Pickling and Canning experiences

lime pickles, bread and butter pickles, pickled peaches, tomato juice (top), and tomato paste (bottom)


This summer I have been trying to pickle and can some items to keep the summer joy of local produce all year long.  Last summer I made bread and butter pickles to great success.  What I found was I didn't make enough so I made more this summer.   I use standard pickling instructions (pickyourown.org has great instructions.)     Here is my recipe:

1/2 t ginger
2 c vinegar
2 c sugar
1 T mustard seed
3/4 T celery seed
1/2 T turmeric
1/2 t red pepper
1 clove garlic
1 c water
2 onions, sliced
2 lbs pickling cucumbers, sliced.
This made about 4 pints of pickles.

Next, I tried making Lime pickles.  My sister in law shared an old family recipe.  I took a sneak taste before canning and they were good, but I haven't opened a jar yet because I want to give them time to pickle thoroughly.

Lime pickles take a lot more time.  The cucumber slices have to be soaked in lime water for 24 hours, then rinsed a number of times to get rid of the lime.  They have to soak again in cold water for an additional three hours, and rinse and drain again.  The lime is said to give the pickles crispness.

The family recipe for 7 lbs pickling cucumbers is:

2 qts vinegar
8 c sugar
2 T canning salt
2 T canning spice (I was going to make some, but ending up buying it from Penzy's)
1 t cloves
1 t celery seed

Mix everything, and pour it over the cold cucumbers and let them sit over night (again).
The next morning bring the pickles to a boil and simmer for 35 minutes.
Put the pickles and syrup in jars and boil in the canner for 45 minutes.  
(Like I said it look a lot of time)

I also pickled peaches.  The recipe I used was from a book, but I didn't like the end result.  It called for equal parts of vinegar and sugar, as well as cloves and fresh ginger.  When I opened the jar this week to try them, I was really disappointed.  The book said I would taste peaches and summer.  All I could taste was vinegar and ginger.  I poured out the jar, but I want to try it again.  I found a new recipe that used half the amount of vinegar to sugar and will post after I try it.

Last, I made tomato paste and tomato juice.

We have spent a lot of time in the car recently and pass the time listening to podcasts.  On Sunday night I was listening to Good Food from KCRW and they discussed canning homemade tomato paste.  Since I had  a dozen locally grown tomatoes on my counter I knew I had to try it.

I used the directions at pickyourown.org and and was thrilled with the result.  I can't wait to open a jar after fresh tomato season.  I'm looking forward to spreading the paste on bruschetta and using it with pasta.

Because you have to squeeze out all the juice to make the paste, I had a lot of juice sitting there that I couldn't waste.  I ended up adding a little seasoning and lemon juice to create a tomato juice.  Noone in my family drinks tomato juice, but I find it in various recipes so I know it will be used.  I canned the paste and juice in half pint jars so I won't end up wasting half of the unused portion.

I'd love to hear what you have canned and pickled.  I am in a learning mode and want to try more.  I may pickle peppers next.  I seem to be getting a bumper crop from my little garden and hate to see them go to waste.

Zucchini Blueberry Bread

It's that time of year -- abundance of zucchini and blueberries.  I found a wonderful recipe at allrecipes.com that gave me the chance to use both!
(search blueberry zucchini bread)

I made a couple of adjustments, of course.  First I used  more zucchini that it called for.  I also increased the cinnamon. And last, I added a streusel to the top made of brown sugar, butter, flour and a little cinnamon.  The crunch made it feel special and more like a blueberry muffin.

I made a few loaves of this to take to a family reunion.  People snacked on it all day and it disappeared quickly.

Fairy Tale Eggplant

Last week we got a pint of Fairy Tale Eggplants in our CCSA share.  If you've never seen them before, they are basically eggplants about the length of your pinky finger.  We got some last year, and I tried a recipe online but I didn't understand the excitement others were feeling. This year I decided to try something simpler.

First, you have to know, my husband HATES eggplant.  It is one of the food carryovers from his childhood that makes him gag.  While I, on the other hand, really love a well prepared eggplant.  One of my favorite dishes on earth is eggplant parmesan.  I order it at every new Italian restaurant we try.  When it is done well I believe it is close to heaven, but more often than not, it is just mushy with cheese and sauce.  With that in mind I knew I didn't want mushy.

Luckily our Fair Shares (my CCSA) newsletter mentioned roasting eggplants a few weeks ago.  While she wasn't discussing the fairy tale eggplant, I decided I should try her approach -- roasting.

I cut off the ends, and split the tiny eggplants in half.  Laid them on a baking pan, drizzled olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and pressed a generous amount of garlic over each piece.  I baked them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then added shredded buffalo mozzarella over each piece and baked an additional 5 minutes.

The result was a hit it our household.  My eggplant hating husband said they looked like roasted cocoons, which I guess helped him get past the childhood memories.  He had quite a few and said he would have them again.  The girls said they reminded them of roasted potatoes.  I think that is about as high of praise as you can get from my girls.

(One final note: The younger one didn't like seeing the seeds so if I made them again I think I would cover the seeds better with the cheese. )