Mini Pie in a Jar!

Upon looking for things to do with my peaches, I came across and interesting idea on Eating Well Anywhere for Pie in a Jar and Crisp in a jar. While the crisp in a jar looked really easy, I know that the people in my house are bigger fans of pie, so I thought I would try those. I checked out the links and liked the instructions on Lloyd and Lauren.

I immediately went on the search for the right jar – we had some of the 4 oz jars kicking around, but those were not big enough the stomachs I feed, so it was off to the store. I managed to find some nice low, widemouth 8 oz jars that don’t narrow at the neck. Perfect!

I came back the house and proceeded to put O to work pealing and slicing peaches (I figure if he is going to enjoy all the pies, he could at least help a few of the 60lbs of peaches I ended up dealing with this year). As he was busy with the peaches I made pie crust. I happened to be at my parents house while trying to do this, and of course never thought to look and see if they had lard, or what they had for recipes. They had Crisco in the house and so I simply used the recipe off box. I don’t know that I will be using it again, as it wasn’t my favourite to work with – we will see how it turns out after baking.

Then I made the pie filling:

6 cups of sliced peaches
¼ cup brown sugar
2-3 tsp Cinnamon

Mix together, and place in Pie tin.

I put the bottom crust into the each of 6 jars, then filled the jars with pie filling.


Once the filling was in, I topped each pie with a circle of crust and crimped the edges. After putting the tops on the pies (and cutting a vent) I put the lids on the jars and into the freezer they went.

To bake:
Let me the pie thaw some before putting it in the oven – if the jars go from extreme cold to extreme heat, they could shatter. Remember to take the lid off before baking.

Bake the pie at 400F for 30 to 40 mintues (I am not sure how long with is going to be, as I haven’t baked one yet). The crust should be a lovely golden colour.


Reviews:
These were fun to make and turned out really cute. I am looking forward to seeing how well they bake. Due to the rearranging of the pantry and arrival of new freezers this week, it may be a while before I actually bake one.

Apricot Orange Marmalade

My mom got a batch of apricots with her peaches this year, and since I was delivering fruit, I also go to help figure things out. The apricots turned out to be pretty ripe after the trip to the parent’s house, and so we decided to make some jam, well then mom decided marmalade would be nice. I did a little searching and came up with Apricot Orange Marmalade from Global Gourmet.

I have reposted here with a couple of notes:

3 pounds apricots
2 tablespoons finely chopped orange zest (we used the zest from 2 large oranges)
1 cup orange sections (This was the two oranges we zested, the large segments breakdown during the cooking)
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 cups granulated sugar
3 half-pint jars and matching lids (use new lids only)

Pit and quarter the apricots. There should be approximately 9 cups. In a 12-inch skillet or sauté pan, combine the apricots, zest, orange sections, juice and sugar. Allow to stand for 1 hour at room temperature. ( I had it covered at this point, but that was mostly to keep out any flies that were roaming around. I don’t know if it made any difference to the end product)

Cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 1-1/2 hours, or until mixture looks glazed and clear liquid is no longer visible. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, for another 30 minutes until the marmalade is thick. (I ended up cooking mine for a 3.5 to 4 hours before it was a consistency that I liked)

Sterilize the jars by washing and rinsing them in the dishwasher without detergent; keep them warm in a 250 degree-F oven. Pour boiling water over the lids to soften the rubber seals.

Ladle the hot marmalade into the hot jars, filling to within 1/2 inch of the top. Wipe the rims and seal with the hot lids and metal bands. Place the jars on a rack, without touching, in a large, deep pot with water to cover by 1 inch. Cover and boil for 15 minutes. Use tongs to remove the jars to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature. Check the seals. The jars are sealed when the center of the lid is slightly indented and cannot be pressed in with a fingertip.

Makes 3 half-pints ( I actually got closer to 5 half pint jars)

Fresh Cherry Cobbler

Alright, so I had still more cherries left in my fridge, they were getting to point that they absolutely had to be used in the next day or so, and I was at the point were my stomach was letting me that under no circumstance should I be eating even a quarter of the amount left. So, what do I do with all these cherries? That is right – I bake something, that way the hubs will consume it or share with the boys at work, and I no longer have to worry about it.

