Canning for a Beginner

I am so lucky to live down the street from my husband's aunt.  She has recently retired and it is wonderful!  I have really wanted to attempt canning, but although I have watched a friend once or twice, I just didn't feel like I was ready to attempt the task on my own.  Anyway, Sherry went to the Farmer's Market with me Friday morning and said she would help me make applesauce out of my giant box of Jonathan apples.  It turned out so yummy and it really wasn't hard, just time consuming.   Although deciding to do a quadruple batch of a new green tomatillo Salsa recipe that Sherry got from another neice added a signifcant amount of time to the project.  The salsa and the applesauce turned out amazing!  I'm so glad she was willing to show me how to can and I think I will definitely be doing it again.

Fourth of July Sugar Cookies

Sorry that the photo is not great.  I am having some issues with a broken camera lens.  Sugar cookies have long been the bane of my cooking existence.  I NEVER make them!  Unfortunately, with young kids, they are a necessary evil.  Cookie decorating is the joy of nearly every holiday.  I have tried and tried to get them right and they just never work out.  They are always falling apart as I try to cut them out and move them to the cookie tray.  I never have the patience to chill the dough.  They seem to require such a time commitment and they have always seemed so tempermental to me.  So at my house, when we decorate cookies, I order them already baked from my local grocery store bakery, a solution that works out fine with me for the most part.  However, there is this annoying part of me that is always bugged by the fact that I can't get something that is supposed to be such a cooking basic right.  Anyway, since the 4th of July is not typically one of those "cookie decorating holidays", so the pressure for perfect cookies would be minimal, and because I have several awesome star cookie cutters.  I decided that I was actually going to attempt some sugar cookie making.  I figured that if I volunteered to bring them the the barbeque at my parents house for the fireworks, if they bombed, I could just make something else and take it for desert.  I did in fact make some carmel popcorn to take along with these cookies because I was so unsure of my cookie making skills.  I think I may finally have figured a few things out.  I knew I had to actually chill the dough, which must be the true secret.  I have also discovered that I tend to roll the dough too thin and to cook the cookies too long.  Next time I will be a little more careful on both those points, however, note that I am suggesting there will be a next time.  I started with the most basic.  I got my recipe for the cookies from the Martha Stewart website.  It was called "Ideal Sugar Cookies".  The recipe was great,  I did use milk instead of the brandy it gave as an option, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.  Next time I would double the recipe, because it wasn't a ton of dough and if I am going to go to all the work of making sugar cookies, I am going to make plenty.  Here's a link to the recipe.  After the cookies had cooled completed I used a sugar cookie glaze recipe from allrecipes.com that was awesome.  Here is the link and below is what I actually did (I read some of the reviews and made a couple of changes). 

Sugar Cookie Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tblsp light corn syrup

2 tblsp milk

1tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together.  Then dip cookies in glaze.  (can add food coloring for varied colors)

After dipping my cookies in the white glaze, I dipped them in red, white and blue sprinkles.  They were a hit and maybe now my kids will grow up thinking that sugar cookies don't have to come in a plastic container!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I love freezer jam and I have made it multiple times over the past 10 years, but I don't think I have ever gotten it to set up quite right.  It still tastes just as good, but it turns out more like syrup than jam.  Finally, this weekend I got it to work right.  I have been quizzing my mom because she makes it a lot and it always seems to work.  First off, she told me that you can't use the low sugar pectin if you want the freezer jam to set up.  Problem number one, I had been buying the low sugar version.  Problem number 2, she says you always have to boil the pectin.  I don't think I have ever had a pectin that said to boil the pectin for freezer jam.  Due to my mom's warnings, I was very selective when I went to purchase my pectin.  I think I have figured out the key.  This time I bought pectin that didn't say it was for freezer jam.  Here is the one I got:

Once I opened the package there were directions inside for freezer jam and those directions included boiling the pectin before it gets mixed with the fruit.  Amazingly, my strawberry jam turned out perfectly!  It made the best peanut butter sandwich ever today.  I am so excited!  I can't wait for peach season so I can try some peach freezer jam too!

Real Simple Bean and Bacon Soup

I found this recipe on the Real Simple Magazine website.  I have adapted a few things, but I love it.  It is as easy as can be and tastes lots better than the canned stuff.

Real Simple Magazine's Bean and Bacon Soup

4 strips bacon

1 large carrot, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 15.5  ounce can great northern beans, drained

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

In a large Dutch oven or saucepan, fry the bacon until crisp.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  Let cool, chop, and set aside.  Over medium heat, add the carrot to the pan drippings in the Dutch over and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the celery, onion and garlic, stirring well and cooking for 3 minutes more.  Add the beans and 2 cups water.  Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Let simmer for 10 minutes.  Uncover and, with a potato masher or large slotted spoon, partially mash the bean mixture until it thickens slightly.  Stir in the parsely, salt, pepper and bacon.  Serve hot. 

So that is the recipe the magazine gives.  I have changed a few things to make it easier and I don't think it changes the taste.  I take all the ingredients and dump them in my crockpot all at once.  I use ready cooked bacon from Costco that I keep in my freezer.  I just crumble it in frozen.  If I have a fresh onion I'll use it, but if not I use my dried onion and it works fine.  I rarely have parsley, so I either substitute dried or just leave it out.  I don't pre-cook the vegetables, I just leave it in the crockpot on low for a few hours.  Rather than mashing the beans, I use my immersion blender and just blend the whole thing for a few seconds.  (By the way, the picture is of everything cooking, not the finished product.  This is before it has been blended at all.  The finished soup with have a much creamier texture)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know it is sad to say, but really, these cookies practically count as vegetable at our house!  I know it is pathetic, but I admit it, my kids are picky, especially my son.  I'll take my vegetables where I can get them!  I know everyone has heard of this easier than easy recipe, but sometimes I forget about it.  I didn't make these cookies forever and then I remembered them and lately we have been making them regularly because my kids seriously shovel them in.  I know, all you perfectly healthy folks who don't do sugar or chocolate will disagree, but in my book, these are as healthy a treat as you can get.   All it takes to make them is 2 boxes of spice cake mix, one of the big cans of pumpkin, and some chocolate chips.  A friend gave me the tip to use the mini-chocolate chips because you can get away with using less.  I dump the cake mixes and pumpkin in a big bowl and use a spatula to mix it all.  It takes a bit of serious mixing, but once it is all incorporated, add your chocolate chips.  Use your cookie size ice cream scoop and drop the dough onto your cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  You end up with about 60 cookies and happy kids! 

Donuts

Our family discovered a fun new tradition this week. When I was looking through the ads on Sunday, I noticed that K-mart had something called a "Mini-donut" maker on sale. I have been dying to try making homemade donuts as a holiday tradition, but I have to admit, I am scared to death of frying things with oil. I have never attempted it. I have always been scared of hot oil, but a few years ago my husband had a cousin who's wife was severely burned in a fluke oil fire when they were cooking scones. Since then I have been petrified of it. Anyway, I went to K-mart to check it out and sure enough it is a super cool device. It only cost me $16.99 and it bakes the mini donuts instead of frying them, so they are slightly more heathly and they only take 4 minutes to make! PERFECT for a family of small children. I did a search looking for recipes because it only comes with one, which we thought was great, but I was looking for a chocolate one, and several people complained that the donuts weren't good. If you are expecting a Krispy Kreme, you're not going to get it. These are cake donuts. They taste a lot like the little powdered hostess ones that the kids love, but better because they are hot and fresh. Anyway, if you are looking for a fun thing to try with your family, I would definitely recommend a mini-donut maker!