Oh So Many Cucumbers! O_o

Good morning from the Cucumber family....errr....I mean England family O_o  We have always had a garden. We have always loved having a garden. In recent years our oldest daughter Rhiannon has slowly taken over that task. She has a passion for it and we have encouraged her in that endeavor. Even though we have 2.5 acres, my husband and I have built raised beds along an otherwise unusable slope on the side of our house. Each spring what begins as barely more than dirt filled landscape "steps" turns into a lush oasis heavy with the fruits of her labors.

This year has been plentiful indeed and we have enjoyed a steady stream of heirloom tomatoes, green beans, peppers and cucumbers....oh so many cucumbers!!!

  I am a huge cucumber fan. I like them in my salad....sliced and added to a sandwich..... tossed with sliced onions, mayo,vinegar and a smidge of sugar for my favorite cucumber salad....you get the picture.  But friends, we would have to eat cucumbers all day every day with no other food involved to keep up with Rhiannon's green thumb :) Unlike other vegetables, you simply can't freeze them so that leaves canning....or more to the point, pickling!! We had previously made dill pickles and several weeks later have finally opened the jars to discover that they are fantastic! This week, heavy laden with more lovely cukes, Rhiannon decided Bread and Butter pickles would be next.  These are hands down my favorite type of pickles and this recipe is DIVINE!  As usual the recipe will be large because we are a large family, but honestly, if you are overrun with cucumbers this is a perfect way to preserve and enjoy them the remainder of the year :)

Let's get started shall we :)

You will need

8 lbs of thinly sliced cucumbers
3 bell peppers (two yellow one green)
4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
4 cups white vinegar
1 cup canning salt (also called pickling salt)
3 large onions thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic sliced or chopped
1/4 mustard seed
4 tsp celery seed
1 tblsp ground turmeric
7 quart jars

After rinsing your cucumbers thoroughly you will need to slice them fairly thin.  You can use a v slicer or mandolin for this task.

See the bandaid in the next picture?  Ask me how sharp the slicer is :(  Careful boys and girls!

I got my slicer on clearance at kroger for all of $5. You can spend a pretty penny on the lovely adjustable professional quality mandolins, and one day maybe I will take out a loan to do so, but honestly my little $5 find has served me quite well for several years.  New tools/toys are certainly alluring but you can be a great cook without selling a kidney. In fact most of my chef friends could make you the best meal you have ever had in your life armed with only a single knife and an open campfire.  Right then...... back to the recipe ;)

You will also want to slice up your garlic and seeded pepper. We used what we had on our garden (a combination of yellow and green peppers) but you can cater to your own tastes. I for one LOVE orange peppers and think they lend a beautiful flavor to the mix.

Once you have all of your items sliced you will want to place them in a large bowl and stir in the salt. Cover with crushed ice and stir again.  This mixture will stand (covered) for at a least 3 hours (overnight is fine if that works out better for you time wise, that's what we did)

After standing, rinse and drain three times to make sure you aren't leaving too much salt.  This ice bath leaves everything nice and crisp :)

You will want to go ahead and sterilize your jars and lids now. We sterilize the lids in a simmering pot for 15 minutes. Clean jars are sterilized in the oven at 225 degrees (f) for 20 minutes.

Now to make the liquid portion of our pickles.  Combine your sugar, vinegars and spices and bring to a low boil.

Portion out your rinsed and drained veggie/cucumber mix into your hot jars. Take care in handling the jars. Also be careful to put an equal amount of the peppers, onions and garlic in each jar. 

Stir your hot liquid mixture and ladle over your loosely packed cucumbers and veggies. The liquid should come to the bottom of the jars neck.

Clean the rims of your jars with a damp rag and place lid and ring on tightly. (again, careful, they're hot)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

On to our next kroger clearance bin find. A beginner canning kit AKA a plastic heat proof jar basket for use with the hot water bath. I paid a whopping $2.50 for it but even its regular price of $9.99 is quite reasonable. It keeps the jars raised just above the bottom of the pot. Previous to finding this green beauty we laid a towel on the bottom of the pot to avoid direct contact between the glass and the metal. Do yourself a favor and grab a basket ;)  This one holds three pint or two quart jars at a time.

