Old Fashion Recipes for Preserving Your Garden's Bounty: Carrot Relish and Sweet-Sour Pickles

One of the things I miss most about my life in these latter years is giving up vegetable gardening and canning and freezing the bounty gardening produces. As far back as I can remember, I did everything from washing canning jars, to breaking beans, shucking corn, picking produce and helping to preserve such. My sister and I have such wonderful memories of sitting under the big trees in our grandparent's front yard breaking beans while our mother and grandmother picked more. My grandpa was disabled with leg problems so he couldn't do the picking. He would tell us wonderful stories of his youth while we worked. We didn't realize at the time, the wonderful history lessons we were getting! And it was so much fun, we never thought of it as work. The following recipes are some of the old family recipes from my youth for some good crisp pickles and a delicious carrot relish.

CARROT RELISH
4 cups (approx 10 med) carrots
3 cups (about 7 med) finely ground onions
1/2 cup finely ground green bell peppers
1/2 cup finely ground red bell peppers
1 1/2 cups finely ground cucumbers
1/4 cup coarse pickling salt
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp mustard seed

Combine vegetables in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Combine the remaining ingredients and let stand, stirring often, while vegetables are soaking in salt. Pour vegetables into a large sieve; drain well, pressing vegetables lightly with a back of a spoon to remove all excess liquid. Stir vegetables into vinegar mixture and ladle into hot, sterilized jars. Top with hot lids to seal.

I love this pickle recipe. Like so many of the old recipes in my collection, it is a recipe for an experienced cook. The quantity instructions are vague so this is a recipe only an experienced canner would know how to make.
SWEET-SOUR PICKLES
This recipe is so old I don't remember anything except is was always around. I never made these pickles myself. My family was small and did not use as many pickles as my mother and grandmother did.

cucumbers, small or sliced
2 cups vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
few mixed pickling spices tied in a bag

Put cucumbers in a large bowl or a crock; sprinkle with the salt. Cover with boiling water and let set overnight. Next day, drain the water off. Boil the vinegar, water, sugar, and pickling spices. Drop the cucumbers into the hot mixture and bring back to a boil. Fill jars and seal.

Enjoy!

Recipes For Summertime Canning: Sweet Lime Pickles, Watermelon Pickles, and Zucchini Relish

"Putting Up" your own pickles and relishes is a favorite summertime ritual for many of us. This was on of my favorite things as a child, teenager, mother and wife. All except for washing and scrubbing hundreds of canning jars as a child, that is!! It is also one of the things I miss most now that I am a senior citizen living in the city. But I do still enjoy sharing my canning recipes. If you want to try some "new" recipes for canning, let me introduce you to some "old-fashion" ones. Today's article includes recipes for canning your own Sweet Lime Pickles, Watermelon Pickles, and Zucchini Relish. These will make great additions to your pantry!

HOMEMADE SWEET LIME PICKLES
Slice 7 pounds of cucumbers and soak in 2 gallons of water. Add 2 cups of lime. leave in this for 24 hours. Wash well and soak in water for 3 more hours.

Cover with this solution:
2 qt. vinegar
9 c. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
2 tsp. whole cloves
2 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mixed spices

Let stand overnight in this solution. Bring to a boil and can.

Notes to beginners. The Lime is Pickling Lime found in the canning section of grocery stores, Walmart, etc. To can, put the hot cucumber solution in hot clean canning jars and seal with lids that have been brought to a boil. Listen for the jars to seal. You will hear popping noises as jars seal plus the center of the lid will slightly indent. If you have any jars that do not seal, store in the refrigerator.

WATERMELON PICKLES
This recipe was from an old homemakers magazine my mom received monthly in the mail when I was a kid. She subscribed to the magazine for the crocheting patterns but we often got good recipes, too.

rind of one large watermelon
1 tbsp powdered alum
7 cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar
1/4 tsp oil of cloves
1/2 tsp oil of cinnamon

Using a potato peeler, peel the watermelon rind leaving a trace of pink on the inside for color. Cut the rind into pieces; let stand overnight in cold water with the alum. Drain well the next morning.

Bring the sugar, vinegar, oil of cloves and oil of cinnamon to a boil. Add the watermelon rind and bring to a boil again. Set aside until the next morning.

Next morning bring the mixture to a boil again; set aside.

Third morning, bring the mixture to a boil; seal in hot sterilized jars. Makes about 7 pints of pickles.

HOMEMADE ZUCCHINI RELISH
When I lived in Indiana during the 70s, I grew lots of zucchini in my garden. This is one of the recipes for preserving them.

