Parties, I love to have people over and share a meal or just treat with them, I am excited that I am able to be with loved ones and great friends.
This Year I am looking forward with much anticipation, I know that this time of year makes most of us reflect on the past twelve months but instead of doing that this year I am going to Party till the New year comes, there may be times when the party consist of me some music, candles and hot cider but still it is a party. I am excited that I can look forward with hope and anticipation of what the New year Might bring, so I say but on your Santa hat or bundle up and go for a sleigh ride and make this year the best Christmas ever.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
When I was a Child I dreamed that one day!!
This was the title of a speech that I gave when I ran for Strawberry Festival Queen, I don't remember the whole speech but I do remember the line that said I dreamed that I would be a Dr. drive a BMW and have 100 kids, and then I went on to say that that dream had become the reality of a Subaru and maybe 6 kids.
Even now it is weird to think back seventeen years and what I have done in that time, I feel like I have made allot out of these years. I have traveled around the world I have seen places that many can only dream of.
But as any time we think back on our live I wonder what else i could have done how could I have changed where I am today, I am for the most part happy with who I have become and what I have dome with my life but there is always the what ifs. I would never choose to go back but as I have a chance to start over now I pray that I will know where I am to head in the future. Maybe this time it will be towards becoming a Dr. but I don't think I will go for the 100 kids.
As we all move forward don't dwell on the past but embrace the future, but never forget where you have come from and what has gotten you to where you are.
Even now it is weird to think back seventeen years and what I have done in that time, I feel like I have made allot out of these years. I have traveled around the world I have seen places that many can only dream of.
But as any time we think back on our live I wonder what else i could have done how could I have changed where I am today, I am for the most part happy with who I have become and what I have dome with my life but there is always the what ifs. I would never choose to go back but as I have a chance to start over now I pray that I will know where I am to head in the future. Maybe this time it will be towards becoming a Dr. but I don't think I will go for the 100 kids.
As we all move forward don't dwell on the past but embrace the future, but never forget where you have come from and what has gotten you to where you are.
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