Jam and More Jam

This summer we finally had a reasonable crop of fruit from our fruit trees.  We didn't have enough cherries to do anything (or at least if we did I blinked and missed them) but we had loads of peaches and about a kilo of plums.  Strawberries and Rasperries a plenty.  in addition we went to a pick your own place twice once just for strawberries and a second time for strawberries and blackberries.  Now you might be wondering what I did with all this fruit.

I JAMMED!  Yes I made Jam, lots of it.  In our cupboard at the moment we have:

7 Jars Fruit of the Forest Jam
9 Jars Strawberry and Vanilla Jam
4 Jars Peach
4 Jars Plum
and 8 Jars Burnt Peach which I am trying to get R to throw out.  (BTW I didn't make this one :) )

I have plans to jam again next year and decided it would be a good idea to list the jam recipes I used in one place so I know exactly were to look when the jam season comes round again and I can therefore avoid the burnt jam issue we had this year.  We made 2 batches of the same recipe( one made by me and one by R) both got horrendously burnt so we changed to a different recipe and voila yummy jam.

Below are the recipes I used, my comments are in italics.

Source: Preserving by Carol Wilson

Peach and Walnut Jam

450g ripe peaches
450g ripe fruit (pears/apples etc)
675g sugar (I used granulated)
50g chopped walnuts (I forgot to add these and it is just as yummy without them)

1) Peel all fruit and cut into small pieces (I didn't peel the peaches and it worked well).  Put into a jam pan with the sugar.  Stir over low heat till dissolved, bring to boil.  Boil rapidly for 15 - 20 minutes until thick and setting point is reached.  Stir in walnuts and boil for 1 minute.

I had to mash the fruit at one point too as I used eating apples and they kept their shape well so there were little cubes of apple through the jam.

2) Remove pan from heat, rest for 15 minutes while warming jars.  Pour into warned jars, cover seal and label.

Strawberry and Vanilla Jam (adapted from about three recipes)

2kg Strawberries (washed and hulled)
1.6kg sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 Vanilla Pods  - this gave a noticeable vanilla taste which was yummy

1) Split vanilla pods.  Scrape seeds and place seeds and split pods in Jam pan with strawberries and lemon juice into jam pan over low heat and bring to boil.  Simmer for 20 minutes until soft.  Add sugar stir till dissolved then boil rapidly until setting point reached.

2) Remove pan from heat, rest for 15 minutes while warming jars.  Pour into warned jars, cover seal and label.

Plum Jam (Source: Good Housekeeping Cookery Book 1972)

3kg Plums
3kg Sugar
600ml water

1) Cut fruit in half and remove stones (you can skip this step and just remove the stones with a slotted spoon while cooking) Crack a handful of stones and remove the kernel.

2) Put fruit and water and kernels in jam pan and bring to boil.  Simmer for about 20 minutes till fruit is soft.

3) Add sugar , stir until dissolved. Boil rapidly until setting point is reached.

4) Remove pan from heat, rest for 15 minutes while warming jars.  Pour into warned jars, cover seal and label.

Fruits of the Forest Jam (an adaptation of a Blackberry Jam recipe from the Good housekeeping Book as above)

3kg Soft fruits (I used a mix of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries)
Juice of 2 lemons
150ml water
3kg Sugar

1) Wash soft fruit and place in Jam Pan with lemon juice and water.  Simmer gently till fruit is cooked.  Add sugar, stir till dissolved.  Boil rapidly till setting point is reached.

2) Remove pan from heat, rest for 15 minutes while warming jars.  Pour into warned jars, cover seal and label.

I will be returning to these recipes again next year.

I do have to say that we did not use additional pectin in any of our successful jams this year.  We did use it with success last year but this year I wanted to try without.  The addition of lemon juice seems to have done the trick.

There are many more recipes I want to try but for now we have run out of jam jars.

{NINE} Blogtoberfest

When life hands you lemons you make Lemonade!

Well on Sunday night our wonderful Italian neighbour dropped this bag of lemons on our back doorstep.  There then involved some very amusing charades with Jot through the window.  All I could hear from the other room was 'No Costa I can't open the door till I ask my Mummy' repeated to whatever it was our neighbour was trying to tell her.

Now the same wonderful neighbour dropped over a box of Lemons about 2 weeks ago and a bagful about 2 weeks  before that.

The first bagful became Lemon Cordial  and Lemoncello which is delicious.  The second batch was zested and juiced and stuck in the freezer.  Part of that zest is currently soaking in vinegar to create a cleaning spray.  Not quite sure what this third batch is going to end up with but I have found some links which I would like to try.  I might have a big day soon to stock the freezer.

