Apple Butter

Last week we were in Northern Illinois and stopped in at an awesome apple orchard, Edwards Orchard to be exact.  They had a large store where you could not only purchase their apples but also lots of other foods that they make themselves.  I’ve always liked apple butter but never have tried to make it myself, but after sampling theirs I knew I had to make some.  After scouring the internet for recipes, I came up with this one which is a combination of several different recipes.  You can easily cut it in half if you want.
Apple pulp is the first thing you need.  Quarter and core about 40 medium size apples.  Make sure you use a soft apple, such as a McIntosh.  Gala and Cortlands work too but they need to cook a little longer.

Put the apples in a large kettle over low heat.  You can add a small amount of water just to get them cooking but be careful not to add too much.

They are starting to soften.                   Here’s what they need to look like.

Pour them into a strainer and press the pulp out.

And now you have applesauce!  Or as the recipe says, apple pulp. You will need 16 cups of the apple pulp.

This is what is left in your strainer.  Makes me wish we had a pig to feed it to but I’m ok with not having one.

Pour the apple pulp back into the large kettle.


Add one cup of apple cider.  This is the cider we bought from the orchard.  It is sooo good!

Now add the following:  4 cups white sugar, 2 cups brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon allspice and 1 teaspoon nutmeg.

Stir this all together and start cooking it over low heat. 

This is what it should look like when it is finished cooking.  It took about 5-6 hours of low heat and lots of stirring to come to this stage.  And your house will smell awesome!

Ladle into jars and hot water bath for 10 minutes.  I used half pint but you could use pint jars.

Yummy!  This is going to taste so good on pancakes.

Apple Butter
16 cups apple pulp
1 cup apple cider
4 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbl cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
Combine all ingredients in large kettle and cook until thick.  Seal in jars and hot water bath for 10 minutes.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
– 1 Corinthians 10:13

FROZEN CREAM CORN

Corn on the cob season is here!  When you’ve had your fill of eating it fresh this is a great way to eat it all winter. If you are a fan of cream corn you will love this!  You will never buy a can of that mystery corn again.

You will need 3 dozen cobs of corn.  If the cobs are small you may need more.  These were large so it was the perfect amount.  Shuck (peel) the corn and remove as much of the “hair” as possible.

In a very large kettle, bring water to a boil.   I use my canner, it is the perfect size.  Add about a dozen cobs to the water and cover.  This is called blanching and it is necessary to stop the enzymes.  All fruits and vegetables contain enzymes that, over time, break down the destroy nutrients and change the color, flavor, and texture of food during frozen storage. Corn requires a brief heat treatment, called blanching, in boiling water or steam, to destroy the enzymes before freezing.  Set a timer for five minutes.  I like to do this outside on my gas burners because my stovetop cannot handle these large kettles.

After five minutes, remove the corn.  To keep the process going. add another dozen cobs and set your timer again for 5 minutes.  You will be very busy during this process so don’t be trying to run and change the laundry.

Immediately dump the corn into very cold water.  Rub the cobs to remove any hair left.  Your next pot of cobs should be done so get them and repeat.

I like to add ice to the cobs to get them very cold.  They need to be cold to the centers before you can cut the kernels off.  If you do it when it is still warm your corn will get a funky taste.

Cut the kernels from the cob.  I like to use a very sharp knife.   Be careful not to cut into the cob.  You don’t want that tough cob in your corn.

Then scrape the cob with your knife to get all the good juicy stuff!

If you’re not comfortable with a knife, they make these corn cutters.  This one is from Pampered Chef.  I tried it and it really works!  But I went back to my knife because I guess I’m old school.

You will end up with about 24 cups of corn.  I use my black turkey roaster pan for this.  It seems to be the perfect size.  If you don’t have one, you may have to use a couple of smaller roaster pans.  Add one pound of cut up butter. 

And then pour in one quart of half and half.  You must use the half and half and not milk! 

