SUMMER TIME CANNING

I'm doing a canning section In hopes that I will learn some more canning tips and recipes. That means (if you can)that I would love for you to share some of the things you can in the summer! I will also can a few things this summer and try to share them with you or just post recipes of stuff I've canned in the past. I can mostly give Thanks to my hubby for this section, he is the one that does the canning, I just help and do what he tells me to! I did do the pickles though, with my mom...

RASPBERRY JALAPENO JAM

This has been a very popular canning jam this year. Everyone I have let sample this, has gotten the recipe and made it. It's pretty quick to do and Delicious!

1-2 C fresh or frozen raspberries, 1/2 C finely chopped red or green pepper, 1/4 C finely Chopped jalapeno, 3/4 C vinegar, 3 C sugar, 1pkg liquid pectin.

In a Lg pot. Smash and stir raspberries, peppers, vinegar and sugar together. Cook and stir frequently until jam starts to boil. Boil for 3 min. Take off heat. Let stand for 5 min, then stir in Liquid pectin. Poor into 1/2 pint jelly jars. Hot bathe for 10 min. Raspberries and peppers all depend on how much heat you like. Take out jalapeno seeds for mild and leave a few seeds for little kick. I prefer more mild and it will still have a little kick without the seeds.
Serve over cream cheese w/ crackers (wheat thins and ritz are really good) I might make more of this around the holidays and give as gifts.

RASPBERRY JAM
5 Crushed raspberries, 7 C sugar, jelly jars
Using a potato masher to mash berries. Stir in Fruit Pectin. You can add 1/2 t butter to reduce foaming. Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add Sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil 1 min, stir constantly. remove from heat. Put in hot jars. leave 1/4 in headspace. Clean rims with damp cloth. Add lids and rims. Hot bathe for 10min.

RASPBERRY SYRUP
I found a recipe that is so simple that I might try doing more next year. It's equal part raspberries and sugar. I blended the raspberries in a blender first and then measured it that way. You just cook until it boils for 3 min. put in jars and hot bathe for 15 min. Serve over hot pancakes or waffles.

GARLIC PICKLES OR GREEN BEANS
I have to Thank my friend Angela J. for this and hopefully she won't mind that I shared! These are the best pickles I've tasted in a long time. Even my kids down these. I had to have store pickles the other day and about gaged. It's just not the same

Brine: 1 gal water, 1 qt vinegar, 1C salt. Bring to a boil
Fill Clean bottling jars with sprigs of dill (fresh is the best) and plenty of garlic cloves (6-7 in each jar). Then fill with cucumbers. Fill with boiling brine. leaving 1/2 inch space at top. Clean tops of jar and top with hot lids and secure with rings. Hot bath in full rolling boil water for 5 min. Let seal and then store for a few months to letthe pickles get the yummy garlic flavor.

You can also do Green beans with this same recipe.

MY HELPFUL COOKING TIPS

Okay this section is just going to be little helpful cooking tips that I use. Who doesn't like helpful tips right!!!

THE BEST OF TIPS:
Cook books, Food Magazines and Word of mouth is the best way to get a good recipe. I Love the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks, Food and Family magazine, Paula Deen cookbooks and magazines, Taste of Homes recipes, Ward cook books and my Big Sister! There is many more, but I don't have all night. I am a collector of cookbooks and recipes, I should really organize them more often.
Another great tip is to check out cookbooks from the library and then copy the ones you want to try. I've been doing that and it saves me on having to spend a lot of money for new recipes. So don't be afraid to try new things, because usually they will be things you and your family will LOVE!!!!

COOKING BACON
I'm going to be honest and say "WE LOVE BACON!!!!" I know it's not the best way to get protein, but it's so good, we don't resist it.. You can always do a few extra minutes of exercising, right!
Well I have a couple of good tips when cooking bacon. 1ST: No matter how you choose to cook your bacon, RUN EACH SLICE UNDER COLD WATER FIRST. This was the best tip I ever got, because it keeps the bacon from shrinking to little bitty pieces. If you do this, your bacon will not loose it's size and it will be perfect with whatever you're doing with it.
2nd: Cook your bacon in the oven. I like this tip as well because it helps my house not smell overly run by bacon. It still smells a little, but it goes away faster. I line a cookie sheet with 2 layers of tin foil (saves on clean up) and place the bacon on it. I'll usually turn the oven to 375 or if I'm in a hurry 400. Cooking times will depend on how big and thick your bacon slices are. I usually start with 15 to 20 min, then just keep checking it until it is cooked the way I like it. Also when you take it out of the oven, tip the pan and drain as much grease a you can into a throw away container. (I have an old big diced tomato can that I keep under my sink and pull it out when I need to dump anything greasy) I also take the bacon off the pan and place on paper towels. I love bacon, but I hate to feel like I'm just eating grease. We usually cut are bacon in 1/2, because you get more slices out of it, but with the cold water trick, it makes the bacon a pefect size.
I've never tried the cold water trick when cooking it on the stove, it might make the grease splatter more. SO Oven or microwave is probably the best. In microwave I line a plate with paper towels and also place a paper towel on top. It soaks up the grease and it doesn't splatter in the microwave. I still try to get as much of the grease out as I can by dabbing with extra paper towels.