Lemon Loaf: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/lemon-loaf-2/
Lemon Sherbert: http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonSherbet.html
Lemon Curd: http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonCurd.html
Lemon Bars: http://www.joyofbaking.com/LemonBars.html

I also want to preserve some lemons but I am not sure what to use them for.  Maybe Christmas presents?

Watch this space.

blogtoberfest Day 10 - Cooking

I went through some of my starred items in my reader and once I got over the fact that I have nearly 500 starred items.  I didn't get through them all this weekend but I do plan to finish them in due course.  I think I will add them to this list and book mark this list in the side menu on the off chance I will get a chance to actually try some of these recipes.



Cherry Sherbert
Watermelon Granita 
Ice Coffee
Rhubarb Cobbler 
Milky Way Cake 
Red Velvet Sheet Cake 
Cinnamon Rolls 
Grasshopper Pie
Homemade Ketchup
Pumpkin Pie
Three Cheese Mashed Potato Casserole
Hot Fudge Sauce 
Texas Sheet Cake
White Choc and Macadamia Cookies
Christmas Cookies 
Baked Beans 
Cranberry Orange Coconut Cookies
Taco Seasoning 
Rainbow Cake

As you may be able to tell the Pioneer Woman is a huge inspiration to me.  Shame I never get round to trying any of the recipes :)

Blogtoberfest Day 11

What do you do when you look in your fridge and find an unopened carton of Buttermilk with an expiry date of tomorrow?

You do what any self respecting person would do and track down recipes to use it up. As the majority of my cookbooks are still in boxes in the garage (I will unpack them before we have been in the house a year) I resorted to my good friend the internet.

Specifically the Tasty Kitchen website which is run by the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond. It is an American site so all the measurements are in Cups which is slightly confusing to me but armed with my new set of cups everything is suddenly so much easier.

I was specifically looking for buttermilk pancakes but on my first search on Saturday evening with a cranky toddler I couldn’t find one (why I just didn’t search for Buttermilk Pancakes I don’t know) but came across this one for Buttermilk Biscuits instead. They are kind of like scones but are lighter and are still edible this morning (day 2 ½), unlike scones which I find go hard very very quickly. We made one batch and ended up with about 32 biscuits and one bad mummy moment.

Jot tried to take a hot biscuit off the pan as I was removing it from the oven, which isn’t like her as she knows and understands that things from the oven are hot, and got the side of her hand against the pan. She is fine though and nothing a cuddle from Mummy and a play in cold water couldn’t fix. Looking back there was nothing I could have done to prevent it as she was just too determined to have a biscuit (and I had both hands full) but at the time I felt decidedly like an irresponsible parent.

But back to the biscuits. I realised that having 32 yummy biscuits in the house was quite dangerous so I have frozen 20 of them for a Phoenix Cards open house I am holding this weekend. The proof I feel will be how well they defrost as scones never defrost well. Success and ½ the Buttermilk was gone.

So last night when R asked what was for dessert he had the choice of a banana or buttermilk pancakes (which I still didn’t have a recipe for), what do you think he chose. Back on to the Tasty Kitchen and I found this recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes (I used the right search term this time). I made the mix but R was in charge of the cooking (I always burn pancakes) and they are yummy. The batter made about 10 smallish pancakes and we kept four back for Jot for today. I think it would be a great recipe to make up to freeze pancakes for kids snacks but we don’t have a big enough freezer for that yet. Another success and ¾ of the buttermilk is finished.

So what do I use the rest of the Buttermilk for?

Well how about

Buttermilk Banana Bread
or
Peach Buttermilk Sherbert
or
Brown Sugar Buttermilk Pound Cake
 
Way too many choices now!
 

Blogtoberfest – Day 8 – Harvest

I had planned for today's post to just be a round up of useful websites, blog and books that can help you on your way to a simple (or simpler) life, however on Wednesday (perhaps foolishly) I promised to give you some ideas for your harvest so I have split today's Post into two. I will do my best to post the second part this evening but I might not get round to it till tomorrow.

When harvesting you garden you will at times end up with thousands of an item as all your plants bear fruit (or veg) at the same time. I for one am over Pumpkins after about 2 weeks so the need for preserving you harvest comes into play.

