Yipes! And I thought the 300+ jars I have here were a lot.. I wonder where you store all this??

We have a long set of (hopefully sturdy) wooden shelves built into our basement. My brothers built them a long time ago (I bought my mom's house 5 years ago.) That is where we keep our canned goods. We try very hard to use the things we have canned, we only have about 2 jars of canned items left from 2005. We canned over 200 jars of stuff last year, too, not too much of that left.

We have 2 freezers packed with frozen fruit and vegies, also. We garden a lot, have an orchard, plus get free produce, so we always have too much food on hand. We eat the salsa fairly quickly and it is very popular with our friends, so that goes fast. I give canned items as gifts a lot. I sell a small amount of jam and fruit sauce to people I know, just enough to keep me in lids, sugar, and pectin. I keep getting jars free, I got a real haul this summer when someone in my town cleaned out their barn and the lady at the recycling center saved all the canning jars for me. I got so many I had to freecycle a lot of them! (I kept all the pint jars and some quarts.)

Marcia

I am a little late in posting this year but here goes:

After I got to 70 quarts of green beans I stopped canning and started freezing them. I frozen about 30 pints.

45 pints of corn frozen
50 pints of salsa

5 gallons of chopped bell and italian peppers

I have some habaneros and other peppers chopped for the habanero gold - This week I combined it with some cream cheese and chopped up some more dried apricots to top it off and make it look more festive - it totally disappeared!

I also canned 20 quarts of what I called gumbo mix. No real recipe just onions peppers tomatoes summer squash zuchinni and okra and then I pressure cook it for the item that requires the longest time. I dump that over frozen chicken breast in the crockpot and it is like a stew with some hot pepper powder dashed on. My favorite winter recipe!

Leesa B

Hey, canners! I just had to share a small brag. I went to a Christmas party tonight, and I took along an antipasto platter that I assembled with homemade mozzarella, salami (store-bought), and many of the pickled veggies that I put up this summer, including baby carrots, dilly beans, dill pickles, and the cerises a l'aigre-doux (cherry tomatoes). I thought it looked pretty professional, and I was proud that I made almost everything on the tray myself! It's nice to see our hard work all summer and fall pay off during the winter, isn't it?

There's a picture of the tray on my food blog if anyone wants to see. --Gina

Here is a link that might be useful: Antipasto Platter

The platter looks great! I'm sure the guests found the pickles and dillies quite tasty,(you did follow the BBB, didn't you?). LOL.

My latest contribution - so small I admit, a Pyrex plate of lime salt now drying in my 170 degree oven. It also helps to warm the kitchen, cuz California houses aren't built for under 40 degree temps. Nice and cozy tho - and limey as well.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Beautiful platter Gina! I liked the quote on your blog about the decadence of buttery french cooking! :)

jimnginger,

Could you share your recipe for the pomagranate syrup & molasses?

Michelle

Oooh, bejay, what will you do with the lime salt?
Sounds so California-y --- warming the house by making lime salt!

Zabby

Zabby - A few years ago, I tried some commercial lemon pepper salt. Says I - as long as we have many lemons and now since new tree planted - limes, I decided to make my own.

Now the limes are beginning to ripen and fall, so didn't want to waste. Quite a few were juiced, put in ice cube trays and stored in freezer for later.

Actually, the lime salt tastes pretty good, and we have become quite dependent on lemon or lime flavoring for most everything now. I'm now doctoring a bad cold with many of them - with some honey and hot water. Also love a glass of lime soda water before my big meal. So many uses - have already made lime jelly, but not marmalade - perhaps next time.

I could add some freshly ground pepper to the mix after it's dried and whirled in the mixer to make it lump free to go through a shaker. It really sparks up a good piece of steak, a cheese omelet, a plain ol hamburger, almost anything that gets salt is better with lemon or lime salt.

One thing that might be really great is to frost a cold martini glass with it - but my hey day drinking days have simmered down to my regular glass of white wine, I'm afraid - but still a thought.

About warming the house - yep - down in the 40's lately and really cool - especially with the ocean dampness to add to it. But on bright side, my decidious trees should love it. So - I will too - (for awhile).