I did some googling and came across bakin’ and eggs, and a yummy looking recipe for Fresh Cherry Cobbler.

Filling:

5 cups Bing cherries, pitted

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

4-5 teaspoons cornstarch

Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons cold butter

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 2 quart baking pan
In a saucepan over medium-high heat mix together the filling ingredients and cook until bubbling and thickened – about 10 minutes, stiring frequently. (Start with 3 teaspoons of cornstarch and add more if the mixture is not thickening – remember it will thicken a little more when it cooks in the oven and when it cools).
Pour filling into the prepared baking pan.
While the filing is cooking mix together the flour, sugar, baking poweder and cinnamon in a new bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture become crummy (not bad, just looks like crums).
In another bowl combine the egg and milk. Then stir the mix into the flour mixture until just combined.
Top cherry filling with tablespoons of dough. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until topping is golden in color.
Serve with ice cream.


Reviews:
Hubs and his friends enjoyed it. I don’t know if cherry cobbler isn’t the hubs favorite or if he has been overwhelmed by all the fruit and new things in the house lately, but it actually lasted for more than a day! He says it was great, so I am going with he has to much food going on in the house.

Lasagna "Soup"

I love lasagna, but I am not a fan of making it. I saw a recipe for a lasagna soup and thought it was a great idea, it looked simple enough and I was craving something hot and comforting. I looked at a couple of different recipes and ended up making up my own.

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small to medium yellow onion chopped
½ medium to large green pepper chopped
2 carrots grated
¾ cup grated zucchini
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
3-4 tbsp Italian seasoning (if you use Italian seasoned tomatoes and tomato sauce, you will need less or none at all)
2 cups water or chicken stock (this will make a very thick soup, increase if you would like more liquid in you soup)
½ box of lasagna noodles, broken into bite sized pieces
Ricotta cheese


How to:
1. In a saucepan brown the ground beef. Drain away the excess fat.
2. Add in the vegetables (onion, carrot, green pepper and zucchini), sauté with meat until the vegetables are starting to soften. (5 min)
3. Mix in the tomatoes and tomato sauce, adding the Italian seasoning to taste.
4. Add the water or chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture reaches a boil add in the pasta and cook until el dante.
5. Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with a spoonful of ricotta and enjoy!

Reviews:

I love this soup, and it is sure to become a regular meal in my house. It made lots, and we had leftovers for work the next day. A friend stopped by just as I was finished and he couldn’t leave without trying a bowl after smelling it.

Next time I make this I will probably add more vegetables including yellow and red peppers.

Variation: Baked Lasagna Soup:

Once the soup is cooked, but in an oven safe bowl and mix in the ricotta cheese. Top with a little shredded chedder or mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 until the cheese is bubbly.

Freezing Blueberries, Rhubarb and Zucchini

Alright, this is pretty simple, but I was putting everything else up, so why not this as well?

I have done this for years and it works really well. The pre-measured bags are really handy, when I want to bake something, I pull out the bag with the correct amount and allow it to thaw as I am getting everything else ready and started. I have been doing this long enough that I know what amounts I need for my favourite recipes to do the pre-measured bags, but I have found that 2 cups is usually pretty standard.

Blueberries:
1. wash the blueberries and pick out any "bad" berries.
2. Lay in a single layer on a pan/cookie sheet and put in the freezer until the berries are frozen and firm.
3. Measure out and place in freezer bags. Remove the air from the bags, seal and label before placing back into the freezer.

I did bags of 4-5 cups (pie, cobbler, crisp), and 2 cups (muffins, breads, snacks)

Rhubarb:
1. Wash the sticks of rhubarb and chop into small chunks.
2. Measure out the desired amounts and place in freezer bags. Remove the air from the bags, seal, label and freeze.

For this I usually do bags of 4-5 cups (crisp) and 2 cups ( mixed crisps, muffins)

Zucchini:
We always have tons of zucchini from the garden and we do this every year. We usually let the zucchinis get pretty big (half the time because we forget to check for them).

This sight has great pictures for the steps (which I of course forgot to take), so check it out.

