PRESERVING- Dill Pickles

With all the extreme heat this summer, my dill has gone CRAZY! However it seems that the dill that seeds itself from the year before is always ready for a cutting before the pickles are ready for pickling, and the dill that I plant is not ready in time. So to fix this problem, I just dry my dill if it cannot be used immediately. Any leftovers can be used the following year. The same is also true for my cayenne peppers. (used in this particular recipe) I just dry them in the dehydrator and use them as I need them. They will keep for a long time if kept in an air tight container.

Check out this HUGE head of dill. It is the same size as the dehydrator.

I use this simple recipe for my pickles. I don't can pickles in the traditional way, but rather jar them, uncooked, and store them in our extra fridge. To date, the jars are piling up and I'm running out room to store them- the one drawback to making these claussen style pickles.

My Favorite Dill Pickle Recipe

4 qts med sized cucumbers

4 c. vinegar

1 c. salt

3 qt water

For each quart:

2 sprays dill

1 clove garlic

1 small hot red pepper

Wash cucumbers and let stand in cold water overnight. Pack cukes in jars. Combine other ing. And bring to boil. Fill jars with brine, and store in a cool dark place.

Cheesy Chicken Chowder

Cheesy Chicken Chowder

2 (14 oz) cans reduced- sodium chicken broth

2 cups diced , peeled potatoes

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

1/2 c diced onion

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

2 cups 2% reduced fat milk

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 min.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and mix well. Gradually stir in milk and cook over low heat until slightly thickened. Stir in cheese and cook until melted. Add cheese mixture to broth and vegetables along with chicken. Cook and stir over low heat until thoroughly heated.

Serves 8

ENJOY~

Lois

A Pennsylvania Treat-Pig Belly!

Pig Belly (AKA hog maw) is a Pennsylvania treat. Now I realize most folks who did not grow up eating this stuff would not give this recipe a try. But I thought I'd share it anyway.

Pig Belly

Begin with a clean hog maw purchased in the meat department of the grocery store or ask for one at your local butcher. I usually soak mine in some salt water for a few minutes.

The ingredients for pig belly are simple. I just use an extra large bowl or container to combine these 3 simple ingredients.

Ingredients

1 part ground sausage (at least 2 lbs)

1 part potatoes (cubed)

1 part cabbage (I usually use an entire head)

Lots of salt and pepper to taste

This will look like a lot of stuffing but remember, the belly gets stuffed, and the cabbage will shrink as it cooks.

The stuffing may be baked alone or stuffed in the belly.

Many folks just use the belly to hold the ingredients together like the casing of a sausage. However, I know many who actually gnaw on the belly.

Stuff the belly with stuffing ingredients as full as possible being careful not to tear the belly. I use a needle and thread to sew up the ends of the belly. Place in a roaster on a rack. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan. (Don't let the pan cook dry.) Cover and Bake at 375 or about 3 or 31/2 hrs.

When pig belly is browned, slice and serve. Most Pennsylvanians eat this meal with some apple butter bread. If you're brave enough to give this recipe a try, Email me and let me know what you think!

A Pennsylvania Treat-Chicken Corn Soup

My aunt recently had surgery and was sent home to her hubby's care. And since he's not much of a cook, I thought I would make her some soup. A pot of good home cooked soup fixes everything don't ya know. We live in the heart of Central Pennsylvania-AKA Amish Country. Around here, there's nothing better than a pot of chicken corn soup; it's a Pennsylvania favorite. During the summer months, when the corn crop is fresh, you can find a corn soup stand at every fair. But today, I'll be using corn I froze last summer that is still very sweet and yummy.

I don't use a recipe to make chicken corn soup. I just cook it up with some basic

ingredients. I start by cooking

off chickens in the pressure cooker to get my chicken base. On this particular day, I used 2 chickens. This gave me plenty of broth and extra chicken for in the freezer to use in another chicken dish on another day.

To make my broth

more flavorful,
I add chopped garlic

and a little celery.

Saute some chopped onion, and celery until slightly tender

Add the chicken broth...

And the corn...

And chicken....

Now here is where I make this soup my own. I add herbs...lots of herbs. If I make this soup in the summer, I go around my herb garden and snip off the herbs I want for the soup. But since I don't have any fresh herbs, I used those that I had dried last fall. Many folks add chopped hard boiled eggs and rivels to their soup. My family doesn't particularly care for those additions. So I add the herbs for added color and flavor.

Today, I added some basil, rosemary, sage, and parsley. Then I threw in a few bay leaves for good luck. (salt and pepper too!)

Stir and simmer until all vegetables are cooked

and flavors are married.

There's nothing left to do but....Enjoy!!

.

Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

Remember the extra chicken and broth from the corn soup? Today I took it from the freezer and made homemade noodle soup-with homemade noodles. Though I use a recipe for the noodles, the soup just kinda gets thrown together in the pot.

First, I made the noodles, rolled them out, and cut them into the desired size. These have to be made several hours ahead of time to allow the noodle to dry out a bit. (recipe below)

Just like the corn soup, I begin by sauteing some onion, celery, even a little garlic. Then add the broth and some pretty carrots.

