What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Not much going on in the garden right now. I did pick a few more green beans, one cherry tomato and a jalapeno this morning. My radishes are already putting out their secondary leaves and the carrots are most definitely coming up. I made some progress on the rooster pen yesterday. I found some shorter screws that I needed to properly hang the clean out door. I hung a shade cloth sandwiched between lattice and the 1/2 HC between the side of his coop and the door. That is facing west and get's way too much afternoon sun. I'm debating whether or not to mow the grass today. The weather is still comfortable and rain is moving in tonight, however, we are heading back into more summerlike temperatures on Friday and Saturday. I will be going to the hardware store in a little while. Apparently one of my garden gnomes hid my cultivator. I've looked everywhere for it and it seems to have disappeared. I guess it's also time to break down and buy a garden hoe as well. The cultivator came with the house as did several rakes, some of those apparently toddled off on their tines. I don't have a lot of time to spend online @BReeder! but I'm sure your thread will be popular. I have enough trouble trying to squeeze in time for this thread. I would like to make one comment about canning pickles for the first time. A common mistake when pickling your first batch or two is using the wrong salt. I believe this makes a difference in refrigerator pickles as well. It's easy enough to grab the old box of table salt when reading through the ingredient list. Regular table salt, especially the iodized type will mess with the flavor of your pickles. Always use pickling salt. Although the salting step is not usually mentioned in making refrigerator pickles, I learned through trial and error that salting the vegetables you are going to pickle to remove excess water will result in a better quality pickle. You can always go to the Ball website - Healthy canning. https://www.healthycanning.com Have a great day everyone!

 

[WthrLady]

Agree with the salt issue.
I use Kosher, it's easier to find here.

Plum Sauce has been entered. I'll mail it about the 18th, as it's not due until the 23rd. I'll do a return envelope for any award/premium/comments, but I won't have them return the Plum Sauce. It was a trick to find a jar and lid that matched, brand wise, I had to dig through and find my small mouth Kerr flat lids as most of my half pint jars are Kerr. Actually, many of my half pint jars are MASON and almost 100 years old. Although Ball is Mason, but it states they MUST match. So.... Label is printed and attached. Wish me luck.

Heading out to the garden to pick.

Need to wash more jars today as well.

 

[gtaus]

I would like to make one comment about canning pickles for the first time. A common mistake when pickling your first batch or two is using the wrong salt. I believe this makes a difference in refrigerator pickles as well. It's easy enough to grab the old box of table salt when reading through the ingredient list. Regular table salt, especially the iodized type will mess with the flavor of your pickles. Always use pickling salt. Although the salting step is not usually mentioned in making refrigerator pickles, I learned through trial and error that salting the vegetables you are going to pickle to remove excess water will result in a better quality pickle. You can always go to the Ball website - Healthy canning. https://www.healthycanning.com Have a great day everyone!

Agree with the salt issue.
I use Kosher, it's easier to find here.

The Spicy Pickled Beans recipe I was following said to use coarse salt. I bought a container of Kosher salt without iodine. I think I heard from a number of sources that you can't use regular table salt with iodine in your pickling recipe.

 

[BReeder!]

@gtaus, water bath canning is basically the same as pressure canning, just without the pressure. It's for acidic foods like tomatoes, fruits, jams, jellies, pickles.

If you're going to start doing this, there are lots of books on it. Look in the section of the store where you'd get canning supplies; there might be a book on canning there.

Please note that the 10 minute time above is probably for small jars of something like pickles. When I can quarts of tomatoes, the time is 70 minutes.

70 min sounds like a lot. Everything I read says 40 min for quarts and 35 for pints of tomato sauce. Are you canning whole tomatoes? Perhaps that's why it's longer. Also, do you add an acid (vinegar, lemon juice, citric acid, etc.) to your canned tomatoes? I add a 1/4 cup of ACV per quart and 1/8 cup per pint when I make salsa. I don't notice a drastic taste difference, but it helps to adjust the ph to kill or inhibit nasty things like bacteria and fungi.

