Storing Apples for Winter

This weekend, my family and I went out to Williamson Orchards & Vineyards to get apples! We went there last year as well and had a great time. Though we would really prefer to go apple picking and collect the apples ourselves, that doesn't always fit into our schedule. This is a nice substitue. This orchard has big bins where you can sort the apples and choose what you want. We filled baskets and took home 2 bushels of Jonathan, Golden Delicious and Empire apples. We plan to sauce the first two kinds and eat the last!

 

With a 1/2 bushel of Empires to store for the winter, I knew I needed to research the best way to keep these as long as we could. When looking for apples to store over winter, choose apples that are 1) not bruised, 2) are smaller in size--the smaller the apple, the longer it will keep and 3) choose apples that are hardier in cooler temperatures. The Williamson Orchards website has a guide as to when the apples are available. You can tell by the date that they are ready which apples are going to do better in colder temps. Pink Ladies are ready last.

 

Apples are considered to be a fruit that is a "cold storage" item. There are varying degrees of temperatures that fruits and vegetables can be stored at. Apples need to be stored at 36-50oF for optimum length of storage. Apples can be kept up to 6 months if done properly. They will soften towards spring, so use the last apples for pies or sauces.

 

There are MANY ways to store apples using newspapers, plastic bags, boxes, sawdust, etc. We chose this process:

 

1) Sort apples into sizes. The larger apples need to be eaten first...so put the smallest apples on the bottom.

 

2) Place a plastic bag in the bottom of a box. Fill it with 2-4 inches of sawdust.

 

3) Place a layer of apples into the sawdust, allowing for 1-2 inches of space around the apples. If they are touching the sides of the box, they will spoil faster.

 

4) Cover the apples with a layer of sawdust, both between the apples and on top, about 1-inch.

 

5) Continue to repeat this until the box/bag is almost full. Place another 2-4 inches of sawdust on top and fold over the plastic bag.

 

Pretty easy and it didn't take much time! We had two boxes when we were done so we labeled them #1 and #2. The #2 box had the smaller apples and we will eat those later.

 

Hopefully we did it correctly and we can enjoy apples over the next few months! We will let you know how it it goes and whether or not we were able to store these apples properly!

 

Here are some other sites you can reference if you want to store apples in other ways:

 

Backwoods Home Magazine -- storing in newspaper

 

E how . com  -- storing in newspaper and wood shavings

 

Garden Guides -- paper and plastic

 

 

Make Homemade Ranch Dressing

Making homemade ranch dressing is way easier than I realized! I am so excited about this discovery! The only catch with making homemade dressing is that you need to eat it up quick because it is missing all those preservatives [which is why I want to make it!], but that means it can "go bad" if you leave it in your fridge too long ... so don't forget about it! I doubt you will though, because it's goooood!

First you will need to make a Ranch Mix. This is a powder that you can keep in your pantry and then use it each time you want to make some dressing. 

You will need:

• 5 Tbsp dried minced onion (I only had "chopped" so I just ran it through my chopper first.)
• 7 tsp parsley flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried dill
• 4 tsp salt (use less salt if you add a lot of cottage cheese)

Mix it up into a bowl and then pour it into a container to store. Super simple!

To make the dressing, add

• 2 Tbsp ranch mix (above)
• 1/2-1 cup cottage cheese (this adds great flavor and makes the dressing chunky... don't add it if you don't like that!)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup+ buttermilk (this last one is to make the dressing "runnier".... add enough to make it the consistency you want)

 I modified this recipe from one I found on Heavenly Homemakers.

Make Homemade Yogurt

Besides the obvious benefits of yogurt: calcium, vitamins, protein--eating it is also really good for your digestion! The live cultures used to turn milk into yogurt create lactic acid from the lactose, making it easier for people who are moderately lactose-intolerant to consume. It's a very healthy snack and a great thing to feed to little ones (whole milk/fat) and mommies (non-fat) trying to lose weight!

I have been researching different methods of creating homemade yogurt and finally found one that seemed like something I can handle. I think that the process of heating the milk and then cooling and incubating can be a little bit overwhelming, but this one is actually very doable!