1. Peal the zucchini (I know not all people do this but I don't like the dark green flecks in my baking). I then cut the zucchini in half and remove the seeds with a spoon.
2. Grate the zucchini with a cheese grater.
3. Measure out desired amounts of the grated zucchini, and place in freezer bag. Remove the air from the freezer bag, label and place in the freezer.

I have found that most of the bread recipes call for 2 cups, so I do lots of 2 cups bags, and the occasional 1 cup bag (incase I stumble upon a smaller recipe I want to try or I want to half something I am making.) The bags of zucchini are also great to thaw and add to lasagna or casseroles.

Freezing Cherries Take 2

So after freezing plain cherries, I decided to be a little adventures and try freezing the cherries in a syrup. Upon looking, I decided I wanted something I could just pop out of the freezer and into a cobbler or pie like I do with my apricot and peach pies. This is now sitting in my freezer and looking pretty good. I will have to take it out soon and see how well it worked.

Ingredients:
5-6 cups of cherries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:
1. Wash, stem and pit the cherries.
2. In a saucepan combine the juice from the cherries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat.
3. Heat the mixture until it becomes a thick syrup (5-7 minutes)
4. Add the cherries, I heated for a little longer at this point as there was additional juice with the cherries from them sitting while I made the syrup.
5. Pour into a large freezer bag, squeeze all the air out and seal. Label and place in freezer.

Baking:
Remove from the freezer and let thaw, place in a pie or top for a cobbler. Bake according the instructions for a pie or cobbler - whichever you have decided to do.

I will let you all know how this turned out when i get it out of the freezer to try!

Freezing Cherries Take 1

I have a lot of cherries around the house and not enough baking projects right now to use them all. I know that everyone says to just eat them, but there are only so many cherries I can eat before I start feeling a little sick. I decided to try freezing the cherries, and having never froze cherries before and reading a bunch of different ways, I decided to try freezing them with and without a syrup. The first is without a syrup:

1. Wash and stem the cherries. Then pit the cherries and lay out flat on a baking sheet.
2. Place the baking sheet into the freezer until the cherries are frozen and firm.
3. Once the cherries are frozen, measure them into freezer bags. Squeeze as much air as possible out of the bags and seal. I did bags of 6 cups (pies and cobblers), 2 cups (muffins, breads ect) and one bag of 1 cup (brownies).
4. Label the bags and place them back into the freezer. I think these should last for 6 to 12 months.

I look forward to be able do some baking with these later this fall/winter.

Freezer Peach Pie Filling

Owen loves peach pie in all sorts of variety, he especially loves to have pies in the middle of winter. I know that you could just go out and buy a can of peaches or pie filling – but what fun is that when I have more than enough peaches at home right now? I love the ease of just taking something out of the freezer as well, so I often make a few pie fillings with the fruit I get in the summer and pop them in the freezer.

Ingredients/materials:
4 to 5 cups peeled, pitted and sliced peaches (This was the amount of fruit that looked good to me in the pie plate, you might want more or less, use how much you like)
½ cup sugar (if you have really sweet fruit you may want to decrease this)
¼ cup flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1.Place the peach slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Gently mix until everything is well mixed.
2.Place a Ziploc freezer back inside a pie plate and spoon the mixture into the bag, filling the plate.
3.Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Put the pie plate with the bag of fruit in the freezer. The pie plate can be removed after the filling has frozen.

When you want to bake the pie:
1.Remove the pie from the freezer, and place in an unbaked crust. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
2.Bake at 375F about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours – the crust should be brown, and the filling bubbling in the center.

Note: A lot of recipes say to wrap the pie filling in tin/aluminum foil, I tried that last year, and while it kept the fillings fresh, it was a pain to peal off before baking. More than once, I had to sit with a fork and pick out pieces that had ripped off. So this year I am trying the bag route, I figure they work really well for all my freezer meals so hopefully they will keep my pie fillings tasty.

Freezer Apricot Pie Filling

After Owen and Iza eating apricots for 2 days, as well as making apricot jam, there was still an abundance of apricots to be used, so I decided to try freezer pie fillings (I might try to use them to make a cobbler as well, we will see how things go). I have never made these before, so hopefully it works out alright.

