Strawberry-Coconut Freezer Jam

One of my favorite memories of my childhood is my mother's homemade bread -warm from the oven topped with lots of butter and lots of homemade jam. I loved it. I still do, just don't eat as much bread now as I did back when I was a child. It tends to stick to my hips more now.  But if you want a Yummy jam to go on homemade rolls for Thanksgiving this year this is a recipe you need to try. I ran across it on one of my favorite food blogs. That's where I got the idea for Coconut with Strawberry but I followed the strawberry freezer jam recipe in the CERTO Premium Liquid Fruit pectin box because I wanted it to turn out and just added the coconut and coconut extract.  This was delicious and yes, I made home made bread to try it out on...can you just hear Barbara Streisand breaking out in her song "Memories" about now?? I think between me and my hubby we pretty much ate a whole loaf. Enjoy!

Strawberry-Coconut Freezer Jam
2 cups crushed strawberries, (fresh or thawed and drained frozen work)
1/3 cup flaked coconut, sweetened or unsweetened work (i used sweetened)
4 cups granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 pouch Certo Premium Liquid Fruit Pectin

First wash and rinse your containers with tight fitting lids. Let dry. Set aside. ( I like to use 1 cup containers, that way it doesn't get old in the refrigerator)
I put my berries and the 1/3 cup coconut in my food processor and pulsed a few times (about 5 or 6) to chop my coconut a bit and mix more into the berries. Place your berry and coconut mixture into a large bowl and add your sugar. Mix well. Let this stand for 10 minutes stirring occasionally to help dissolve the sugar a bit.

Add the lemon juice and coconut extract (I added about 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract--I like a bit more coconut flavor)to the strawberry mixture and stir to combine.
Stir pectin into prepared fruit. Stir constantly until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy, about 3 minutes. (a few sugar crystals may remain and that's okay)

Pour or ladle jam into prepared containers, leaving about 1/2-inch space at the top. Place lids on containers and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours until set.  Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or store in freezer for up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator.
Enjoy!

Can-Your-Own Apple Pie Filling

I have one little apple tree in my yard and this year it produced apples like you wouldn't believe!! I think I got at least 4 big boxes out of it. I've looked and there are a lot of Canning recipes for Apple Pie filling out there on the internet,  but another friend I work with makes this delicious Dutch Oven Apple Crisp/Cobbler that she brings into the office every Christmas for a treat, it's soooo goood! And when I asked her what she did for the apple filling she said she canned her own pie filling. I had to get the recipe!!! It's delicious! So here is the recipe(I tweaked the recipe a little, and added just a touch more cinnamon and nutmeg, I like a spicey apple pie) and I added the Apple Crisp recipe below that... I haven't made it at home yet so I don't have a picture... but it's delish!!! I love the way my home smelled when making the cinnamon syrup for the apples... YUM!  And don't you love the 'hominess' look of the jars of canned apple pie filling?? I think it would be a cute holiday gift with a cute apple fabric to cover the lid with ribbon tied around it...you could make a basket with pie filling, a pie tin, and premade pie crust.... oh the possibilities!!!

Can-Your-Own Apple Pie Filling
Makes 7 Quarts. Each quart is enough for a double crust pie.

Peel, core and slice 6 -7 lbs of tart apples.

In a large sauce pan blend together:
4-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt

Stir in 10 cups water. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. (I didn't time mine, but it took a while to get good and thick and I let mine get to a good boil, so it bubbles a little even when stirring)
Add 3 Tablespoons lemon juice. Stir and cook a minute or two more.  Remove from heat.
Pack your apples into hot sterilized quart jars leaving a 1 " head space. Fill jars with hot syrup leaving 1/2 " head space. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke into the jars and move apples around to help the syrup distribute around in the jar if necessary.
Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean cloth then place sterilized lids on jars and tighten with rims.
Process in water bath for 20 - 30 minutes (I did mine for 30 minutes)
Remove from water bath and place on towel and let cool over night. (don't you love the 'popping' noise of the jars sealing?? what makes you more happy than that?) Don't they look lovely??

Dutch Oven Apple Crisp
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add 2 quarts apple pie filling to a 12" Dutch oven
In a bowl mix together:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Cut 1 cube (1/2 cup) cold butter into flour and sugar until crumbly. Spread over top of pie filling. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until hot and bubbly and top is golden brown.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. YUM!

Zucchini Relish

I got this recipe from a girl at work too! It's a great way to use up zucchini!! It's also one of the best relishes I've ever had! Tastes like sweet pickle relish, I love it on smoked brats with banana peppers too! You can eat it like you would sweet pickle relish. If you didn't tell people it was zucchini, they would never know!! Yum!! I halved the recipe the first time I made it and put in jelly jars since I'm the only one who likes sweet pickle relish.....

Zucchini Relish

10 cups Zucchini, chopped or  minced
4 cups onion, chopped or minced
1 green pepper, chopped or minced
1 Red pepper, chopped or minced
5 Tablespoons salt

I minced all the above in my food processor, but you could just chop finely (depends on how chunky you like your relish). Put in large container and stir all together. Let it sit overnight. The next morning wash with cold water and drain. Place in large cooking pot.

Add the following:
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups  Vinegar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon tumerac (I used curry powder because I didn't have tumerac-still good)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Let cook 30 minutes. Add to clean, sterlized jars, and place in water bath for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Dilly Beans

I thought since it's gardening season I'd post a few recipes for vegetables. Here is a recipe for Dilly beans I got from work. I changed it a bit. Have you ever eaten at a Mexican restaurant that has pickled carrots, and veggies on the side? They are kind of spicy... well that's what I tried to create. My changes are in parenthesis, the original recipe is good too, they are great to just munch on or have on the side of mexican dishes...

Dilly Beans

You will need clean, sterilized canning jars. Usually 9 pints for a batch

Fill each jar with the following:
Fresh green beans, washed and stems removed
1 whole clove garlic (or 1 teaspoon minced)
1 to 2 dry Chinese or Japanese peppers ( I couldn't find, so I used 1/2 a fresh jalapeno pepper, and 1/2 a serrano pepper)
1 sprig of Dill (I used about 1/2 teaspoon dried dill in each jar)
(I also added a few diagonal sliced carrots along with the beans in each jar, they were yummy)

Pour the following mixture into bean filled jars to within 1/2 inch of the top:
5 cups water
5 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup salt
Bring to a boil, then pour over beans in the jar.

Put on jar lids, and process in water bath: 10 minutes for pints, and 15 minutes for quarts.

*The first time I made this I just made a 1/2 batch of the liquid and did 4 pints because I wasn't sure we'd like them. We loved them! So I'm going to do a whole batch next time. I think I will put more peppers in them too, maybe a whole jalepeno sliced in half, and the same with a serrano.