Tarts

 A variety of tarts add to make a plate look Delicious

I usually make my own pastry, but the frozen ones will suffice over the busy holidays.

Asiago Dip

2 cups grated Asiago cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
6 -8 ounces marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tbs. marinated red pepper

Directions:
1
Mash up the artichoke hearts in a bowl along with the minced garlic.
2
Add the other ingredients.
3
Mix it all together and refrigerate until using.
4
All the proportions can be tweaked according to personal preference. You can also serve this recipe hot!

Black Velvet Caramel

A must for over the holidays.

Smooth toasted caramel flavor with a hint
of whiskey.
Great in coffee or hot chocolate, as this is more like a liqueur.
Flambe, bananas or peaches, serve over ice cream.
Add a bit to pecan pie in the whipping cream. 
Or plain over ice.

Desserts for Thanksgiving

Dessert after turkey?

 

    A few examples and ideas.
For your pecan or pumpkin pies,
       or strawberry short cakes or fruit trifles,
or just ice cream sundaes.
You can always wait a bit
after dinner, then add a special coffee
 to finish off the meal.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Bob's Thermate

Well we opened the first jar and it certainly lived up to what we thought.
HOT HOT................and HOTTER.
Great on chicken legs, so far so good.

Cranberry Season

Heading out to the farm in Pitt Meadows on Friday to get my ten pounds of  Cranberries. They are being picked Thursday, how fresh can you get and only two dollars a pound. 

I will make cranberry sauce and preserve more this year as we ran out this winter. Always use them whenever chicken or turkey is on the menu.
Good for you too.

Plant your Garlic

Plant your garlic now for summer 2014

Always use the largest bulbs, breaking them into cloves. 
Plant them 4 to 5 inches apart and 2 to 4 inches deep. Keep the soil moist.
Rooting will begins in a couple of weeks.

 Harvest in July or August, hang to dry in a warm spot for a couple of weeks.



In June the tops will form tiny flowers, they should be removed. They are called scrapes and can be used in many dishes.

 Russian garlic is my favorite

A.J's Homemade Pizza

Ready for the oven, or freeze for another day.

Thermate

You too can invent your own delicious products, Thermate ® is one of ours. 
The hottest sauce we make, by Dirty Uncle Bob's Smudge. And we bill it as 'steel cutting, war starting, nuclear capability, incendiary gourmet hot sauce!' Not for the feint of heart but oh so good. Based on Auntie Jane's Red Rocket Salsa, we take it up to the next level. 

Carry permit required to take it home. Waiver must be signed to eat it. If bottle lost notify Homeland Security. No guns at the table, please.

Have fun, invent your own food stuff!

AJs Mustard

So easy to make and many variety's to choose from.

Mustard Beans/ Cauliflower/ Onions

I made some dilly beans this morning then  decided to try some mustard and cauliflower and onion beans too.

I added some hot pepper and some Russian garlic to both.
My kitchen was filled with a great smell, and certainly cleared my sinuses.

Russian Garlic

A friend put me on to Russian garlic last year, he grows it in his yard, its expensive but really worth the extra money when you buy it.

Picked up some more today at Lepp farm on the Mission /Abbotsford highway.
I am going to grow some myself this November. That is when you plant it, and if you are planting in a container use a large deep one. The flavor is far superior and stronger than the lily white  bulbs you buy in the super market.

Larder getting full

Waiting for labels

Hint hint Bob.

Tomatoes

I like to preserve tomatoes each summer when they are at their peek
of the season.

Bring the tomatoes to a boil for 5 mins.The skins come off easy then,
Set out how many jars you plan to use and add:
fresh basil, rosemary,oregano, and garlic
To each jar add a tbsp. lemon juice 1/2 tsp pickling salt
Cut up tomatoes to the size you like, stuff the jars and top with boiling water.
Insert a knife in jars and get all the bubbles to the top.

Seal and process for 40 minutes.

Vegetable Antipasto

• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 2 cups of vinegar, I use 1 cup white 1 cup cider  
• 2cups brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp pickling salt
• 3 cans (5-1/2 oz/tomato paste
• 2 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced

    
  Put in a large pot bring to a boil for a couple of minutes, add the carrots to the pot.

      I used 11 cups of veggies, pick which ones you like best.

•  2 cauliflower florets
• 1 cups chopped onions
• 1 cups chopped yellow peppers
• 1 cup small hot peppers. Red green mix
• 2 cups (zucchini, unpeeled
• 1-1/2 cups chopped carrots
• 1-1/2 -cups chopped celery
• 1 cup green beans cut

Add all the vegetables and continue to boil gently for another 5 minutes.

Put in jars and process for 25 mins.

