TheKitchenCookie

Several weeks ago when my youngest sister and her family came for a visit she brought me several jars of Pepper Butter that she had made.   Oh my! Delicious!!   I didn't remember ever eating any before but knew I needed to put some of that on the canning shelves in the basement for sharing at the Holidays when snacks are called for. It's great for lots of things like sandwiches, crackers, pretzel dipping, etc. I think it would go great with a chicken quesadilla too. It's just really yummy!   The recipe comes from an older sister. I doubled the recipe and modified it a bit to use less of both sugar and clear jel over all than the original recipe called for. I hope you cook some up to enjoy as well!   84 yellow and red banana peppers mixed (seeded and chopped) 4 cups onions, chopped 3 cups white vinegar 2 pints mustard 8½ cups sugar 2 Tablespoons salt   1½ cups water 1 cup clear jel (cook type...

Crisp and Delicious!   If you love a good Kosher Dill Pickle look no further. THIS is the one! I found this delicious recipe here.  Thank you Mary for sharing it!   Don't you just love a crisp dill pickle with plenty of snap?! I do!! Over the years I've tried different recipes for these but they never satisfied me. They were always a bit soggy and the taste wasn't right either. Thanks to Pinterest I found these. I decided to try a small batch this year.  I had to wait 8 weeks to taste them. Now I wish I would have done a lot more, but there's always next year! ☺   8 lbs. 3-4 inch long cucumbers 4 cups white vinegar 12 cups water 2/3 cup pickling salt 16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved 8 sprigs of fresh dill weed 8 heads of fresh dill weed   Wash cucumbers, place in a clean sink or large dish pan with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Soak in ice water for at least 2-3 hours. Refresh ice as required. Sterilize 8 (1 quart) wi...

  I first tasted hot pepper jam at a wedding about 10 years ago when it was served as an appetizer with cream cheese and crackers. Yum!! I never got around to making it myself until this year. I planted a Habenero plant in the garden and the yield from one plant is astounding! So I did some digging and found what I was looking for on Cooks.com.   I like the texture of ground peppers better than the ones that come through a food processor so I used my trusty hand crank grinder. Do remember to wear gloves because these peppers as you well know are HOT and leave your hands burning for a long time afterwards if you don't. In fact I had trouble breathing as I was grinding the hot ones. (cough, cough)   12 bell peppers, (I used green, yellow, and red ones) 20 Habenaros 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt 1 cup apple cider vinegar 3 cups sugar   Turn oven to 200°. Place clean ½ pint jars (about 10 of them) on a baking tray along with the flat lids. Heat...

I know. That title doesn't really make sense. But it will in just a bit if you keep reading. In recent years I started mixing all my salsa ingredients and instead of heating it and then putting it into jars and then heating it again. I mix it, put it into the jars uncooked and water bath it for 20 minutes. It comes through the process looking and tasting a lot fresher than the other way around. I've also experimented with pressure canning it but found the water bath method yields a better over all product. That is just my personal opinion. I like this method also because it's less time consuming. And I'm always looking for ways to simplify a process. Ingredients: 14 lbs. tomatoes, skinned and de-seeded and squeezed* 2½ lbs. Onions 10 green peppers 5 Habenaro Peppers 10 garlic cloves 10 stems fresh parsley 10 stems fresh Oregano, leaves only Fresh Cilantro, optional (I like it better to add this fresh when I open a jar) Put all of these ingredients th...

For the last two weeks Monday and Tuesday were Strawberry days here at my house. I won't tell you how many quarts but I will tell you that I was quite glad to let someone else pick them for me and pay them to do it. I love strawberries but have never enjoyed picking them. Makes me cranky. Anyway some of them went into these small individual serving sized boxes for the lunches that I'm privileged to pack for my family. ☺ (Okay there was a bit of sarcasm in there. I love my family but packing lunches has never quite reached the favorite things to do level.) They are super easy to do and with the help of everyone last evening the last of them went into the freezer for this year. Yay! 7 quarts, coarsley chopped strawberries 3 cups sugar 1 box dry Sure Jell Mix together and let stand for 10 minutes than stir again and place into freezer containers, size of your choice. They tell me that the strawberries are usually still a little slushy at lunch time when I put them in froz...

Quite a few years ago a friend of mine shared this recipe with me and I think it's the best tasting home canned pizza sauce I've tasted yet. It has just about everything in there and is nice and thick. I've been putting up tomatoes and peaches this week and made this yesterday with more to come. One thing that I would not want to do without to make this stuff happen is this little gadget right here: It's easy to assemble and beats a Victorio Strainer by a mile in the making of tomato juice! Also easy to take apart and keep clean. If you don't have one you should get one. I've had mine for more than ten years and it still works like a top! I can't remember the name of it though, I think it was something like Tomato Press. If anyone could help me out there that would be great! I bought it at an Amish store in the area here in Lancaster County. Another thing I do to make sure the tomato juice is thick is to drain the cooked tomatoes t...

In case anyone was wondering, I haven't forgotten this little place where I share yummy food ideas but the last few weeks have been busy!! Getting everyone ready for school and trying to get a few last minute fun things in and doing some canning and freezing. Yeah, just haven't had the time or inspiration for a lot of brainstorming in the foodie part of my life. It's 4:30 now and my son just reminded me that I should start getting concerned about whats for supper. I know... I should! But I feel like the day should be done and a simple cup of tea would be fine with me. I know though, that I will have to come up with something more substantial than a cup of tea! But no matter I'll figure it out shortly, just now I need a break! I was peeling peaches today... and driving my son to and from work... and pondering how to be a Mom to teenagers for the next - hundred years. ☺ It's all good, I just need a bracing cup of tea or something! Notice I didn't say chocolate...

Delicious!! For as far back as I can remember my Mom canned Mixed Pickle. That's what we always called it in Ohio. Here in Pa. people call it Chow-Chow. When I was a little girl the only part of this that I remotely enjoyed were the tiny pickles and I would fish those out and eat them. While the cauliflower and the tiny pickles are still favorites, I have learned to enjoy every bit of it and every year I like to can some. I am the only one here that eats it but I also make it to give away as gifts. We have several sweet old ladies from church that are always happy to see me coming with a can of this. ☺ And it gives me great pleasure to know that they will get to enjoy something they no longer have the energy to do by themselves.  love the bright colors of the fresh garden veggies! 3 heads cauliflower 1 quart sliced carrots 1 quart celery 5 red peppers 3 green peppers 1 quart string beans 1 quart canned pearl onions 2 quarts sliced or tiny whole ...

SUPER EASY - SUPER YUMMY! Wow! I can't get over how easy this is! No slaving over a hot stove, no excessive amounts of extra sugar. Just two simple ingredients!! 8 ounces Dried Pineapple, cut into small chunks 1½ lbs. Fresh Strawberries, hulled, washed, well drained Yields 3½ cups jam It  is   necessary to have a commercial food processor or  blender or something with a really good motor because the pineapple bits take some extra  power to process. Prepare strawberries and pineapple as directed. Place strawberries into food processor or blender and process slightly;  then add pineapple gradually and process until smooth. it's fuzzy I know, but my left hand isn't very adept yet at handling the camera☺  Pour into freezer containers, I like to use glass pint jars. These are the ratios that I used to bring it to a consistency I liked. If you want it thicker use more pineapple. It does jell and get slightly firmer when refrigerated. I...