Keeping With The Times

living, learning, and keeping with the times

Spicy, Tangy, Mouthwatering Salsa

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It’s that time of year, when the world falls in love with salsa!

Homemade Salsa, preserves, keeping with the times

fresh garden tomatoes, onions, peppers, celery …
Homemade Salsa, preserves, keeping with the times

Spicy, tangy, mouthwatering!

Homemade Salsa, spices

I prefer to use this salsa as a condiment to spice up eggs or sausages. In fact, I refer to it as “grown up ketchup”.

So turn on some music, get your apron, and make sure to set aside the better part of a day to make this. Don’t rush. Take your time.

Turn the chopping and dicing and slicing into a celebration of autumn.

Soon your kitchen, and whole house for that matter, will be filled with a sweet, tangy aroma, and you will be filled with a sense of pride knowing that you’ve tucked away a little bit of summer to be enjoyed all winter long.

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How to Make Salsa
 
Ingredients
  • 12 large tomatoes – peeled, chopped and drained* see note
  • 2 large onions – chopped
  • 2 large red peppers – seeded and chopped
  • 1 green pepper – seeded and chopped
  • 1 cup celery – chopped
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups cider vinegar or plain vinegar (I use half and half)
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • Hot peppers – chopped – to taste (I don’t use any)
  • Garlic cloves – chopped – to taste (I use about three)
Spice Mix
  • Combine and put in a spice bag:
  • 1 Tbsp mustard seed
  • 1 Tsp whole allspice
  • 1 Tsp whole cloves
Instructions
  1. Sterilize jars and lids.
  2. Peel and dice tomatoes to equal 12 cups. As I chop them I put them in a colander to drain. Combine all ingredients and put in a large pot, put spice bag in.
  3. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer – stirring occasionally for 1 hour and 45 minutes. If it seems too watery, take the lid off of the pot for the last half hour or so to let some water evaporate, or make a paste of 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp water and add to the mix. Cook a few minutes longer.
  4. Discard spice bag. Ladle into sterilized jars 1/4 inch from rim. Wipe rims with a clean cloth. Seal with lids that you have let sit in boiling water for one minute. Process in hot water bath about 15 minutes.
Notes
To easily peel tomatoes, put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over top. Let sit a minute or two and the skins should pop off very easily. I use rubber gloves to protect my hands from the hot water.

 

 

How to Make Chokecherry Jelly

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I love picking berries! Yes I do.

On Saturday I spent a couple hours picking enough chokecherries to make about 21 jars of jelly, many of which I will give away.

It was sunny and warm with a tinge of coolness in the air. Everything is still very lush and green but the trees are showing early signs of what’s to come. They look stressed, bug-eaten, and with some yellow leaves peeking out here and there. This is my favourite time of year … it’s still summer, but a bit cooler, and there’s so many wonderful fruits and vegetables available.

How to make chokecherry jelly, preserves, keeping with the times

So after two hours of picking, one hour of washing and sorting, and four hours of cooking, here’s my reward.

How to make chokecherry jelly, preserves, keeping with the times

How to make chokecherry jelly, preserves, keeping with the times

I thought I would include the recipe I use. It’s straight from the Certo package and I never stray from the directions. Chokecherry jelly can be quite tricky. It can either not set at all, or become too hard. I seem to have luck if I do exactly as the recipe states.

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Chokecherry Jelly
 
Ingredients
  • 3 cups prepared juice
  • 6 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 pouches Certo Liquid Pectin
Instructions
Prepare the Juice
  1. To make the juice combine 12 cups chokecherries with 3 cups water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Pour into a colander lined with 3 layers of cheesecloth. Bring edges of cheesecloth together gently (careful it is HOT, so hot that I use rubber gloves and even then it is HOT) and let the juice drip. You can squeeze the bag gently but try not to ... you only need 3 cups of juice.
Jelly
  1. In a large saucepan stir together juice and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil hard 1 minute then at once remove from heat and add pectin. Stir and skim any froth for 5 minutes.
  2. Pour into sterilized jars and seal with sterilized lids.

 

Enjoy!

Chokecherry Jelly, Preserves, Keeping with the Times

 

 

Roasted Garlic, Onion, Raspberry, Rosemary Jam

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Roasted Garlic, Caramelized Onion, Raspberry, Rosemary Jam… now that’s a mouthful!

Roasted Onion Garlic Raspberry Rosemary Jam

There are lots of recipes for roasted garlic and onion jams, but this one has a twist that I haven’t seen before.