Ingredients/materials:
4 to 5 cups halved, pitted apricots (This was the amount of fruit that looked good to me in the pie plate, you might want more or less, use how much you like)
½ cup sugar (if you have really sweet fruit you may want to decrease this)
1 to 2 tbsp flour ( if your apricots don’t have a lot of juice use the 1 tbsp of flour)
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1.Place the apricots in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Gently mix until everything is well mixed.
2.Place a Ziploc freezer back inside a pie plate and spoon the mixture into the bag, filling the plate.
3.Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal. Put the pie plate with the bag of fruit in the freezer. The pie plate can be removed after the filling has frozen.

When you want to bake the pie:
1.Remove the pie from the freezer, and place in an unbaked crust. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
2.Bake at 375F about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours – the crust should be brown, and the filling bubbling in the center.

Note: A lot of recipes say to wrap the pie filling in tin/aluminum foil, I tried that last year, and while it kept the fillings fresh, it was a pain to peal off before baking. More than once, I had to sit with a fork and pick out pieces that had ripped off. So this year I am trying the bag route, I figure they work really well for all my freezer meals so hopefully they will keep my pie fillings tasty.

Grilled Peaches with Rum Sauce

This was dessert for the last day of the weekend. We were all canned and jammed out, and still had some peaches to work with, so I decided to try grilling them, as we had the BBQ on for supper anyways. I came across a Cinnamon-Grilled Peach recipe from the Food Network and decided it sounded great. Upon looking in my mother’s cupboards, I discovered a few missing ingredients, so I used that recipe for the sauce and did my own thing with the peaches.
Ingredients:
3 peaches, sliced and pitted but not peeled
4 tbsp butter
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp molasses
¼ dark rum
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream
1 BBQ vegetable tray

How to:
1.Combine the butter, sugar, molasses, rum and cinnamon in a sauce pot and bring to boil over high heat. Let the mixture boil until it becomes thick and syrupy. This takes about 5 minutes. Set aside for now.
2.Heat the BBQ and place the peach slices on the tray on the BBQ. Cook until the peaches are warm and soft.
3.Place a scoop of vanilla icecream in a bowl, top with the grilled peach slices and pour the sauce on top. Enjoy!

This was delicious, and I can’t wait to eat it again. The grilled peaches were nice (I did try some) but I still prefer my peaches fresh and uncooked. The sauce was amazing and was fantastic on cooked and uncooked peaches alike. There was a little sauce left over somehow – and it was quickly eaten with graham crackers and marshmallows.

BBQ Dinner #1

For the entire weekend the kitchen had been taken over by the jam making and various other fruit adventures, so we ate cooked our suppers on the BBQ. This is one of the meals that we did that weekend:

1. Home made venison sausage - my parents make this every year, and it is great - maybe this year I will actually remember to do a post about it.
2. Grilled Corn on the cob - recipe below
3. Vegetable grill - we picked the zucchini out of the garden that day and couldn't wait to eat it, recipe below.
4. Dessert was smores, mmmm mmmm good - how to below.

Grilled Corn:
!. Peel down the corn husks but do not remove. Remove the silk and soak the corn and husks in cold water for at least 15 minutes.
2. Remove the corn from the water and brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pull the husks back over. Tie the husks closed with a stray piece of husk.
3. Place on a heated grill and grill for about 15 minutes, turning every 3-4 minutes.


Vegetable Grill:
1. wash and chop the vegetables in large chunks. (We used small to med. Zucchini, green pepper, red pepper, yellow pepper and asparagus - which was my favorite).
2. Toss the vegetables with olive oil to coat, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Put on a BBQ vegetable grill and place on the heated BBQ, cooking until the veggies are crisp tender. Don't forget to stir the vegetables occasionally during cooking.



Smores on the Grill:
1. Create a smore by stacking graham cracker, milk chocolate, a large marshmallow, and topping it with another graham cracker.
2. Wrap teh smore with tinfoil tightly so it all holds together.
3. Place the smores on the BBQ over low heat. Leave until the squish down when you press lightly on the top. Don't leave them on too long, or on high heat as you don't want to burn the chocolate. They should take no longer than 2 minutes.
4. Unwrap and enjoy!


This dinner was delicious and amazingly I ended up with no leftovers!

