Making Peach Jam #EveryBitCountsChallenge

 It's that time of year that I start preserving different things for wintertime use. This is the first thing I've canned this year. I tend to follow the insert that comes in the box of Sure Jell pectin when it comes to canning. Those recipes are tried, true and they never fail. They are tested for safety. They take the guesswork out of it.

I will tweak things slightly, like seasonings, herbs, etc., but I leave the main components alone.

I digress.

I'm getting in on the Every Bit Counts Challenge. I'm a bit late to the party, but better late than never. This challenge is that every day in August, you make something to put up for the winter. It doesn't matter if it is canned, dehydrated, freeze-dried, frozen or you are simply making seed starter pots out of toilet paper rolls. It all counts. The past few days, I was working my way through 20 pounds of fresh peaches. The majority went into the freezer except the one that I ate and the ones I used to make this batch of jam.

So, without further ado, here's how I make Peach Jam.

I love looking at these golden jars of peach perfection!

This recipe starts out with 4 cups of chopped/smashed peaches. Make sure to measure carefully. 

 
In a separate bowl, measure out 5-1/2 cups of granulated sugar. When I'm canning, I make sure that I buy pure cane sugar. I don't want to use sugar that is made from beets. I'm going to attempt to grow out sugar beets next year and make my own sugar, so stay tuned for that...but for this recipe, it's pure cane sugar all the way!

I had Bob get out my big pot. Unless I'm canning quart jars, I like to use this pot to can in. It's just easier to handle for me.

I mixed the chopped peaches with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and a box of Sure Jell pectin. This is a case where I deviate from the recipe. I don't use fresh lemons. I use bottled lemon juice. Every single time that I've ever bought fresh lemons to use, something has come up and they turn on me. I find that if I just buy bottles of lime and lemon juice, they can last in the fridge almost indefinitely. I may go through a bottle of each per year.

This gets combined in a large pan. I used my enameled cast iron Dutch oven. It is the perfect size to make a batch of jam in.

You cook the peaches, pectin and lemon juice with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of butter until it comes to a full, rolling boil. What that means is when you stir it hard, you can't stir the bubbles down.

After the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil, you add in all the sugar at once. Just dump it in. The sugar actually becomes a liquid. That's why you measure out the sugar before you start and put it in a bowl. That way, it's just ready to go.

You bring that mixture back up to a full, rolling boil and boil it for exactly one minute. I have a clock that has a second hand on it so I can be uber precise with the timing.

Before I got started cooking, I got out what I would need. I put some white vinegar into a dish. I got a couple of paper towels. I use the paper towels dipped into the vinegar to clean the rims of the jars.

I filled the jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. You can eyeball it. You don't have to measure. They do sell a gadget that will measure for you, if you're more comfortable doing it that way.

This is the homemade rack that Bob made for me. He used floral wire to connect the lids together. It works perfectly.
If you don't have this stuff, you can put a kitchen towel in the bottom. You just need something to keep the bottoms of the jars off of the bottom of the pan.

I put my lids into a pan of simmering water. Some people don't do this. I do this.
I don't see how it will hurt anything, to be honest.

I put the lids and rings on each jar and screwed them on until they are just finger-tight. You don't want to crank them down super tight. Just barely finger-tight is enough. I put these into the pot so that they weren't touching.

I put the lid on, turned the heat on and brought it up to a boil. Once it came to a full boil, I set a timer for 10 minutes. Once that was done, I turned off the flame and set another timer for 5 minutes. That's when I removed the jars to set on a towel lined baking tray. I put my jars on baking trays because it's easier for us to move them around that way. I covered them with another towel and within 30 minutes, I heard that sound that is music to a canner's ears...the ping of a lid sealing...6 times, one for each jar of peach jam.

I don't really use peach jam on toast or sandwiches. I use peach jam as a base for other things, like BBQ sauce, Asian sauces, etc. I'll make an odd piece of toast here and there, but I made this for other things.

Here you have these peachy jars of perfection!

If you want to view the full recipe, look at the insert that comes in a box of Sure Jell pectin.

#EveryBitCountsChallenge

Giardiniera

 I love giardiniera mix. I've been wanting to make some for a long time now, so I figured that it was as good of a day as any to do it since I had taken advantage of a local farmers market for some awesome produce.