Give this a good stir and then put into the oven at 325 degrees for one hour.  Stir every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir one last time.  It should have thickened up a bit.  Go ahead and eat a spoonful, you won’t regret it!  Now this must cool to room temperature.  Stir every once in awhile to speed the cooling process.

Spoon into freezer containers.  Use whatever size is suitable for your family.  For just us two, I do about a cup.

Label and freeze.  When next January rolls around and you pull one of these from the freezer, you won’t regret the work it took to make it!

FROZEN CREAM CORN
3 dozen corn cobs   (about 24 cups cut up corn)
1 quart half & half
1 pound butter,cubed
Blanche corn and cool.  Cut corn from cobs.  Add butter and half & half to corn and mix.  Bake at 325 degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.  Put into freezer containers and label.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do
good, evil is right there with me. – Romans 7:21

FREEZING BEANS

Beans are one of the easiest things to preserve.  I prefer them frozen over canned.  The flavor is much better and the process is so simple.  The only downfall is you need to have room in your freezer.

Start with some freshly picked beans.  I like to combine the green and yellow ones.

Fill a large kettle about 2/3 full of water.  I picked up this blancher a few years back and absolutely love using it.  Put on the stove and bring the water to a boil.

While your water is heating, snip the ends off of the beans.  You can cut them up or leave them whole.  I prefer the whole ones.

Once your water is boiling, add your beans.  You only want to add about 3-4 cups of beans at a time. This pot has a strainer part that fits right inside the main pot so I just fill it about half full.

Plunge the beans into the boiling water and set a timer for 5 minutes.  This is called blanching.  You must blanch your beans because this stops the enzymes and prevents them from turning to mush. 

After five minutes, pour the beans into very cold water.  I like to add some ice to speed up the cooling process.  You want the beans to be very cold.

Next strain the beans to remove as much water as possible.  Now you can either put them into freezer bags in the amount you need for a meal or freeze them individually on cookie sheets, just like we did with the berries in the post on freezing berries.  I like doing it this way because it allows me to just take out the amount of beans I need.  If its just the two of us I only need a handful but if the whole crew is here I can take out more. 

Once they are frozen, place in gallon freezer bags.

And here’s a cool trick I learned to remove all the air from the bag.  Close the bag leaving a small opening.  Insert a straw and suck the air out of the bag.  Quickly remove the straw and close the rest of the way.  Happy Freezing!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. –
James 1:17

RUSSIAN DILL PICKLES

Canning pickles can be very intimidating.  They did it to me for many years.  I would can thirty quarts of pickles and by the next spring I was dumping them all out on the compost pile.  They were mushy and soft and yucky!  That was until just three short years ago.  I found out it wasn’t my fault!  It was the processing that was turning them to mush.  I had tried the oven method, didn’t work for me.  Then everyone says they have to be in a boiling hot water bath for 15 minutes.  This one really made them soggy.  The method I use now is foolproof!  No more soggy mushy limp pickles!  And I have not dumped out a jar for three  years! 
PLEASE read thru all the directions before you begin.  The brine does need to be made ahead of time so it can cool to room temperature so it is best to make that before you even get your cucumbers.

Start out with the freshest cucumbers you can get.  They should for sure be canned the same day they are picked.

Put them in a sink of cold water and wash them.  Some people use a vegetable brush but I’ve found a washcloth under cold water works just as well.  And I know my sprayer doesn’t match my faucet, its a long story.

You will want to remove all these funky looking stems.  My girls used to fight over getting the pickles with the cute little stems left on.

Also make sure this fuzzy end gets cleaned off too.

I like to sort them in the sink as I wash them up.  The big ones on the right are saved for making salads.  The center ones usually need to be quartered lengthwise and the babies on the left are the perfect size!

You can see the baby ones are usually under 3 inches while the medium ones are up to 5 or 6 inches.  Sorry this was the only ruler I could find.  I wonder if Bill won the sheriff election that year.

