| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Bridge |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 1:50:48 PM
I made 6 pints of Strawberry preserves last night, and will make more tonight. (Pictures on blog)
Is anyone else starting to stock the pantry with the bounty of the seasons?
~~Bridge's Blog~~
Simply Stitches
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| 18 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 9:49:16 PM
oh..and another thing that helps to make the salsa thicker is if you add dried onions instead of fresh ones. REal easy..they are already chopped and absorb alot of the liquid. Add 1/3 of the amount of fresh you would use..so 1/3 of a cup of dried chopped onions instead of every cup of fresh chopped.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 9:47:26 PM
I freeze my peppers chopped until time to can the salsa, since they are always ready before the tomtatoes. I add the tomato paste at the very end and then just heat the salsa back up to a boil.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| doglady |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 5:54:05 PM
Jenny and Alyssa, Thanks for the suggestions. I never would have thought of tomato paste. My Blue Book recipe calls for the Salsa to be cooked at little before putting it in jars so do I just add the paste at the time of cooking and let it cook down a bit? I think my peppers will be ready way before my tomatoes but maybe I should either freeze them whole or chopped?
Tina
The dogs own the house but the people pay the mortgage!
www.kennelcreations.com |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 4:30:17 PM
You are so right Michelle! I keep latex gloves in my kitchen just for things like chopping peppers! One year I burned my hands band and THEN put on gloves (thinking it would help them from getting worse) OH MY....trapping that heat inside the gloves was horrible and made it even worse...do be careful girls!!!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 4:17:42 PM
Salsa gals...don't forget your gloves! I forgot that one year, and chemically burned my hands from the peppers for 2 days. DH is an EMT and all he could do was dry my tears, since I couldn't even touch my eyes. Put me off tomatoes, let alone salsa, for a whole year. Talk about defeating the purpose! I'm over it now, but what a painful lesson. Funny, I knew better...
I'm eyeing the bumper crop of currants and thinking "wine".
We make a difference. |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 4:07:02 PM
The tomato paste is a great idea Aunt Jenny! I will have to remember that when it comes time to make salsa this fall!
Alee |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 2:36:19 PM
Oh my gosh..I can hardly wait for canning. I am thankful that most thinks will be ready to can here AFTER little league baseball season is over though..haha. I seem to do most of my canning in August and September. Some in July though. I keep promising my husband blackberry jam (I have frozen berries) and need to get that done here soon. I was able to get lots of cherries last year to can..but around here that is only a "every few years" happening.
I am hoping the hard rain we have today isn't knocking all my little plums and apples off my trees!!
Tina..to fix the salsa being drippy problem..add tomato paste!! I found this fact in a cookbook a few years ago and it works wonders and dosn't change the taste..just the thickness..yum!!!!
I make huge batches, but just add as needed..a few of those small cans go a long way. I make a giant pot of salsa at a time to can and add about 8 cans. Good luck!!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 08:52:52 AM
Tina-
What about throwing in some dried ingredients- like dried red pepper or something so they would absorb the liquid?
Alee |
| doglady |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 05:51:49 AM
Joy, I think you should do a Bubba Gump Cherry cookbook! I plan to put up some strawberry jam but they're not ready around here yet. I also plan some more Salsa this year. Last year was my first attempt at Salsa and it was really good but it had a little more liquid in it than I wanted. Does anyone know how to fix that?
Tina
The dogs own the house but the people pay the mortgage!
www.kennelcreations.com |
| Runbikegrrl |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 05:22:22 AM
I second what Alee said....I am so far away from having anything to can...just putting some stuff in the ground this week. I think my "big crop" this year is going to be hot peppers I planted so many different varieties...gonna have to figure out what to do with all of them...I don't like drying...maybe put in fancy jars with oil and use for gifts?
"So many interests so little time!"
http://lovelifelivegrrl.blogspot.com/ |
| Horseyrider |
Posted - Jun 06 2007 : 05:00:47 AM
Strawberries are happening here, but I don't intend to put any up. When I total the cost of the berries, the sugar, and the new lids, it barely costs any more for me to go buy some nice organic jam that's already put up. The place to cut the costs is in growing the berries yourself.
I purposely put together my garden so that there'd be little to can or preserve. I can't leave the tomatoes or peppers, but everything else is for fresh eating. There's so much I want to do in the summertime, I sure don't want to spend any unnecessary time in the kitchen! |
| Shirley |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 11:32:45 PM
The strawberries are not quite starting here, yet, but soon.
Theres not much to can in our part of the country yet, but when there is, Ill be hard at work |
| Alee |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 6:50:55 PM
Wow! You ladies are so lucky to have cannables already! The only thing my garden is producing right now is lettuce and weeds!  I will have bushels of tomatoes and a few peas and a goodly amount of carrots in a couple of months, but it is going to be a while. Anyone know of anyway to preserve lettuce?
Alee |
| Bridge |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 3:51:52 PM
Joy, Cherries!! Yummmmmmmmm
It is hard to find cherries here, if people grow them they keep them!!
When I get some land I want to plant some cherry trees!!
~~Bridge's Blog~~
Simply Stitches
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| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 3:47:46 PM
I haven't started yet, but looking forward to strawberry jam. I did buy some antique canning lids at a yardsale this weekend. Don't know a thing about them. They are 2 piece, a glass disk and a (zinc?) lid with an hourglass sort of cut out on top. Anyone know about these? Thought they'd make cute gifts full of jellybeans, or (of course) nice flower holders on a picnic table.
We make a difference. |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 3:41:08 PM
Joy, you sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump with all those cherries! :) |
| joyb |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 3:23:16 PM
Our cherries just finished. We had about 1200 pounds this year (bumper crop, largest in 30 years!) I have canned cherries, dried cherries, frozen cherries, cherry brandy, cherry cake, cherry cobbler, cherry pie, cherry crisp, and last but not least cherry jam. My friend has a recipe for cherry chutney, but I'm about cherried out for this year. |
| sewgirlie |
Posted - Jun 05 2007 : 3:10:03 PM
I have not started yet, but will do applesauce, tomatoes, etc. when the time comes. It does look beautiful when they are all lined up. Maybe I will do some jam too. We have strawberry farms on our street and I used to make it all the time.
Sheryl |