At first, I thought I was going to make that chunky mix that I like to buy occasionally from the supermarket. I read up about it and found out that there were two different types. There is the original Italian version, which I do love, and there is a Chicago-Style, which is more of a condiment.
If you know me, you know I love condiments. I usually have no less than 15 in my fridge at one time. I have an entire shelf dedicated to my condiments and, all I can say is that it's a good thing that we have a spare fridge in our outdoor kitchen! This is supposed to be spectacular on a hot dog. In a month or so, I'm going to get some really good hot dogs and I'm going to try it.

I found a recipe for a small batch. I didn't want half of a leftover head of cauliflower, because I'd be the only one eating it and, while I do like cauliflower, I don't like cauliflower enough to eat half a head of it by myself. I chopped up the whole thing. It was tedious, but I think it will be worth it in the end.
The beauty of this recipe is that it will utilize most all of your garden produce harvest! Celery, onions, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower, red peppers, hot peppers...it's all in there! Since I decided to use the whole head of cauliflower, I used 1/2 cup of kosher salt and just over 5 cups of water to brine. You want the veggies to be covered by salt water. I left to soak, refrigerated, overnight.

While my jars were getting sterilized in boiling water, I drained and rinsed the veggies off. I split them in half into my two bigger sized pots and I used vinegar, sugar and spice in each pot and boiled for about 15-20 minutes. 

I made exactly 3 quarts. Ideally, this can be canned up in pints, but I'm saving those for other things that need to be consumed quickly after opening. This stuff can last in the jar for months, so this was just the way that was logical for me. 

I processed these quarts for 20 minutes to be on the safe side. I don't think I'll use that particular pot to can quarts in anymore. It's great for pints and half pints but not for quarts. That's why I processed for 20 minutes...better safe than sorry.

Viola! Enough giardiniera to use for the whole year!

Giardiniera
*makes 3 quarts or 6 pints

Ingredients

Day 1-cut all vegetables into small-dice sized pieces, enough to make 3 quarts. There are no measurements because these ingredients are all to an individual's preference.

• Cauliflower
  
• Red bell pepper
  
• Sweet onion
  
• Celery
  
• Carrot
• Hot peppers (optional)
  
• Eggplant

Other veggies can be used, too: zucchini, green olives, banana peppers, etc. 

 

Day 2-cook vegetables in brine. I split between 2 pans and split the brine in half, as well.

• 8 c white vinegar
• 2 Tbsp sugar
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp each celery seed and fennel seed
  
• 
  
  On the first day, chop all vegetables and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt over veggies and stir to combine, then add water until veggies are submerged. Let set for 12 hours or overnight.
  
  On day two, rinse the veggies well under cold running water. Combine all the Day 2 ingredients in a large pot with the veggies and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Place into sterilized, hot jars. Seal. (Please look at the safe canning guidelines. Click here for link.) Process 15 minutes for quarts, 10 minutes for pints. Let cool thoroughly. 
  
  
  

Harvest Refrigerator Pickles

Yesterday, I decided to do a bit of harvesting out of the garden. I wanted to make some room to grow some more beets for a fall crop. Now, I grow beets exclusively in a black tote. It's 2x4 feet, but it's deep. I do not put any sort of filler in the bottom. I use it for root vegetables. Upon looking at my beets, I saw that I had taken them about as far as I could and it was time to pull most of them. I grew three different types this year: Golden and Chioggia, both of which, I bought the seeds from Baker Creek. I also grew a new variety, which I obtained in a seed trade called Yellow Mangel. They are the longer yellow ones. I also thinned out some of the Longue Rouge Sang carrots (Baker Creek) and some of the bigger onions.

Golden beets from Baker Creek. These are always a favorite and a huge hit with us.

 

Chioggia beets from Baker Creek. This was a new variety for me this year as I tend to stick with the Golden variety exclusively. I am sure glad that I branched out! These have a really cool white bullseye pattern inside. They are pretty stunning to look at.

I opted to boil the beets to loosen the skins. The thing when cooking beets is that, yes, you want to rinse the majority of the dirt off of them, but you want to leave an inch or two of the greens and the long roots on them, otherwise they will bleed the color onto everything.

I managed to fit them all into one pot, thankfully!

