Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Butternut Squash Soup


Cooler days are upon us,
Welcome Autumn with this delicious soup. 
Hearty, nutritious 
and so easy to make.



Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash
1 onion
1 stock of celery chopped
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1 box chicken stock,
I use Campbell's 900ml.
(reduced sodium)
salt, pepper and parsley to taste.
(I add a parsnip because I
don't use salt, and parsnips
add a nice flavour)




Thick, rich soup full of flavour.



Directions:

Peel and remove seeds from the squash
(Sorry for the dark photo)



Chop up in cubes



Dice up carrots, potatoes
and  (parsnip, optional)



Celery and onion also



With 2 tbsp butter in the pot
cook the squash, onion, celery,
 carrots, potatoes and 
(parsnip, optional) for 5 minutes. 

Add the chicken stock.
Bring to a boil,
reduce heat to low,
 cover pot and simmer 40 minutes or
 until all the vegetables are tender.




With a hand blender,
or an ordinary blender,
blend until pureed.


Delicious!


This recipe is adapted from AllRecipes

Thanks for visiting my blog xo



Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Pumpkin Orange Jam

Pumpkins are in season.
This jam is a family favourite.

My Mom made many kinds of jams.
She grew her pumpkins
and made this jam every year,
to feed her large family.
Pumpkins are easily grown.

We always had a pumpkin patch.
I remember pumpkins being kept over 
the winter months and she would make
 jam whenever she got the time.

You won't find pumpkin jam on the 
grocery shelves and
 many people have never heard of it.

I am sharing my Mom's recipe.

A simple recipe with only three
ingredients, pumpkin, oranges and sugar.

8 cups pumpkin chopped up
4 cups sugar
3 medium oranges

Cut up pumpkin in small pieces.


I prefer a smaller cooking pumpkin
 than those huge ones for carving.





Add 1 cup sugar for 
each 2 cups of pumpkin.

Let sit overnight. 


The sugar brings out 
the juices of the pumpkin.

The next morning
2 large oranges or 3 medium oranges
  Grate outer layer of oranges.


Cut out the white skin/membrane
 under the rind and discard.

Chop up orange
Combine the grated rind, 
chopped orange and
any juice to the pumpkin mixture.

Bring mixture to a boil, 
reduce heat and simmer uncovered 
stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

Optional: Mash the jam with a potato masher, 
 or hand held blender.




Fill sterilized jars

After washing my jars and covers, 
I put them in the oven on a low temperature
and keep them hot until I'm ready to fill them.

Great on toast for breakfast
or an afternoon tea
on a tea biscuit.

My "Sunshine Jam"

Thanks for your visit 

💛💛💛
🌅🌅🌅



Sunday, October 22, 2017

Apple Jelly


Apples are in season
I am using my MacIntosh apples to
make apple jelly this year.
Their red skins 
 enhances the colour and flavour.

Ingredients:
9 pounds apples
9 cups water
6 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice


Wash Apples
Chop up apples in chunks
leaving skin and seeds.
(I remove the black end and any brown marks on the apple.)
The skin and seeds contain pectin
which help thicken and colour the jelly.

In a large pot bring the apples, 
water and lemon juice to a boil

Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Do not stir the apples,
(you'll have a cloudy jelly)
With a potato masher,
gently push down the apples
while they are cooking.

Place apples and juice in a jelly bag


or: a colander lined with at least 4 layers of cheesecloth 
 placed over a large bowl.

Let the apple mixture drain overnight or at least 5 hrs, 
without crushing or squeezing the fruit.



My contraption:
I hang the bag from 
the cupboard doors
and let drip.
I used 2 bags and 
one strainer with cheesecloth.
Or use a colander lined with cheesecloth.



After the dripping is finished,
measure the juice.
You should get about 8 cups of juice.

 If the amount of juice is different,
 count about 3/4 cup of sugar for each 1 cup juice.

In a large pot bring the apple juice and sugar to a boil
Simmer until a candy thermometer reads 220 deg. F.
Skim carefully while cooking.

I use these small strainers for skimming.
They work well.



Boil until it reaches the 
temperature of 220 deg F.
Or test for the jelly stage.

Fill sterilized jars.

After washing my jars and covers, 
I put them in the oven on a low temperature
and keep them hot until I'm ready to fill them.

Enjoy!
Delicious served with pork or lamb.
Great on toast or with a
 tea biscuit for an afternoon tea.




Thanks for visiting my blog xo


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Crab-Apple Jelly




Apple are in season

There are a lot of crabapple trees in the region.
What better time to make some jelly.








9 lbs crab-apples, 
quartered with skin and seeds

(I remove the black end and any brown marks on the apple.)
 The skin and seeds contain a lot of pectin.


9 cups cold water

1/4 cup lemon juice

(6 cups sugar is added after the 
apples are cooked and drained.)


In a large pot bring the crabapples, 
water and lemon juice to a boil

Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered.




Place apples and juice in a jelly bag

or: a colander lined with at least 4 layers of cheesecloth 
 placed over a large bowl.

Let the apple mixture drain overnight or at least 5 hrs, 
without crushing or squeezing the fruit.






To hang my bags
I hooked it to my cupboard doors.
I had 2 bags hanging and
one colander dripping in a bowl.



After the dripping is finished,
measure the juice.
You should get about 8 cups of juice.
 If the amount of juice is different,
 count about 3/4 cup of sugar for
 each 1 cup juice.
In a large pot bring the crabapple juice and sugar to a boil
Simmer until a candy thermometer reads 220 deg. F.
or until it has reached the jelly stage.
Skim carefully while cooking.
I use these small strainers for skimming.
They work really well.





Simmer until 220 degrees F.


Place in sterilized jars. 


Optional:
To flavour the jelly, you can add 1/2tsp of ground cinnamon while cooking.
This jelly is delicious served with pork or lamb.





I 've never made jelly before. This is my first time. I wanted to do something with all the apples I have. After researching recipes on the Web and  my old canning books, I've come up with this method and it gave me good results. 



Thanks for your visit xo