Submerge and allow to boil for fifteen minutes.

Remove from boiling water and turn upside down on the counter (super hot peeps, use a potholder).  After another fifteen minutes turn right side up again. The button on the lid should be sucked in after a couple of minutes as the jars cool.  That my friends is it.  Now pickles are supposed to sit for 4 weeks before they are ready. And i'm sure they are wonderful after 4 weeks...but we waited a whopping 12 hours to taste the first one (we made a large half gallon jar just for the fridge). They are without question the BEST bread and butter pickles I have ever eaten!  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Have a blessed day !! :)

 It has been a busy couple of weeks and I am just getting a chance to drop in here and say hello to you lovely folks :)

After I finish a weeks cake work ,and deliver said cake, I typically descend into a state I call a cake hangover. Yesterday was no exception. After cleaning my entire house (you cake muggles would not believe the amount of mess created when making a large wedding cake, and how the rest of the house falls apart when mom is otherwise engaged) I had every intention of writing this last night but my mind and body objected and I gave into their lazy desires.

Today, armed with a good nights sleep, I am prepping for company.  I was going to show you how I built a rolling platform for my very favorite, massively heavy, Hobart mixer (remember I warned you, anything goes lol) But we are gathering tomorrow with another large family that we love.  Combined our families have 17 children (and 4 parents ;).  For this large crowd we have decided to prepare our favorite chili and scratch made cornbread and I figured another recipe post couldn't hurt.  I adore chili and making it in the middle of summer does not seem at all odd to me.  Our whole family loves it (that in and of itself is a miracle lol)

Typically my husband is happy to receive the fruits of my love of cooking. In this case he actually helped in developing our go to recipe, having very specific ideas about the flavor of his ideal chili. Our recipe is a bit on the spicy side for some so be forewarned. I will tell you how to adjust it if you like your chili mild. So let's begin shall we :)

Chuck's Chili

4 lbs ground beef

1 lb ground sweet Italian sausage

2 cans hot chili beans

1 can mild chili beans

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 can black beans (drained)

1 can dark red kidney beans (drained)

1 large yellow onion chopped

1 bell pepper (green) diced

2 jalapeños seeded and chopped

1 tblsp beef concentrate 

1 bottle of Guinness beer

2 tblsp Chili Powder

1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp garlic powder (or 4 cloves crushed garlic)

1 tblsp Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

Keep in mind that I am doubling this recipe to accommodate the crowd we are serving. One recipes worth will yield plenty for the average family to enjoy for a couple of days. 

Because so many children will be in attendance I have flipped the amount of hot and mild chili beans. In a single recipe this would be two mild and one hot. I use organic ingredients whenever I can and Krogers simple truth products are very affordable. I prefer to use mayan sweet onions. Their flavor is lovely but regular yellow onions will get you where you need to go.

Next we have our spices. You can use garlic powder in place of the fresh garlic if you don't have any on hand, but fresh is always best. As far as the beer goes, my husband and I love the rich flavor of Guinness so that is what we use. A myriad of stout and non stout beers would also work. Use your favorite. I would not recommend something with a tremendous hop flavor, however. We have a friend who loves a beer called Hopsecutioner....no good for chili my friends ;)

Your choice of meats can also alter the heat level. For those wanting to spice it up even more, simply sub hot italian sausage for the sweet.  I use 80/20 ground chuck for the beef.  You will need a large cast iron skillet and a large stockpot (though likely not as large as ours lol)

Most cubed beef bouillon has msg in it and we avoid that whenever possible. I much prefer the flavor of this product and recommend it for anything that calls for bouillon.

