I really thought I'd be done with canning and back to sewing by now. But when someone gives you apples- lots of them, you make applesauce. A few days after receiving the apples, we also got a large tote full of keiffer pears. If you know anyone with an old keiffer pear tree, you know very well these pears are as hard as a rock, and they are rather bland. There isn't much you can do with them but cook them down. They are perfect for sauce! A dear friend in Illinois first taught me how easy it is to make applesauce. She taught kindergarten and first grade, and oh the sweet treats she shared with those kids. She is definitely that teacher they will never forget. She was always doing something creative like making homemade soup or sourdough bread. When she wasn't cooking something for her students, they were creating special projects. Today, Ms. B was in my heart while I cooked up this apple sauce. It's really easy. When you make it once and figure out what your family likes, you may never buy applesauce from the store again. For real. My kids love it so much, I make it with apples, pears or mix them together. They don't care. Apple or Pear Sauce Recipe 3 lbs apples or pears, peeled, cored, sliced and diced 1/2 cup apple cider 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1/4 cup light brown sugar 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional) Start with apples. Today I had gala, a few granny smith and some yellow delicious apples. Sometimes I use this same recipe with Kieffer pears or a combination of pears and apples. I really don't make a huge fuss about which type apples to use. First, I don't think my grandma stopped baking a pie because the apples were too hard or soft. She used what she had. Second, if someone is nice enough to gift you something, you figure out what to do to make it work. The thing about apples (pears) is as you peel them, you need to either submerge them into water until you get them all done, or sprinkle them with lemon juice. The softer the apples, the quicker they oxidize (turn brown). The acid in the lemon juice slows the oxidation process. Peel, slice and dice quickly or take advantage of any extra hands you have around the house. If don't mind cooking your fruit a little longer, you can core them and drop the entire fruit into your pot. It takes longer to cook down, but comes out the same. Cook them down. Once you have diced the apples, place them in a stock pot with apple cider and lemon juice. I sometimes add equal parts apple cider and water or use whatever juice we have on hand. I've thrown pineapple juice into pears and white grape juice into apples. Please don't make a special trip to the store. If all else fails, use water and flavor it with sugar and spices once they cook down. The recipe is very forgiving. Turn the stove on medium-high heat and cook until the liquid begins to boil. Turn the stove down and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the apples are soft. For crisp apples like Granny Smith, you may need to cook them a little longer. While they cook, stir several times to make sure the apples don't burn, and be sure everything is adequately submerged in the liquid. Mash the apples. As the apples soften, they will begin to become translucent. Turn off the heat. Use a potato masher to break up large clumps. Our kids prefer their apple sauce chunky. If you want it smooth, use a food processor or immersion blender to get the consistency you want.
Stir in the goodness. Stir in light brown sugar and any other flavor you'd like to add. We usually add cinnamon to a few jars. Once you get the taste you like, you're done. Spoon the hot apple sauce into hot, sterilized jars. Cover with lids. Process is a water bath for 15 minutes if you're not planning to eat it right away. This recipe makes 4 half-pint jars or 2 pints.
