Pineapple Jam

Posted by on 12 March 2010 No comments

Yumm! This is my newest experiment in the canning department. We had a pineapple sitting on the table, just waiting for the ‘perfect’ time to cut into it, and well the ‘perfect’ time just never came, so the pineapple was starting to look a bit over-ripe. So I decided “Hey! Let’s look for a recipe to make some jam!” Well I found one and it worked, so I sent Kyle to wal mart to get a few more pineapples because they were $2 each at the time. 😀

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  • 3 1/4 cups crushed pineapple
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 box Sure-jel powdered pectin
  • 1 tsp butter or margarine

I crushed the pineapple using our food processor. It came out nice and chunky. I did do a batch with pineapple that I put through the blender, but it just pureed it, instead of crushing it.

Combine the crushed pineapple, pectin, and butter or margarine in a large pot. Bring to a rolling boil and add the sugar. Return to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Fill prepared jars leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Adjust two piece lids, and either invert for 5 minutes and set upright to cool and seal or, process for 15 minutes* in a boiling water canner or a steam canner.

*For our altitude here in Utah you need to add 10 minutes to the processing time.

Disneyland Fritters

Posted by on 6 November 2009 No comments

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  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 4 eggs
  • oil for deep frying (about 4 cups)
  • sugar

Melt butter in boiling water on high heat. Reduce heat to medium; add salt and flour and beat vigorously until mixture leaves sides of pan. Remove from heat immediately. Transfer mixture to mixing bowl and cool slightly. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating vigorously.

Heat oil to 375 F

Dip tablespoon first in oil then fill with batter. Drop into hot oil. Do not crowd pan. Cook fritters until browned on both sides, turning to brown evenly. Remove with slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels. Roll in sugar. Serve hot or cold.

Spiced Peach Jam

Posted by on 2 October 2009 No comments

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Follow your pectin’s recipe for peach jam and add:

  • 1 tsp whole cloves
  • 1/2 tsp whole allspice
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Tie spices in a spice bag and add to jam during cooking. Remove the spice bag before filling the jars.

Apple Mint Jam

Posted by on 3 September 2009 1 comment

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  • 4 cups chopped apples
  • 1 packed cup mint leaves*
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 box pectin
  • 1 tsp or so butter or margarine
  • 5 1/4 cups sugar
  • food coloring

Measure 4 cups of chopped apples, then add water to the 4 cup line. Pour into a large pot. Add lemon juice, pectin, butter and mint leaves. Bring to a full boil. It will be difficult to tell when it’s boiling because it is quite chunky, but when it bubbles and splatters and no matter how hard you stir it just doesn’t stop, add the pre- measured sugar; return to a boil. Boil hard one minute. Remove from heat, and remove the mint leaves. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, adjust two piece caps and process 20 minutes in a boiling water canner.^

Yield: Makes about 6 1/2  half pint jars.

*Put the mint leaves in a cloth bag to make pulling it out easier.

^Or invert for 5 min, then flip them back over to cool and seal.

Homemade Coconut Ice Cream

Posted by on 4 July 2009 No comments

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  • 1-13.5 oz can Coconut milk
  • 1/4 c Milk
  • 1 3/4 c Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 c Half and Half
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 4 cups Whipping cream

Scald coconut milk and milk until bubbles form around edge. Remove from heat. Add sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Stir in half and half, vanilla and whipping cream. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Freeze as directed in your ice cream maker.

Note: This recipe makes 4 quarts of ice cream. If your ice cream maker is smaller you will want to freeze it in batches.

Hungarian Goulash

Posted by on 31 May 2009 No comments

I got this recipe from my 1950’s edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but I have made just a couple of changes to it. Such as, I omit the salt called for in the recipe because we found that it was just so salty with the salt AND the bouillion cubes, and Kyle said that he would not be willing to eat it again if it turned out that salty next time. Also the cookbook calls for baking the goulash, but I just throw it in the crock pot and let it do it’s thing. 😉

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  • 2 lbs beef chuck cut in 2 inch cubes (or just use stew meat)
  • 1 c chopped onions
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 c flour
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 2 beef bouillon cubes
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
  • 2 cups peeled, diced tomatoes*
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 bouguet garni

Cook beef and onions in hot fat until onions are soft and yellow. Don’t worry about cooking the meat all the way through, just browing the meat will be fine (I noticed that the meat turns out more tender if you just brown it and let the crock pot cook it the rest of the way). Lightly stir in the flour, and paprika; cook 5 minutes. Put meat in a crock pot and add remaining ingredients and cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove the bouguet garni, before serving, and serve over egg noodles.

Bouguet garni: 1 bay leaf, 1 stalk celery with leaves, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 1 blade thyme-all tied in a little cheesecloth bag.

*Note that you can also use cans of chopped tomatoes, instead of chopping up fresh ones.

Jello Eggs and Jello Beans

Posted by on 13 April 2009 2 comments

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  • 1-8 servings box of any flavor of Jello or 2-4 servings boxes
  • 1 1/2 c boiling Water

You will also need a Jello egg and Jello bean mold.

Grease the molds by either spraying with nonstick spray or wiping with an oiled paper towel.

Dissolve gelatin in the hot water and using a funnel pour into the Jello egg mold first, then whatever gelatin doesn’t fit in the Jello eggs mold pour into the Jello beans mold.

Chill eggs for at least 3 hours, beans won’t take as long to set.

Carefully remove eggs and beans from their molds to serve.

Chili and Corn Chips Casserole

Posted by on 13 April 2009 No comments

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  • 3-15 oz cans of Chili
  • 1-9 3/4 oz bag of Corn chips
  • Cheese

Put about half of the chili in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Then top with about half the corn chips, and some cheese. Repeat layers one more time topping with some more cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 min.

This is just a simplified version of this recipe on cousin Julie’s recipe blog Corn Chip Chili Casserole

Note: This recipe is NOT good reheated

Garlic Lime Chicken

Posted by on 3 April 2009 1 comment

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  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Pepper
  • 1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/8 tsp Paprika
  • 1 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Thyme
  • 4 Boneless skinless Chicken breasts
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Butter
  • 3 tbsp Lime Juice
  • 1/3 c Chicken broth

In a small bowl combine the first seven ingredients. I like to cut the chicken breasts into strips so it’s easier to give the kids ‘their own’ piece and they seem to cook faster as strips rather than whole breasts. Sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of the chicken.

In a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil together and saute chicken until golden brown; about 5 minutes per side. Remove from skillet and keep warm.

Add lime juice and chicken broth to the skillet, whisking up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until sauce has reduced slightly. Return chicken to the skillet to thoroughly coat with the sauce; serve.

Cornbread

Posted by on 22 February 2009 No comments

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  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 c Sugar
  • 3/4 c Milk
  • 1/2 c Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Baking powder
  • 1 1/3 c Flour
  • 2/3 c Corn meal

Beat together eggs, sugar, milk and oil. Stir flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder into egg mixture, using as few strokes as possible. Bake in greased 8×8 baking dish at 400 degrees for 25-30 min or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.