We try to use what we grow in our garden as much as possible so today we are using two small green bell peppers, one young Anaheim and one jalapeño (seeded and chopped).  Here is another step that can increase or decrease your heat level. I went with an anaheim and a jalapeño in place of all jalapeño to mellow it out slightly. Want even less heat? Go with just bell peppers.  More heat...crank up the jalapeños. Want crazy town hot??? break out the habanero's or ...(dramatic horror movie music)  ghost peppers O_o

Place your ground beef in your skillet and cook thoroughly.  Drain and rinse before putting meat in your stock pot......what was that??  The air being sucked out of the room at the thought of rinsing your meat? (my chef friends all just passed out I'm sure) Look I love the flavor of the meat "juices" as much as the next person, but 80/20 gives off a LOT of liquid fat. It is too much, and draining doesn't always get enough out for my taste. I promise you won't miss any of it.

In the same cast iron skillet cook your sausage fully.   You are going to reserve 3 tblsp of the rendered sausage fat before draining (no rinsing this time)

While your meats are cooking, seed and chop your pepper assortment and your onions. Also press your garlic. (and there on the bottom left is our our ramekin of reserved sausage fat)

Once your sausage is in the stockpot and your skillet is once again available, add your reserved fat, peppers, onions and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.

No time should go to waste in the kitchen so while the onions and their pan mates are cooking start opening all those cans :)  Drain (don't rinse) your black and kidney beans.  Then get all of your dried spices and better than bouillon measured out and ready.  As you can see I love little stainless steel prep bowls and recommend having an assortment. Mise en place isn't just for restaurant kitchens boys and girls :)  I frequently have everything measured, chopped and prepped before starting any recipe and it always makes life so much easier.

Once translucent, add your onions and their pals to the stock pot and the rest is just a matter of dump and stir.  Tomatoes, chili beans (hot and mild undrained), beans, spices, bouillon and beer.

Mix and simmer for 1.5 hours or more. If you can avoid digging in....you are a better person than me ;)....but honestly, it will taste better the next day. A night in the fridge lets all of those lovely flavors come together even more. I would say that this dish freezes beautifully (and i'm sure it does) but we have never had enough left to freeze so you will have to discover that for yourself ;)

Ok so chili is done, and fantastimagically delicious!  What goes better with chili than cornbread?  I would say nothing!  So today instead of one recipe I'm gonna go ahead and do a second one. 

I live in Virginia, the people here consider this the south (even though its technically mid atlantic....no hate mail please :)  One of the first things I noticed when moving here is that the iced tea is UNBELIEVABLY sweet, ( I'm talking crunchy sweet) and the cornbread is not sweet at all. The first time I bit into a piece I was in an unhappy shock. Being a Jersey girl, I love sweet cornbread (and not so sweet tea). So this recipe is my kind of cornbread....Just sweet enough, soft and lovely.  If you are from the mid atlantic...I mean south (wink wink) this may not be the recipe for you.

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil

4 tblsp melted unsalted butter

2 tblsp honey or agave

2 eggs (beaten)

1 tblsp Baking Powder

1 1/4 cups milk

So a few words about ingredients....... Flour - always use unbleached. Why?? ....It has been shown that alloxan is a byproduct of the flour bleaching process, the process they use to make flour look so “clean” and -- well, white.  Alloxan, or C4 H2O4N2, is a product of the decomposition of uric acid. It is a poison that is used to produce diabetes in healthy experimental animals (primarily rats and mice), so that researchers can then study diabetes “treatments” in the lab. Alloxan causes diabetes because it spins up enormous amounts of free radicals in pancreatic beta cells, thus destroying them.

Beta cells are the primary cell type in areas of your pancreas called islets of Langerhans, and they produce insulin; so if those are destroyed, you get diabetes.

There is no other commercial application for alloxan -- it is used exclusively in the medical research industry because it is so highly toxic.  

Now that we've covered that O_o ....onto cornmeal.  I like to use yellow cornmeal. White will have a slightly different texture but will also work.

