Pickles

OK. I have attempted canning with the abundance of food I have. I started with tomato sauce, then beets, pickles, dilly beans and jalapenos. What a learning curve it has been. I have never canned before, so I picked up a book by Ball jars to learn the art of putting up my food. The book seems to be just what we needed because it walks you thought the steps of canning, freezing and drying foods.

My trouble has been with my pickles. I got 8 lbs of pickling cucumbers through my CSA and was armed with my Ball canning book and was ready to attempt pickles. I think everything was going well until it came to packing the pickles in the jars. I originally though wide mouthed pint jars would work best, but then I realized I would only be able to fit about 4 cucumbers into these jars. My husband convinced me that the small-mouthed quart jars (the only large jars I had) were the way to go. We realized that there is an art into packing the cucumbers into the jars. We did the best we could, but were still left with a lot of holes because of the awkward shape of the cucumbers. We decided to proceed. When it came to pouring the hot pickling spiced flavored liquid into the jars, I found out that grossly underestimated the amount of liquid that would fit into the jars. (Actually I followed the Ball book recipe and it was not nearly enough liquid.) Once the pickles were processed, I noticed that they had shifted and only filled up about 3/4 of the jar. Soon, I they started to shrivel and shrink. By morning, they filled up only about half of the jar. I read my book about problems you might encounter and prevention. I learned that I was supposed to prick the cucumbers with a fork before canning them. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!

Bananas

I just got back from seeing Julie and Julia and got inspired to write another blog entry.

What to do with old bananas...

I love bananas, but they have to be just perfectly ripened the way I love them in order for me to really eat them. Not too green, but firm. Ripe bananas don't have any appeal to me, yet I always buy a bunch of bananas and they get ripe before I eat more than one or two. So, I always have old bananas on hand. Here are two recipes I use with my old bananas.

Tried and True Banana Bread
(I got this recipe from my mom. I make it with my daughter at least once a week)

2-3 ripe bananas (the ones with the brown spots)
1/2 cup veggie oil
1 cup sugar

Mix these together, then add.

1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk plus 1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups flour
chocolate chips or butterscotch chips (optional)

Mix together. Pour in a bread pan.
Bake 335 degrees for 1 hour 5 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean



Banana Fritters
(This recipe also came from my mom and I will type it exactly the way she told it to me.)

mash up 1 banana
add one egg
cup of flour
¼ - 1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup milk

consistency of pancake or waffle mix

fry in a little oil... spoon into oil, medium heat, cook like a pancake

Dutch Baby Pancakes

I remember learning how to make this breakfast in my third grade class. My teacher taught a unit on foods from around the world and we each made a cookbook with the recipes we learned. Now my children enjoy eating Dutch Babies for breakfast. The following recipe makes one pancake. I usually just mix up one at a time and

Dutch Babies
1 egg
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter

topping:
lemon juice
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Wisk first 3 ingredients together in a small bowl. Once oven is hot put your butter in pan (I use a glass pie pan) and put in the oven to melt. Take melted butter out of oven and pour in batter. Cook for about 4-5 minutes. The pancake will puff up and look lightly brown around the edges when it is done. Top with lemon juice and sprinkle powered sugar.