It's easy to make too - just juice lemons/limes, add as much zest as possible, then add salt until thickened - drying in about 170 degree oven with door propped open, stir. When dried quite hard (don't burn), put through a mixer until small grained to go through a shaker. Tastes just like the real commercial stuff, but fresher.

Oh yes, use acid resistant dish - I used large Pyrex pie dish. (what ya can learn in these forums - right?).

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

If you cant get it fresh (lime juice that is..) you can always depend on Nellie & Joe's brand. They now have a 100% Key Lime Juice product as well as the traditional bottled lime juice.

bejay,

Thanks!

I do actually like the march of seasons in the NE, but I DO envy you southerners citrus fruit, and also year-round fresh herbs. (Rosemary won't even survive the winter and come back here. I move it inside, and sometimes it limps through one winter, but it really doesn't like it.)

I know what you mean about those California houses. I think the coldest I've ever felt may have been staying in cheap hotels in Greece in March. (No heat, built to maximize COOLING in summer, and marble floors everywhere...) Similarly, I had a friend visit once from Texas during a Toronto summer who whined constantly about the heat. It WAS a hot spell, but sheesh, I said, can't you take it? you are from Texas! Yeah, he said, but in Texas everything (unlike my apartment at the time) is air conditioned!

Z

I would love to make some lemon and lime salt for gift jars.

I did find a recipe but it says to use within 3 days.

Lemon Salt

1/2 cup kosher salt
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Line a small baking sheet with no stick foil.

Combine the salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl.

Spread the salt mixture out on the foil lined baking sheet and allow to dry for one hour.

Store in an airtight glass jar with a non reactive lid.

Use within 2 days.

Michelle

msafirstein -

I'm not familiar with the recipe you mentioned, although I would assume the mixture would not be thoroughly dried, hence the need to use within 3 days.

However, I did learn that any reactive container would give an off taste to the end product. My first attempt at oven drying - was with an old metal pie pan. Of course, having read all of the warnings in these forums about acid-reactions with things like citrus and vinegar, I should have known better. That is why I used the glass Pyrex dish for subsequent batches without noticeable flavor off taste.

Also, because the recipe I use is made into a thoroughly dried salt, the finished product is like a dried fruit - rather than moist, which can withstand being in a shaker for long periods of time.

The recipe you gave sounds as if it would be needing refrigeration as it is still moist. I would question use of foil made with aluminum in contact with the lime juice as I felt it would react as well - any comments?

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

It's a bit embarrassing following my own post, but as you'all know, I'm just getting started. (so lonely).

Anyway, yesterday I purchased 4 large sized, firm cabbages, shredded them - this time I did use my meat slicer, cutting the cabbages in smaller size portion so the cutters would work better. The slicer is really quite small. It works OK for the main things tho - slicing meat.

So that amount of cabbage made:

1 gallon sized container - to which I added a pint more this a.m., cuz it shrunk down that much.

8 pints minus the 1 I added above.

This time, my pantry is quite cool where the fermenting will take place (hopefully). So it may vary from the last result - when the batch was done during our heat wave - with temps in the high 90's. It worked very quickly then, but still OK, and we just finished the last pint making Ruben sandwiches - (delicious). It prompted me to run right out and get more cabbages - why be without?

So will keep you posted on fermentation time if interested.

This time of year is good to organize freezer, make more canned pinto beans and other non-veggie types, as the freezer and pantry are beginning to show signs of vacancies.

I still have hot peppers dried that need preserving - and also have lots of peppers - would you believe - still surviving the down to low 40's temps.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Nothing is surviving in my garden right now. Nearly 2 feet of snow and then a lot of rain, then a big freeze tonight. Tomorrow the walks and roads will be like skating rinks everyhwere. The birds food is under ice right now and they will have to wait for me to break it up so they can eat. Must have 300+ birds in the back yard now that were in winter mode here. Already went through about 150 pounds of bird seeds so far.

The sauerkraut seems to be a bit slow - although it is oozing - that may be a good sign. The temps in the pantry checked out around 65 this a.m., and it is a bit warmer since last weeks lows.