10 cups peeled, ground zucchini
4 cups ground onions
5 tablespoons salt
2 1/4 cups vinegar
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon each of nutmeg, dry mustard and turmeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 red pepper*, chopped fine
1 green pepper*, chopped fine

Combine the zucchini, onions, and salt together and let stand overnight. Next morning, drain and rinse with cold water. Combine the mixture with the remaining ingredients and cook for 30 minutes; mixture must be hot. Pour into hot clean jars and seal with hot lids. Makes 7 pints.

*These are bell peppers.

Enjoy!

Canning - How To Can Homemade Basil Tomato Sauce

Every year we plant a large garden which always includes a few rows of tomatoes. We enjoy canning our own homemade tomato sauce to use throughout the winter and spring season when tomatoes are no longer in-season here in Pennsylvania.

Canning your own sauce is not difficult and you will need your basic home canning supplies such as: a water bath canner, quart-sized canning jars with rings and seals, funnel, ladle and a jar lifter. If you don't own these supplies, you can purchase them in a complete kit at your local kitchen shop or via a reputable online kitchen store that carries home canning supplies.

In the following recipe, I used fresh basil and parsley that I grew in my garden, however...you can certainly use dried he rbs if that is what you have on hand. You will want to start out with ripe to very ripe (but not blemished) red tomatoes.
To Blanch Tomatoes: Bring a large stock pot with water to a full boil. Place a few tomatoes into the water for 60 seconds. Using a pair of tongs or your ladle, remove tomatoes and place in cold water for 5 minutes. You should now be able to easily peel off the skins.

Basil Tomato Sauce Recipe

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
25 large fresh tomatoes
2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon beef bouillon

Measure out and add your olive oil to a large nonstick stock pot. Over medium heat, stir in the minced onions and garlic and saute them in the oil for 1 minute. Stir in the chopped basil and chopped parsley. Turn heat down to low.

Blanch and remove the skins from your tomatoes and process them in a juicer or food processor to make tomato juice. Add this juice to your stock pot and then add in the rest of the ingredients, stirring after each addition with a nonstick silicone spatula.

Turn the heat up to medium and cover your pot. Simmer the mixture for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.

Once sauce is done cooking, ladle it into clean and hot jars, being careful to leave a 1/2" head space from the top of the jar. Using a clean cotton towel, wipe the rim clean and add your seal and ring to the jar. Process your jars all at one time in your water bath canner for 45 minutes. Remove jars from the canner and let cool to room temperature. This sauce will keep for up to 1 year if your jars sealed properly.

Homemade Canning - Best Kinds of Soup for Home Canning

Canned soup is delicious and easy for lunches, dinners, and even snacks. Store-bought soup often contains large amounts of sodium and even hidden ingredients such as monosodium glutamate, yeast, and unknown spices and added artificial flavorings.

Soup done by homemade canning is not only healthier, it is less expensive than the store-bought versions and you can control what goes into it. Which soups are best for canning at home?

Canned Cream Soup

Tomato, mushroom, celery, pumpkin, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, and other vegetables and blends make delicious creamed soup. Creamed foods are often cooked vegetables run through a blender and then made into a delicious and creamy soup with fresh milk or cream and a variety of spices. These may take a few extra steps to prepare, but are well worth the effort.

To make them a condensed soup, simply leave off the addition of cream and extra water in the recipe you follow and note on the label how much to add for that particular recipe. When opening a jar of creamed soup, simply add the amount of milk or water just like the condensed soup you would purchase at the store, but at a fraction of the cost.

Canned Vegetable Soup

Depending on the recipe, you may or may not need to precook the vegetables. One delicious method of making homemade canned vegetable soup is to save the vegetable refuse from processing other vegetables in a bin in the freezer. These can range from clean potato skin and apple skins and cores to onion peels and lettuce cores. When you have enough to boil for stock, boil them up until soft and then cool the stock. Blend them in a blender and run through a food sieve or mesh strainer to remove the larger particles.

Take the resulting stock and use it as a base for any vegetable or meat soup base. Simply chop up the desired vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, onions, par-cooked potatoes or root vegetables, zucchini, peas, cooked beans, green beans, or raw dark leafy greens and place them in a bowl. Then add your favorite dried or fresh herbs or spice blends and mix it thoroughly.

Finally, add this mixture to the jar, leaving half to one-third head space. Add the broth, stir, and pressure can the blend for about 20 minutes, or as directed in the vegetable soup recipe you are using.

Canned Noodle Soup

Noodle soups are not that hard to can. The easiest part is that the noodles go in dry. You will need:

A vegetable or chicken stock that has just been boiled and is still hot. Chopped cooked meat such as chicken or beef. A favorite spice blend or fresh herbs; Italian seasoning works best. Fresh, raw or par-cooked vegetables. Dried noodles such as egg noodles, stars, alphabets, ditalini, macaroni, gemelli, or mostaccioli.