Peach Chipotle BBQ Sauce

I tried some of this at a craft fair last year and loved it, however the price was pretty steep for buying regularly (especially if I was going to have to get it shipped) so when I got this year's peaches I decided to try making my own. After a little surfing I found this Peach Chipotle BBQ Sauce recipe, and changed it a little for my own tastes. What I did is below.

Ingredients:
6 cups of chopped fresh peaches (pealed and pitted)
1 small to medium onion
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp Chili ketchup
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 chipotle chile in adobo
1 tbsp miniced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

How to:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to a pot and simmer on low heat until thick (use your own judgment here, I like a thick sauce so I let it simmer for a while).
3. Enjoy!

This was great, sweet with a little kick at the end. We had it on steak that night and everyone loved it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

This jam was a special request from my father. They have a large patch of rhubarb at their house, and when asked if they would like me to do something with some of it, I was promptly told to make some jam. Strawberry rhubarb is one of my Dad’s favourite jams and he usually makes a batch every year. This year I did it for him. When asked what recipe he uses, I was told he used the certo recipe, and loves it. So I once again pulled out the insert sheet from a box of certo and got to work.
Ingredients:
2 cups crushed strawberries
1 ½ cups chopped rhubarb
6 ½ ups granulated sugar
1 pouch ceto liquid pectin
5-6 1 cup (1/2 pint) sterilized jars and lids.

How to:
1.Mix the sugar and fruit in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a hard boil (doesn’t stop boiling when stirred). Continue boiling for 1 minute while stirring.
2.Remove the pot from heat and stir in the liquid pectin. Stir and skim off the foam for about 5 mintues (this lets the jam cool a little and thicken so all the fruit doesn’t float to the top).
3.Pour the jam into sterilized warm jars, up to about ¼” from the rims. Place the lids on and leave sit at room temperature to cool and set.
4.Check the lids to insure they have sealed – press gently in the middle of the lid, if it moves up and down your jar is not sealed. It is still alright as long as you put it in the fridge and use it right away.

Reviews:
I ended up with only a single jar of this at home, as most was left for my parents to enjoy. Iza grabbed the jar that hadn’t sealed properly and she is probably almost done that by now. Everyone seems to really love this jam, and I will admit it is tasty (after I pick out the fruit chunks).

Peach Salsa

Every year I get a few pound of peaches (alright, it is a bit more than a few, whatever my mother in law feels like sending at the time, and that is usually 40 or more lbs) and I am always looking at ways to deal with them. This year I stumbled upon Peach Salsa on the kraft Canada website while looking for something completely unrelated. I thought it was an interesting idea, and upon talking to people who have tried some before, I decided it would be fun to make.

I have made some changes to the original (which can be viewed here) to suit my tastes a little better.

Ingredients:

4 cups finely chopped peeled peaches
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
2 medium to large jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 cup white vinegar
3-3/4 cups sugar, divided (1/4 and 3 ½)
1 box CERTO Light Pectin Crystals
8 1 cup (1/2 pint) jars with lids, sterilized.
Directions:
1.Combine the first 8 ingredients in a large saucepan, and set aside.
2.Combine ¼ cup of sugar and the box of pectin crystals. Add this to the peach mixture.
3.Make sure the mixture is well blended and bring to a full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly.
4.Add the remaining 3 ½ cups sugar, bring back to a full roiling boil (the boiling doesn’t stop when stirred) and boil for 1 minute. Remembering to stir constantly.
5.Remove from the heat and skim off any foam that may have formed. Let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly (this will help prevent the fruit from floating to the top of the jar).
6.Pour into sterile jars (put them in the dishwasher/ boiling water), filling to 1/4” of the top. Seal with sterile 2 piece lids and let sit to come to room temperature.

Reviews:
This was delicious! It is sweet with a little bit of a kick. I haven’t tried eating it plain, but we tried it on grilled chicken and it was awesome. I am so happy that have a few jars of this, it will be like eating a little bit of summer this winter.