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We were gifted a few pounds of Brown Turkey figs. What to do, what to do? We made fig jam for the first time last year. It was way too sweet for my taste buds, but my sweet aunt loved it. I have a spirit of determination when it comes to preserving and canning, so I wasn't going to give up. I’m learning new things daily, and there are lots of things I’m timid about trying- but I love a good jam. For the first batch, the tween decided to try fig newtons. I challenged her to locate a good recipe, and she delivered. I'll leave a link to the recipe she used at bottom of the post. The fig newtons actually turned out pretty good. They didn't last 48 hours in our house. The recipe again called for a whole lot of sugar, but this was only to flavor the figs. We left the figs whole and added cinnamon, sugar and water. This mixture was brought to a rapid boil then simmered for 45 minutes. The figs were strained and pulsed in a food processor. It came out light and fluffy, and it was absolutely delicious. The mixture was spread onto the prepared cookie dough and baked. Let me tell you. That recipe is worth the time and the effort. The only thing we needed to do differently was chill the dough. It was a little too soft to handle. I got to thinking about the recipe and thought it could lead to a nice compromise on my jam dilemma. My research took me to a recipe calling for only one half cup sugar and vanilla. So....with a few calculations, a little measuring, pouring and tasting, this is what I came up with. I like it, because it is not too sweet, and you can still taste all of the flavors melding together. It's also a small batch if you live with people who don't love figs. (I don't know what's wrong with them.) FIG JAM Ingredients 1 lb fresh figs, quartered or chopped 1/2 cup sugar 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp cinnamon 2 Tbsp water Directions 1. Wash figs thoroughly and remove stems. Cut into four pieces or chop. 2. Place figs into a stock pot. Add sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, cinnamon and water. 3. Turn stove on medium heat and bring mixture to a boil. 4. Turn heat down and simmer on low for 30-35 minutes or until the jam is set. Be sure to stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom or burn. 5. If you like your jam chunky, stop right here. If not, you can use a wooden spoon or food processor to mash or chop some of the fruit. 6. Spoon the hot jam into warm canning jars. If you plan to process them, you can water bath for 10 minutes. This recipe makes 4 quarter pints or 2 half pints. Notes: For this recipe, I used frozen figs. Figs are very delicate and do not last very long in the fridge, especially if they've been washed. I usually wash them and slice in half or quarters prior to freezing. These were frozen whole. They thawed enough to slice in thirty minutes. If you prefer smaller pieces of fruit, chopping is recommended. Here's the link to the Fig Newton recipe mentioned earlier. For the first time, we are planting or tending to a fall garden. We've always planted in spring for a summer harvest of cucumbers and tomatoes. Over the years we've added a few things. If the pests allow, we can sometimes enjoy an occasional squash from the garden. We started planting okra and watermelon last year. This year we added potatoes, carrots, kale and string beans. But- we've also been a little more diligent in pulling out the old and putting in new. If a tomato fizzled out, we pulled it up and planted a started sucker or one we started from seed in its place. We should be able to harvest fruit on those in a few weeks. Squash vine borers destroyed our first crop of yellow crook neck squash, but we had a second and, yes, a third set of plants we started from seed in May and June ready to put in where we removed other plants. We were determined to get a handle on our harvest this year. I'm happy about that. So what are we planting for fall? First, we expect to harvest tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, crook neck squash and zucchini. We have a few butternut squash on the vine, and I'm so excited to have gotten my hands on Zucchino Rampacante! It is a vine borer resistant squash that can be harvested early at about 12 -14 inches to taste like zucchini, or it can be left on the vine as a winter squash to grow two feet long or more. It hardens off and tastes more like butternut squash, so I've read. It sounds like a dream. Stingy me. The seeds came in the mail the first week of August. I only planted one seed. I didn't want to plant a bunch and have a crop fail due to cold weather setting in. Well, the seed sprouted on the back porch among some sweet potato vines. I was trying to figure out if I wanted giant squash hanging from the balcony, or should I move the plant over to the garden side and let it trail along the fence to intermingle with other plants that were already taking off or were soon to be pulled up. After weighing the pros and cons, I settled on digging it up and planted it in a bucket near the fence. That would free up the raised beds for our leafy greens. In trays we planted four different types of collards, two types of cabbage, as well as purple and green varieties of brussels sprouts so far. I don't know anything about kohlrabi and swiss chard, but I received some seeds through a swap. I'm eager to try them out. I'm told kohlrabi tastes like the heart of cabbage but a little sweeter. We have both white and purple. I would love to hear from anyone who has tried it. How do you even cook it? I suppose we'll figure that out if it survives. Here's a list of everything we plan to grow in the fall and winter. Our seeds were either self-harvested, purchased online or through local feed stores, or traded with new gardening friends across the country. Let us know what you're planting. Leave your fall gardening list in the comments below. Fall/Winter Garden
Beets Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Collards Kale Kohlrabi Mustard Greens Onions Rutabaga Spinach Swiss Chard Tender Greens Turnip Greens ~Happy Planting |
AuthorI'm a wife, mother, daughter, educator, writer and hobby farmer. Welcome to my world of simply living. Archives
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