This method uses a food cooler to incubate the yogurt in 4 quart jars. Basically the process involves heating the milk in the jars to 180 degrees, cooling it down to 110 degrees and then stirring in a couple Tbsp of yogurt starter. Once you've done that, you have to leave the yogurt in a warm environment for 4-24 hours (in this case it's a cooler with a pot of steaming water and a towel wrapped around it all). The longer you leave it, the tangier it will be. Please visit the original site where she has great directions and pictures posted.

I was able to make the yogurt throughout the day on Saturday and on Sunday morning I gave some to the baby for breakfast! I tasted a bit of it and it was pretty good! This coming from a girl who grew up on VANILLA yogurt and wouldn't touch the plain stuff.

During lunchtime I gave some to my pre-schooler and mixed a little bit of homemade apple butter in it. He loved it!

I am so excited that for about $3 I have 4 quarts of yogurt in my refrigerator that is healthy and yummy!

Please comment if you make your own yogurt, what method you use, etc! Would love more ideas!

How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Do you have any leftover pumpkins from this fall and you aren't sure what to do with them? Roast them whole and make your own pumpkin puree so you can enjoy pumpkin treats any time of the year! I found out here how to do it and have done several of my own the past few weeks so I have lots of yummy puree in my freezer right now!



• Wash the outside of the pumpkin.
• Stab (yes, literally stab) the pumpkin with a long, sharp knife about 10 times all around the outside. Be very careful!!!
• Put the pumpkin in a baking dish (to catch any juices) and stick it in a 350 degree oven. Leave it in there for 90 minutes or at least until poking it with a fork is easy.
• Slice the pumpkin in half (it will be really easy to do) and let it cool so that you can work with it.
• Scoop out the seeds and stringy gross stuff.
• Then scoop out the pumpkin flesh (or cut off the skin) and put it in a bowl.
• Go ahead and run it through the food processor or blender (or just store it and do that later before you are ready to use it).
• Freeze or use it right away!

What do you like to make with Pumpkin Puree?

Roll? Pie? Bread? Bars? Muffins? The list goes on...

Canning Applesauce and more!

Making your own applesauce is SUPER easy!

Ingredients:
-Canning supplies
-21 to 25 pounds of Apples
-Water
-That's it!

Step One: Wash your apples. You want to make sure to remove any leaves left on the stems, dirt from the skins and also anything else that might be left on there. My method of canning applesauce does NOT include peeling the apples, so I want my skins to be squeaky clean since they will be cooking with the flesh of the apple in the pot.

Step Two: Core and quarter your apples. Sometimes I don't core them, just quarter, depends on how much time I have, but it's best to core them and remove the seeds. Again, leaving the peels on is just fine to do. If you own a blender or food processor you can actually just leave the peels on and blend them into your sauce. No one will even notice them and they will give the sauce a nice color. Or if you're like me and have a food mill, the skins will get removed later in the process. Put the apples in a pot with an inch or two of water at the bottom and start cooking them down until they are very soft and juicy and ready to be squished!

Step Three: Mash them up using aforementioned methods: blender, food processor, food mill. Once you have your bowl full of applesauce, heat it back up again in a big pot so that when it goes into your jars, it's hot!

Step Four: Prepare your jars by sanitizing them and keeping them warm with hot water in the bottom. You want to add hot applesauce to hot jars.

Step Five: Fill your jars with 1/2-inch headspace. Use a wooden spoon handle or spatula to poke around inside the jar and remove any air pockets. Put on your lids and process them in a canner for 25-30 minutes.

Now... once you've made your Applesauce, of course you can just EAT IT! Or you can make something fabulous... Applesauce Bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Mix dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Stir well. Pour into a greased bread pan and bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees. So yummy!!!

Apple Pie Filling

I started off with the recipe found here, but adapted it a bit and altered the amounts so that it would do a canner load of 7 quarts of Apple Pie Filling. Try it out!