I knew I wasn't going to have quite enough veggies to fill my half-gallon Mason pickle jar, so I peeled up 3 carrots that I had in the fridge.

The carrots and onions are packed raw into the jar. I do not cook them first. If I did that, the texture would be gross. I did not peel the Longue Rouge Sang carrots, either. I just scrubbed them well.

When the beets were fork tender, I drained them and then let them soak in cold water in the sink to cool enough to be able to comfortably handle them.

Then I started slicing the beets up and layering everything into the jar.

It's quite pretty to look at. Behind the jar are 2 dozen farm eggs that were a bonus for Bob helping out one of the old volunteers from Fences For Fido. That is a great organization that puts up fences for dogs for people who qualify.

You bring the brine up to a boil.

Those are pink peppercorns. Pink peppercorns are interesting. They are not a member of the pepper family. They are actually a member of the cashew family. They impart a delicate taste and it's hard to describe it. You'll have to try them...try them on a bit of vanilla ice cream. I'm not even kidding!

All set! I use a wooden chopstick and poke it down in several spots to make sure there are no air bubbles and to work the peppercorns and mustard seed down to the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Harvest Refrigerator Pickles

Enough veggies to fill a half-gallon container (I used beets, carrots and onions. If you use beets, make sure to peel them first before slicing)
1-1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
4-5 whole cloves
1-1/2 teaspoons pink peppercorns

Pack veggies into the jar.
Meanwhile, bring all the ingredients, except for the pink peppercorns, to a boil and stir until sugar and salt have dissolved.
Add pink peppercorns to the top of the jar on the veggies.
Pour hot brine over the veggies and use a wooden chopstick to make sure there are there are no air bubbles and to disperse the peppercorns and mustard seeds to the bottom of the jar.
Let cool.
Seal and refrigerate.
This will last up to 4 weeks in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Harvesting and Preserving Peas

 We just came through the hottest temperatures ever recorded in western Washington state. The rare heat dome actually effected the entire Pacific Northwest. I thought my peas were goners, for sure. I was wrong. Not only did they pull through, mostly unscathed, they are still blooming! For whatever reason, I've always been able to grow amazing pea and bean crops...or such that they are in containers and raised beds.

This was just one bucket of peas. I believe this was the Oregon Sugar Pod variety. Next year, I plan on planting triple to quadruple the amount that I planted this year. We like our frozen peas, for sure. I also use the immature pods in stir fries, which I missed out on because of my dogs fighting and resulting in me getting bit.

I started out with a full strainer of peas that I had picked. 

That's the thing about peas. It takes a lot of them to get anywhere. I don't grow these to save money, that's for sure. I can buy a big bag of frozen peas for around a buck at any supermarket. I grow these because I like to grow my own food...as meager portioned as it is.

Get a pan, fill it with water and give it a few shakes of sea salt. I know that a lot of people swear by kosher salt. I have kosher salt, but I prefer pink or grey sea salt. 

I can also see that I need to desperately clean my stove. Bob has been doing the cooking these past few weeks.

 Bring the pot of water to a rolling boil. 

In the meantime, mark your freezer container/bag with the contents and date. 

Once the water is at a rolling boil and the salt has dissolved...

add in the peas. Bring the water back up to a boil and blanch the peas for 2 minutes. 

You'll read all sorts of recipes and guidelines that tell you to drain the peas and plunge into ice water. That's too much rigamaroll to go through. Just drain them in a strainer and run them under cold water. It's fine. You don't need to dirty another bowl. That's ridiculous. 

Viola! You just started your journey into growing and preserving your own food. Seriously, though, preparing any vegetable for the freezer is the easiest way to get your feet wet in the preserving world. Use this same method for green beans, carrots, celery (yes, frozen celery is fantastic!), corn, tomatoes, etc.
All those peas that I picked? Well, after shelling them, I got about a cup or so of peas. I'll be picking them again in a few days. Pretty soon, they will be kicking the bucket and we will be pulling them up to make the buckets ready for fall/winter greens.
Oh, before I forget!! I found a gem of a YouTube channel. Bob and I have sat and watched this person for hours during our heatwave. I hope you enjoy her as much as we have. We, especially, love her dog. Her channel is called Dianxi Xiaoge.
Enjoy!