Sweet Cherry Jelly

I had tons of sweet cherries, and while I love them fresh, I had made myself sick on them already and there was no end in sight to the cherries. After some hunting I found a sweet cherry jelly (as opposed to the more abundant recipes for sour cherries) and decided to try it. Why jelly you might ask, as opposed to the less work of jam? Well I don’t like fruit chunks, that is right, I am an odd duck, but I just can’t get over the texture of chunks of fruit in my food. (As a note, this also means that I do not eat anything that involves cooked fruit – so no pies for me). Anyways, I wanted to be able to enjoy this lovely mix, so I opted for the jelly not the jam.

The recipe I found was on the kraft Canada site. I have made a couple modifications to their recipe and posted it below, but you can see the original here.

Ingredients:
10 cups stemmed sweet cherries
1/2 cup water
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 box CERTO Pectin Crystals

Directions:
1.Crush the cherries ( a potato masher works well here, but make sure you are wearing something that you don’t mind staining, the really juicy cherries shoot juice everywere!). Do this in small batches and remove the pits. Note: The original recipe says to put the pulp
2.Transfer the pulp of the cherries to a large saucepan and add the water. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally, over medium heat.
3.Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4.Pour the mixture into a jelly bag (if you don’t have one, you can use layered cheesecloth) and let the juice drain out. Note: The original recipe says not to squeeze to the bag, but I will often do at least a gentle mixing of the contents to make sure I get all the juice out.
5.Measure exactly 3 ½ cups of juice (I used the original recipes 8 cups of cherries and was a little short, if you are you can always just start at step one and make a little more juice. The juice you have already made can sit for a while with no ill effects on your jelly).
6.Mix the juice and the pectin crystals in a large saucepan and bring to a full roiling boil on high heat. Once the mixture is boiling, stir in the sugar and bring it back to a full boil (ie, when you stir the mixture the boiling doesn’t stop) and boil for 1 minute. Stir constantly at this point.
7.Remove from heat and skim the foam from the top, you can take up to 5 minutes to do this, but I like to keep it at about 3. (note, I always keep the foam in a Tupperware, and then snack on it later, it is still really tasty!)
8.Pour into warm and sterilized jars (I usually do this by running them through the dishwasher or having them sit in boiling water for 5 minutes). Fill to ¼” of the rims and seal with 2 piece lids.
9.Let them sit at room temperature until set.

Blueberry Jelly

I am a huge fan of saskatoon jelly, but when I can't get saskatoon berries I settle for blueberries, which are also delicious. Along with all the fruit that came out was a large bucket of blueberries. Knowing that with all the fruit I had, I would not be able to eat them before they were done, I made myself some jelly, so I can enjoy blueberries all year long.

I got this recipe for Blueberry Jelly from the kraft website, I have added a couple of notes into the recipe.

Ingredients:
4 cups prepared juice (about 2 qt. fully ripe blueberries, I used about 4 lbs)
2 pouches CERTO Fruit Pectin
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine
7-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
8-9 sterilized half pint jars and lids
Directions:
1.Crush the berries, I put them for a quick chop in the food processor and this worked fine. The bonus is I didn’t get squirted with juice and it was a lot faster.
2.Put crushed berries, ½ cup water and ¼ cup of lemon juice into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let simmer, covered, for about 5-10 mintues.
3.Pour mixture into a jelly bag (or cheesecloth) and let the juice drain out. Gently squeeze the bag and mix the content to insure you get all the juice out. This step takes a little while, I usually let it sit for 20 minutes or so (stops dripping) then mix and squeeze.
4.Measure 4 cups of juice (I have heard that you can add up to ½ cup of water if you are short, but I prefer to just make a bit more if I am short).
5.Combine juice and pectin in a pot and add the butter to reduce foaming. Bring the entire mixture to a full roiling boil (doesn’t stop boiling when stirred).
6.Stir in the sugar and return to a full boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
7.Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Ladel into sterile, warm jars, filling to ¼” of the rims and put the lids on.
8.Tighten the lids and put into a water bath (large pot of boiling water) and gently boil for 5 minutes. Note, the jars should be covered by 1 -2” of water. Remove and place on towl to cool and seal.

Reviews:
This was a great jelly. I can taste the blueberry and it isn’t overpoweringly sweet like some jellies.