 

[Acre4Me]

The scene at the beginning: Home kitchen, clean. residents going about their morning. In the fridge is a jar of sour Michigan cherries and some orange peel mixed with Medium quality Bourbon whiskey in an Amber Quart jar with lid. Jar needs a gentle shake once per day for 4 days to meld flavors.

What happened: Jar failure - bottom third cracked completely off, just as being put back on the top shelf in the fridge. Sour cherries, and bourbon ALL OVER everything...Drips, spray, leaking, covering inside fridge, all over floor, under fridge, in the freezer, all over clothes waist and below, not to mention soaked socks.

The Scene Now: shades of pink to red. Interior of fridge not completely cleaned yet. floor mopped with cleaner, but needs more. Puddles can be seen under the fridge.

 

[BullChick]

I am devastated by your loss, and hope that you sucked up all you could.

 

[pennyJo1960]

recipe please!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients​

2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170g) , softened to room temp
3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 large egg at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Chips: Don’t be shy on the chocolate chips! Use 1 and 1/2 heaping cups.

Directions

Whisk Flour, Cornstarch, Baking Soda, & Salt Together.
Cream Butter & Sugars Together

Add Egg, Egg Yolk, & Vanilla: Beat in the remaining wet ingredients.

Add Dry Ingredients: On a low speed, beat in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips.

Measure heaping 1/2 Cup Portions: Each cookie starts with about 6 ounces of cookie dough, which is a heaping 1/2 cup. But there’s no need for a scale or even a measuring cup– as long as you divide the dough into 6 even portions, you’re good.

Bake: Bake 2-3 cookies on each baking sheet at a relatively lower oven temperature. 325°F ensures the massive cookies cook evenly, instead of over-browning on the edges and tops. The cookies take around 20-25 minutes.

 

[BReeder!]

The scene at the beginning: Home kitchen, clean. residents going about their morning. In the fridge is a jar of sour Michigan cherries and some orange peel mixed with Medium quality Bourbon whiskey in an Amber Quart jar with lid. Jar needs a gentle shake once per day for 4 days to meld flavors.

What happened: Jar failure - bottom third cracked completely off, just as being put back on the top shelf in the fridge. Sour cherries, and bourbon ALL OVER everything...Drips, spray, leaking, covering inside fridge, all over floor, under fridge, in the freezer, all over clothes waist and below, not to mention soaked socks.

The Scene Now: shades of pink to red. Interior of fridge not completely cleaned yet. floor mopped with cleaner, but needs more. Puddles can be seen under the fridge.

May I ask what the end product WOULD have been? You eat the bourbon cherries as is with ice cream or cocktails or do you prepare them in a pie? Bourbon cherry pie sounds AMAZING!!!

 

[Sally PB]

70 min sounds like a lot. Everything I read says 40 min for quarts and 35 for pints of tomato sauce. Are you canning whole tomatoes?

@gtaus @BReeder! Yes! 70 minutes is WRONG! My book says 70, which is what I did for many years, until a friend told me um... check that somewhere. Maybe it's a typo. And it is. In another part of the book, and in another book, it says 45 minutes to can whole (or cut up) tomatoes. So the recipe is incorrect.

Thanks for catching that.

 

[Acre4Me]

May I ask what the end product WOULD have been? You eat the bourbon cherries as is with ice cream or cocktails or do you prepare them in a pie? Bourbon cherry pie sounds AMAZING!!!

Oooh! That does sound good! This was to have Cherry/orange infused bourbon for drinks, like an old fashioned (simple) or add to other more complex drinks. I actually like the old fashioned drink bc I like the cherry/orange combo. But recipe does say to strain out the cherries and orange peel - so could certainly use the cherries for ice cream topping.

I made another drink syrup with some of the sour cherries. That was sour cherries, muscat wine, sugar, salt, lemon juice…cook, the remove cherries and reduce syrup. That one is amazing in a gin/seltzer drink (with the right gin, of course).