Have You Ever Tried Mincemeat?

I've heard of mincemeat.

 I've said no thank to mincemeat.

I've looked at recipes

for making things with mincemeat.
And then, I've put those recipes away!

And now, finally...

I trying my hand at MAKING mincemeat!

(I will admit, it is at my husband's request!)

OK, it is on the stove top.....

I just tasted it for the FIRST TIME EVER.

I have to admit, it wasn't bad!

Pete's 89 year old aunt shared this recipe

with me ... so I had to try it!

Green Tomato Mincemeat

2 Quarts ground green tomatoes

2 Quarts ground apples (firm apples)

4 Cups brown sugar

1 1/2 Cups vinegar

3 Cups raisins

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

3/4 tsp. allspice

3/4 tsp. pepper (I used 1/2 tsp.white pepper)

2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. mace (I used nutmeg instead)

3/4 Cups butter

Chop apples & tomatoes and drain.

Add this and the remaining ingredients

except the butter in a stock pot and

bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 hours.

Add the butter and stir in until melted.

OK, here is what I did. I read a few

other recipes, including the one in the

Ball Blue Book. In the Ball book, it

said to combine all the ingredients and

simmer for 15 minutes then ladle into

hot jars and PRESSURE CAN both

quarts & pints for 90 minutes!

So, I compromised... I used Pete's aunt's recipe

with the exception of mace. I didn't have any.

When I looked it up to see just what it was,

I discovered it was kinda like a peppery nutmeg,

so I used nutmeg instead!

Also, since I wasn't

sure about NOT at least water bathing the

jars, I decided to follow the Ball Book

instructions to be on the safe side and

used the pressure canner!

This recipe made

3 quarts and 3 pints

AND 3/4 cup that I held out!

NOW... to try this stuff in a recipe!

SOFT MINCEMEAT COOKIES

1/4 Cup softened butter

3/4 Cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 Cup mincemeat

1 1/2 Cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Cup Choc. chips

1/2 Cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter &

brown sugar. Add the eggs & mincemeat

and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and

mix well before adding the chocolate chips

and walnuts. Bake on GREASED cookie

sheets at 350* for 10-12 minutes or

until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Yield: about 4 dozen.

I shared this on Healthy 2Day Wednesdays and
Simple Lives Thursday!
Go check out the other wonderful posts!

Sun Dried Tomatoes ... Who Knew?

Who knew it was this easy?!

We LOVE sun dried tomatoes!
(Ok, technically... dehydrator dried!)

It is nearing the end of the garden season and 

I am TIRED of canning tomatoes.

I never thought I'd say that...  but I am.

I think it is mostly because the more I can, the more space

I need to come up with to store it!

(But that's a discussion for another day.)

I decided to give the dehydrator a try. Check this out!

Saturday night was my test run was with 2 apples and

one tray full of fresh picked cherry tomatoes ...

washed & cut in half!

I sprinkled the tomatoes with a little bit of sea salt

(didn't do that for the following batch)

and I lightly sprinkled the apples with cinnamon sugar!

Can you say DELICIOUS!!! I AM SOOO ExCiTeD!

Sunday night I loaded up the trays with more cherry tomatoes

and left them overnight (roughly from 9PM to 5AM)

and they came out perfectly!

Storage for these little guys is a mason jars

with olive oil and in the back of the fridge!

There is a total of 7 dehydrator trays in these 2 jars.

It doesn't look like much... but it is!

You ask, 'now what?'... 

I can't wait to use them in pesto-chicken,

turkey sandwiches and can't you just smell

the bread cooking!?

Ahhh, I'm going to start drooling if I don't stop now!

I'll share pictures with you as

I figure out more recipes to use them in!

The apples came out awesome too!

I only did two apples... but everyone like them!

I'll definitely be doing more of these as well,

but, most likely without the sugar!

I need to do some more investigating,

but I've seen both tomatoes

& apples stored in zipper type bags (remove air)

and store on a pantry shelf or in the freezer.

 I'll let you know how that all works out!

Next up.... regular sized tomatoes. I'm going to try thinly slicing them and then adding a little basil & sea salt before dehydrating them!

(Posted on Healthy 2day Wednesdays )

Corn

My hands are tired from all the picking,

husking & cutting of corn! BUT... thinking

about the rewards of eating yummy fresh-tasting

corn during the cold winter months

make it all worth it!

I picked three rows of corn and blanched the ears about

8 at a time (roughly 6-8 minutes in boiling water,

followed by immersing the ears in ICE COLD

water to end the cooking). The ears fit into a

medium sized laundry basket and the cut

off kernels fit into two large bowls

 and a 9X13 baking pan!

I packaged the corn in quart and gallon sized

freezer bags... the larger bags will be perfect for

corn chowder or shepard's pie and

 other yummy recipes!

 Roughly, 58 cups of corn all neatly packaged

and ready for the freezer!