Harvest can be preserved a number of ways but the most frequent are:

Cold Storage - This involves placing food in a cool dark environment with varying levels of humidity (some foods need moist, others dry some warmer others cooler) which must be taken into account when deciding where to store food. A root cellar is a good place to start but not very easy to find in most of Australia.

Canning - The principle behind canning is to destroy the microorganisms that cause food to spoil and to create a vacuum in which remaining bacteria cannot grow. Essentially you are pasteurising your food so you need to make sure you get it right.

I have never attempted canning, but my grandmother always used to can fruits and veg.

Drying - This was one of the earliest methods of food preserving where sun was plentiful. It is by far the simplest and most natural way of preserving food and if you are fortunate to live in a warm, dry climate all you needs is fresh food and a little time, for the rest of us a dehydrator or an oven is all that is required.

FRUIT LEATHER RECIPE

Freezing - Although freezing does not stop the clock, cold temperatures considerably slow the deterioration of food and postpone spoilage by temporarily stopping the growth of organisms. While the initial outlay for a good freezer and the electricity to run it can be expensive it is superior to other preserving methods. More nutrients are preserved and texture, colour and flavour are better than other methods.

TIP: Always remember to label your items well and create an inventory and/or a map of your freezer so you (or the man of the house) can always find what you are looking for quickly and easily.

TIP: Freeze citrus juice in ice cube bags and use the juice to flavour dishes throughout the year.

Jams and Jellies - It is never too early or too late to learn the art of jam and jelly (Jellies have no chunks of fruit in them) making. You can create a seasonal ritual by going to a pick your own and then letting the kids help you to make the jam and then enjoy it throughout the winter. The basic recipe is simple and contains Sugar, Fruit and Pectin in varying amounts, for example raspberries will need more added pectin that blackberries in order to set.

HOT PEPPER JELLY RECIPE

CINNAMON PEACH JAM

Pickles, Relishes and Chutneys - These wonderful meal accessories add interest to a main course. They are far from nutritious on their own but make nutritious food much more delicious to eat.

MUSTARD PICKLE RECIPE

If you do not have a garden yet want to try any of the above methods buy your food stuffs in bulk when in season. Lemons can be bought cheaply when in season or ask around odds are you will know someone with a lemon tree who is desperate to off load some.

Gosh this has turned into quite a long post so I hope you all get something from it. The recipes I have linked to I have not tried (yet) but they are on my to list for the right time of year.

Have you liked the series of posts? Would you like to see another one next week?

Advent Blog-a-log Day 5 - Christmas Candy

Each year I have these grandiose ideas to make my own christmas candy, then I leave it too late and run out to the shops and buy some very overpriced artificial stuff at the last minute.  Not this year!!

Thanks to the wonders of the internet (and I have been following this lady for so long I no longer remember how I found her in the first place) I have stumbled across The wonderful Hungry Mouse (Jessie).  On a regular basis a delicious recipe finds its way to my Google reader and therefore my to do list.  Well I am doing.  As I type I am in the middle of making her Candied Fruit Peel at the request of R.  I am blanching the peel at the moment and I will report back tomorrow (hopefully with a arty picture if R doesn't eat them all when he gets home).

I have only one recipe that I make regularly for candy at that is my easy Peppermint Creams.  I found this recipe when a friend was pregnant and couldn't have the regular Peppermint Creams as they contain egg white and I have never looked back.  They don't dry out as well as the egg white version but I love them a little squishy.  I won't be making them this year as there is no room in my kitchen (long story) but I look forward to embarking on them next year in my new kitchen in my new house.

Peppermint Creams

450g Pure Icing Sugar
4 Tablespoons Condensed Milk
Peppermint oil to taste
Green Food Colouring (optional, I like to do half and half)

• Sift icing sugar into a bowl
• Add condensed milk
• Mix until smooth and creamy (you may need to add a bit more icing sugar if you have been generous with your tablespoons)
• Add Peppermint oil (& Green food colouring)
• Work mixture with hands till flavour and colour are evenly distributed
• Dust a board (or counter top) with Icing sugar
• Roll mixture out to approx 0.5cm depth
• Cut into rounds using a cutter (if you don't have a cutter use a knife and cut into diamonds - this is easier)
• Leave in a cool dry place to set
• Once set (this can take upto 24 hours) you can dip them in melted Chocolate for a more decadent experience.

I might also try this recipe from the Brassy Apple if I can find somewhere that sells Orange extract.  A mission for tomorrow I think.  Also this one for Peppermint Bark from Alice at a Savory Sweet Life.

Off to check on my candied peel.
See you tomorrow
Jots Mum