Ingredients:

• 5 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 2 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I put more because I like it!)
• 2 1/4 tsp salt
• 11 1/2 cups water
• 3 Tbsp + 1 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 7 lbs apples

Directions:

Mix sugar, corn starch and spices in the bottom of your stock pot. Add the salt and water and stir it well. Boil it until it is thick and at a rolling boil. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Fill your sanitized jars (I do mine in the dishwasher) with apples that have been peeled (or leave the peels on, like I do--added nutrients and great color!), cored and sliced thin. Pack them in, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Fill jars with syrup and remove air bubbles with a long wooden spoon handle by poking it into the jar up and down a bit. Wipe the rims. Put on the lids and tighten them down. Process the jars for at least 20 minutes. Cool them on a towel, check for a good seal and store!

According to this site:

"Granny Smiths are always a decent choice for pie, as they are easy to find, will hold up during baking and can take a lot of extra flavor from sugar and spices. Jonathan, Jonagold and Pippin apples are other excellent sweet-tart choices. Gravenstein, Braeburn, Fuji and Pink Lady Apples are all crisp and sturdy, as well. Red Delicious and Golden Delicious, despite their promising names, are not good choices for baking, and neither are Gala and Cortland, since they tend to become mealy in pie fillings."

I used Empire this year. I think they taste like Granny Smiths but are a little bit sweeter!

Canning Tomatoes: Spaghetti Sauce (Episode 3)

Homemade spaghetti sauce is awesome!

But it certainly takes all afternoon to make... so why not make a huge batch of it and can it?! This will save you time later on... open a jar, dump it in the pot and you're ready to go!!! The best part is YOU know what's in that sauce and how GOOD it will be for you and your family!

What You Need:
Amounts are for ONE quart (7 quarts or full canner = amounts in BOLD)

3 lbs (21 lbs) of roma tomatoes
1/2 cup (3 1/2 cups) chopped onion
1 clove (7 cloves) of garlic, minced
2 tsps (14 tsps) basil (dried or fresh)
1/2 tsp (3 1/2 tsps) salt (optional)
1 Tbsp (7 Tbsp) oregano
1 Tbsp (7 Tbsp) sugar or honey (optional)
1/8 tsp (about 1 tsp) black pepper
1 Tbsp (7 Tbsp) lemon juice (to help with acidity for processing the jars)
4 Tbsp (1-2 cups) red wine (optional)

For Full Canner Batch, have fun with adding veggies and thickening agents to your sauce and of course you can also adjust the taste even more later when you are fixing the spaghetti for dinner.

2 small cans+ tomato paste (or more if you like it really thick)
1 pint+ pureed veggies (I used cauliflower)
3-4 cups diced squash (summer, zuchinni, eggplant, etc.)
Bell Pepper, etc.

To begin, you will need to turn your fresh tomatoes into sauce. Follow my directions for doing this in my Canning Tomatoes: Sauce (Episode 1) post.

Once you have your sauce juiced and ready to go... you will need to boil it and reduce it down so that it thickens up a bit. As the sauce is boiling, keep stirring it as you prepare the other ingredients. Chop up your onions and veggies (if you are adding them) and saute them with some oil and the garlic so that everything softens up. Combine your spices and mix them with the sauted veggies. If you want to add paste to the sauce, you can stir it into the veggies and spices and once the sauce has reduced down, you can combine everything into the biggest pot you have (or two) and let it simmer for the afternoon. The longer you let it cook, the better it will get!!! Just check it every so often and give it a good stir.

The process for canning the spaghetti is fairly simple. Fill the HOT jars with boiling HOT spaghetti sauce and leave 1/4-1/2 inch head-space, screw down the lids and process them for 30 minutes in your canner. 

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Canning Tomatoes: Salsa (Episode 2)

My second favorite thing to can is Salsa! I use it a lot in recipes and it makes me feel so thrifty to just run to my pantry, not the store, for a jar of the good stuff.

This year I am using my very good friend (and wife of my pastor) Erin's recipe. She makes the best Fresh Salsa for gatherings at her house and everyone is always raving about it. It's gooooood.

