I had gone out earlier this morning and picked yellow squash and zucchini. I came into the house and the first thought that came into my head was what in the world am I going to do with all this yellow squash and zucchini. You gotta understand my frig is, like, full!! I like yellow squash and I think I'm going to make a couple squash casseroles and do my best to get them into the freezer. (Uh-huh, right!) Next I went scouring the internet for ways to use zucchini so I could get a grasp on how I needed to preserve it. I came across an awesome recipe for a Zucchini Spread that would knock your socks off!! I should know. I immediately fixed myself some and there were definitely muffled sounds coming from my face but I don't know how - I was stuffing it at an amazing rate!! This really was a nice, clean recipe and extremely economical. So anyway . . . when I compared the recipe to canning techniques it was clear I needed to shred the zucchini, stuff my quart jars really full, add a tiny bit of salt and a little hot water to cover and pressure can for 40 minutes at 11 pounds pressure. I had enough zucchini for 6 quarts. Now, when this zucchini comes out of the jar it will already be cooked so all I have to do is add all the other goodies and beat everybody else to the spread!!! If you think you'd be interested in the recipe let me know and I'll put it on the Recipes page. I may do so anyway. I'm really impressed!
As you all know, I had to find room for corn yesterday and I'm here to tell you, that was not easy. I went through everything in our freezer and when I found something that was getting old or I guess I should say, needed to be eaten this year, I pulled it out to empty the freezer. I pulled out some shredded zucchini and made some bread, I pulled out some stale bread I had put in the freezer earlier this year and made bread crumbs and continued on until I happened upon some cranberries. Ah!! I probably ought to use them this year. I've long wanted to make my own cranberry juice and figured this would be the perfect opportunity. I had 4 12-ounce bags and I put them in a pan, cup for cup, with water. I slowly cooked them until the berries began to pop open and then I turned the heat down, stirring often, and let them cook another 10 or 15 minutes. I then put a strainer over a pan, dumped them all in and let it sit for about 2 hours. I put the berries into another pan and then strained the juice again until it was nice and clear. I then added sugar to taste and ended up with 4 quarts of cranberry juice. This I water bathed for 15 minutes. I then took the berries, added the shredded peel and juice of 1 orange, sugared to taste, stirred it up over low heat and put it into jars. It turned out to be 7 jelly jars of wonderful cranberry sauce. I can use this as a topping for meats and frankly, as a preserve on toast or biscuits. I can add fresh apples, pineapple tidbits and pecans or almonds and have a wonderful cranberry sauce for a holiday meal as well. Dear friends, I can't believe I got all that out of 4 bags of cranberries. You may think that I have pushed the envelope a little too far on this one - but honest, I tasted everything and, oh my!! One of the best things I've done in a long time.
I had gone out earlier this morning and picked yellow squash and zucchini. I came into the house and the first thought that came into my head was what in the world am I going to do with all this yellow squash and zucchini. You gotta understand my frig is, like, full!! I like yellow squash and I think I'm going to make a couple squash casseroles and do my best to get them into the freezer. (Uh-huh, right!) Next I went scouring the internet for ways to use zucchini so I could get a grasp on how I needed to preserve it. I came across an awesome recipe for a Zucchini Spread that would knock your socks off!! I should know. I immediately fixed myself some and there were definitely muffled sounds coming from my face but I don't know how - I was stuffing it at an amazing rate!! This really was a nice, clean recipe and extremely economical. So anyway . . . when I compared the recipe to canning techniques it was clear I needed to shred the zucchini, stuff my quart jars really full, add a tiny bit of salt and a little hot water to cover and pressure can for 40 minutes at 11 pounds pressure. I had enough zucchini for 6 quarts. Now, when this zucchini comes out of the jar it will already be cooked so all I have to do is add all the other goodies and beat everybody else to the spread!!! If you think you'd be interested in the recipe let me know and I'll put it on the Recipes page. I may do so anyway. I'm really impressed!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMy name is Nina. Southern Indiana has been my home since 1952. I've been a legal secretary most of my adult life and for my leisure time I enjoy everything connected to the world of herbs and cooking is almost like a "fever". I am also quite opinionated but try not to push my opinions on others. My family is grown and I'm left with a wonderful hubby sharing life with me. I'd guess you'd say my passion is living that life to the fullest. Archives
May 2016
Categories |