Corn stalks cut down and ready to go

feed the pigs!

This has been shared on Healthy 2Day Wednesdays
and Simple Lives Thursday!

Applesauce

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!

I love the smells, the cooler night air,

the beauty and bounty of the garden in full growth,

the leaves just starting to turn, ahhhh... 

don't you just LOVE IT TOO!

My husband brought in a 4 1/2 gallon pail of field apples!

(My definition: apples picked from a tree that was not

sprayed or cared for like those in an orchard!)

It's applesauce time!

Applesauce is SOOOO EASY to make and store!

Simply cut up the apples.

No need to peel or seed them.

 Add a little bit of water to the pot and start

cooking over low to medium heat. The apples

will soften enough to mash with a potato masher

and stir around with a big spoon.

 Next, I use my FAVORITE TOOL...  the Foley Food Mill

to take out the seeds, stems & peels and into the bowl

goes smooth and delicious sauce! (It is wonderful to use

when making spaghetti sauce too!)

Back into the pot and add a little sugar (personal taste here)

add some cinnamon if you want to (I don't) and heat it back

up to boiling. Put into pints or quarts and water bath

the jars for 20 minutes!!

Aren't these beautiful!!

4 1/2 gallon bucket = 15 pints of sauce!

I love the way the skins make the

sauce pretty in pink!
(Applesauce is also EASY to freeze!
If you don't want to can it, simle put the finished
sauce into freezer bags or containers after it
has cooled down, seal and freeze!)

IT IS YUMMY EITHER WAY!

PS. If you want to make apple jelly too, you can

peel the apples before cooking. THEN after the

sauce is made, boil down the peelings and hang

them up in cheese cloth or in a NEW white pillowcase.

Use the juices to make jelly!

The jelly has an awesome flavor too!

This post was shared on Healthy 2Day Wednesdays
and Simple Lives Thursday !

Purple Plus Green Equals... Green!

If you've ever taken an art class... you know this

is just NOT going to work out on a palette..

but, in the garden & canning world,

it's a different story!

We planted green & purple bush beans and no,

I don't remember the specific names... but they

are fun & pretty to watch grow!

(FYI: Green beans have white flowers &

purple beans have a light purple flower!)

We've picked & canned quite a few already, but

Sunday afternoon they were ready to pick again!

I don't know how many this is... maybe

1/2 to 3/4 of a bushel or so.

 Toby LOVES veggies from the garden!

He is intently watching Pete's hands

just waiting for him to toss a tail or two his way!

He's such a funny dog...  lucky for him, there

were some beans that were just too big!

Here they are

 all cut up and in the jars!

Aren't they pretty!

Now, off to the canner they go.... 

 25 minutes in the canner at

10 pounds of pressure for quarts!

(20 minutes at 10 pounds for pints)

The cool thing about the purple beans...

when they are cooked, they turn green!

They are tasty & tender and hard to

tell the difference once they are cooked!

ENJOY!

From this pile of beans we canned

12 quarts & 9 pints!

This post shared on Healthy 2day Wednesdays
and Simple Lives Thursday!

Sending Chickens To Freezer Camp

FOR MY SQUEAMISH FRIENDS...  PLEASE STOP HERE! 

DO NOT CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS POST!

I PROMISE THERE ARE NO GROSS PICTURES!

OK, you've been forewarned! Proceed with caution...

We got 30 day old chicks 9 weeks ago...

It is amazing how fast they grow!
(We lost 3 over the nine weeks)

This isn't our first time raising meat birds... 

but each year we learn a little something new

or something to do differently next time!

We belong to a group called

Small & Beginner Farmers of NH

where we share experiences and equipment.

Our family oversees the MPU (Mobile Processing

Unit) for our county. We teach others how to use

it and rent it out to members.

Above, you see the trailer that everything is

housed in... the removable 'cones' are attached to

the doors. We have portable pens that can be

set up (behind the door area) for the "poultry in waiting".

After the head is removed and blood drained,

the carcass is dipped in HOT water (about 150*)

in the scald tank for a few minutes, just until the
feathers can be pulled out by hand.

The Featherman Plucker works really well!

In just a few minutes the birds

are all ready for the next step!

Evisceration...  a fancy word which 

means 'to gut out'.

The chill tank... is kept filled with ice so that

the core temperature is brought down FAST

and they are ready for the freezer!

Sitting pretty.... awaiting bagging and

weighing and then off to 'freezer camp'!
(Average weight... 5.65 pounds)

All in all... the process is not bad or hard.

My husband and I finished up all

27 birds in just a few hours.

(Not including the clean up!)

As to cost effectiveness.... you decide.

I kept track of EVERYTHING this time around!

Our total price per pound is $1.29

We are happy!!

Sharing this post on

 Healthy 2day Wednesdays and

 Simple Lives Thursday!