Pickles

Who doesn't like home made pickles? Well .. I'm sure not everyone does, but we do! No dies or funny ingredients ... fresh from the garden ... yum!
Our garden has done very well so far and I FINALLY got around to making pickles. I remembered to take pictures too! You'll have to go to my other blog to see garden pictures.
Assemble your ingredients ... vinegar, fresh dill sprigs, fresh garlic, fresh onions, turmeric (optional), salt (not optional!!), and of course ... cucumbers! Also have ready your hot, sterile jars. I keep mine hot in the dishwasher ... what a great help that is. I always have more jars ready than I think I'll need.


Make your brine - I use about 15c water, 4c vinegar and 1c salt. Place in large pan, set to boil, then turn to low.
Slice your cucumbers into desired shapes. Get your pans, lids and bands ready:



Have your daughter make dinner (or get it in the crockpot before you begin) ... you probably will not feel like making a meal during or after canning! Brianna made basmati rice (rice cooker to the back left in the picture), and vegetables (fresh zucchini and summer squash from my uncle's garden, mushrooms and carrots). She sauteed the veggies in water, then added a little butter, olive oil, salt and italian seasonings just before serving.
Put into each quart jar: 1/8t-1/4t turmeric, a few slices of onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 2 sprigs of fresh dill:


Pack in your cucumbers, fill about 1"-3/4" to top with brine, lid and band the jars and put into boiling water:


Sometimes jars break :( thankfully this was the last batch!


Bring to a boil and then take out ... if you leave in too long, your pickles will loose color and crispness. Here's a picture of the finished pickles; I used 1/4t turmeric, however next time I am going to use 1/8t:

I made 1 1/2 batches of 'brine' and got 12qt jars full ... 11 after the broken one (we ate the cucumbers). A quart of brine was left; that got stored in the refrigerator for next time. Let jars sit over night to cool. Check seals, take off bands and store in cool dry place. I let the pickles sit for at least 2 weeks before opening.

Clean up and enjoy your dinner!

Mayonnaise

Well, I felt bad about not posting anything yet!! The sprouts will be ready tomorrow or the next day, but instead of waiting for them, I decided to do a quick post on making mayonnaise.

We do not eat mayonnaise very often and I just cannot bring myself to buy the store brands. The 'health food store brands' are high quality ... with a price to match! While I do not go so far as to using grapeseed oil, I am at least content to know it is as fresh as possible with real ingredients that are usually on hand.

Total time is about 10 minutes from start to finish, including clean up. You will only need FIVE things: 1c oil of your choice (of course the different oils may change the flavor of the end product), 1 egg, 1 1/2T vinegar (or lemon juice if you prefer), 1/2t salt, & 1/2t mustard powder. I use a blender, however an electric mixer will work too.

Place everything EXCEPT the oil into the blender. Blend on low speed till mixed (a few seconds). Add the oil while the blender is on low (if you have a Vitamix, I set mine on variable speed 4) - the oil should be a slow, steady stream like this:
Here's a look from the inside just starting:
Below is a shot after about 20 seconds - the mixture will start to look more and more like mayo (mine looks more yellow here than it actually is .. the lighting was bad!). If you add the oil too fast, it will not blend properly ... so make sure to go slow! Soon it will get very thick; you may need to stop the blender to scrape down the sides.
Once all of your oil is gone, it should be done. Does it look like mayo? Does it taste like mayo? I've found that I like a little extra salt and vinegar in mine, however start with what I posted above, and adjust from there. Take notes and put your final adjusted recipe into your recipe box, book, or whatever.
This will make a little more than one cup of mayo; store in the refrigerator for up to about 2 weeks.

If you make it, let me know how it goes!

I am going to try to make an egg-free kind soon. I'll post that if and when it turns out.

In Christ,

Joanne