Here is her recipe for a fresh batch. I just made a larger batch for canning. You can make hers if you want to enjoy it for dinner at night (or right now!)... or you can double, triple, quadruple (whatever) and can it! Details on that below...

28oz of crushed tomatoes (equivalent to about 3 1/2 cups or 7 medium-sized romas)
If you are using fresh tomatoes (not canned) you will most likely want to remove the skins by boiling the tomatoes for 1 minute and then shocking them in ice water so their skins will fall off!!!
1 chopped onion (or more if you don't mind onion breath)
1 jalapeno (or more if you like it spicy)
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
2 cloves of garlic (or 1 tsp)
1 tsp salt

Pulse it in your food processor or throw it in your blender depending on how smooth or chunky you like it. My hubby likes chunks so I actually diced the tomatoes by hand. That is how much I love him.

What do you think? Got any chips?

So at the time of making this salsa my food scale's battery was dead and so I can't give you exact amounts, but basically I "eye-balled" it and tripled Erin's recipe (above) for 3 quarts of salsa. I had a little bit leftover that we ate that night. After I mixed everything together I added 1 large orange bell pepper for some sweetness and a pop of color. Then I poured everything into my stock pot and brought it up to a boil. Once it was boiling hot, I poured it into my sanitized, HOT jars, filling with 1/2 inch headspace at the top, sanitized lid on top, ring, tighten... dropped into my canner for 25 minutes. Now I have some to enjoy now and some for later!!!

Canning Tomatoes: Sauce (Episode 1)

Remember those tomatoes sitting on my window sill? Well several of them were ready! Whenever I don't have enough to do a full canner's worth of jars I like to quickly whip up a couple jars of Tomato Sauce because it is quick and easy!

I took 6 lbs of tomatoes and washed them in my sink.

I cut them in quarters and put them in my pot.



















I boiled them for several minutes, just until they started to squish and the skins were coming off.














After the tomatoes cooked down, I ran them through my food mill to remove the skins and seeds. The tomato juice then went back into the pot for a boil.













While the tomatoes began to boil, my jars were also boiling away to sanitize. Since I only needed two quart jars, I just put them in my stock pot with a towel on the bottom to keep them from rattling around and breaking and I boiled them for 10 minutes with the rings and lids. 

Once everything was nice and hot I funneled the sauce into the jars leaving NO HEADSPACE. I allowed the tomato sauce to overflow the rim so that when the lid and ring tightens down, juice squeezes out so there's no air in the jar. This overflow method can only be used for tomatoes. 

I used my jar tongs and my rubber mat to hand-tighten down the lids and rings after wiping off the rims of the jars. These quarts will seal themselves without processing! Super easy!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Peach Jelly

We love Jam on our Fuffins. (That's English Muffins for those of you without a 2-year-old in your house.) Each morning when I offer some of my homemade Jam to my kids, I am corrected by my pre-teeny-7-year-old, "Mom. It's JELLY!" Okay. Whatever.

This got me thinking. What am I eating? Jelly or Jam? I never really thought about the difference. So I had to look it up. Here's what I discovered.

Jelly, Jam and Preserves are all made from a combination of fruit, sugar and pectin. All three are obviously sugar fruit based (it's definitely more like sugar-based) but the fruit takes on different forms. Jelly is fruit juice. Jam is crushed fruit. Preserves is fruit pieces.

So, now that we have gotten that all cleared up, I make Peach JELLY. (Shh! Don't tell my son that he is right!). Here's how I make it...I use the same method as Carmen, over at Raising Homemakers.

Start out by preparing your half-pint jars and lids. (Easiest way is to put them through a dishwasher cycle, or you can fire up the canner and boil them.)

This jelly is made from the leftover skins and pits from making canned peaches! I had been working with 20lbs of peaches, which is going to be enough for 2 batches of Jelly.

Ingredients (for 1 batch):
4 cups peach juice (which is what I made with my skins and pits)
1/2 tsp butter
1 package of pectin
5 1/2 cups sugar
Canning Jars, Lids, Rings

I dumped my skins and pits into my stock pot so that I would have lots of height room for boiling and possible foaming. I filled the pot with enough water to cover the skins and pits and set it to boil. Once it was boiling, I turned it down to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Let it cool.Then I turned it off and let it cool a bit so it wouldn't be scary to work with.

