Canning

This summer was my first ever attempt at canning food. It was very simple, though time consuming. I LOVE having food in my pantry 'made' by me though! My first attempts were to can tomatoes and strawberry jam; and then I tried my hand at pickles. (Which I actually can't stand, but we'll discuss later...)

To can food you need a very large pot, canning jars, and a jar lifter. I think you can make do with these things if you don't want to go buy anything (except that jar lifter), however I did stop over at Walmart and pick up an 'official' canning set. This consisted of the large pot with a rack and lid, jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, and funnel. These items were in the $30 range, so pretty reasonable, especially considering this is something that I plan on doing a lot of. In fact that 20 lb box of Starkrimson pears I received last week are calling to me from the basement.

 

These two photos show you a little of the set up. I've got the really huge pot, which is the canner. The medium pot I am using to sterilize and keep warm my jars, and then the small pot is to put the lids in. You want to do this for just about 5 minutes before you need them in order to make the gasket flexible for a good seal. If you don't want to mess with having your jars in the boiling water for sterilization, you can use your dishwasher. 

I'm just going to send you right over to Pick Your Own, they have a great description of how to can. Very simple! If you don't have your own tomato garden, run down to your local farmer's market or coop and pick some up. You'll just need some lemon juice and you are set.

Here's my strawberry jam. Really yummy! And I used very little sugar. Just the minimum to successfully can.

 

If you don't think you're up for canning, give freezer jam a try. Just as easy as the jam I made, but you will put it right into the freezer instead of going through the canning process. Makes great gifts!

Cinnamon Bread

I fully intended to write Saturday, and even another day after, but I've had several episodes of internet outages that prevented this. So, tonight, I finally have a chance and I thought I'd share my recipe for Cinnamon Bread.

 

As you can see from this photo, my recipe will make two loaves. Which, if your family is anything like mine, is a good thing. They will devour an entire loaf in one afternoon. This bread also makes fantastic french toast.

 5-6 cups bread flour (you can use All Purpose if that's what you have)

1 package of active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast

2 1/4 cups milk (you can use coconut milk if you have a milk allergy)

2 Tbs sugar 

3 Tbs butter or coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

Heat up the milk until it is warm (about 110 degrees). Do not boil it. If it's too hot, you'll kill the yeast. Once it's warm, add in your butter or coconut oil and stir until melted. Add salt and sugar; stir. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Pour the liquid into a bowl that already contains 5 cups of your flour. Mix well. You can use a mixer, like my KitchenAid, or just mix by hand. It should be pretty sticky. Add more flour, about a 1/4 cup at a time until it's starting to pull away from the sides of the bowl and not so sticky. Pour dough out onto a floured counter and knead in more flour to make a smooth, elastic ball. Then take the dough and place it into a greased bowl. Spray waxed paper or plastic wrap with non-stick spray, place over your bowl and then place a towel on top of this. Set in a warm spot and let double in size (about an hour).

When doubled, punch down. Divide in half. "Roll" out each half (I just use my hands to shape it, but you can use a rolling pin if you'd like) into a rectangle. You want it to be as wide as your loaf pan is long. Once rolled out, brush on melted butter (or coconut oil) over the entire thing. Next, sprinkle liberally a mixture of raw sugar (you can use regular if you don't have raw) and cinnamon. I don't actually measure this, but I would say about 1 cup of sugar to 1 Tbs of cinnamon. Next you'll need to roll up the bread; start on a short side. Place it in a greased loaf pan with the seam side down. Repeat for the second loaf. Cover the pans just as you did with the bowl and let double in size (about 30 mins). Bake at 350 degrees F, for about 40 minutes. Enjoy! We don't even add butter on top it's so yummy!

Bountiful garden

Oh my! It's been two weeks since I posted an update on how things are at our house. Mostly I haven't posted because we were off traipsing around Washington state, enjoying the gorgeous scenery and raw milk they, (legally), have to offer! Oohh, what fun! This photo is what my parents get to look at every day out their windows. It's a gorgeous view of Mt. Baker. Tough, isn't it?

 

  

  

So, while I was gone, I was thinking about food. Hmm, now that I think about it, I'm always thinking about food. Anyway, the pacific northwest, well, and California too, have some great food opportunities. I really love it that raw milk is legal there. (I know I already mentioned it). There are several coops are in town and everybody shops there! It's awesome. One of the things we did while visiting was to attend a farm-hop. We 'hopped' around to several local farms to visit their orchards, cutting flowers, and beloved animals (both meat and dairy). Lots of fun and a beautiful day. By the way, and for the record, I have never seen roosters on a leash... So, when I came home I was excited to see what my garden had to offer after almost two weeks away. (Thanks, honey, for cutting off the sunflower seed heads. Can't wait to try the seeds!) And here it is: A couple gigantic cucumbers, squash, tomatoes,  chili peppers, a handful of raspberries (which my 3 year old promptly ate), and our 'accidental' potatoes, which I instructed said 3 year old to dig up.

Not bad for two weeks. Our first attempt at a large garden has gone really well, in spite of all the rain we've had this year. Rainiest on record I believe. In my quest to eat all that we grow, I cooked up the teensy potatoes for dinner this evening, along with some homemade, raw butter and sea salt, which accompanied the chicken I cooked (straight from the pastures of Iowa to my freezer). Mmm, fresh cantaloupe too. Then, only after the kids were in bed, I had the last scoop of (homemade, yes, I know) chocolate ice cream and a scoop of peanut butter ice cream (yeah, homemade too), with some chocolate sauce (no, I didn't make that, but I'd be willing to try). Shhh. Don't tell the girls.

I'm thinking tomorrow I should make some salsa and can it. I've got 20 lbs of pears to can as well. I think I'm going to be busy this weekend. Tomorrow I shall do my best to discuss my pickle experience, or maybe cinnamon bread. Or, I suppose I could share my ice cream recipes. Geez, see what happens when I go away? :)