Orange Juice

Before leaving for the south John and Gail dropped off a box of oranges.  I have been making fresh squeezed orange juice for the last week or so.

There is nothing like a glass of sweet orange juice first thing in the morning.

Lemon Snickerdoodles

I took part in a Christmas Cookie Exchange.  There were nine people who took part in the trade.  Which meant I needed to bake 10 dozen cookies. (we all brought 1 dozen to sample).  We gathered at Michelle's house to exchange and sample the assortment.  

I was a bit stumped on what to make.  I wanted to make something that would not be a duplicate of someone else's cookie.  I went through the collection of online cookie recipes I have gathered over the years and decided on Lemon Snickerdoodles.  I discovered this recipe over the summer.   

Snickedoodles have been around for a long time.  The very first cookie I ever baked in Home Ec. class way back in 1989 was a Snickerdoodle. They were very yummy.   The difference between in the lemon version is you omit the Cinnamon and add lemon zest of 2 lemons.  Back then I had never heard of the cookie before and I quickly forgot about them as life went on.  I stumbled upon the recipe again in one of the first cookbooks of my collection.  

Here is the most recent edition. 

I was so excited to have found the recipe again.  I have baked them many times over the years.  

This mixing bowl was full to the top with 4 batches of cookie batter.  The dough was tasty with all the fresh lemon zest in it.  

Thank goodness for the little measuring spoon which kept all the cookies the same size an speed up the rolling process.

They only take ten minutes to bake.  I had just enough for the exchange by the end of the bowl.  Dave, Otis and I all got one cookie to eat.  Needless to say we ate more then one and I had to bake more the day of the exchange.

Bread & Butter Pickles

My Mom and I canned almost two dozen jars of pickles and beans. There were Dill Pickles, Dilly Beans, Gherkins and Bread & Butter Pickles.  


The only ones we have been eating so far have been the bread and butter pickles.  They are really yummy.  I may have to make more.


They are really easy to make:

Easy Bread & Butter Pickles

• Slice up 4 quarts of Cucumbers and 6 medium onions.  I left the rather thick.  
• Mixed the Cucumbers and onions with 1/3 cup of salt.  Cover with ice and let sit over night (almost 24 hours).   
• Add more ice before bed to keep them very cold.
• Drain and rinse the mixture.
• Make syrup and bring to boil.  (I tasted the syrup at this time and adjusted to my liking)
• Add cucumber and onions and bring to boil again
• 
  
  Fill sterilized jars. Remove any air. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Syrup:
2 3/4 Cups of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
2 Tablespoons mustard seed
3 Cups of white vinegar

Mac & Cheese

Otis made dinner last night. I found a recipe that was to good to be true. Mac and cheese in a rice cooker, ready in 30 minutes. Dave had a tooth pulled out yesterday and could not eat solids.  I had recently watched a video from weelicious making this dish.  It looked to easy.  I measured all the ingredients out and Otis added them all into the rice cooker.  30 Minutes later we added some chives from the garden and dinner was ready.  It was really good.  Next time we make it we are going to add bacon bits.  Everything is better with bacon.

Sausage and Greens Soup

Tonight for dinner I made a soup that tasted a lot like Italian wedding soup. I got the recipe from Simply in Season. It is the second or third thing I have made from it.

There is a dish in there called Nova Scotia Hodge Podge. It is one of my favorite dishes Jazz makes. It is one of her back home growing up dishes. There is definitely and east cost connection to the dish as she is a province over and makes the same dish.

Anyway

The Soup was made with Onions, Chives, Parsley and Spinach from my garden and Garlic scape's and Kale from Bailey's. I was very surprised when Dave really liked it and Otis had seconds.

I could feel the iron entering my system. So Good.

Strawberry Lumpy Drizzle 2009

That's what the label would read is I were that organised. I couldn't even find enough jars that were the same size. However, Otis and I spent the better part Friday night making jam/sauce/drizzle. which ever you prefer to call it. I call it awesome.

Otis played with his new pirate ship most of the time. good thing being there was knife or hear involved for the majority of time. He got to mash, and pour the sugar and lemon juice.



It was really easy.

I am not really sure where I got the basic proportions some recipe online somewhere. They all basically read the same. I made a few adjustments as it really didn't need to set completely. I was aiming for a good balance between thick and saucy.


Loopeeeee's Strawberry Lumpy Drizzle

A whole lot of mashed strawberries 9 - 10 cups
Six on the small side cups of sugar (small side =not leveled & not heaping)
1/4 cup & a bit more 3 times (to taste)

1. Put the 9 cups of strawberries in the pot and add sugar
2. Mix together and taste. If you find it to sweet add the remaining cup of berries. Don't add anymore. then there wouldn't be enough sugars to cause the berries to bind.
3. Add 1/4 of lemon juice. It's amazing how much the lemon juice cut the sugar.
4. Fiddle with the lemon juice until you get what you want it to taste like. this is the Bit three more times.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer stir while cleaning your fridge. Pay as close attention to the boil while you add the rotting stuff to the compost bowl.
6. Funnel into sterilized jars and then process the jars for 10 plus minutes. Enough time to do the dishes and run the compost out.
7. Remove Jars and listen for the pops.




It seemed really similar to the recipe I used for freezer jam a few years back. I am a bit concerned about it's shelf life. The jars popped right after I took them put of the pot from processing them.

I will just have to keep an eye on it.
This recipe made 4 x 500ml, 6 x 250 ml, 1 x 125ml jars. For the organised person this would mean approx. 16 250 ml. jars.


Saturday morning Otis and were in the North end we stopped at St. Jacobs to get Yummy bread to go with the jam. We had it for breakfast that morning after we ran a few errands before 9:30 am. It was a great start to a productive day.