Oh September

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September, what a busy month you are.

What with all the canning, freezing and drying going on, it seems there is time for little else!

I love it, I feel like I am channeling the pioneer women of the past, the “salt of the earth” women, the women I so admire and love.

It seems like most of my posts lately have been all about food, canning, freezing and drying it. (Where have I heard that before?) and I figured it was time to do a little update on ME.

So what have I been up to?

Hmmm….

Canning.
Freezing.

Drying.
Hmmm…
Apples and grapes, gleaned from my in-laws, they will be for eating and juicing.
Peaches for cobbler, tomatoes for sauce and Zucchini for bread.
All needing my attention asap.
 
A box of pears for…I have no idea…and various canning supplies, it is September, they live in my kitchen in September.

Eggs that need washing…so much to do.

Really though, life hasn’t been only about food.  There has been a lot of pray, pondering and scripture reading.  Finishing our first read-aloud book of the school year (Caddie Woodlawn, and the kids have loved it).  Refinancing the mortgage for a killer interest rate, while also contemplating a long distance move so we can actually afford to purchase land.  Two dinners to sick neighbors, a leg surgery and some stomach flu.  Learning effective communication skills with Dadzoo.  Making a wonderful discovery in regards to reverence on Sunday mornings.  All the while, loving, laughing, crying and giving thanks for my wonderful live.

How has your September been?

Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam

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I was blessed with 40 pounds of Pear for a very good price.  Strangely enough for all the caning and food processing I do, I have never done pears.  I a not a fan of pears in syrup, I have never liked them, and the thought of spending all that time to make something that I won’t want to eat…well….yeah.  So I have been on a quest to find some different ways to preserve these wonderfully sweet pears.

While browsing through my Ball Canning book I came upon a recipe for “Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam”.  It sounded really yummy and uses liquid pectin, which is new for me.

I think this jam turned out especially pretty in their jars.

I am thinking potential Christmas gifts….?

Here is the recipe from the “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving”
(love, love, love this book, it has 400 recipes for pretty much anything you can cram in a jar!)
3 cups crushed cored peeled pears

2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 1/2 cup sugar (wowza!)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pouch liquid pectin

In a large stainless steel pot combine all ingredients except the pectin.  Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil, one that cannot be stirred down.  Stir in pectin.  Boil hard, stirring constantly for 1 minute.

Remove from heat, process 10 minutes (depending on elevation).

Buttermilk Syrup

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As promised
here is my Buttermilk Syrup recipe
(although I can’t really call it my own, I got it from my sister, and she got it from her sister-in-law)
anyway…
This syrup is super sweet, super buttery and down right yummy!  It is very simple to make and usually I whip it up while frying pancakes in the morning, however it can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator.
Here are the ingredients:
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

First, melt the butter.

Then add sugar and milk, whisk together and bring to a boil.

It will be creamy and frothy

Once the butter mixture is boiling, take it off the heat and add vanilla and baking soda.

The baking soda will make the mixture very foamy and big (for lack of a better word), so make sure you watch it so it won’t bubble over the sides of the pan (using a big pan helps)

Serve nice and hot
(my kids fight over the frothy stuff at the top!)

(isn’t this the cutest jar!  I have an obsession with cute jars)

If you aren’t going to use it right away, or if by some odd chance you have leftovers (really this shouldn’t happen) keep it in the refrigerator.  It will going solid because of all the yummy butter, just heat it up before serving.

Enjoy!

Farm Girl

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Nothing says “county girl” to me more that a little girl in a dress and rubber “mucking boots”
Too bad that little “country girl” lives smack dab in the middle of suburbia.
Although, that might be changing……

Making Buttermilk

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This post, about making buttermilk, is actually a precursor to a wonderful recipe I am going to share latter this week for buttermilk syrup.

Making your own buttermilk at home is simple and inexpensive, and a great beginner step into the wonderful world of cultured milk products.  Buttermilk bought from the store is a cultured product.  It really isn’t the milk leftover from making butter.  Butter now days is usually sweet cream butter, meaning that the cream used to make the butter is fresh, not soured.  In the good old days, women would save their cream for a week or more until they had enough to churn, in the process of saving the cream (in a world where there was no refrigeration) the cream would sour, or culture.  Once the butter was made, the milk that would come off the butter tasted, well, sour and tangy.  Women would use this buttermilk in baking, nothing was every wasted.

Now that we use sweet cream to make butter, buttermilk has to be made from milk that has had cultured added to it, in order to get the soured taste that makes buttermilk.

To make buttermilk from home, all you  need is:
Cultured buttermilk
Milk 
and
a glass jar 
Making the buttermilk is as simple as, adding the store bought buttermilk and milk together in a jar
covering with plastic (so it can breath a little, or you might break the jar as the milk cultures)
 
and letting it sit on your counter for a day or so, until it thickens.
Yes, out on the counter, not refrigerated, the milk will not go bad.
This will create a nice thick buttermilk, sometimes it is thick enough to spoon out of the jar. (If this happens, a quick stir will liquefy it again).  At this point store in the refrigerator, it will be good for a couple of weeks.  Make sure you remember to save a little bit to use as a starter for the next batch.  Like yogurt or kiefer, it is the gift that will just keep giving.
 
There you have it, a quart of buttermilk for the price of a half pint and some milk.