I decided to bring in a bit more heat from other rooms in the house, to bring it up to 70's, as I don't want it to stop ferment altogether. Getting quite a lot of learning on sauerkraut this year. But have learned to enjoy it.

Funny, before I started making it, I didn't think too much about buying the commercial kind. Guess I just felt it was a "luxury" type item - for only occasional in the budget. If folks only knew how easy life can be - right?

It has started warming a bit, and this morning 48 degrees feels lots better.

About birds - funny that we don't see more of them in the winter, as weather is milder here. But we do have other factors - perhaps cars, pollution, and water lack being a few. We have the resident birds all year, but really not many that migrate -except perhaps some of the shore birds around the ocean. In all the years here, I saw/heard only one woodpecker. A few red tailed hawks - catching lizards in my backyard, vireos, and now a big flock of wrentits - that I suspect may be helping themselves to my early lettuce crops - what else?.

When I visit the desert - sometimes it takes me to the Salton Sea - where the white pelicans migrate to in winter, then return to Canada (I think) in the summer. Also see water birds - black necked stilts and avocets as a rule.

That's a lot of bird seed, Ken - often wondered how the birds survive the winters there - you are indeed a good samaritan.

Bejay

Bejay,

Just saw a new post here for fermented pickles from a new poster. Suggest you offer some tips on the pickling and fermentation process.

The biggest bird favorite is the home made suet cakes. I get cheap and sometimes free beef fat, render it down a couple of hours and add lots of hulless seeds, peanut hearts, and a few dried berries. They are the woodpeckers favorite as they can eat these right off the cakes, without taking a chunk and pounding it into a hole somewhere, where they break it open and get the meats out of the insides. My dad fed the wild birds for many years here, and I took on the same tradition. The most beautiful bird is the male cardinal. I have 6 males who have to share space here as they don't like seeing each other in the same places. Starlings showed up today for the first time, I don't like them much, as they seem to be like a flying rat (aka. pigeon), and can wipe out a whole seed area in minutes.

After a long hiatus from canning, I'm back into it and look forward to starting earlier next year to increase production...

5 Peach Raspberry Freezer Jam
5 Raspberry Freezer Jam
5 Peach Freezer Jam
14 pints applesauce
3 pints & 5 - 8oz apple pie jam
6 pints pear cranberry lemon jam
2 - 8 oz mandarin marmalade
2 - 8 oz blueberry marmalade
7 qts peaches
7 pts peaches

Froze lots of veggies: squash, raspberries, red peppers, zucchini, blueberries, kale, etc. I hope to pickle some beets this week...

The sauerkraut seems to be back on track. I devised a way for the jars to get a bit more heat. In the pantry, I have grow lights where garden seeds are started. They weren't being used for that - most of my early cool weather stuff is already planted - so I decided to use the grow lights to give the kraut a bit more heat.

That brought the temp up to around 70's and I see lots more activity - and the brine working with some ooze. Hopefully, this will solve the temperature problems during winter time fermenting. The 60 degrees at first seemed to be slowing things down somewhat.

My corned beef has been marinating for several days in the brine, spice-rich mix, so will bring up to near room temperature, then slow cook in my Dutch oven. Will be sure to add more spices - as I think I've been a bit conservative there.

The mandarin oranges are beginning to ripen, so next venture will be to can or freeze with simple syrup - peeling oranges for mostly pint sizes.

They make a nice "heavenly hash" recipe for the holidays. Made of mandarin sections, drained crushed pineapple, coconut, marashino cherries, small marshmallows and whipped cream. Always a big hit on buffet tables at this time of year.

Bejay

Just saw a History Channel program about cured meats, cold cuts, and sausages. They featured the NY Carnagie Deli and their method of making pastrami. Every sandwich served is 1 pound of meat. The making of each pastrami takes several days. They also showed some of the methods used to make the turkey breast cold cuts, liverwurst, and olive loaf. Nice show, but wish they had a few more mentions of the spices used. Some recipes are carefully guarded secrets. That heavenly hash sounds like a 'fruit ambrosia'.

ken, ah, those secret recipes. if they told you, they'd have to kill you. ;-)

Just finished 5 pints of sauerkraut - pinging in their jars. Started with 6 pints, but couldn't quite get that many back afterward. Still have the better part of the gallon to do - but thinking tomorrow is another day.