Bring broth to a boil and add noodles a few at a time. If more broth is needed, some kind of ready to use broth can be added. Cook until tender, and add the chicken pieces, and a few spices....salt, pepper and parsley. Anything you choose to add desired flavor. Simmer just a bit longer.

ENJOY!

Homemade Noodles

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbl. milk

1 c. sifted flour

Combine egg, salt and milk. Add flour a little at a time, enough to make stiff dough. Roll very thin on floured surface. Let stand 20 minutes. Roll up loosely. Slice 1/4 inch wide. Unroll, Spread out and let dry 2 hours.

*I often use half whole wheat, half regular flour with no problem.

*Cutting noodles with a pizza cutter works well!

Sticky Buns

We love..............

Sticky Buns

Combine the following ingredients in bread machine:

1 1/4 c. water
3 c. white flour
2 T dry milk
3 T sugar
1 tsp salt
3 T butter
2 tsp yeast

Set machine on dough cycle

Roll out dough into a rectangle on a floured surface.
(Dough will be wet and sticky.)

Filling 1/3 c. soft butter
1 tsp cinnamon

Spread butter on dough and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 375* .

Sticky Sauce ¼ c. butter
½ c. brown sugar
¼ c. light corn syrup
½ c. pecans (optional)

Bring sticky sauce to a boil to dissolve ingredients.

Pour sticky sauce into a large baking pan.

Roll dough into a log and cut in equal pieces.

Place slices in sticky sauce.

Cover and allow to rise.
Bake at 375 * for 20-25 min .

Remove from the oven and immediately flip buns out on to serving platter.

Enjoy!

Celebrating Bubba's Birthday

We celebrated my son's birthday with family and cake-lots of cake! At his request we had strawberry shortcake. And to ensure we had enough cake, I whipped up another cake as well.




He looks so serious in this picture, but he is really laid back and fun loving.

Paula Deen's

Is it really better than sex cake

Ingredients:
1 18.25-ounce box yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 3.4-ounce box French vanilla pudding, plus ingredients to prepare
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup flaked, sweetened toasted coconut

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare yellow cake mix as directed using a greased 13x9x2-inch pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. While cake is baking, combine the pineapple, 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Remove cake from oven and using a fork, pierce holes into cake. Pour pineapple mixture over hot cake and set aside.
Prepare pudding according to package directions. Spread pudding over cake and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Whip heavy cream and remaining sugar until stiff. Cover top of cake with whipped cream and sprinkle toasted coconut on top.



NOTE: I don't add the layer of pudding. We prefer it that way. Also, a white cake mix may also be used.

Strawberry Shortcake

1 qt fresh strawberries, sliced

1-2 TBL sugar

Shortcake

1-3/4 c. flour

2 TBL sugar

1 TBL baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c. cold butter or margarine

1 egg

3/4 c. sour cream

Topping

1 c. whipping cream

1-2 TBL sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Combine strawberries and sugar; set aside. For shortcake, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. In a small bowl, beat egg; add sour cream. Stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Turn onto a floured board; knead 25 times or until smooth. Roll out into a 7-1/2 in. circle. Cut a 2 in. hole in center to form a ring. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For topping, beat cream and sugar until stiff peaks form; stir in vanilla. Just before serving, split cake horizontally. Spoon juice from berries over bottom layer. Top with half of the berries and half of the topping. Add the top cake layer, remaining topping and berries. Cut into wedges. Yields 8 servings.

Fun in the Kitchen

I had a little fun in the kitchen today. There have been a few items I have been wanting to make. So after making my rounds in the garden this morning, I got busy. There were a few strawberries still lingering that made it into my basket. There wasn't enough to make a pie or strawberry shortcake, but I did have just enough to eat on a little yogurt. I love granola on my yogurt and fruit! So I whipped up a batch of homemade granola. I had been wanting to try out this recipe for some time now. It is Crystal Miller's recipe from http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/. Check out her site if you get a chance. There's a girl that's got it going on! ......Oh, and the granola....de-lish!




My Favorite Granola

12 cups uncooked oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup powdered milk
1 T. cinnamon
1 ½ t. salt
1 cup light olive oil
1 1/3 cup honey
1 T. vanilla
2 cup raisins
2 cups nuts of your choice, chopped


You will need a very large bowl for mixing. Combine oats, coconut, flour, powdered milk, cinnamon and salt well in the large bowl and mix well. In a saucepan heat the oil, honey and vanilla until just warm. This helps the mixture pour easily. Pour this over the oat mixture and stir well. I start out by stirring it with a large spoon, but end up mixing it with my hands to insure that everything is evenly mixed. Spread this in a thin layer on 2 to 3 large cookie sheets and bake in the oven at 300 for 45 to 50 minutes. You will need to stir it about every 15 minutes. I bake two trays at a time and switch the position of the trays each time I stir so that the granola browns evenly. When the mixture is done you can pour it back into the large pan and let it cool. When completely cool stir in the raisins and the nuts. You can store the finished granola in any air tight container or even a couple of large Ziploc type bags. This recipe will make approx. 20 cups of granola.


Yogurt+strawberries+granola=delicious!

