Pickles!

Anyone who knows me knows that my sister and I are complete opposites. My mom often tells a story about how when we were little and on road trips, we'd stop at a McDonald's and get a cheese burger - my sister would eat the meat and I would eat the bread and cheese. She's a vegetarian now (thanks to me!) but the same philosophy persists. One of her absolute favorite foods is dill pickles. She can eat an entire jar in one sitting. She is truly a pickle connoisseur. I however, am not a pickle fan. No surprise there. BUT I love canning and giving my goodies to friends and family, so I decided to make pickles!

Canning makes a huge mess and takes time. But when you end up with lots of goodies and start hearing those seals pop, it is worth it!

You need basic supplies for canning: jars with lids, what I call my cauldron, a pot deep enough to submerge the big jars, a funnel and tongs that will grip jars are the minimum.

Ingredients: Pickling cucumbers (this is a special variety, be sure to get them and not regular ones!), white vinegar, water, kosher salt, fresh dill, and garlic.


Quantities can really vary here. The below recipe made 12 quarts of pickles. I used 2-3 cukes per jar, depending on size and chip or spear style (spears take up more room).

Directions:

1. Fill your "cauldron" high enough so the water will cover your pint jars and start to heat so it's ready when you are. If it starts to boil too far in advance, turn heat off and it will boil more quickly when you are ready for it.

2. Wash jars in warm, soapy water. Set aside.

3. Sterilize lids and lid bands in a saucepan full of boiling water.

4. Make brine mixture: Mix 17 cups water, 4 1/2 cups white vinegar and 1 cup kosher salt in large pot. Bring to a boil and set aside.

Right, the "cauldron"; back left, the big pot for the brine, and left front, the saucepan for sterilizing the lids

5. In the bottom of each jar, put a layer of fresh dill. I used herb scissors to cut it into little pieces. Then put one garlic clove in.

6. Fill the jars with cucumbers, packing as many in as you can. Leave a little space at top. You can cut them like chips, spears, or leave them whole if you want, if they are small enough. Mine weren't!

7. Put another layer of dill and another garlic clove in the top.

I made chips and spears! Fresh dill from the garden made it even better.

8. Ladle brine mixture into each jar, leaving about an inch of room in the top.

9. Put lids on and put into the boiling water bath. Leave in for about 5 minutes.

I didn't fill the cauldron up quite high enough so I had to tip the jars over!

10. Remove jars and set to cool. Check the seals to make sure they have sealed properly. Some might take an hour or two to seal.

11. Let sit for 2 weeks at least before opening to allow flavors to absorb. Turn upside down every other day during that period to mix.

12. Eat!

Pickles!

The best seasonal dessert ever!

It's one of my favorite times of year - peach season!

Peaches in season are unmatched in flavor. And we are lucky enough in St. Louis to have wonderful local peaches that you can find at any farmer's market! You can even buy local peaches at Schnuck's. Or, go peach picking at Eckert's!

One of my favorite desserts is my mom's peach crisp. Peach crisp is basically peaches with a crumble topping. I ask for this pretty much every year for my birthday instead of cake. This year, I tried it myself and we've had a steady supply of it! Everyone who has tried it is a fan. Here's how to do it:

1. First, you need to buy PEACHES! The amount really depends on how big they are. So prepare how many you think you'll need and you can always add more. Just buy a lot and eat whatever remains!

2. Peel and slice the peaches thin. Peeling is so easy! All you do is boil a pot of water and drop the peaches in. Leave them in for about 5 minutes (or longer - I usually leave them in while I peel one, then get another out). I take them out with a ladle and then dip them in cold water. The peel literally falls off. Then slice! This is a great recipe for over ripe peaches too - they work really well.

3. Slice enough so your pan is filled to about 2-3" from the top and fill up. This recipe is for a square 8x8 glass baking dish. I have also doubled the recipe and made it in a 9x13. You can't have too much crumble topping!

4. Mix in 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tbsp flour with the peaches.

5. To make the crumble topping, put following in a bowl and mix - my Kitchenaid works perfectly for this. Mix until it has a crumbly texture.

- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup (stick) of cold but slightly softened butter

6. Spoon mixed topping over peaches.

7. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes.

Word of wisdom: The peaches can get a little bubbly, so if you filled your pan to the top, you might want to put a cookie sheet with foil under the pan in case it bubbles over, because it can be a sticky mess!

Serve warm or cold with ice cream or without. YUM!

I'm back! Married and busier than ever.

In the last year, I got engaged, got married, started graduate school, and more. I haven't stopped my training, but I'm back to blogging about it!

A Delicious Meal!

It's amazing how long it's been since I've blogged. My excuse is that I'm wedding planning and while I am cooking, I have been too busy to document it!

Tonight I got it in my head to make two new side dishes (veggies) that I had read recipes for in a food magazine that Ben's mom ordered us. They both turned out so well!

The meal:

Clockwise from the left - TJ's Harvest Grains, Sesame Ginger Broccolini, and Warm Brussels Sprout Salad

1. Trader Joe's Harvest Grains mix. Let me say that I think that it is freaking AMAZING! It has quinoa, baby garbanzos, Israeli couscous,  and two kinds of orzo (red pepper and spinach enriched). So easy to make - just cook in broth (I used veggie) for 10 minutes and voila! It's a dry good found near the soups and pastas. Definitely try it.

2. Warm brussels sprouts salad. I love brussels sprouts. I've never cooked them like this before, and really liked them prepared this way.
Recipe: 
Ingredients: Brussels sprouts, salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon, parmesan cheese.
Directions: Cut brussels sprouts into shreds. To do this, cut off the stem, halve it, then cut lengthwise so they are small strips. Heat oil on low, put BS into the oil, season with salt and pepper. Toss well and stir over heat for 10-15 minutes. Take off heat, squeeze some lemon over it, then top with a bit of parmesan cheese when you serve it warm.

3. Sesame ginger broccolini. You can also use this with broccoli or baby broccoli. It takes a little more effort than the sprouts, but is delicious!
Recipe:
Ingredients: broccolini, sesame seeds, olive oil, water, fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce.
Directions: Toast sesame seeds first, heating over low and stirring frequently. Set aside. Cut broccolini off stalks. Heat about 2TBP of oil, then add broccolini, along with 1-2 garlic cloves and 1 piece of fresh ginger, cut into strips. Put a couple tablespoons of water in and cover. Cook for 10-12 minutes (or until desired consistency), stirring every couple minutes. Pour 1-2tsp of soy sauce in, stir and cook for about 3 more minutes. Stir in sesame seeds and serve.

4. And for dessert, apple crunch pie! I usually make this as apple crisp (no crust), but wanted to try Trader Joe's pie crusts, so I adapted it. So delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream, also from TJ's. We have had a lot of apples from going picking at Eckert's, so I've been making stuff with them.
Recipe:
Ingredients: apples (any good cooking apple - I've used jonathan, honeycrisp, and fuji), brown sugar, white sugar, lemon, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, salt, butter. Pie crust optional.
Directions:
1. Peel apples and slice into thin slices. It's hard to say how many you'll need because they vary in size so much. I usually throw them into whatever pan I am using and keep going til it reaches the top. This recipe fits a standard size pie pan or a square glass baking pan.
2. Pour apples into a bowl. Add 1TBP lemon juice, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 1/2tsp cinnamon. Toss and set aside.
3. Mix the following ingredients in a mixing bowl: 3/4 cups brown sugar, 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup oats, 1tsp cinnamon, 1/4tsp salt, 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Add 3/4 of a stick of cold butter and mix with a mixer until it gets a crumbly texture.
4. If you're using a pie crust, put it in the pan and pour the apples in. If not, pour the apples directly into the pan. Sprinkle crumbly mixture over the apples.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 375. Check the apples to see if they are cooked. Can cover with foil or other top to help it bake through.
6. Serve warm with ice cream!