My corned beef came out well. Grand-daughter and I had corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots for dinner last night. Tasted fine, especially with the cooler weather.

Will have left-overs of Ruben sandwiches with nice onion rye bread later today.

The corned beef was a bit salty, so for the last hour of cooking, I siphoned out some of the salty broth and added more water. Worked OK. It cooked almost all day at a slow simmer, and came out fork tender.

Really appreciate all the help you gave me with brining meat, Ken. They are soooo good.

Also I might add - last week when we were out of home made pork sausage, son bought some at the local market - expensive kind too. It couldn't hold a candle to my home-style fresh ground Italian sausage. It was so full of gristle and had lots of fat as well.

Tomorrow I'll finish canning the rest of the kraut - or perhaps just refrigerate. I forgot how long it will keep if not processed, but I guess it will let me know if I don't remember in time.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Wow, bejay, brined meats, sausage --- pretty advanced preserving! I'm impressed.

Corned beef making my mouth water. DH doesn't like cabbage, the fool, so I don't do a classic irish boiled dinner v. often. But it's been really cold & snowy, I think some corned beef might be just what we need ...

Z

zabby -

Yes - Ken and I had a "fun time" (for me-at least) learning the ins and outs of meat preserving - must have been around St. Patty's day, when corned beef is a common fare.

The brisket is a less expensive cut of meat, but is very flavorful when cooked properly. I like a plain slow-cooked roast too. So froze quite a few roast-sized portions - about 5 in all, that I got from the large slab of whole brisket. I don't particularly like to shop, so whenever possible buy in large amounts and preserve.

My kids laugh at me because I buy huge bags of flour - (for maybe only 2 or 3 people use) and then try to find uses to keep it from spoiling - cuz I abhor wasting anything! LOL.

So that is the reason, why I buy whole big chunks of pork and grind it for sausages, etc. Looking forward to making more cured sausages - as soon as I run out of interesting things to do otherwise.

Have another 5 pints of fermented kraut to do today - then maybe some mandarin oranges in simple syrup to freeze.

Life is good. How I envy you the white X-mas. Ho - Ho - Ho - we will put lights on the Washington Palm - maybe.

Bejay

Most all flour can be stored in the freezer, as can large 1 pound bags of yeast. Two one pound bags of yeast cost almost the same as 2 strips of those tiny 3 packet ones you see in supermarkets. The last 5 days I have been making every kind of yeast bread tha I like. Gone through about 25 pounds of various flours so far. The show in TV had the Carnage deli smoke their pastromi, then chill for a couple days, then place in a slow steam chamber for a couple of hours until inside temps read 170.

Ken -

I'm aware of freezing flour -

Down in the bottom of my freezer, there is a bag of masa corn flour - for hand making tortillas. The recipes that I use it with are good - a sort of layered Mexican flavored lasagne type dish - masa dough pattied into tortillas, beans, sausage, chopped veggies (peppers, onion, tomatoes), dotted with sour cream. Then another layer, until dish is filled. This is topped with cheddar or jack cheese and baked at 350. It is also made with the already made tortilla shells - but the fresh masa tortilla casseroles have better flavor. It doesn't seem to matter if my tortillas aren't as "purty" as the professional's make, but the flavor is good anyway.

Finished the last of my fermenting sauerkraut. This last batch I tried cold packing - it called for another 5 minutes of processing BWB time, but the kraut looks like it might have a bit more crunch than the hot pack. Funny thing - some recipe books don't even mention cold packing. I think I will like it a bit better - especially if using with extra cooking in casseroles.

Picked a few nice ripened mandarin oranges - the first to turn bright orange. They seem to wait for a brief cold spell to become that color - nice and sweet this year. I made some light simple syrup and froze 2 half-pints. The tree is loaded. The fruit is looking more firm this year. I think I may have been guilty of uneven watering last year when the fruit became puffy looking.

