Peaches!!!

Nothing is better than the perfect summer peach.  It makes you want to live in that movment forever.  Unfortunately, time marches on and peaches only last for a few weeks before fading faster than summer.  In my quest to keep the sun shining as long as possible in Seattle, I have taken to canning peaches.  Here are a few recipes that I have tried.

Peaches taken from the book Blue Ribbon Preserves
makes about 4 pint jars

5-6 pounds unblemished, firm, ripe peaches (preferrably freestone)
4 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
8 cups cold water
2 Tablespoons antioxidant crystals or ascorbic acid crystals

In a 4-quart pan, combine the 4 cups water and sugar.  Over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and keep the syrup hot until needed.

In a large bowl, combine the 8 cups cold water and the antioxidant crystals.  Stir until the crystals are completely dissolved.

To peel the peaches:  Fill an 8-quart pan about half full of water.  Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a simmer.  Using a mesh basket or slotted spoon, carefully lower the peaches a few at a time, into the water for 1 minute.  Remove the peaches from the pan and immediately plunge into a large bowl of ice water for 1-2 minutes.  Transfer the fruit to a strainer.  Drain well and cool.  Repeat with the remaining peaches. 

Using a sharp paring knife, carefully slip the skins from the peaches.  Cut each peach in half and remove the pit.  Using a thin-bowled tableware spoon or a pitting spoon, carefully remove the red fibers from the center of the peaches.  Drop the fruit into the antioxidant solution to prevent browning.  Do not allow the fruit to remain in the solution for longer than 20 minutes.  Remove the peach halves from the solution and rinse under cool water.  Drain well.

Now, here is where I veer from the recipe.  The recipe wants you to cook the peaches in the simple syrup you made in step one for 3-4 minutes.  I did that last year and found my peaches to be to mushy so this year I skipped the step and instead packed the peaches in the jar and then poured the simple syrup over the peaches. 

Process the jars in a water bath canner for 25 minutes.


The next recipe is a variation on the first only with vanilla beans

Peaches in Vanilla Syrup recipe from the book Canning for a New Generation
makes about 10 pint jars

1 teaspoon ascorbic acid or 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or vinegar
8 lbs peaches
4 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans, split, each piece cut in half

Wash and skin the peaches according to directions above and then put them in a bowl of cold water with the ascorbic acid mixed in.

Prepare a simple syrup with 4 cups sugar and 8 cups water according to the directions in the above recipe.

Pack the peaches in the jars, place one piece of vanilla bean in each jar and fill with the simple syrup.  Process in a water bath canner for 25 minutes.

Honeyed Bread and Butter Pickles

I'm not a huge fan of pickles, but I discovered that other people love home made pickles and I can exchange goods and services for my pickles.  After I saw this recipe for Honeyed Bread-and-Butter Pickles in my book Canning for a New Generation, I just had to try it.  See if you can resist this recipe after reading it.

Honeyed Bread-and-Butter Pickles
makes 7 pint jars

3 pounds pickling cucumbers (3-4 inches long)
1 pound small onions (about 2)
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon pure kosher salt
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1 Tablespoon celery seeds
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
6 cups cider vinegar (5% acidity)
3/4 cup mild honey
1 1/2 teaspoons tumeric
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard powder

Cut off the blossom end of each cucumber; cut into 1/4 inch rounds.  Cut the onions in half lengthwise and thinly slice them into half-circles.  Put the cucumbers and onions in a large bowl and sprinkle with 1/4 cup salt, tossing to combine.  Cover with a layer of ice cubes and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  Pick out any unmelted ice, drain well, and rinse under cold running water.  Toss with the mustard seeds, celery seeds, and red pepper flakes and set aside.

In a non-reactive pot, combine the vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water, the honey, tumeric, mustard powder, and the remaining 1 tablespoon salt.  Bring to a full boil.

Working quickly, pack the cucumbers and onions into the jars (not too tightly).  Ladle the hot vinegar mixture into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace at the top.  Use a chopstick to remove any air bubbles.  Take a wet paper towel and clean the rims of the jars before placing lids and bands on the jars. 

Place jars in a water bath canner, bring water to a boil, and boil for 15 minutes.  Remove jars and do not disturb for 12 hours.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

Who says canning has to be just for food?  In the last few years I have noticed that my skin is very sensitive to dyes and perfumes and I have had to switch to hypo-allergenic laundry detergent, soap, and deodorant.  Sometimes these specialty items can be a little expensive so I thought I would try making my own laundry detergent.

The first step is to grate some Fels Naptha.  I thought it looked like cheese.

Here are all the ingredients for making liquid laundry detergent.  I found all these ingredients in the laundry aisle at Fred Meyer

Here is the recipe:

Liquid Laundry Detergent

3 pints water

1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated

1/2 cup washing baking soda

1/2 cup borax

2 gallon bucket

1 quart hot water

Mix soap in saucepan with 3 pints of water.  Heat on low until dissolved.  Stir in soda and borax until thickened.  Remove from heat.  Add 1 quart hot water to bucket, then soap mixture.  Mix well.  Fill rest of bucket with hot water, mix and let sit for 24 hours.  Use 1/2 cup per laundry load.

Dilled Asparagus

So ever since I purchased the book Canning for a New Generation  I have been looking forward to spring and asparagus because I wanted to try a recipe for dilled asparagus.  Unfortunately, spring was really busy and by the time July came, I figured my dreams of asparagus in 2011 were over.  Imagine my surprise when I was at the Farmers Market at City Hall in Seattle and I saw ASPARAGUS!!!  Well I immediately snatched up some and canned them that night.

