Can Your Own Pickles

Since dill pickles are stored in vinegar, and vinegar is acidic enough to kill bacteria, pickles are an easy, safe thing to can with very little equipment.

What you need to can...

large pot

mason jars, lids, bands

canning thongs (some way to get jars in and out of boiling water)

something to keep the jars off the very bottom of the pot

Ingredients for pickles...

pickling cucumbers

dill spice mix

vinegar

water

Sterilize your jars by putting them in boiling water for five minutes.  This will prevent them from cracking when you put them back in the water with the pickles in them (cold glass in boiling water = broken glass).  Create your brine; 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water, dill mix.

Prepare cucumbers in slices, spears, or whole.

Always buy new lids with sealing wax (you don't want to rely on a reused seal).  Turn the bands tight, then loosen just a bit.

Pickles need to be in a boiling bath for at least 15 minutes.  You should see little air bubbles being released from the jars (you may be able to see a few in the pictures).  

Remove jars from water, set on counter.  In the next 12 hours, every lid should 'pop' to seal.  If you can still 'click' the lid after 12 hours, put in the refrigerator and eat soon.  The jars that pop/seal will be safe in the pantry for about a year.

Enjoy your pickles!

Beer Braised Sausage - total time 30 minutes

Sausage is another one of those things I don't eat often.  These were chicken, so I made an exception.  Cooking with beer helps keep meat nice and juicy.  Depending on the beer you use, it could add a lot of flavor to the meal too.

2 sausages - I used chicken sausages

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp butter

4-6 oz. beer

a little flour

salt & pepper

1.  For freshly made sausage, cook in pan for a few minutes on both sides to firm everything up. Then melt the butter in the pan and add your veggies, onions, salt, and pepper.  Cook for about five minutes.

2.  Add sausage to the center of the veggies and add beer and let simmer for seven minutes, then flip everything and continue to simmer for another seven minutes.

3.  If the beer has not simmered down into a sauce, add a little flour and stir in until it thickens up and serve!

Zucchini Latkes - total time 30 minutes

Some gardeners get more zucchini than they can handle, I never feel like I have that problem.  We love zucchini at our house... simply sauteed to casseroles to zucchini bread.  Here's another way, in a latke... instead of shredded potatoes.

2 cups zucchini, grated

1 egg

.25 cup cheese, shredded (I used munster, original recipe had feta)

.25 cup parm, grated

.5 cup bread crumbs

pinch of flour

2 tbsp butter

sat & pepper

1.  Melt butter in pan.  Shred zucchini, squeeze extra liquid out of the zucchini, and add to a medium mixing bowl.  Add egg and combine.  Add cheeses, salt, pepper, flour, and bread crumbs.

2.  Pick up a palm full of the zucchini mixture and press together between your palms.  Place in pan and use a spatula to flatten and adjust the sides of the latke (in case they came apart a little).

3.  Flip latkes after about five minutes, cook the other side for five minutes, and serve.  

  

Purple Cauliflower Gratin

I am not a big fan of cauliflower... not sure if it is the texture or lack of flavor, but this gratin is loaded with flavor!  I have heard of people using cauliflower for mashed 'potatoes'... but without all the milky cheesiness in this recipe, I don't think I could do it.

1 head of cauliflower, chopped

3 tbsp butter

.25 cup flour

1.75 cups milk

.25 cup cream

1 cup gruyere cheese, grated

2 cups bread, torn into small pieces

.25 parm, grated

salt & pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a pot.  Slowly add flour while continuously stirring.  Once combined, slowly add some milk while stirring.  Add remaining milk and cream.  Add chopped cauliflower, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cover for five minutes.

2.  While cauliflower is cooking, tear bread into small pieces.  Mix in bowl with grated parm.

3.  Remove cauliflower from heat and very slowly add a little shredded gruyere cheese and stir in completely before adding more.

4.  Pour mixture into casserole dish, add bread-pam mixture on top, cover with foil.  Bake fore 25 minutes, then remove foil and bake 15 additional minutes until the bread is toasty brown.

Purple cauliflower!