I used my strainer to get out all of the juice. 4 cups per batch is what I needed. It would have been okay to add a little bit of water to get to 4, but not too much. I believe I had to add about 1/2 cup to the 2nd batch's juice.

I put the juice back into my stock pot with the pectin and butter. The butter helped it not to foam too much. 

I stirred it on high heat until it was to a FULL ROLLING BOIL. This is really important. You want it really going like in the picture. Once again, this is why I used my tall stock pot.

I added all of my sugar at once and then returned the mixture to a full, rolling boil again. I let it boil like that for a full 1 minute (again very important). The whole time it was boiling I kept stirring it so that the sugar wouldn't burn at the bottom.

After the mixture boiled for one minute, I took it off the burner, set the timer and let it cool for 5 minutes. No more than that because I wanted my liquid hot and my jars and lids still hot and sterile. While that was going on, I prepared my jars and lids. I set the pot right next to my workspace for pouring into jars. Everything was on hotpads and towels. I skimmed the foam off the top of the jelly and then carefully funneled it into each jar, leaving a 1/4 inch head space. I had a little bit leftover, so I just put that jar in the fridge for breakfast the next day since that jelly wouldn't be able to be preserved.

After I poured the jelly into a jar, I wiped off the sticky rim with a damp dishcloth, dried the lid and then hand-tightened it down with a ring. Then I flipped the jar over *upside-down* to help with the sealing process. Each jar, one at a time, ended up like this, about an inch apart on the towel. After the last jar was flipped I set the timer for 5 minutes. When it beeped, I turned them right-side up and waited to hear the pops! These jelly jars don't need to be processed in a canner, if done properly they seal all by themselves!

My favorite thing this time of year... tomatoes lining my window sills awaiting their saucy fate...

She Preserves: The Basics of Canning

Thinking about canning this fall?
Here is the basic plan to follow no matter what you are putting in your jars:

1. Assemble your supplies! You will need everything for preparing the food (bowls, spoons, knives, cutting board, peeler, food mill, etc. -- depends on what you are canning). You will also need canning equipment: wide-mouth funnel, canning jars, bath canner, tea kettle, lids, rings (screw-on bands), large spoons, ladle, jar lifter, tongs, timer, hot pads, and heavy towels.

2. You will need a canner that is filled enough that you can cover the jars you will be using with two inches of water.  Heat up some extra water with your tea kettle if you are unsure how much water you will need.

3. Wash the jars. Either wash them and place them in the canner as you are getting the water heated to boil (the boiling water will sanitize the jars) or place the jars and rings in the dishwasher. Keep the jars in the water or in the dishwasher until you are ready for them so they stay hot up until you fill them with the hot food.

4. Place your lids in a bowl so that you can pour hot water over them to sanitize them prior to use.

5. Wash your food, drain, prepare according to recipe.

6. Pack your jars, leaving the appropriate head-space for recipe.

7. Get rid of any air bubbles with a thin/long utensil by running the utensil around inside the jar. If needed, add more liquid (the liquid you are using for your recipe).

8. Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp towel, place the lid on the jar mouth and hand-tighten the ring.

9. Carefully lower your jars into the boiling water (canner). Water, while it is boiling, should cover the jars by 2 inches. Add more water if needed.

10. Set the timer once the water is really boiling. Keep the water boiling for the whole time you are going to be processing the jars.

11. Prepare the second batch while the first batch is processing.

12. When the timer goes off carefully remove the jars with jar lifters and place them several inches apart on a thick towel to cool.

13. Cool jars for 24 hours before removing the rings and checking the seals. Wipe your jars (especially when making food with a syrup--everything gets really sticky!) and label them clearly with the product and date.

14. Store the jars in a dark, cool place.

Adapted from the list in The Busy Person's Guide to Food Preservation.

Stay tuned for a future post about making syrups, vinegar solutions, processing times, etc...