Apricot Jam

My husband decided he wanted some apricots this year when we got out peaches. Little did I know that he asked for 10lbs of apricots. I knew he would be unable to eat them all before they went bad, and as I am not a huge apricot fan and would have peaches, he would be getting no help from me as far as eating them. When asked what I should do with all the excess apricots, he requested jam. I pulled out my handy Certo insert sheet, and luckily apricot jam was listed – woo hoo no searching out a recipe.

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped apricots (pitted, but not peeled). I pulsed them quickly in the food processor which was quick and easy.
¼ cup lemon juice
7 cups sugar
1 pouch of Certo Liquid Pectin
6-7 1 cup (1/2 pint) sterilized jars and lids.

How To:
1.Mix the sugar, lemon juice and fruit in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a hard boil (doesn’t stop boiling when stirred). Continue boiling for 1 minute while stirring.
2.Remove the pot from heat and stir in the liquid pectin. Stir and skim off the foam for about 5 mintues (this lets the jam cool a little and thicken so all the fruit doesn’t float to the top).
3.Pour the jam into sterilized warm jars, up to about ¼” from the rims. Place the lids on and leave sit at room temperature to cool and set.
4.Check the lids to insure they have sealed – press gently in the middle of the lid, if it moves up and down your jar is not sealed. It is still alright as long as you put it in the fridge and use it right away.

Review:
This was a lovely orange-yellow color. I am not a huge apricot fan, and have yet to try it, but between my husband and friend over the weekend at least ½ if not a whole jar has already disappeared. O preferred to eat his on toast, and enjoyed it, while Iza spent the weekend munching on jam scooped on graham crackers (occasionally with a marshmallow).

Peach Jam

I had tons of peaches, that were getting pretty soft. I didn’t feel like slicing all of them for canning or making pie fillings so I decided to try some peach jam. I used the recipe out of the certo pectin box that I had and away I went.

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped peaches
½ cup lemon juice
7 ½ cup granulated sugar
2 pouches of Certo Liquid pectin
8-9 1 cup (1/2 pint) sterile jars and lids

Directions:
1.Combine the fruit, lemon juice and sugar in a pot.
2.Bring the fruit to a hard boil and let boil for 1 minute while stirring.
3.Remove the pot from heat and stir in the liquid pectin. Stir and skim off the foam for about 5 mintues (this lets the jam cool a little and thicken so all the fruit doesn’t float to the top).
4.Pour the jam into sterilized warm jars, up to about ¼” from the rims. Place the lids on and leave sit at room temperature to cool and set.
5.Check the lids to insure they have sealed – press gently in the middle of the lid, if it moves up and down your jar is not sealed. It is still alright as long as you put it in the fridge and use it right away.

Reviews:
This jam is a lovely warm yellow and looks awesome. I haven’t tried it yet, as I have open jars of blueberry and cherry jelly and strawberry rhubarb jam already in the fridge. However the little “spills” while filling the jars tasted great!

Busy Weekend

This weekend I went to my parent's house, accompanied by my Friend Iza and about 60lbs of fruit. Iza and I spent a few days making jam and various other fruit products resulting in a cooler full of various forms of frozen fruit and over 40 jars.


Somehow in there we also found time to eat some of what we had made along with some fantastic food on the BBQ, much of it straight from my parent's large garden. There was also some time for play, Iza had fun photographing the dogs and cows.



The final products from the weekend are:
Peach Jam
Apricot Jam
Black Forest Preserves
Peach Salsa
Peach Chiptole BBQ sauce
Frozen Peach Pie Filling
Frozen Apricot Pie Filling
Frozen Cherries
Frozen Blueberries
Frozen Pre-measured shredded Zucchini
Frozen Rhubarb

The rest of the canning from the days before leaving was Cherry Jelly and Blueberry Jelly.

I will be posting recipes and reviews over the next few days as I get time to photograph, type and try all the creations.

Cherry Chocolate Brownies

Alright, so coming home from the inlaws I brought with me a few pounds of cherries. Alright is was probably 10 to 15 pounds of cherries, but they were oh so good. Upon making both myself and O sick from eating cherries I decided I needed to get some of these things out of my fridge to remove the temptation and give my poor stomach a break.

