violet jelly

This is the prettiest jelly I've ever made. It was pretty the entire making and I took so many pictures. It's wild violet jelly. 

Yep, made from those pretty spring violets that grow in the yard. 

I had two lovely pickers.  Bee and a neighbor picked and picked. Then they got bored and went to play with their horses.  They have imaginary horses that live on the pool deck.  They dutiful feed, water and exercise them.

You'll need a lot of those lovely violets, about 3 cups.

You'll also need the juice of a lemon, 3 1/2 cups of sugar, and a box of sure jell.

Pick the stems off the flowers.  You don't have to get crazy about getting off all the green, it won't matter.

I rinsed the flowers, but I suppose it doesn't matter.  We have a dog, thought it might be best (have you met him, he's lovely).

The flowers get 2 1/2 cups boiling water poured on top. 

And left to steep. 

And get prettier and prettier.

It's best if you work in the smallest corner of the kitchen.  I dream of big open countertops!

While the violets are soaking, squeeze the juice of the lemon. 

You should totally use what's left of the lemon to make lemonade.  Sugary, delicious lemonade.

The violets turn the water such a pretty blue.

Strain them, saving the wonderful blue water for cooking.  Toss those mushed violets in the compost.  They smell a little funk at this point.

The violet water turns from the deep blue to...

a bright pinky purple as soon as you add the lemon juice.  Turn up the heat.  Add the package of sure jell and bring to a rolling boil.  Add 3 1/2 cups sugar.  Bring back to a boil.  Boil for a minute or two.  Stir well the whole time.

Process now as you would any jelly.  Pour into clean and ready jars. 

I used my tattler reusable lids.  They are a two piece lid.  They work great for jelly.

Process for 5 minutes. 

Allow 24 hours to set up, but it you can't, it's fine.  We ate ours about 2 hours after I made it.  I cut up a whole chicken and we had fried chicken and mashed potatoes and biscuits.  We needed the jelly.  It has a light flavor, almost grape.  It was sweet and yummy and we gobbled it up. 

Hubby mowed the yard that same night.  We hope to get one more picking of violets and make another batch of jelly. 

canning beans, in a little more detail

I sometimes hear from readers with questions about something I have posted. Probably the

 questions I get most are about canning. Honestly, I've only been canning about three years, so I don't have all the answers.  I have canned though a number of different things and am several hundreds of jars into this, so I do have a little I can share about the process.   (Here's a link to all my canning posts)  As with most new things I dive into, I've really read up on it, both in books and sources online too.   That disclaimer aside, I'd thought in this 'off season' of canning I'd share my winter canning- dried beans.  They are easy and excellent for a beginner, although they do use a pressure caner, which is admittedly scary at first.

You can can about any dried bean.  I get mine from the food co-op in town.  They sell dry goods in bulk at great prices.  I can get dried organic black beans for $1.62 a pound, which I think is close to what you can get a sack of 1/2 pound of non organic beans for at the grocery store.  I like canning beans because you get the convenience of canned beans but the budget savings of dried beans.  It's always great also to know exactly what is in your jar/can of food.  They are delish too, so that's a plus.

 

So, it's easy, like I said.

1.  To get started, you need to clean your jars.  If I'm pressure canning (beans, meats, vegetables) then, I just wash my jars and lids in hot soapy water.  If I am using the water bath method (fruits, jellys, jams, etc) then I boil the items to sanitize them. 

2.  Set out all of your supplies.  Some canning is a fast paced process, beans not so much.  Your jars will need lids and rings.  I always always use new lids, rings can be used a million times.  I also sometimes use reusable  tattler lids, but that's for another post.

3.  You will need a pot of water boiling on the stove to add to the jars in a few steps.

4.  I also go ahead and get the canner started.  Follow the directions for your particular canner.  Mine is 33 years old and was purchased by my mother in law along with a watermelon.  We have the original receipt still in the box.  Mine calls for two inches of water.  I go ahead and turn the heat on and get this warmed up- without the lid.