Sometimes during the hot weather - the white fly is a big problem and strong water spray seems to control them, but then too much watering can also result.

Those 3 pack yeasts really are expensive. Will look into bulk, which I have purchased - although the last pack was not USA and I found the directions confusing. Other countries don't use tsp, tbs, cups, pints as I would like.

One other question tho - I read a hint about using yeast in bread making - where it was advised that yeast be mixed directly with the flour - rather than proofing. I'm having a bit of problem getting nice air holes in my bread - could this yeast to flour adding be of help?

Bejay

The old method of mixing yeast with a little water and sugar to dissolve it and 'proof' is now considered obsolete. It would still be used to proof solid yeast cakes (if you can still find them), but most yeast is now dried and in granular form. Its considered 'instant', and does not need any proofing or any mix with water prior to adding to flour. A few things that can affect the rise are too sweet or greasy, high salt, or high acid. These all contribute to a poor rise. A lot of gluten is a help to get the rise to hold its shape, as is plenty of kneading (like 10 minutes per loaf). I do allow my breads to rise once in a 'semi sticky', stage, then add a bit more flour while kneading the final time. To help aid in the final rise (with big bubbles), more aggressive kneading can be done prior to the final rise. Add a bit more of the granular yeast at the last stages of the second kneading and final rise. Here, when making most breads, I add ascoric acid, malt sugar, gluten, potato flour, and a few other things to aid in the finished bread quality. Check out King Arhthure flour web site to find things like granular lecithin, bread dough enhancer, and yeast specific for sweeter breads. The latest I made were a great pumpernickle, using some pumpernickle base flavor, and flour, with regular bread flour. Also a ry bread with regular bread flour, rye flour, heidleberg sour rye flavor, chopped and whole caraway seeds, as well as a few black caraway seeds. For these denser breads with very low gluten content, I add extra gluten too, as it helps them hold their rise, which can take several hours. I never measure my yeast, or for that matter any of the other ingredents when making breads. For yeast, there isn't much of an affect on flavor if you add a bit too much, but too little and you get pancakes. No two loaves of my bread are the same, which for me, is a better way to enjoy the fruits of my labors. Costco and BJ's both sell 1 pound bags of yeast. I keep it in the freezer in a sealed canning jar, and spoon out what I need, and put the rest back in the freezer again, where it can usually last a couple of years.

Thanks Ken - more tricks of the trade there.

Appreciate the helpful hints. Will keep trying - I know good home made bread is an art. My sourdough starter is still with me - smells fine, and bubbles like crazy when brought to room temps - so that part seems to be going OK.

Bejay

I tend to "proof" if I actually need to PROVE my yeast is still good --- I go through bouts of baking, then don't for a long time, so I often seem to have one envelope kicking around or the dregs of a little can, and want to be sure it's still alive before going ahead with the baking. Once it wasn't, so I always check unless the yeast is v. fresh.

bejay, I am no expert but I learned to make bread fairly successfully at my student dining co-op in college, where it was my job to make a dozen or more loaves at a time once a week, and it seems to me that lack of nice air holes is generally from over-kneading. Books are always telling you something really unhelpful about how much to knead, like "until silky" or "until the texture of a baby's bottom" but there's really no way to describe it; you get to feel when it's right.

OTOH, I've NEVER mastered pie crust.

Z

Yes, that was my suggestion too. Most of my breads get machine kneading with my mixer and heavy dough hooks. If I were to hand knead the second time, with a little more added yeast, it would only be for a minute or two. Also, adding a half teaspoon of sugar at that same time will help to get some big bubbles. Let it rise for a longer time too. The slower it rises, the more you get varied bubble sizes. My sourdough sits in the fridge right now with a tan color liquid 'hooch' at its top, which is seen through the sealed glass jar.
Pie crust for me is a never measure either, and I use both shortening and butter, but never mix it too much when the ice water is finally added. Usually, the harder it is to deal with pie crust (breaking, crumbling etc.) while rolling and forming, the better the finished crust texture. My aunt always used lard for her crusts.

Ooh, more preserving to report!