Baking powder should always be aluminum free. It's important. I can taste the metallic undertone and so can a lot of other people. Also, why would you want aluminum in your baked goods if an aluminum free option works just as well? Just saying.

BUTTER, NOT MARGARINE...always...period.

I used Agave today but normally prefer local raw honey. A coworker of my husbands has many hives and we have always gotten our honey from him by the gallon (yep the gallon folks). It is gloriously delicious and helps with our seasonal allergies as well. Sadly a bear on his property thought the honey was wonderful as well and decimated his hives :( I have been out of his honey for some time now and didn't make it to the local farmers market to get some before making this. Agave works just fine but local raw honey is always superior.

Combine all of your dry ingredients and whisk together.

Mix all of your wet ingredients (including your eggs) and add to your dry ingredients. Now I LOVE a good mixer. I have two kitchen aids and a hobart....but DON'T use a mixer for cornbread.  It will be tough. Just gently stir or fold until well combined with some lumps. Don't fear the lumps.

 Let it sit while you prep the pan or pans and give another quick stir before adding to pan(s). Most of the lumps will be gone just from that little rest where the remaining dry ingredients soak up the moisture. Plus,  no further development of gluten comes from the sitting and soaking method. Soft cornbread, not tough peeps.

Bakers Joy, use it, love it, never be without it. The end.

 Fill pan(s) halfway. I quadrupled the recipe so mine fit in 14 and 10 inch rounds.  I know not everyone has 14 inch round pans (unless you are a custom cake artist like yours truly) so you can use any rectangular pan that suits the amount of batter you prep.

Bake at 350 for 35 - 50 minutes depending on your oven or pan size.  When a toothpick comes out clean, you're good to go :)

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!! :)

17 kids, two moms and some beef stroganoff ;)

This day could have gone down hill fast. It began with check ups and booster shots for the three youngest of my children. Why does my husband never take them for shots?? We had this discussion for the umpteenth time at the kitchen island this morning as I prepared to leave for the pediatrician. ( Hey I know umpteenth is not a real word, leave me alone, three kids with holes in them remember?  I get some leeway today  ;)  Let me take a moment to tell you that I am married to the most amazing man, scratch that , the most amazing human being I have ever met. He is the dad I always wanted, the husband I dreamed of (but never thought existed) and the best friend I have ever had.  These fantastimagical qualities aside (that is my sons word, therefore it is real, and off limits to criticism, so says my mommy heart) my husband avoids being present anytime our children have any kind of painful shot or procedure like plague. When our sons were circumcised he fled as though chased by flames. He has only taken one child for one shot in our 19.5 years as parents. ONE. So I loaded up my kids and my ever present short end of the shots stick and headed out the door.  This time, however, I was armed with some powerful anti shot pain ju ju.  We had plans to spend the day with another large family that we love.  The anticipation of that fun seemed to act as an anesthetic, because not one of those children cried or complained at all about their shots! Score one for mom! And yes in my head I am sticking my tongue out at my non shot watching husband, because I is an adult ;)

We left the pediatrician, gathered the rest of the kids from home and down the road we drove. Between us this friend and I have 17 children. Both of our husbands were working so it was just the moms and kids today. I am not sure what that picture looks like in peoples heads, but I can assure you in real life it is quite wonderful. Everyone has someone their age to play with. They all get along and interact with kindness and joy.  All 17 of our kids have been homeschooled. There is something unique about all of the homeschool children (including my own) that I have met. Because they are not separated physically into grades and classrooms they don't have any qualms about interacting with those not their age. It doesn't occur to them that its not cool for a 12 year old to hang out with a 9 year old. I love watching that :)  We had a delicious lunch of homemade pizza and headed to their neighborhood pool (which we filled quite nicely lol).  My friend and I dangled our feet in the water and relaxed while we watched them all play and swim. Yes you can relax with 17 kids :) For us it's normal.  The day refreshed my soul and I am grateful for this friendship.