Cheesy goodness!

Baby Shower Planning

Pinterest is a great resource for inspiring creativity, especially for party planning.  It is easy to pick and choose ideas to make it your own.

Chocolate covered pretzel roads are and easy sweet and salty treat to make fit into any theme.  All it takes is a bag of pretzel rods, a bag of colored (or regular) chocolate, and a double boiler (or microwave oven).  Scoop the melted chocolate to cover the pretzel, lay on wax paper, and put tray in freezer for a couple minutes to set chocolate.  Serve in a cute jar or dish!

A fun game the doubles as additional gifts for the baby is having everyone decorate a onesie!  Have fabric paint, paint brushes, fabric markers, buttons, ribbons, and more available for the guests.  Make an example onesie to get their creative juices flowing.  The activity can last the whole shower so they can think about it and everyone won't be at the table at the same time.  Then have the new momma choose her favorite and the designer gets a gift!

Presentation makes a big difference and eating fruits and veggies of many different colors gets you a range of vitamins, antioxidants, and other nutrients!  Just because a baby shower is a celebration doesn't mean you can't have healthy options!

  

Little Hershey bars are a quick sweet and great if there are little kids joining the shower.  Make it special for a baby shower by highlighting the babies gender on the wrapper;  HERSHEY'S or HERSHEY'S.  Having some homemade treats adds a personal touch to round out snack table. Here are the recipes for the treats pictures: Very Berry Cupcakes and Chubby Hubby Truffles.

There is a good amount of planning that goes into hosting a baby shower, but remember to enjoy it!  It is a party, so have fun!  :o)

Very Berry Cupcakes - total time 1 hour

These cupcakes are both light and rich at the same time.  It has that taste of summer from the berries and the buttercream is so rich and sweet.  Perfect for any summer party!

Cupcakes

2 cups flour

.75 cup sugar

.5 cup brown sugar

.5 tsp baking powder

salt

.25 cup juice from berrries

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

splash of milk

Buttercream Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar

.75 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp cream

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl.  Add eggs and mix well.

2.  Smash berries in another bowl (frozen or fresh) and strain to get juice.  Add juice, milk, and vanilla to the bowl.  Pour mixture into muffin tray.  Bake for 22 minutes.

3.  While cupcakes are baking,  mix butter, cream, and vanilla together in a bowl.  Slowly stir in powdered sugar a little at a time.  You can try using a piping bag for the frosting, but my frosting was too thick to get through the icing tip.  Instead, I molded the frosting like fondant (this tastes so much better than fondant).  The add a couple berries on top for decoration (and more berry flavor) and enjoy!

Optional:  Since I already had melted chocolate from the chubby hubby truffles, I added some cream to the chocolate to make ganache.  I spread the ganache on top of the cupcake and then put the frosting over top for a tasty surprise!

  

Chubby Hubby Truffles - total time 40 minutes

The name chubby hubby truffles in based on the Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor... not making your hubby chubby (but they could do that too)!  A great bland of sweet and salty... kind of like a buckeye with pretzel bits... kind of like a Take 5 candy bar (I thought about mixing caramel in some way).  Either way you looks at it, these truffles are a tasty treat and are not hard to make.

1 cup peanut butter

1.5 cups pretzels, crushed

.25 cup brown sugar

.5 cup powdered sugar (as much as you need to prevent it from sticking to your hands when you roll into balls)

salt

12 oz. bag of dark chocolate

1. Crush pretzels to really small pieces.  Combine pretzels, peanut butter, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.  You can kind of mix a little bit with a spoon or spatula, but you'll have to get your hands in there at some point.

2.  Line a baking sheet with wax paper.  Roll about a tablespoonful of PB-pretzel mixture into balls and toss on baking sheet.  Once all balls are rolled, put try in the freezer.

3.  Melt chocolate in a double boiler while the PB-pretzel balls get cold (which helps the chocolate set).  Dip each ball into the chocolate, coat completely, replace back on baking sheet and repeat.  After all balls are covered in chocolate, put tray back in freezer for a few minutes to finish setting the chocolate.  Then enjoy!