THINGS TO COME

-
As I have said life some way got crazy busy on me.  I have no clue how that happens.  

I have been busy in the kitchen and have so much to share.  Now if I can just find the time to do so.  

With summer here and the gardens starting to come in and flourish we have been busy in this household.  I was able to pick some squash and cucumbers and even beans.  Have a new, not new, squash recipe to share.  I have made this dish a dozen times but for some unknown reason, I have not posted it on here.  It is absolutely divine.  

Have been busy with 3 new jam recipes.  All three came from ones online but I tweaked them into something I wanted.  One will be called Hillbilly Booze Berry Jam.  The other two are watermelon jam and cantaloupe jam. Scott and I tried cantaloupe jam several years ago at the Piedmont Farmer's Market.  A lady was selling several of her homemade canned goodies and this one was available for a taste.  It was extremely good.  She went on to say her granddaughter had made it.  Which was totally impressive considering her granddaughter was not in her teens yet.  As for the watermelon jam it has been on my mind but never had the time.  I am always busy with our gardens.  The asparagus normally starts first.  Strawberries next, Blueberries, raspberries, and then blackberries.  While that is going on normally the garden is just starting to produce.  So pretty much I am busy in the gardens and kitchen from March till October.  That is 8 months out of the year I am blessed to be able to have stuff to put up and honestly play around and have fun in my kitchen.  

Hillbilly Booze Berry Jam is a nice little interesting take on something called Kentucky Bar Fight.  I think Kentucky is due to the Kentucky Bourbon you use in the jam. Well knowing me I had to change it all around.  I used every type of berry we grow and some of our hot peppers too.  If you know us we DO like it hot. 

The cantaloupe jam is pretty good.  Honestly not sure I am sold 100% on it.  Scott could taste the cantaloupe I could not. All I tasted was the honey I used.  

Now the watermelon jam.  WOW just WOW.  It exceeded my expectations and then some.  My daughter who is a big fan of my strawberry jam says not this is her new favorite.  

I have to give a huge SHOUT out to the Gastonia Farmer's Market.  I found my Athena cantaloupe and my watermelon there.  I normally go to the Piedmont Farner's Market because it is close by but I was in the area of Gastonia and dropped by.  It is such a nice little Market.  It gave me the feeling of homegrown not mass-produced.  It is small but has room for expansion.  Everyone was so friendly and nice.  I can not wait to go back.  There is a man there on Thursdays this month that has homemade rubs, sauces, and spices.  He was very knowledgeable and I wish I could remember his name.  So, if you are in the area it is worth the stop.  

I have so much to post I am at a loss right now to tell you what all is to come.  I will try not to forget anything in the list below. 

Peach Jelly
Peach Butter
Bourbon Peaches
Canned Peaches
Hillbilly Booze Berry Jam
Watermelon Jam
Cantaloupe Jam
How to Can Green Beans
Cheesy Squash Bake
Updating Southern Smothered Squash 
Elderberry Jam
Rose Pepper Jelly
Blueberry Pie Filling

As one of my favorite Youtuber Chef John says, As always enjoy!!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TOMATO SOUP (CANNING RECIPE)

-
Image
I made this a couple of weeks back and I am finally getting around to post about it.  I always say life gets in the way and it truly does.  I stay so busy that I sometimes have a hard time finding the time to sit down and write or type a blog post.  It is not that I do not want to, it really is hard to carve out a bit of time to sit down.  Now with all that said.... We are bracing for Hurricane Florence in my neck of the woods.  Thank goodness it has been downgraded to a Cat 2 but you just never know.  I am saying all of that to say it is always good to have some stuff canned.  Oh, I know you can go to the grocery store and buy just about anything but have you given any thought to what is in that tin can you buy?  Or that frozen entree?  Think hard about what you are putting into your body.  Just last night our friend Matt stopped by and he another friend, Dusty that when he runs out of food he is coming to my house.   I have never canned tomato soup.  I really have never thoug
Read more

COPY CAT ORTEGA TACO SAUCE

-
Image
Tacos, everyone loves tacos.  I mean why else do we have Taco Tuesdays?  Well, that is exactly what we had last night for dinner.  Tacos!!!  After fixing them I realized I was out of this wonderful sauce.  I normally keep a few jars canned in the basement but I used the last jar a few weeks back.   Needless to say, I needed to make more since I had the tacos already cooking.  I am so glad it is very easy to make.  Quick and simple.  I will admit though it is better if you let it sit a few days I did but not have the time for that last night.  After all, it was Taco Tuesday in the Cristina's household. Gather your spices together.  Measure out each into a small mixing bowl. Mix it all together. Add tomato sauce and apple cider vinegar. Mix together. Here is a secret ingredient that I add to make it taste yummy.  Lemon pepper seasoning.  It takes the level up a bit and makes it taste so much more like Ortega.   COPY CAT ORTEGA TAC
Read more

HOW TO MAKE CRISPY PICKLED JALAPENOS

-
Image
I have struggled to find a recipe to make pickled jalapenos that were nice and crisp.  My pickled jalapenos were mushy and could only be used as a spice, like in chili or some Mexican dish.  I wanted my pickled jalapenos to have a crunchy bite to them.  I wanted to feel the crisp when I bit into it.  Being frugal I could not just toss them out so of course I still used them.   The last few years I have found a way to make sure they are crunchy and nicely crisp.  I use 2 products, Pickling lime and pickle crisp.  Yeah, I double do it but it works!! My jalapenos came at a lark this year.  Our friend Wade gave us some pepper plants that he had started from seed.  I think he felt sorry for us because we did not have a good turnout with our own seedlings.  We thought we were getting scotch bonnet peppers but it turned out we got 4 jalapeno pepper plants instead.  There is a joke behind planting seeds, do not drink and label your seeds.  It is funny how things turn out becau
Read more