Using sound judgment to be more self-reliant.
I've tried a few home canned tomato soup recipes over the years, but none of them were quite what I wanted for my family. All we wanted was a simple tomato soup, something like Campbells or Amy's, but using our own home grown tomatoes. I think this year we finally have a winner. This tomato soup recipe for canning is slightly thickened/concentrated, so it takes up less storage space. When ready to serve, you can add your choice of water, broth or milk. [Read more…]
Lovely Lilac Jelly RecipeWe had a bumper crop of lilacs this year. My neighbor commented that his trees were so full of blossoms that he couldn't see the leaves. My small tree was loaded, too, so it seemed like a good year to experiment with eating some of them. One of my closest friends has made candied lilacs for her daughter's birthday for years by brushing the delicate blooms with egg white and and sprinkling them with superfine sugar, but I didn't think that would have as much appeal for my boys. They generally prefer volume to intricacy. [Read more…]
Our green bean season is all but finished here in northeast Wisconsin, but a friend of mine down in Texas mentioned that she just planted her fall crop of beans and it is coming along nicely. So, for my southern gardening friends, and for northern gardening friends to pin for next season, I'm sharing the dilly bean recipe that I made up earlier this year.
Home canned dilly beans are another recipe that always reminds me of mom, like the pickled beets I shared a couple of weeks ago. Vinegar pickles of all different types were a staple growing up on the farm, from the jewel red beets to the slippery pickled mushrooms. I remember one year when mom did a huge crock of some sort of cucumber pickles in a corner of the kitchen, but I don't remember what recipe she used. I have to ask my siblings and see if anyone else remembers. Pickled veggies add a great crunch to any meal and may help aid digestion by adding a bit of acidity to the mix. Pickling (adding vinegar and salt) also allows you to water bath can vegetables that would otherwise require pressure canning. [Read more…]