While the granola was baking, it was on to my next project-croutons. I love homemade croutons. And with all the lettuce in the garden, we have salad every evening. You can make croutons with any kind of bread you choose....leftover stale bread never needs to go to waste. I don't even use a recipe. I just kinda throw everything together.

Here's the crouton basics to get you started:
Cut bread into cubes, place in a large bowl
Drizzle and toss cubes with olive oil
Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice ( I like garlic salt and oregano)

Bake at 350 for 15 min or until golden brown
Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parm Cheese

Enjoy!







In the next post, I will share some tips on homemade dressings for your garden lettuce.

Dressing up a Salad

As promised, a post about vinegar and vinaigrettes. I have experimented with many vinegars, mostly because we enjoy homemade salad dressings as opposed to the store bought variety. I have many recipes for a wide range of dressings. But I prefer to just "wing it" using a few vinaigrette basics.

The basic ratio of vinegar to oil is 3-1. Three parts of your favorite oil to 1 part of the vinegar of your choice. Sometimes I even cut back on the vinegar(acid)and add a squeeze of orange, lemon or lime. Most any sweetner (ie... maple syrup, sugar, honey, artificial sweetners .....) can be used to sweeten the mix if you desire. I prefer my dressings somewhat sweet. My sweetner of choice is honey. Not only does honey serve as a sweetener, but it provides a thicker consistency for the dressing. And for a little kick, dijon mustard or a shot of tobasco works great. Or how about a dash of this and that from the spice rack. The sky is the limit on the number of concoctions you can put together. No measuring required. Just use the mix and taste method. (My favorite way to cook!)

Vinegar

I love to experiment with vinegar. For herbal vinegars with fresh cut herbs from the garden:

*Sterilize your bottles or jars by immersing them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Let cool.

*Wash herbs thoroughly.

*Put four herb sprigs in each bottle and fill with 3 cups vinegar of your choice.

*Seal bottles with lids or corks.

*Store in a cool, dark place for three weeks to allow flavor to ripen.

I have also experimented with raspberry vinegar. We have a ton of wild raspberries here each summer. Raspberry vinegrette goes well with a salad sprinkled with a few berries of some kind. You get that mix of sweet and sour.

Raspberry Vinegar

6 cups Raspberries 1 quart Distilled White Vinegar (Heinz Natural If Available) 1/2 cup raw cane or date Sugar

Directions:
Place the berries in a large container. Bring the sugar and vinegar to a boil and pour over the berries. Stir and cover. Cool and refrigerate for 30 days. To process, strain the liquid through a piece of cheesecloth into a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into hot sterilized jars, cover and seal.

NOTE: This vinegar needs to sit for 30 days to attain its full body and flavor. Serve with salads, as a marinade for tofu, or for something unusual sprinkle over French fried sweet potatoes. Try using the vinegar in salad dressings.

Have fun Experimenting!

Cheesy Beef Taco Dip

Our Favorite Hot Dip is always a hit. This is a recipe I clipped several years ago from one of my Rieman Publisher Magazines, perhaps Taste of Home or Country Woman magazine. This recipe makes quite a bit so be sure to have plenty of friends to share it with!

Brown burger, onion and pepper in a skillet. Remove from the pan and place in a large microwavable bowl and microwave until completely melted, stopping to stir mixture frequently. Place in a small crockpot to keep warm and melty while serving. Serve with nachos.

Chef Jack and his Molasses Sugar Cookies

Jack loves to be where we are and do what we do. He enjoyed helping making some cookies with his mommy and great grandma. That mixer sure is exciting!

He turned this.............

Into this!

Sugar Molasses Cookies

PIE CRUST 101- for the beginner

I LOVE PIE!! Homemade Pie is probably my favorite of all desserts. And I'm one of those strange people who actually enjoy baking pie. For me, it's an art form. I know that for many people, making pie crust is a struggle. I admit it was for me too in the early days of marriage. But after 30 years, I have conquered the fear of pie crust- and I'm convinced you can too!!

Though there are many great recipes out there for pie crust, I usually just stick to the old tried and true Crisco version. For exact measurements for the size pie you are making, go to Crisco's website. (while you're there check out all the yummy recipes)

Begin with flour, salt and chilled crisco.

Cut in Crisco with a pastry blender (a must have for pie)....

....until it is totally incorporated into the flour. Do not overmix. This is the secret to making crust- quickly and completely incorporating the flour, salt and shortening before adding the water.

Now add the water slowly as you fork the dough around the bowl mixing as you go. Dough should not be too wet or too dry....but as Goldilocks would say...JUST RIGHT!

Remember that practice makes perfect!

Form dough into a ball (cut in half if your making a top crust). Remember not to over-handle the dough, just enough to meld the ingredients together. It helps if you flour your hands as well before handling the dough. Sprinkle some flour on your work surface. (A pastry cloth comes in handy for this) Roll the dough to the diameter necessary (large enough to account for the depth of your pan).

Roll the dough over the rolling pin and place in the pan.




Prick your dough with a fork and you're ready to either bake or fill.

Congratulations! You are on your way to creating many pies that will delight the ones you love!!