Measure one-fourth of the jar for each ingredient plus the spices. Again, leave roughly a half-inch head space air pocket for a good seal. Then, layer the ingredients as you add them: noodles, half the hot broth, spices, meat, vegetables, and half the hot broth again. Make sure that the rim and lid are clean and dry when you add the lid. Pressure can for the time specified in the pressure canning directions.

Canned Bean, Chili, or Split Pea Soup

Unlike the other soups, bean soup must be cooked and completely ready to eat before canning to ensure that the finished product is actually edible. When you are done cooking the bean soup, simply jar it up while still hot, leaving roughly a half-inch to an inch of head space and then pressure can it according to the manufacturer's directions.

Detecting Spoilage in Home-canned foods

Unlike high-acid canned foods such as tomato sauces and fruits, low-acid foods like soup are more prone to spoilage due to improper canning or not achieving a good seal. Before serving up your delicious creation, inspect the jar lid for leaks, a swollen lid, rust, strange coloring, or a foamy or murky appearance.

If all looks well, open the jar and smell the foodit should smell pleasant and delicious. If you detect any of the above, discard the food immediately. Before eating, bring the food to a boil for at least 10 minutes just in case any dangerous microbes are in the food. If the food still smells pleasant, it's probably safe to eat.

Home-canned soups are not only tailored to your dietary needs, they contain less sodium, fat, and artificial ingredients. Healthy, hearty, and cheap, soup made by homemade canning cost a fraction off store-bought varieties and definitely have better flavor.

Canning - Hot Pepper, Corn and Cucumber Pickle Relish Recipes

During the summer and fall months, I like to spend time in the kitchen canning foods that we have harvested from our backyard garden. Canning is easy to do and you can preserve for your foods for up to 1 year by canning them.

One of our favorite things to make with our excess garden vegetables is homemade relishes. To make the following recipes, I suggest using a food processor to finely chop up your vegetables to get them to the consistency that is needed for the recipes.

Here are 3 of our favorite recipes that we enjoy making.

Hot Pepper Relish

1 quart hot pepper sauce
1 large onion
1 tablespoon table salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 pint white vinegar

Mix together the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Cover the bowl and let stand for 4 hours. Stir in the granulated sugar and white vinegar. Cook in a medium-sized pan, stirring frequently for 45 minutes. Pour mixture into hot jars and seal in a water bath canner. Makes 1 1/2 pints. This recipe can be easily doubled.
Corn Relish

2 dozen ears of corn
3 large red peppers, finely chopped
3 large green peppers, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cups of granulated sugar
5 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons salt
4 cups white vinegar

Blanch corn cobs for 3 minutes in boiling water. Remove from pan and rinse under tap water. Cut corn from cobs and place in a stock pot. Stir in the finely chopped peppers and celery. Stir in the granulated sugar, mustard, salt and vinegar. Bring mixture to a full boil and boil for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle into hot jars. Seal jars in the water bath canner according to your canner's instructions.

Cucumber Pickle Relish

12 cucumber pickles
6 green peppers
6 red peppers
5 large onions
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons celery seeds
5 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 1/2 cups white vinegar

In a food proces sor, grind up your cumber pickles, green and red peppers, and your onions. Sprinkle on the salt. Cover your container and let stand overnight. Drain the juice well. In a large pot, bring the celery seeds, granulated sugar and vinegar to a boil. Stir in the vegetables and boil for 20 to 25 minutes. Ladle mixture into hot sterilized jars and process in your water bath canner according to manufacturer's instructions.

Homemade Canning - Where's the Beef? Canning Your Meat, Poultry, and More!

Why limit your home canning to produce? Scoop up a great seasonal deal on meat, poultry, or fish and experience the ease of meal preparation with canned meat. The best part is you know what is in the jar, there are no added flavors, no undisclosed spices, and no MSG.

The Art of Mince Meat

Mincemeat is really an overlooked delicacy and method of preserving meat our ancestors came up with. Originally, it was a mix of lean beef, suet, apples, citrus fruits, raisins, brandy or hard cider, and various spices. There is no need to stick with older recipes that call for a long list of ingredients that are exotic by today's standards. Unless your family has a taste for old-fashioned mincemeat, feel free to come up with your own version.

Simply use a roast beef recipe and cook as directed. Add such spices as garlic, onions, savory, marjoram, salt and pepper or use your favorite blend. When the meat can easily be pulled apart and chopped, allow it to cool and then chop it up. It will then be ready to slip into the freshly boiled and cooled jars and slipped into a homemade canning device.