We were on holidays and I was trying to make this when I realized I didn’t have any sugar. As I rummaged through the cupboard I found a jar of (seedless) raspberry jelly… hmmmm… I wonder how that would taste….

Well, delicious, that’s how! The raspberry jelly makes this tasty treat go right off the charts.

Once I start eating it, quite honestly I can’t stop. Hubby and I have spent quite a bit of time debating as to how best to serve it.

Roasted Onion Garlic Raspberry Rosemary Jam

We came up with quite a few suggestions…

1. With a spoon (me)

2. With meat (he)

3. With crackers and brie (me, he)

4. On a whole baked brie (me, he)

5. With crackers and cream cheese (me)

6. With a fork, or even a knife if needs be (me)

So I thought I’d share my super not so secret recipe here with you, and for me, when next I go to make it and can’t remember what I did.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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Roasted Garlic, Caramelized Onion, Raspberry, Rosemary Jam
 
Ingredients
  • 3-4 large onions, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 2 heads garlic (roasted)
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1 jar seedless red raspberry jelly
  • 4 garlic cloves - sliced
  • 3 - 4 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
Instructions
  1. Cut the top off of the garlic heads and cover in foil. Roast in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.
  2. In a heavy skillet, slowly saute onions in butter until they have turned a light caramel colour. It may take up to half an hour. Add the balsamic vinegar and water as needed to keep them from drying out. You can't really walk away from this task - you don't want to burn them, so stay close by, and stir often.
  3. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the onions.
  4. In another skillet, saute the garlic slices in butter until lightly browned - this will take about 5 minutes.
  5. Add the raspberry jelly to the onion, roasted garlic mixture and cook and heat until the jelly has melted. Simmer for 10 minutes.
  6. Add the garlic slices, and the fresh rosemary.
  7. Heat gently for about 5 minutes, and ladle into jars. Store in refrigerator.

Roasted-Garlic-Onion-Rosemary-Jam-Collage

Don’t forget the fresh rosemary!

Roasted Onion Garlic Raspberry Rosemary Jam

Dill Carrot Pickles

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I make these wonderful pickled carrots every summer when carrots and dill are plentiful. The process is super easy and if you need some tips on canning, check out Bernardin Home Canning for instructions.

A good friend and neighbor gave this recipe to me years ago. It was meant for cucumbers (which are good too) but the recipe called for cucumbers, and one carrot. Well, everyone wanted the carrot, of course. So being the rocket scientist that I am, I thought . . . why not just make carrots, and so I did and have for years. This is one of those recipes that would be closely guarded by women entering a cooking/baking contest and here I am sharing it with the world. Thank you, Eleanor, for sharing the love.

These are a family favourite and it may be quite possible that we’ve eaten a whole jar at one sitting… just sayin’…

Dilled-Pickled Carrots

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Dill Carrot Pickles
 
Ingredients
  • Per Quart
  • 1 or 2 garlic cloves, 2 dill weed heads (preferably gone to seed)
  • Brine
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 cup vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp pickling salt
Instructions
  1. Check out Bernardin Home Canning for instructions on how to prepare for pickling. Download their step-by-step guide.
  2. Put 2 dill weed heads, and 2 garlic cloves in each jar.
  3. Wash, peel, and cut carrots into finger size pieces, and place into jars.
  4. Boil the brine and pour over carrots, filling to about 1/2 inch from the top.
  5. Put on seals and lids and process in a hot water bath for 1/2 hour.
  6. Let marinate for at least a week.

Enjoy! and have a happy weekend!

From tree to table

by 23 Comments

chokecherry jelly on toast . . . such a simple thing . . .
. . . four hours picking . . .
. . . cleaning and sorting . . .
. . . yummy bokeh . . .
 . . . four hours cooking and preserving . . .
. . . well, maybe not so simple . . . but definitely worth it . . .
.
Chokecherry Jelly

Juice
12 cups chokecherries
3 cups water

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 – 20 minutes. Mash with potato masher. Strain through cheesecloth.

Jelly

Combine:
3 cups chokecherry juice
6 1/2 cups sugar

Bring to a full rolling boil – one that cannot be stirred down. Boil hard for one minute. Remove from heat and add:

2 pouches liquid Certo, stir and skim off any foam.

Pour into sterilized jars and and immediately seal with lids sterilized in boiling water, place metal ring over top and tighten lightly. The middle of the lid should quickly ‘pop’ down for a perfect seal. If not, store in refrigerator.