5.  On to the beans....  Rinse dried beans in water. 

6. Pick out any funky ones.  They look a little like raisins.  I don't really want to eat those. 

7.  I only can beans in pint jars, because that's what works for us.  Each pint jar gets 2/3 cups of dried (rinsed, so they are damp) beans.  I don't level off the cup, it's usually a little rounded on top. 

8.  optional:  add 1/4 teaspoon salt.  I usually just add a sprinkle of salt, not even the full 1/4 t.   (that little jar is my salt shaker... it almost looks like I'm really adding an inch of salt to a jar!)

9.  When you have all your jars measured out, it's time to add the water.  My canner holds 7 jars, I think that's probably a standard number.  I am canning black beans and white navy beans.  One jar is even mixed because I had a little left over of each.  I guess it can go in soup some time.

10.  Add boiling water slowly leaving 1 inch of room at the top.  I say add slowly because I like to give the water time to get in and around all the beans.

I usually tap the jar gently to get rid of any air pockets. 1 inch from the top, means, 1 inch from the very tip top of the opening of the jar.

11.  Wipe the rim with a dry cloth. 

12.  Add clean, dry lid. 

13. Add ring.  tighten a bit, not too tight, not wobbly loose either.

14.  Set it in your canner. Get the others ready.

The black beans always make the water a funny black/blue color.

The white beans don't seem to do that at all. 

15. When all the jars are ready to go, put the lid on the top and fasten securely.

16.  Add the weight thingy, if your canner has one.  I think new ones do something different. Turn the heat on as per your directions.  I know about how hot my burner needs to be to get the weighty thing to jiggle.  Beans go for 10 pounds for 75 minutes. 

For my canner, that's 75 minutes after the jiggling starts.

17.  When the 75 minutes are over, remove from heat.  But for the love of all things wonderful, don't open it. Don't try to open it.  I think most have a safety feature so your can't open it.  Wait until it's cooled off and the safety latch releases.  Mine is at least an hour.  Then, remove your jars.  When the jars are all cooled off, another few hours, check the lids to make sure everything sealed properly.  You do not have to store the jars with the rings on, so go ahead and remove those.  If one didn't seal (it happens occasionally) put it in the fridge and use in the next few days.  It is likely that your jar has a tiny chip on the top. 

This is a happy sound in my kitchen.  It means the hard part is over and something lovely and canned is about to be ready. 

dried apples

My sister gave me this book as an early Christmas present.  We keep secrets and gifts like that. 

It has some fun recipes for jellies, jams, sauces, chutneys, etc as well as some information on very traditional preserving methods like drying and smoking.  These dried apples looked delish and since apples are as cheap as they are local right now, I decided to try it first.

They were so so good.  We gobbled them up.  They were very much like the expensive dried apples we sometimes buy the kids for travel snacks.  Only, I never eat those because I want to 'save them for the kids.'

This is more a method than a recipe, so I don't feel bad sharing all the secrets from this page, because they aren't secrets.  Ladies have been preserving fruits for eons with this method.  Some men maybe too, but l feel ok saying ladies...  Regardless, the apples get washed and sliced thinly.  I used several varieties of apples and they all had good results. 

Then they get cored and dipped in 2 c water, 2 c lemon juice. 

Lay them on a drying rack and bake/dry for 10ish hours at 175 degrees.  I tasted as we went and did enjoy them at all leathery in-between states.

When they are removed from the oven, they need to sit a hour or two on the counter to cool.  They do a crazy crisping up at this point as well.  It was as though all the sweetness of the apples was condensed in the smaller space.  They made a great snack for sitting on the counter to grab whenever you needed a little something.   It was better than grabbing a handful of chocolate chips every time I walked through the kitchen.  Why are those blasted chips even in my pantry?

We liked them so much, we packaged some up for Bee's teacher.  

Along with a water bottle, it made a fun 'first day of teacher conferences' snack.  There's no shame in buttering up the teacher before conferences!