I have done a few things with the cherries, but I will start with the brownies. My inspiration came from watching the Cherry episode of Unwrapped on the Food Network. They featured a cherry brownie, and I thought that was a great idea. I got to work on google and didn't come across a recipe that caught my fancy, so decided to try my own.

A quick note - the cherries I used are a very dark and sweet cherry. I don't know what kind they are, as around here we just call them BC cherries - I doubt everyone in BC growns the same cherries, but hey what do I know.


Ingredients:
½ cup butter
3 oz dark chocolate (I used and 85% cocoa chocolate bar)
1 cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup flour
~1 cup fresh cherries, stemmed and pitted ( I pulsed these in the food processor so they were anywere from 1/4 to ½ of a cherry.)
½ cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a saucepan over low heat. Once it is smooth add the sugar and vanilla removing from heat. Then add the eggs, stirring to avoid cooking the eggs – no one wants chunks of scrambled eggs in their brownie!
2. Stir in ½ cup of the flour. Depending on how juicy your cherries are you may not need the other ¼ cup of flour.
3. Fold in the Chocolate chips, followed by the cherries. If your cherries were quite juicy and the batter became thinner, add the ¼ cup of extra flour and fold in.
4. Pour into an 8x8 baking dish (I line mine with parchment paper, alternatively you could butter and flour the dish) and bake at 350F for 35 minutes.


Reviews
This was a moist brownie somewere between a my fudgey brownie and a cake like brownie. O enjoyed them and they smelled great.

Peach Tart

Upon flipping through Baking: From my home to yours, I found an easy looking tart (Parisian Apple Tartlet, pg 319), and decided to put my own twist on it. I did try it with the apple, and it was alright, but I wasn't a huge fan of the texture of the large chunks of apple and decided to try it with a softer fruit - peaches!


The following recipe will make 4 tarlets
Ingredients:
1/2 box of frozen puff pastry (I used tenderflake)
2 peaches pealed, with pit removed
Light brown sugar to taste
2 tsp butter
Cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
1. Thaw the puff pastry, and roll out to about 1/8th of an inch thick. Cut circles out of the dough, you want the circles to be about 4", this may need to be larger if you are using large peachs. You need to have the circles have at least 1/4" boarder around the peach (more is better).
2. Cut each peach half in quarters and place in the center of the pastry circle.
3. Sprinkle the peach with brown sugar (the riper the peaches, the less sugar should be needed), and place 1/2 tsp of butter on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired (I did this and it was great)
4. Bake on a lined baking sheet at 400F (center rack) for 25 mintues.

Reviews: These were really easy to make and very cute. Everyone enjoyed them.

New Cookbook Trial: Baking, From my home to yours

One week when I was looking for a recipe on something I came across the Tuesdays With Dorie group, and upon looking at some of the recipes they had done, I decided I needed to look into this cookbook (Baking, From my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan). I was at the library before leaving to visit my inlaws, and saw the book there, so I grabbed it and took it with me on my vacation - I mean what says relaxing time better than baking? (Oh and it wouldn't hurt to impress the inlaws a little).

I ended up trying two recipes while I was at the inlaws. The first was the Raspberry Blanc-manger.


I picked this recipe as I was told there were raspberries in the fridge that needed to get used, and it required no baking - keeping the oven off is a bonus when it is 36C outside!

The recipe is great and really easy to make. I didn't have a single problem making it and everyone loved it. It really didn't last long before it was all eaten. It was a great light and creamy dessert, especially for the heat of summer.

The second recipe I tried was the Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake on page 264.

O discovered a picture of this in the book and immediately wanted it - he loves almost anything to due with brownies.



The recipe was fairly easy to make, although it was difficult to tell when the caramel was done and I ended up with a darker caramel than I would have liked. Note, that if it looks like a semi golden colour to take it off the heat Now! It gets too dark really quickly.

The cake got lots of people walking through the kitchen asking when it was going to be done, and lots of people staring at it before it was ready to be served. No one else seemed to care that the caramel was too dark and it quickly disappeared.

I liked the recipes I tried from this book and will hopefully be trying more. My inlaws loved that I brought the book and didn't want me or the book to leave. It is getting added to my cookbook wishlist, so for now I will just keep taking out the library copy and trying a few more recipes.