Recipe: Pickled Beets

Yes, Beets!  This is the only way I will eat beets.  My grandmother made them every year and I would eat them by the jar full.  Not just the little Mason Jars.  NO! The BIG Mason Jars.  Oh, sure you can buy a little small jar of pickled baby beets at the grocery store, but they do not compare to this recipe.  So, if you’re growing some beets and don’t know what to do with them, give this recipe a try.  It’sa good ‘un!

Nanaw’s Pickled Beets

Use cooked and sliced beets placed in Mason Jars.  Mix together 2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon allspice, 1 teaspoon salt,  3 1/2 cups vinegar and 1 1/2 cups water.  Bring to boiling point before putting over beets.  Can be sealed or kept in refrigerator.

Y’all Enjoy!

Recipe: Gran-Dale’s Homemade Apple Butter

Back in the early 80′s, my parents lived in Eden, North Carolina for about 4 years.  While they were there, my father enjoyed going to the apple orchards, picking fresh apples and making his homemade apple butter.  My daughter would eat this stuff by the bowl full if I’d let her when she was little.  Who am I kidding, she’d do that now…..if I’d let her.  This is so easy and wonderful and delicious.  Borrow a few crock pots from your friends and whip up a big batch from this fall’s apple harvest.  I know we love it and I hope you love it too!

Gran-Dale’s Homemade Apple Butter

Fresh, Tart Apples (however many it takes to fill the crock pot)
3 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
Dash Salt
4 Cups Sugar

Peel, core and slice apples thin.  Chop apples and fill a large crock pot to the rim.  Cover and cook on low heat for 18 hours.  Stir in other ingredients and return to crock pot to cook for four hours longer.  (Can be blended in the blender before cooking final four hours for a smoother apple butter).  Place in sterilized jars and seal with heated two piece lids.

Ya’ll Enjoy! 

Recipes: Bread and Butter Pickles and Limed Ice Water Pickles

I bet you might be wondering what else to do with those cucumbers that are coming out of your ears right about now.  Before you throw them in the compost, or give them away.  Why not put some away so you can enjoy them later.  I love both recipes, but if I had to choose one over the other -hmmmmmm, well…… I can’t.  They are both good eatin’.     The first recipe was passed down from my great Aunt Nez (short for Nathalie).  She was a good old southern woman from Jackson, Mississippi.  The second recipe was given to me by my Nanaw (maternal grandmother).

Aunt Nez’s Bread and Butter Pickles

25 to 30 medium cucumber, sliced thin
8 large white onions, sliced thin
2 green peppers chopped
1/2 cup salt

Mix above ingredients and let stand for three hours.  Drain.

Combine and bring to a boil:

5 cups cider vinegar
5 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons tumeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Add cucumbers and heat, but do not boil.  Pack in sterilized jars and seal with heated 2 part (lid and ring) seals.

Nanaw’s Limed Ice Water Pickles

7 pounds cucumbers
2 quarts white vinegar
8 to 9 cups sugar
1 package pickling spice
1/2 cup salt

Scrub, wash and slice cucumbers into rounds.  Soak overnight in 2 gallons water mixed with 2 cups pickling lime.

Rinse cucumbers until water is clear and all lime is removed.  Soak in ice water for two hours.  Pour off water.  Cover with vinegar, sugar and salt.  Add spice which has been tied in a piece of cheesecloth or sheeting.  Cook in enamel pan until clear and green.  Pack in sterilized jars and seal with heated two piece lids.

Ya’ll Enjoy!