What did you do picklewise today?

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matthewdlaudato

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I know I'm not the only home canner out there in rocketry land. Or maybe I am. Even though I live in the city on a postage stamp sized piece of land, I grow tomatoes every year. Ripening is all but over, so it's time for pickled green tomatoes.

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Best pickles ever by Thanksgiving!
 
Does making peach moonshine count. LOL love canned Carrot's and jalapeño with onios. Used to grow my own but not so much any more. Canned beets is always good. Never done pickles.
 
Put three more pints of dill pickles down the garbage disposal. Too soggy. My first attempt - maybe I'll try again next year.

One of the reasons I pickle the green tomatoes - they are quite a bit denser than all but the sturdiest pickling cukes. They always have a nice crunch to them.
 
Lately I've been buying the Farmer's Garden Kosher Dill Pickles from Vlasic. They are packaged so as to look like the pickles my grandmother used to put up. Nice spears, carrot chips and other veggies on the bottom. They are not sold refrigerated but they immediately wind up in my refrigerator.

Today I ate two with my lunch.
 
Have put up sweet pickles in the past. Just bought a 2nd hand pressure canner so I am hoping to get some venison to try. We will be putting in a garden in the spring. Cukes, beans, melons, 'mators, peppers, and maybe broccoli & squash. Probably too hot in TX for lettuce.
 
I add two dried habaneros to the store bought pickles, and leave them in until the heat is just right. Two 1quart jars last about a week. Mmmmm
 
I add two dried habaneros to the store bought pickles, and leave them in until the heat is just right. Two 1quart jars last about a week. Mmmmm

That's a good trick. If you look closely you can see I put two hot peppers in each jar. Really gives them a nice kick.
 
My wife and I did raspberry jam yesterday. We typically do peach jam, but did a lot last year and still have plenty. Plus, peaches are astronomical in price this year. A week ago we made (OK, I filled the jars on this one) vegetable soup to give out for Christmas. Unbelievable how much better home made jams and soups are compared to store bought.

Maybe 3 years ago we did a batch of peach jam, and a small batch of jalapeno/peach jam. If you've had hot pepper jelly, this is just a twist on that recipe. Great snack is Wheat Thins with cream cheese and the pepper jam/jelly.
 
Hehe nice thead concept :)

We did beets today. I love beets in vinegar and sugar!
 
Last year I bottled up homemade vanilla extract, homemade pancake syrup and some peanut butter.

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This year I bought a 50# bag of deer apples and already canned up some apple butter. I made some apple sauce also, but I'll be canning more of that and a different recipe for some more apple butter.
 
I've been on a pickle binge lately. Eat them every day for lunch now for the last couple weeks. Hey those farmer dills sound yummy.
 
Last year I bottled up homemade vanilla extract, homemade pancake syrup and some peanut butter.

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This year I bought a 50# bag of deer apples and already canned up some apple butter. I made some apple sauce also, but I'll be canning more of that and a different recipe for some more apple butter.

Gary,

The homemade vanilla thing sounds interesting... Is it difficult to do?

Adrian
 
Gary,

The homemade vanilla thing sounds interesting... Is it difficult to do? Adrian

The hardest part is splitting the beans and scraping the caviar (seeds) out. This is the real McCoy of Vanilla extract Adrian. It don't get much better than this. And it costs pennies on the dollar. The link HERE is what I used as a guide. 1st and foremost, use an average brand of Vodka. The pricey stuff does not make it better. I shopped around for my vanilla beans and found the best price on Madagascar's at Amazon. I cleaned up two quart size brown beer bottles and shook the goodies every day for a week. Then a few times a week on the 2, 3 & 4th weeks. Then once a week for 6 months. You can actually use it within 5 weeks of making it, but the longer it works, the better it is. I'd usually start making it in May, so it would be finished by November just in time for Christmas. People are amazed to find out you can actually make the stuff yourself. Makes a great C'mas gift.
 
Did you use Pickle Crisp when you made them? It makes a great deal of difference.

Nope - just tried it straight this year. probably try it next year.


This year I bought a 50# bag of deer apples and already canned up some apple butter. I made some apple sauce also, but I'll be canning more of that and a different recipe for some more apple butter.

I use a slow cooker recipe https://allrecipes.com/recipe/21205/all-day-apple-butter/ I do use a stick blender after 11 hours to smooth it out. Cook overnight, then can in the morning.
 
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I use a slow cooker recipe https://allrecipes.com/recipe/21205/all-day-apple-butter/ I do use a stick blender after 11 hours to smooth it out. Cook overnight, then can in the morning.

That's how I did mine. The slow cooker gradually reduces the water so as not to scorch or burn the apple butter. The apple sauce has to be cooked also, but not to the extreme that the apple butter does. In fact, apple sauce is easy and fast to make.
 
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