I wasn't sure I would get a chance to write again until Sunday as I will be working on a wedding cake for a few days, but I was quite relaxed and uplifted by todays fellowship so I decided to go ahead and get this post in.  

Today's recipe is Beef Stroganoff.  I am an unapologetic carnivore. I LOVE meat. Honestly I don't feel well when I don't eat meat. Plant based protein is lovely but won't hold me for long. There is nothing terribly fancy about Beef Strognaoff but it is amazingly good when made WITHOUT cream of mushroom soup.  Can we please just take a minute to talk about how much utter crap is in canned soups. Most contain msg among a long list of other questionable ingredients and a WHOPPING 870 mg of sodium per serving!!  Please use real ingredients whenever humanly possible. And yes I am saying that the gelatin like mass that oozes from a ridged can is not real food. Ok, let me tuck my soap box away and get back to the recipe ;)

Here is what we start with

You will need 

2 lbs of roast shaved (we will talk about why I didn't specify a cut in a moment)

4 tblsp butter

2 tblsp olive oil 

one medium onion chopped

8 ounces beef stock 

1 tsp spicy mustard

2 cans mushrooms well drained (use fresh if you can, but canned will work in this recipe, it was what I had on hand for dinner prep)

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup red wine

2tblsp corn starch 

enough water to make a slurry with the corn starch

salt and pepper to taste

Let's start with the meat. I buy whatever roast is on sale as long as it's not terribly marbled. Marbling is great for a lot of applications but not for this one. This week bottom round roast was on sale, so bottom round roast it was. If your meat department offers cutting services (and most do) take your roast  to the butcher counter and ask them to trim and shave the roast. They will take the fat patch off of the bottom and then take it to a deli slicer dedicated to the meat department and cut it with that rather than a knife. I always ask for it as thin as they can manage it. 

To begin, heat your butter and olive oil in a large cast iron skillet ( you can use any large skillet, I just love cast iron :) 

Add to that your chopped onion and cook until soft.

Next comes your mushrooms. You will want to make sure you brown them nicely to avoid the canned mushroom taste. If you are using fresh (obviously a better choice) be prepared for a little extra cooking time as they let go of a lot of liquid which delays browning. 

Time to add your meat! Take your shaved meat, a few strips at a time and cut with scissors into smaller pieces.  I use scissors for a lot of things in the kitchen because I just find it easier than knives. This may be because I went for years and years with no good knives lol  Old habits die hard. I also use gloves for a lot of raw meat prep simply because it makes life a little easier and less ickly ;)

Cook your meat thoroughly 

Now add your beef stock.  My family likes a heavy meat stroganoff but if you prefer more "gravy" you can double (or triple) your liquids (stock, and wine). 

Next your wine.  Lets talk just a moment about wine. I admit I don't drink wine but I cook with it frequently. Never, ever, ever use "cooking wine". It is disgusting.  I cook with drinkable wine. Whatever drinkable wine is on sale to be exact (large family considerations). I just ask the sommelier at my grocery store which wine offered on sale that week will have a good flavor for cooking. Avoid the twist tops and cardboard boxes please ;)  If you don't feel you will ever use a whole bottle most stores now offer small bottles or even pre filled individual serving glasses. This week I bought an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. It smelled quite lovely and added a wonderful flavor to my stroganoff. The bottle will last me for a while and was on sale for under $10.

Add your mustard and sour cream and simmer for about 30 minutes or longer if you have the time. This simmering coupled with the shaving is why you can use relatively tough cuts of meat and still have a nice tender end result. It also serves to cook off the intense wine flavor leaving a beautiful flavor.

Make a slurry of corn starch and water and add to your stroganoff to thicken it. 

Simmer for a few more minutes, add salt and pepper to taste and VIOLA!!! 

Ladle  over some egg noodles, or sautéed broccoli for those going low carb and enjoy!!

Of course we made fresh garlic parmesan knot rolls to go with ours :)  We are bread lovers and they are divine!  Oh! maybe the garlic knots recipe tomorrow !!  Good night all :)