Refrigerator Pickles

We have cucumbers coming out of our ears! Even though we have a lot of them out there, they're not always ready at the same time to make a full canner's worth of pickles (7 quarts). So instead we make some quick and easy refrigerator pickles!

Here is what my hubby did just last night:
He washed 2 quart-sized jars in hot soapy water. Stuffed in as many cucumbers as he wanted to/had available/would fit. Then he added a pinch of ground mustard, couple of peppercorns, Tbsp of garlic, pinch of oregano and a pinch of dill. (No real measurements here... it's my husband after all...) Then he boiled 2 cups water, 2 cups vinegar, 2 Tbsp salt and 2 Tbsp sugar on the stove.

Poured it over the soon-to-be-pickles.

Tightened down the lids and rings and put them in the refrigerator!

Should be ready in about 4 days. Crunchy and delicious!

(Will add pic of the pickles when they are ready!)

Canned Peaches

So my husband and I started canning several years ago. We kind of had to out of desperation because the man didn't get that we were only two people and that his veggie garden's size was getting a bit ridiculous. Then of course once we started having children, the canning skills were a blessing in making baby food and storing up yummy-summery-goodness for the winter. Up until this year, we only canned savory items: tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, pickles, chillies, jalapenos, etc. I had only tried applesauce in the fruit department. This must change. I have lately decided that yes, I do like pie. Therefore I must learn how to can sweet filling type stuff. Hence... the canned peaches project. Let me tell you a little bit about how that went for me...

I began by selecting some jars (chose some awesome pint ones that I found at a neighborhood yard sale for super cheap!) and threw them (carefully) into the dishwasher to sanitize them. Some people would say that this is a waste, but it's easy and quick and I like it. I actually tossed the rings in also, however I wouldn't recommend this because they kind of fell to the bottom and needed to be fished out. Bleh.

While my jars were getting washed up, I prepared my peaches. I had 20lbs of them from a local co-op that I participate in. More on that at another time.

I began the process of removing the skins and taking out the pits.

I dropped 6-9 peaches at a time into my stock pot of boiling water for about 60 seconds. I pulled them out with some tongs.

They went right from the boiling water into a bowl of ice-water to shock them out of their skins. Then I was able to easily peel the skins off each peach. If the peaches hadn't been ripe enough, the skins would not have come off as easily... and that would have been no fun whatsoever.

After I peeled all my peaches, I cut them in half and pulled out the pits. Now, remember me saying the thing about them peeling easy because of being ripe??? Well, unfortunately mine were just a little TOO ripe so they kind of squished. Oh well. They may not be pretty, but they sure taste good!

 

Now because I am obsessed with getting the most for my money... I had to SAVE THE SKINS AND PITS... because they can be turned into some fabulous (if I say so myself) Peach Jelly!!! Which I will hopefully blog about at some later date.

 

Once I had my peaches all ready to go, I plopped them into jars, packing them as full as I could. 

I added some fresh fruit preserver in each jar to keep the peaches a bright yellow color. My jar of preserver calls for 1 tsp per 1 cup of syrup. I just added a 1/4 tsp to each jar to be safe.

Now to make my VERY LIGHT syrup (those peaches are sweet enough on their own).To make the syrup, I boiled water and added some sugar. Once it dissolved, I poured into jars, leaving 1/2-inch head-space (room above contents to allow for the air vacuum to seal the lid). Once the jars were full, I took my lids and rings (the rings had been sanitized in the dishwasher--the lids I poured boiling water over from my teapot as I was waiting for the syrup to be ready) and I wiped the jar mouths off and placed the lids on them, hand-tightening the rings.

I processed my pint jars for 25 minutes.Then I removed them from the boiling water and placed them on a thick towel. Once they were cool I checked them for a good seal. Peaches will stay good for up to a year in their jars.So I labeled them with an expiration date and put them away! (Of course we enjoyed some peaches that same day in the form of cobbler. Mm-mm!) Now... time to make some Peach Jelly!!!

For more information about Canning and Preserving your foods -- visit She Preserves.