THE PERFECT BACON

NEVER GO WRONG CASSEROLE'S

I hate to say, I Love casseroles's, but I do! Besides crock pot meals, casserole's are one of those things that you can put together a head of time and then leave in the fridge until it's time to bake. It is also fun to mix a bunch of ingredients together and see what you come out with. If I pick the right ingredients my kids will actually eat them....

STUFF ZUCCHINI CASSEROLE
This is one to do in the summer when you are over run with zucchni's and yellow squash. My oldest hates squash, but he actually ate this, so you might have a chance with picky eaters...


WHAT YOU NEED: 2-4 Zucchini or yellow squash. (Depends on how big the casserole dish is) 1 garlic clove (minced), 1 lb sausage, 1 C bread crumbs, 1 C grated parmesan cheese, 1 can or jar spaghetti sauce, mozzerrella cheese (shredded)

Heat oven 350'
cut zucchini into chunks. Put in the bottom of a casserole dish. Brown garlic & sausage together (drain grease). Mix together bread crumbs & parmesan. Add to sausage and mix well. crumble or sprinkle sausage mixture over zucchini. Pour spaghetti sauce over sausage & zucchini. Bake for 30 min. Take out and sprinkle mozzerella cheese over the top. ut bake in for 5 more min or until chese is melted.


CHICKEN & STUFFiNG CASSEROLE

WHAT YOU NEED: 6-8 chicken breasts, 1 c cream of chicken soup, 2 C herb seasoned stuffing ( I just used chicken stuffing), 2 C cheddar cheese (shredded),
1/2 C water

Heat oven 350
Arrange chicken in the bottom of a greased casserole dish. Cover with soup, then stuffing, followed by the cheese and water. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 min. Uncover the last 10 min
Yes my picky 8 year old ate this one to!


ANOTHER CHICKEN & STUFFING CASSEROLE

WHAT YOU NEED: 3 C chicken, cut into chunks, dash of salt, 1/4 C butter,
1 C chopped celery, 1 C chopped onion, 1 C chredded carrots, 1 C cream of chicken,
1 C sour cream, 1 pkg stove top stuffing (chicken)

Heat oven 350
Boil chicken with salt. drain. Combine and saute' butter, celery and onion. When almost done, add carrots. Mix soup with sour cream. Add cooked chicken and vegetables. Heat through. Prepare stuffing mix according to package. spread chicken mixture into a 13x9 casserole dish. Top with stuffing. Bake until heated through (about 20 min or so)

SAY "THANK YOU" WITH A LITTLE YUM!!!

I don't have too many of these, but hopefully I can slowly find some more and post them. My sister lead me to a fun website that had these recipes and they have been a Hit every time I have made them. The best part is that you can get creative and that is always fun! Go to www.bakerella.com for more fun ideas.


MINT OREO TRUFFLES

. I'll be honest, these are to die for! If you love oreos, these are a must try.

WHAT YOU NEED: 1 pkg mint oreos or oreos (I love mint), 1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened, white Almond bark or dipping chocolate. Food processor

Reserve 7 cookies if you want to use them for decor on top, if you don't care about that, then dump pkg of oreos in a food processor and add cream cheese. mix until well mixed. Roll into balls and dip in white chocolate bark or milk chocolate bark, place on waxed paper until set. Store in refrigerater
Hint If you don't have a food processor, then put in zip-loc baggy and crush until really fine, and stir in cream cheese. A hand mixer might work as well (Not sure)


CAKE BALLS OR POPS

This is carrot cake flavor, it was so good
I did these as Thank You's at my sister-in-laws baby shower. I even found a little poem to hook onto them. I also made some on a platter to eat. You can make these into pops or balls. If you do pops you need the white sucker sticks.

What you need: 1 Box of your Favorite Cake mix, 1 Can cream cheese frosting, 1 pkg white or dark chocolate Almond bark or good melting chocolate. Bark works the best.

Make cake according to pkg directions and cool. crumble into a lg mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese frosting(Hint: You can get away with using just a 1/2 can of the frosting, especially if you are doing 2 cakes.) and mix with hands until blended together. Roll mixture into 1/4 size balls and lay on a cookie sheet. Chill in freezer for several hours. Melt chocolate or Almond bark in microwave or I use a double broiler. (Hint: Leave cake balls in freezer until chocolate is melted or close to being done. They are easier to work with if they are still frozen). Roll balls in chocolate, tap off extra, lay on wax paper until set.

Another hint: Melt a little chocolate at a time, so it doesn't cool and thicken. Also the balls are fast, but rolling in the chocolate takes a little time, So plan for that.