Now we are going to backtrack a little.  Your canning jars need to be clean!  As in squeaky clean.  I like to use the hottest setting in the dishwasher and wash a whole load at a time.

THE BRINE:  Brine is the solution that you pour over the pickles.  This recipe is for a Russian dill, which is our favorite.  It is a sweet dill but not sweet as in a bread and butter pickle. 

You will need:  sugar, apple cider vinegar, water and salt. 

Now I know you are all saying “Hey you need to use canning salt” but I disagree with that.  You can use canning salt but I prefer the coarse ground celtic sea salt.  I’ve used it for years in all my canning and it works great.  But you can use the canning salt, just do not use regular table salt or you will have issues.

Now this recipe makes about 10 quarts of pickles and you need a large kettle to brew it in.  I will also include the scaled down version which only makes two quarts.  Start out with a gallon of apple cider vinegar and a gallon of water.  I like to buy the distilled reverse osmosis water for pickles because our water goes through a water softener and isn’t the best for canning.

Dump in 16 cups of sugar, which is about 6 pounds.  And 1 1/4 cups of salt. 

Cook this over some medium high heat and stir until all the sugar and salt is dissolved.

Then let it just come to a boil and turn off the heat.  I remove from the heat, take off the lid and let it cool to room temperature.

OK this is where the fun starts.  You’ve made your brine and it is cooled, the jars are washed, and the cucumbers are clean.

Get yourself some dill, onions, garlic cloves and some dried red peppers.  The onions will be cut into quarters or halves if they are really small.  Mine are little because they came out of my garden and they aren’t very big yet.  The garlic needs to be peeled.  Are you overwhelmed yet?  Hang in there, these pickles are so worth it!

So in the bottom of each quart jar, put a piece of onion, a clove of garlic and a red pepper. If you like your pickles with a little more kick add another red pepper to the top of the jar.  I like to do seven jars at a time because that’s how many fit in my canner.  But it also depends on how many pickles you have to can.

Add a sprig of dill to each jar.

The 4-6 inch ones are better sliced and put into the jar first.  Then the baby ones fit nicely on top.  Or if you have all baby ones just start packing them in whole, standing the bottom ones on end.

Fill the jars with brine up to the lower part of the rim, which is usually one inch from the top of the jar.  Any leftover brine should be kept refrigerated.

Make sure you wipe the top of the rim to remove any dirt or whatever else might be there.  Then place the lid on and screw the ring on tight.

OK now we are to the part where you throw out all knowledge of the proper way to hot water bath pickles.  Stay with me here and I promise this will give you crunchy delicious pickles!

Place the jars into a hot water bather.  I like to do this in the garage on the gas stove because my stove will not work with these canners. 

Fill the canner with enough water so that it is one inch over the lids.  Cover and turn on the heat!

Put a thermometer into the water and watch closely!  When it reaches 180 degrees, set a timer for 30 minutes.  Stay close by because you do not want the temp to go above 185 degrees.  You must maintain this temp (180-185) for 30 minutes.  This is just below boiling.  DO NOT let the water boil, that’s what makes your pickles soft.  And yes it is dark outside, this was about 9:30 at night.

After 30 minutes, remove the jars from the water and let them cool.  And no matter how tempting it is, do not press on the center of the lid to make it pop.  It will do this on its own when all the air is removed.

These need to cool to room temperature.  And try not to let any drafts blow on the jars.  Now I’m off to bed and these can set until morning.

Ahhhh, perfect!  They all sealed!  Oh Happy Day!

Here’s the brine recipe which makes 10 quarts:
1 gallon apple cider vinegar
1 gallon water
16 cups sugar (approx 6 lbs)
1 1/4 cups canning salt
Or the scaled down version which makes 2 quarts:
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons canning salt

NOTE:  One bushel of cucumbers (2-4 inch size) makes approximately 40 quarts of pickles.

The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.  My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.  Psalm 145:20-21