Pickles!

Thank you Mom for sharing your pickle recipe. Love you!

There is NOTHING like a homemade pickle. Store-bought pickles just don’t cut it. I ran out of my stored homemade pickles a couple of months ago, but didn’t think I would have the chance to bottle more this summer. Luckily someone from town had some extra that they were willing to share.

Ingredients:
Freshly picked Cucumbers (6 lbs)
Dill
Garlic
3 quarts vinegar
3/4 cup canning salt
3/4 tsp alum

1. Prepare your clean jars by putting some of your dill in each. You need a couple of sticks along with a good amount of seeds (probably about a tsp).

2. Prepare your cucumbers by washing and scrubbing them to get the dirt and prickles off. Then put them into your jars. Once your jars are full you can put one or two cloves of garlic in each.

3. Boil your water along with the vinegar, salt (Canning salt helps your pickles stay crisp), and alum. Pour over the top of your cucumbers. Wipe the lips of your jars and put your prepared lids on.

4. Process for 20 minutes.

Pickles need to sit for 6-8 weeks so they can absorb the flavor. It will be worth the wait!

*Prepare your lids by washing. Then put them in a pot of water that never quite reaches boiling. They need to be in there long enough to get hot to the touch. 3-5 minutes should do it.

You will probably also need to make extra water.You could cut it into 3rds pretty easily. You will need at least one batch of water for about 7 quarts of pickles. It will depend on how well you pack your cucumbers in there.

Bottling Chunky Salsa

I am a huge salsa fan! It is sad to admit, but I could sit down and eat a whole bottle of Pace salsa by myself in one sitting. I try and control myself, but sometimes I can't help it. Now you know my Achilles Heel. Growing up my mom would bottle salsa every couple of years. Some years were great batches, others were a little funky... Since I've moved out of the house I haven't really had much of the homemade bottled stuff. We'll play around with fresh a few times each summer, but I think the last batch of funky salsa made my mom give up on pleasing us.

Last year my sister in law made some awesome salsa. I've had the pleasure of trying it a few times while I've been over at her house. It is delicious! This year I asked her if I could get her recipe for it. She gladly shared. Thanks Laura! :) (This is a modified recipe from cooks.com)

*Note - This recipe makes about 1 quart. It is easily multiplied and can be used to make a huge batch. You can estimate how many times you want to multiply it by how many tomatoes you have, or jars you want to make. You can also adjust the heat by adding (or subtracting) jalapenos. This recipe is mild.

Ingredients:
3 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I like to chop them in advance and put them in the fridge, then drain the juice off in order to make the salsa more chunky)
3/4 cup white onion, chopped (I used my Food Chopper)
3-4 jalapenos (or 3-4 Tbsp. chopped jalapenos) (I used my Manual Food Processor).
* WEAR GLOVES when handling jalapenos! Also, do NOT touch your face at all. Be careful!
3 cloves garlic, minced (or 3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt (you can use canning salt if you want your color to stay extra bright)
1/3 cup vinegar

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Put into hot jars and process in water bath canner or steam canner for 20 minutes.

Tips: Pretty much everything can be chopped in advance. That way it's easy to start and stop as you need to.