I put up a batch of Cinnamon Apple Cider Jelly last night (from the Ellie Topp book). I may or may not have reported that I made a HALF batch of this a few weeks ago, when I discovered I didn't have enough sugar and really wanted to get some ready to give away the next day. So I carefully measured out the pectin from the envelope and used half. Stayed up really late to make it. After all that it didn't set so I didn't put it in those gift bags after all.

This time it worked very nicely --- it set up fine overnight, not a real firm set but enough to be spreadable. Very tasty on toast, like having a mug of mulled cider. And really pretty --- I filtered the cider through coffee filters three times, and it was a beautifully clear golden colour (whereas the cider it started from, even after the filtering, was dark brown). Followed Ellie's suggestion of putting a piece of cinnamon stick in each jar.

I'm going to put it with Melly's cran-jalapeno jelly and some molasses cookies into Christmas gift bags. Very festive.

Z

Regular pectins are very fussy, you can't half a recipe or double it, without some setting up issues. Not sure if its just because of teh pectin inself, but cooking time and sugar does ned to be accurate too. Two years ago I made a big huge batch of apple pie jam with bits of apple in it. It was a batch of over 26 jars, 8 ounce and pint sizes mixed. I didn't dare use a regular pectin, but instead used a whole box of Pomona pectin, and it set quite well. I needed to flip the jars while cooling so the apple bits would stay suspended insetad of just floating on top.

This last batch of bread was quite "airy" and to take your suggestion, I didn't over-knead it. It was machine mixed -and do believe that was the reason for my past mistakes.

Also, in the recipe I used from a book "The Cornell Bread Book" by Clive and Jeanette McCay - used a technique of forming that also may have played a role. The bread dough is flattened into a rectangle, the long sides folded to the middle, then the ends rolled up - in other words, trapping some air in the loaves. This seemed to work well.

I also added some dry yeast (per Ken's suggestion) to the final knead. All-in-all, it was much better. Now I hope to work on flavors a bit more.

Their book also suggests making a sour dough starter from the kind of flour that the bread will be. So - make the starter from rye or wheat flour, etc., instead of using the white flour starter. I think that may also be a plus.

Outside of the bread yesterday, I froze 2 more half-pints of mandarin sections in simple syrup. Need to make room in freezer, as the tree is full.

Bejay

I'm amazed at how busy everyone still is! I guess I'm a "fair weather canner." I've been in a baking frenzy since November. I give away a lot of cookies at Christmas time. Tomorrow is my biggest "Hurrah" of cookies to the DH's family. Right now they are safely stashed away in the freezer. DH has his own stash so he won't sneak any.

Tomorrow, I'll also be baking some bread - some to eat on Christmas and some to have for breakfast the rest of the week. I was really hit or miss on bread baking until I followed Tricia's tutorials (link below).

Here is a link that might be useful: Tricia's bread baking

When my grandfather made his rye, it was a sourdough a culture he kept away from any other yeasts or sourdough yeasts. I usppose you could do the same and have a secondary sourdough rye culture. Keep in mind though, rye flour is quite heavy and is very low in gluten, so if its used mostly in a rye bread it will bake up like a brick. For flavors, I tried a few of the ones at King Arthur Flour and like the deli sour rye flavor, as well as the pumpernickle flavor base. Right now, I have a LOT of whole wheat bread flour and need to use more in my baking. I also got a 5 pound bag of wheat gluten to help give me nice chewy doughs. I chew on a small pice of raw dough to see if its like bubble gum or dissolves quickly. If its the latter, more kneading and more gluten is the key. I also just got a 1 pound bag of special yeast for acidic and sweet breads. Saf is the maker, and its their gold label. The link below is only part of the list of flavorings and add-ins for various breads.