Here is just a sampling of the asparagus I purchased.  I need to cut it down to size



I figured I better show you how I sterilize my jars before filling them.  That's right, I let them boil in the water bath canner I am heating up to can the asparagus




A quick flash boil to bring out the bright color




The finished product

Here is my recipe:
Pickled Asparagus (makes 2 pints)
1 lb thick asparagus tips cut 4 inches long (about 3 bunches)
2 cups rice vinegar (4% acidity)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp pickling spice (I got mine from Penzey's and it smelled so good)
2 cloves garlic, peeled

Get the water bath canner going and sterilize your jars and lids

In a wide saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a boil.  then add the asparagus; bring back to a boil, then immediately drain and transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool.  Drain well

In a non-reactive pot, combine the vinegar, 1 cup water, the salt, and sugar.  Bring to a boil.

Divide the asparagus, pickling spice, and garlic cloves between the hot jars.  Ladle the hot vinegar mixture into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Put on lids and rings tightening to finger tight.  Put the jars in the water bath canner making sure the jars are covered by at least one inch of water and boil for 10 minutes.  Remove the jars from the canner and let cool.


Now, my friend sent me a recipe for spicy pickled asparagus.  I think I might use it to pickle green beans later in the season.

Sriracha Pickles Asparagus (makes 4 pints)
3 cups white wine vinegar
3 cups water
1/4 cup pickling salt
2 lbs asparagus trimmed to fit jars
1 cup Sriracha
12 cloves garlic
16 peppercorns
4 tsp dill seed

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the vinegar, water, and salt to boil for 5 minutes.

In hot jars, pack equal amounts of asparagus, sriracha, garlic, pepper corns, and dill seed in the jars.  Top each with the hot vinegar mixture, leaving 1/2 inch headspace in each jar.  Process in a water bath canner for 8 minutes.  Let sit in a cool, dark place for 4-6 weeks before opening.

Black Beans!! My First Experience with a Pressure Canner

So I recently had a birthday and imagine my excitement when I opened a pressure canner!!!  I have several bags of dried black beans and I never seem to have 8 hours to cook them so I decided to can some black beans first.

Little did I know one mylar bag of beans is a lot of beans (this isn't all of them)



First I soaked the beans overnight, then I rinsed them and boiled them for 30 minutes





Like I said, a lot of beans.  In the pressure canner is my first batch processing.  The second batch is boiling away.

Long story short, it was a very long process.  Here is what I did.

I took a bunch of black beans and soaked them in water overnight

Second, I rinsed the black beans and brought them to a boil in clean water and boiled the beans for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, I got another pot of fresh water and brought that to a boil, sanitized my jars, and filled my pressure canner up to the first line (there are marks inside the canner) and heated that water up.

After the beans had boiled in water for 30 minutes, I put a 1/4 tsp of salt (optional) in the bottom of each jar and I filled the jars with drained black beans leaving 1 inch of headspace at the top.  After filling the jars, I pounded them a couple times on the counter to settle the beans and get more beans into each jar.

After filling the jars with black beans, I took my clean boiling water and put that in each jars up until the top of the beans (the 1 inch of headspace is really important).  Then I put my prepared lids on top and screwed on the rings to secure the rings. 

Now for the fun part.  I put the jars into the canner, put the lid on and locked it.  According to manufacturers instructions, I brought the canner up to pressure which for beans at sea level is 11 psi.  This part took quite a while.  I have a pretty big canner.  Then I sat in the kitchen reading and watching the dial on my canner for 75 minutes to make sure it stayed at or above 11 psi because if the pressure lowers below 11 psi, then I would need to start the whole process over again. 

Remember I did this twice because there are a lot of beans in one mylar bag of beans.  After all that work, I did end up with 17 cans of beans (one didn't seal and I needed to throw it out).  I haven't tried them yet, but I plan to use them this summer as they are an easy no cook protein I can use for dinners.

Zaycon Foods

So I recently found a company that offers great deals on food in bulk. They are able to offer great deals because they work directly with farmers so the food is as fresh as you can get it without having your own farm. The trick is you have to buy in huge quantities (get a few friends together and split the loot) and you buy what they are selling when it is available. Right now, apples are what's being offered, but their website says it will offer the Seattle area extra lean ground beef soon.

Check it out if you are interested in local produce and meat direct from the farmers.
https://www.zayconfoods.com/

Where do I get my Fruit??

After my last few posts, I'm sure you are wondering where do I get my fruit? How am I canning in what should be spring but still feels like winter? Well I have a few ways of getting my produce. Obviously, I watch for sales at the grocery store and I attend farmers' markets. I look on the internet for U-Pick farms in the area to see what is in season and what I can harvest myself (check prices before you go, sometimes it's not worth the drive for the price you get).

However, my favorite place to get produce is from people. I talk to my friends, my co-workers, my neighbors. I tell them about my obsession for canning and, soon, people start to tell me about their cherry trees or how they have so many tomatoes, they can't eat them all. I've got a friend who brings oranges back from her tree in Arizona. Maybe people don't have fruit or vegetables in their own garden, but they have parents or uncles or aunts who live on a farm and would love to give me produce for a small fee. I love getting produce like this because then I know exactly where it came from and I get to meet people and share something important to me with them.