Preserving Your Harvest

[pennyJo1960]

I ordered one of these doohickeys yesterday, a special deal from Walmart. It should make making apple butter, sauce and dehydrated slices a lot easier.

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I have one from Grandma times.

 

[tripletfeb]

I ordered one of these doohickeys yesterday, a special deal from Walmart. It should make making apple butter, sauce and dehydrated slices a lot easier.

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I have one of those and barely use it. Maybe I get wonky apples but they never fit right

 

[Smokerbill]

I have one of those and barely use it. Maybe I get wonky apples but they never fit right

Maybe there's an ideal size of apple that works best on these peeler/corers. I really don't know because I've never used one before. But for 12 bucks I figured it was worth a shot. I have a lot of apples on the tree this year.

I decided to strain out the stewed tomatoes I made the other day and turn it into juice. I ended up with one quart.

 

[tripletfeb]

Maybe there's an ideal size of apple that works best on these peeler/corers. I really don't know because I've never used one before. But for 12 bucks I figured it was worth a shot. I have a lot of apples on the tree this year.

I decided to strain out the stewed tomatoes I made the other day and turn it into juice. I ended up with one quart.

Hope yours works for you!

 

[Smokerbill]

Hope yours works for you!

If it doesn't I'll return it!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Canned more crushed tomatoes, and the little bit of grape juice we got this year 4 pints and 4 oz.

 

[Smokerbill]

I had no intentions of canning anything today. It just sort of happened. This morning I decided to cook down two quarts of tomato juice I had in the fridge and freezer, and once it thickened up I decided to process it.

There was some bitterness in its flavor so I added a Tbs of sugar, along with a little lemon juice for acidity. So it's got a hint of sweet/sour going on in the taste. Got 3 half pints plus 1/3 of a cup.

 

[Birdsonghill]

I love using tried and true old time recipes, however, I love to experiment and try new recipes or create my own. I have had failures, but often have had a unique treat and try to pass them on , so others may enjoy the successes. I cook for my taste and if it pleases others , Great! I hate to admit it , but I seldom write anything down and usually pass some of my favorite recipes to only close family and friends because they are there or catch me fresh after making the dish, when my memory is holding well. I use to try and please people with my cooking, but now just cook what I like and how I feel about it at the time. I enjoy cooking and food more than ever. I am very pleased when others like what I cook, but that is not what motivates me, most often ,now days. Cook what/how you like and enjoy your garden and herbs more than ever. I am lucky , in that I like most any clean, well prepped common foods and most exotics as well. My Mother said of me " He will eat anything that swims, flies, walks or crawls", as a boy. However, I can be a harsh critic of poorly prepared dishes. That is very rare. I just like some things a lot more than others! Take a common dish like lasagna and I like everyone's take, most often, on that dish, but some are far better than others. Please your taste in the kitchen and let others that don't like it cook their own meal. I do try and leave some things without full flavors/salt/hot that may be added just as well at the table by the eater to suit themselves. Since I adopted this attitude , I am enjoying the kitchen work more and find most people like my cooking, even when it differs from what they are use too. Sorry about the others, but they can cook to suit themselves as well as i can.

 

[Smokerbill]

My kraut has been fermenting for four weeks now, so I sampled it and transferred it into jars to put in the fridge. Should be enough to last for quite a while.

 

[Birdsonghill]

I am behind this year and sour Kraut is another thing I have not done this year. I may yet do some and some kimchee with daikon radish that is sizing up now in the garden. I guess, I need to make two years worth now at a time because everything takes me twice as long and I am only getting half as much done. I have a demand source now for my old kimchee that I find too pungent and ripe! A friend gave his mechanic buddy a jar from me and he loves it so much he bugs me to buy it now. Each to his own taste! It helps to drink plenty cold beer when eating my old kimchee and I can't do that so much anymore., so I stick to the fairly fresh and young stuff that is less potent. I usually make my kimchee with equal amounts of napa cabbage and daikon radish sticks, plus carrots, lots of fresh garlic and ginger thinly sliced , a cayenne heirloom pepper in large amounts , a handful of green chilis, green onions, sesame oil and peanut oil, kosher or pickling salt generously applied. The salt draws out the juices and usually surrounds everything in brine naturally. You can add a bit of rice wine or sherry for a tasty liquid addition and a bit of water if needed. Soy sauce can also be added but I don't. It should be hot with abundant garlic and ginger as well as the hot red cayenne and green chilis. Korean ,Kashmiri or about any hot pepper may work fine. Of course , you can make yours mild to suit you with milder and less chilis.