Here is a link that might be useful: King Arthur flour add ins

I honestly thought I was done canning for the season, but I'm a teacher on winter break, and I got the itch. I had some quinces leftover from a jelly I made at the end of October (!), so I made some beautiful, fragrant quince preserves from the Ball Blue Book. And then I just recently ran across a mention of Peach Preserves for Cold Mornings on this forum and just had to give them a try. They are DELISH (even though I used frozen peaches)!
If anyone wants to see pics, you can check out today's post (12/23) on my little food blog:

http://lindseysluscious.blogspot.com

--Gina

Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious

booberry - ken -

Made a copy of the links - and will research as needed. I'm determined to get this bread making to my satisfaction. We do prefer the multi-grained types over plain white breads and the sour doughs - of course - are what I'm striving to perfect. Sooo - it may never be San Francisco, but as long as it's close - I'll settle for that.

joybugaloo - addicting don't you think???

GD bought lots of cookie-making stuff - pretzels, almond bars, chocolate, coconut, real butter, etc., guess we make goodies today.

Hope Santa is nice to all of the girls and boys who visit this forum.

Bejay

For quick sour flavor, add sour cream to your dough. The sour deli additive (from King Arthur) I use was my favorite as well as my sister, who has very discrimiating taste buds. I also useds two kinds of their multi grain mixtures added to some whole wheat four and regular bread flour. As a sweetener, I added a little honey. I used the Harvest Grains mix, Seeds plus, Amaranth, and some Spelt. The Harvest grains were a bit course, so I put them into a small food processor to chop them up a bit more. The whole or cracked wheat berries are very hard, by themsleves, so if you use a lot, either chop them up, or soak in hot water an hour before adding to the dough. That bread was made in my machine and came out to be one of the best tasting multi's I have ever made. King Arthur, is close by here, so I get things delivered almost overnight. Bought a box of maccroon mix, which will have almond paste added to it, as well as two cookie flavors with a dusting of white powder sugar and a touch or tartness, called "sparklers".
Mixed grains link:
http://www.butcher-packer.com/pages-main/category-2/brine-and-marinade-supplies.html?zenid=2b53b1a363817947adae65cbf0d571ac

Here is a link that might be useful: Sparkler cookie mixes

Grains mix and seed mix

Here is a link that might be useful: King Arthur

OK... one more thing... once the citrus showed up in the supermarket I couldn't resist making:

5.75 pints of "Easiest Ever" Marmalade from the Ball Complete book. (Canned in 13 quarter pint and 3 half pint jars.) Not only was it easy, it gelled perfectly without pectin, and is quite yummy - a nice balance of bitter and sweet.

To chime in on the bread discussion, my sourdough is via my mom - she uses the recipes and techniques in the Sunset Book of Breads circa 1972, and I do, too. The sourdough has milk in it, which might be cheating, but it certainly makes some delicious breads, especially the English muffins. The cookbook is around on Ebay, and some of the recipes can be Googled.

Yes, true sopurdough cultures do not contain any dairy or other additives. They are usually cultured in whole wheat flour. If the sourdough is used in a rye bread, it can still be started in whole wheat or regular flour before adding to the dough starter which would contain some rye. A friend of mine makes a nice big, very crusty bread and uses sour cream in his. To get a really hard crust, he sprays mists of water in the oven every few minutes while its baking to get it to become very crusty. When my grandfather had the bakery years ago, he would place small pans of water in the oven when making his bread. Of course a bakery oven is similar to the type you see in pizza resturants (not Bertuccis though).

Had to put the sourdough on the back burner for awhile.

As fate would have it - when GD delivered cookies to special friends, most gave something back.

Now a big bag of fresh grapefruit to be attended to. As the freezer is full - must re-organize soon - the grapefruit will be canned. Will do easy - peel and pith (that's not too easy - actually - but will watch TV while doing) - then raw pack with simple syrup and BWB 10 minutes. These delicate slices will be nice for diet-conscious folks - on salads and such. Will hold down the sugar in the syrup too.

Also froze another 2 pints of mandarin oranges with simple syrup.

Someone gave GD a big bag of pistachio nuts - so they went into my granola making this morning, along with some of the dried plums I made this summer - and also added some bran and wheat germ to the mix - smells so great and warming the kitchen too.

We must have made umpteen dozen cookies - GD wrapped them in see-through paper with tied ribbon on red plates - they were so festive - and the best part, all turned out to be delicious. My bread mixer had a real work-out. It was fun - especially because we enjoyed one another's company all day, with lots of laughs.