AJ's Pineapple Hot Jelly

 I pineapple
3 hot green peppers
4 hot red peppers
1 yellow pepper

1 large garlic clove
2 shallots
Grind in a blender
3/4 c of white vinegar
3 cups of white sugar
Bring to a boil boiling hard for 1 minute
take off stove and add 1 pkg certo
put in small jars and process for 10 mins.

Molasses Cringles

 







This is one of the few recipes for cookies that I do not use butter.




2/3 cup of oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp. molasses
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger fresh or powdered
1/8 tsp. cracked pepper

Roll into balls then into sugar
Bake on parchment paper at 350 for 10 to 15 mins.

Pahoehoe Sauce

This pineapple sauce is so tasty over Chicken, Ham, or Pork


2 1/4 c pineapple juice
1/4 c lemon juice
4 1/2 c sugar
1 pkg. pectin

Blend in mix well bring to a boil for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Add pectin boil another minute.
I always add a tsp. butter to keep the foam down.
process 5 mins.

Pahoehoe Sauce waiting for labels

Chocolate Sauce

1 ½ cups of water

3 cups of sugar

1 ½ cups of cocoa

1 tbsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. kosher salt

2 tbsp. corn syrup

Heat water and sugar to a boil whisk in cocoa, vanilla, salt and corn syrup.

Stir till sugar is dissolved reduce heat and cook for about ten to fifteen mins. Until thickened.

Process  for 15 mins.

Labour of Love

Getting full again this year, had to get another shelf

Winter rewards

for over load. Let it snow all winter. We are ready.

Maple -Rosemary Glazed Hazelnuts and Walnuts

Pic from Pinch my salt blog

I had some hazelnuts left that Bob picked
last year so put 1 cup of each to try
 
1cups walnut halves 1 cup of hazelnuts
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
pinch of kosher salt
In a small bowl, stir together maple syrup, rosemary, and a pinch of salt.  Heat a dry skillet (I used nonstick) over medium-high heat.  Add walnuts to the hot skillet and pour in maple syrup mixture.  Cook, stirring frequently, until maple syrup has caramelized, about 3 minutes.  Spread walnuts out on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with a bit more salt if desired.  Let cool.

Bread and Butter Pickles

The pickling dills are perfect for canning right now.

Pickled Onions

These are spicy and good,

made with malt vinegar and garlic

Mustard Pickles

Mustard pickles go with so many different dishes. Side dish for meats, or dish for your table or on a sandwich. 
I usually make small jars as well for gifts.Using small onions mixed with red and green peppers and cauliflower with a few garlic cloves thrown in.

Blackberry Jam

Free berries, all it takes is some work picking and the freezer is full for another year.Plus two batches of jam for the winter.

Bob does the picking as he knows I do not like the prickles.

I baked a pie from berries from 2012 yesterday, to have room for the new crop. Our company seemed to enjoy.

Red Hot Pepper Jelly

1 cup of mixed peppers { I use 1/2 red pepper one banana pepper, bonnet peppers one green hot pepper and three small hot red peppers
to make up the cup.

3 cloves garlic
3/4 cups cider vinegar
3 cups white sugar
I pouch certo

Mix all in pot except certo bring to a hard  boil for 1 min.
take off the stove and add certo
process for 10 mins.

Serve with crackers and cheese

Apricot Jam

3 cups of chopped apricots stones removed
1/4 cup of lemon juice
6 cups of sugar
I usually grind half the apricots and leave some chopped small
1 pouch of certo
Bring to a hard boil for 1 minute

Take off the heat  and add certo
Process for 10  minutes
Makes about 6 cups

Jam

Canned Apricots



 Light syrup - 2 cups sugar to 1-quart water
 Process for 25 minutes

Dill Pickles

Soak and scrub dills and  wash dill weed.
Prepare garlic


Brine:

1/2 cup pickling salt
2 cups white vinegar
6 cups of water

Bring to a rolling boil

I put at least three garlic cloves in each large jar,
wind some dill weed into jars along with 1 tsp. pickling spice in each jar.

Wipe jar lids when ready to put lids on, seal and process 15 mins.

Enjoy! 
Let season for six weeks

Raspberry Jam

Raspberry Season:


Pick your own or not.
















Make sure to buy local as they taste so much better.








Enjoy all through the winter

Or right away

Strawberries Season

 
Two different varieties, we mixed both kinds for jam
and froze some for the winter months.
Also made strawberry sauce.The strawberry shortcake did not last long
enough for me to get a photo as we have a ghost living with us.

Waiting for labels

Blackberry Pie

This is when Bob's picking of blackberries and
getting scratches comes to fruition.



He picks, I make jam, then freeze bags of blackberries to enjoy for pies and deserts all winter. This is using up last years berries then will start again in August.

The best thing, they are free and grow everywhere!

Perfect Salad

 Tracy's creative salad


This salad consists of

Raspberry
Blueberry
Avocado
lettuces
Orange Tomatoes
Red tomatoes 
Cucumbers

Add pecans and raisins if you like.