Tomatoes out the wazoo! Plus - More updates

This garden experiment has taught me some things. The biggest surprises have come with my squash plants. I have a million of them. They've all flowered. But some just haven't produced fruit, like my zucchini plant and my yellow summer squash plant. The summer squash did have several small fruits on them, which shriveled up and died. Hm. The plant next to it is thriving. Same soil, same sun. I'll have to try again next year because I think both of those varieties are kaput for me. I have a couple other squash plants that are producing fruits. The problem? I don't know what kind they are! I bought little plastic plant markers and wrote the types in Sharpie on them. The rain washed the Sharpie off somehow. So now they are mixed up and I don't know what is where. I'm pretty sure this is a butternut squash, but isn't it not supposed to come til Fall?

Maybe an acorn squash?

I guess we'll have to see as they grow!

Peppers are growing huge still and starting to get some color. Haven't eaten any yet.

Brussels sprouts are starting to come through.

And tomatoes.. TOMATOES! I have a million of them. 4 varieties- though they also got mixed up and I have to wait for them to ripen to know which is which. The cherry tomatoes are going crazy - there must be 100 fruits on there. I've already harvested about 25.

Several larger varieties too.

These will come in handy because I'm entering a salsa making competition in a couple weeks. I am practicing my recipes this week and will post them after the contest, lest someone actually looks at this and steals them! Ha! Let's just say they aren't the typical salsa.

As for my rabbit problem, problem solved! For my birthday, Ben & his dad fenced in the garden area for me. It doesn't seem right typing that because it was an ordeal that took them an entire day (or more). Ben's dad bought some fencing at a garage sale. He made the posts himself and also made this awesome gate himself!

Did I mention that the guys did this on one of the hottest days of the year? I don't know how they stood being outside from about 7:30-5:30. They were soaked with sweat and quite tired after that! I'm a lucky gal to have such nice people in my life!

Speaking of that, part of the reason I haven't blogged at all this month is that Ben & I got engaged on July 2! I'm still pinching myself when I think about what a wonderful guy my future hubby is and how lucky it is that our fates collided. We decided that we wanted to get married in the fall, and there is no way I wanted to wait until Fall 2011, so we are getting married on November 6- which happens to be the day that I posted the fateful ad that brought us together 2 years ago. I've been busy planning away. It will be a crazy couple months, but the outcome is worth it!!

The garden groweth!

The garden is doing GREAT right now. The only problem I've been having is with my broccoli and cauliflower getting eaten by bunnies, though I still have several broccoli crowns growing.

 

No brussels sprouts yet, but the plants are doing great and growing like mad. I'm just waiting for the little sprouts to start- the time is near!

The squash plants are all growing a lot too. I do have some growing already, which are a couple inches long, though most are just vining like crazy now. I expect a lot more soon.

While I don't eat pickles, I accidentally ended up with some pickling cucumbers one day, so planted them with the intention of making pickles for Ben & my sister and whoever else wants some. There are massive amounts of tiny cukes growing right now. I think I'll end up with a huge harvest of them. It's hard to see in the picture but they look really small and spiny.

 

The tomato plants are also growing at a rapid rate. You can really smell them when you are in the garden. I have 4 varieties of tomatoes growing and two varieties have small fruit on them, while the others are blooming now. See the tiny green tomatoes? Even though I don't like tomatoes, I plan on trying them from my garden.

Today I was surprised to see lots of small peppers growing. I hadn't noticed them before. This makes me happy!! I can't wait!!

The family is growing!

We got a kitty! Since I'm a dog person, never having lived with a cat, and Ben is a cat person, never having lived with a dog til my rowdy crew & I moved in with him, we got a cat for him to come home to.

His name is Fillmore. He is almost one and is the cutest little thing. Very playful! We adopted him from a rescue group. I was originally drawn to looking by a tiny gray kitten named Audrey. Then we opened the cage little Fill was in and he jumped out into my arms and snuggled! He was very playful (a must for Ben) so we discussed it and took him home as foster parents to see how things would go.

At first he was scared of the dogs (even though they largely ignored him) and hissed at them A LOT. He has come around - being much more tolerant and even following Ruby around. We officially adopted him yesterday and so now he is ours! Full house!