Well - on to the grapefruit.

Bejay

Almost time to start a new thread for 2008 --- but squeezing in under the wire, last night I tried making candied ginger (Ellie Topp's procedure from _Small-Batch Preserving_).

It came out really well. We don't have the cooling rack that you're supposed to use to dry it on in the oven (I'm at a cottage in nowhere, Tennessee with my in-laws) so I put it on tin foil on a cookie tray and turned all the pieces over a couple of times; it seemed to work to make sure they dried on both sides, and there was no problem with any burning or getting too crisp.

Am doing a second batch (only one cup per batch) now.

If we can find some fresh cranberries, tomorrow I'll try her method for drying those....

Zabby

Looks like 2007 is almost due to end - so better get my "offering" in before it goes.

Pressure canned 4 quarts of pinto beans - great for quickie meals with tacos or enchiladas, sometimes chili.

Also squeezed 10 grapefruits for juice and froze some in ice cube trays for quickie drinks. Will be nice this summer in coolers. They were quite sour - I really prefer the pink variety for direct eating, but still appreciated the gift from one of GD's friends who raises them.

Looks like we could use a new thread - what a great enthusiastic group you are!!! -

So - it's on to 2008 - and Happy New Year preserving to all!!.

Bejay

Squeezing in under the wire to report a big batch (triple --- nine cups!) of sour cream walnuts, which I'll divvy up as part of gift baskets at a New Year's Eve party.

If I don't eat every one before I get there....

Didn't find cranberries, alas, so will have to leave that project till next year.

Meanwhile, happy new year to all. See you on the 2008 thread!

Zabby

Posting late, but actually canned the last of my saurkraut on the 27th. Three and half quarts!

Now, let's see who gets to post first in '08!

Deanna

Deanna -

Just curious - (see post on sauerkraut) did you hot or cold pack your sauerkraut?

Seems to be some discussion going on about it.

Bejay

OK, I'm off to start the 2008 thread!

Annie

I want to add 1/2 gal of dried butter peas, 1/2 gal of dried bisbee red peas, 1 quart + of dried okra, 1 quart = of dried green beans and pint of dried black limas for 2007. Now, I'm ready for 2008.

I just made the BEST recipe for my book club last week, using chili sauce, for shrimp dip. The book was " Long Journey Home" About a Afrian Boy that found his home land at war at age 12. It is a quick good read. We make recipes around the theme of the book, so I googled African recipes. I found great recipes, but the best was the one I'm going to share with you. The first night I used the sauce as a dip for cold shrimp the next night I made a hot dish sauting the shrimp, aspargus, pineapple and the sauce and severed over rice. It is going to be my new, favorite company dish.
1 pound fresh or frozen jumbo shrimp (16 to 20)
4 stalks celery
Red Dip (recipe follows)
Pink dip (recipe follows)

Red Dip:
2 tablespoons Red Pepper Paste(recipe follows)
1 cup chili sauce

Pink Dip:
2 tablespoons Red Pepper Paste (recipe follows)
2/3 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Red Pepper Paste:
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1/8 tsp. ground coriander
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/8 of a medium onion
1 small clove garlic

1/4 cup paprika

Directions:
1. Clean shrimp and cook according to package directions; refrigerate. Cut celery into sticks. Refrigerate in cold water.

2. Prepare dips. Serve in bowls with shrimp and celery.

Red Dip:
Mix all ingredients. Makes about 1 cup.

Pink Dip:
Mix all ingredients. Makes about 3/4 cup.

Red Pepper Paste:
1. Measure 2 tablespoons wine and remaining ingredients except paprika into blender container; cover. Blend until smooth, scraping sides of blender frequently. With remaining wine, wash spices down sides of blender.

2. Heat paprika in saucepan 1 minute. Add spice mixture in small amounts, stirring until smooth. Cook unitl hot, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool.

Red and Pink Dips can be prepared 48 hours in advance. Store covered in refrigerator.

I would use food processor instead of blender. It was hard to scrape the sides of the blender!

* didn't like the pink sauce as well.
Next time I will make this sauce using the chili recipe on this posting.