Roast carrots, whole onion, garlic cloves, and potatoes or other vegetables like cauliflower and chop them up with the meat. Drain excess broth before canning the meat and vegetable mixture. Can the broth separately. Now you have jars of ready-to-go beef broth and jars of meat that are perfect for sandwiches or one-dish meals that are perfectly seasoned.

Poultry is Easily Preserved Too

Home-canned chicken and chicken broth can put the store-bought products to shame. Not only is it more cost-efficient, it is tastier and healthier too. Make low-sodium versions or salt-free versions delicately seasoned with your blend of seasonings such as poultry seasoning, garlic, onions, or even add chopped up vegetables to the broth and strain before canning it to add a healthy and tasty twist.

Canned chicken, once drained of the broth, makes an easy addition to salads, soups, one-dish meals, and meals heated up in less than 30 minutes. Leave the aforementioned vegetables in with the chicken or can them separately. Either way, all you need to do is add the two jars, chicken or broth, to a saucepan and some noodles for a nearly instant chicken noodle soup.

Don't Overlook Fish When Canning

If you live in an area where fresh fish is in season, such as salmon in coastal areas or pike around the great lakes, don't overlook homemade canning as a method of reserving the bounty.

Store-bought canned fish can have additives such as excess salt, or a funny fish taste if the fish was off-season or previously frozen when canned. Following your favorite plain canned poultry recipe, go ahead and can the season's catch. The best part is, it's one of the foods that doesn't need to be precooked, just add it to the boiled jars and pressure can it.

When homemade canning, do not overlook the possibilities of canning your own meat, poultry, or fish and preserving the seasonal bounty or fresh game. Canned meats are quick and easy meals and unlike freezing the meat, it won't get freezer burn. Canned beef, chicken, and even some fish can be made into salads, for sandwiches, potato toppers, or side dishes and are great additions to freshly boiled noodles for delicious and quick soups.

Store Garden Produce #3-How to Dry Mushrooms & Dry Beans Storage

During my 30 + years of gardening experience, I have encountered many situations where I have had to improvise in order to adjust to the changes within our environment to accommodate my plants needs. I have adjusted and learned so much and would like to share my experience and success, as well as my "mishaps" along the way. This article is not inclusive and should be shared with Parts 1 & 2 of this series. (See Below)

Dry Beans Storage: Beans can be stored in moisture-resistant, air-tight containers. With proper preparation before storage, they can last up to 30 years. Dried beans are best stored without the presence of oxygen and light. Oxygen will cause the oil produced from the beans to become rancid. Light will quickly discolor the beans. Neither is compatible with long-term storage. Furthermore, colder storage temperatures as well as low humidity will enhance and prolong shelf life.

Beans stored in food grade, polyethylene bags have about a one-year life span. This situation is commonly found in most commercialized products and is not a suitable storage containment option over the long term.

Canning dried beans: I first make sure that the inside of the jars are washed and thoroughly dried. Remember- moisture breeds decay- quickly. Oxygen absorbent packets should be added to the jars to remove oxygen and to extend shelf life.

Fill the jars about 95% full and make sure that the gasket on the lid is in good condition. Close the jar tightly then store in a cool, dry, dark place. Note: Oxygen absorber packets should be kept in a sealed container until ready for use. Only remove as needed within a 20 to 30 minute time frame.

If you are using plastic buckets, first place one ounce of dry ice per gallon in the bottom of the bucket. Pour the beans over the dry ice to within one inch of the top. Place the lid on the bucket but do not completely seal it until the dry ice has dispersed.When the bottom of the bucket begins to feel warmer, place the lid on tightly. If it begins to bulge after a few minutes, open slightly to release the pressure. Watch to make sure the pressure has subsided-this might take several days for accuracy. As a precaution-do not stack your buckets more than three high as the weight could damage the lower containers.

How to freeze beans: Frozen dried beans will only last for about 2-3 months.As a general rule of thumb, for every pound or 2 cups of dried beans, use 6 cups of water to re-hydrate. Pour the appropriate amount of beans and water into a large cooking pot. Add 1 to 2 Tbsp of oil and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil then cover the pot and allow it to simmer. Always make sure that the beans are completely covered by adding additional hot water when needed. The amount of cooking time will vary with the type of bean cooked. This could be as little as 30 minutes up to 3 hours. The beans are finished when they are just about tender, but not quite. If you completely cook the beans and then freeze them, they tend to loose their shape and texture when de-thawed.Allow the beans to completely cool at room temperature before placing them in the freezer.