It's Time to meet Mary Lynn and our Austin House

I talk about her all the time. I would be lost without her to guide me and correct my spelling and grammar. If only you could see a blog before she reads over it. It looks nothing like the blog you see before you. She doesn't have a red pen to strike thru my errors. She stands over my shoulder and tells me what makes sense and which form of to (or too) use. She loves semicolons for my run-on sentences. If it was left up to me most paragraphs would only have one sentence, maybe two.

Mary Lynn and Pete

The photo you see was taken at The Dickens' Christmas Festival in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Everyone had to dress in period outfits. We searched all over the internet for ideas. She decided to dress like a cook from that era. She found out what chefs wore and made me an outfit. I had the white chef's cook shirt with ballon sleeves under a starched apron. The pants were balloon legs that sort of folded under my belt. It felt really strange. Glad I didn't live when they wore clothes like that. We even decorated our booth to look something like that era. She spent a great deal of time researching that show. It was a 4 day show. Each day tour buses would unload groups of assorted people who would walk thru the show; compliment you on your looks; sample your items, and even tell their friends to try something. The problem was they could not buy anything that they had to carry on the bus. They had no storage room. Then they would get on the bus and another group came thru a little later. Same story! Four days of this and then we loaded up and drove home. We decided not to do the show again in the future.

But we did get our favorite photo ever from the show.

We did about 30 to 35 shows a year. Mostly in the fall and in the spring. We did winter shows in Florida and summer shows up North. Worked out pretty good. We had a great time traveling and meeting some of the best people we have ever been blessed to meet. The customers were fantastic. Our best friends were the people we did shows with, other vendors. When things slowed down a little she would walk around and talk to the other vendors. She looked at their things and in many cases, offered to trade with them. She would get this and they would get to pick from our booth equal face value. It made for many long-lasting friendships that still go on today. She did this while I stayed and gave out samples, talked and told jokes to anyone that was close enough to hear me. I was sort of a carnival barker for our booth. It worked out great! We have some of the most awesome things decorating our home from these trades. She also got some beautiful things that we used for gifts for our family. Many jewelery items have been boxed and wrapped to give as gifts for every occasion you can think of.

Mary Lynn Sutton grew up in rural South Georgia in Fitzgerald and Cuthbert. You have to look hard on maps to find them. Many summers she stayed with her Grandmother. She taught Mary Lynn all about putting up things for food later. She learned about all types of beans, corn, okra and tomatoes, just to name a few. She learned under trained hands all the little things you have to do to make whatever you are canning taste great and store without spoiling. It would be a huge disaster to go in and get something for dinner and open the jar to find it had gone bad. Not only was dinner ruined, but the work put was wasted. Not to mention the lost vegetables and meat that you canned. Every jar or bottle had to be just right or else it did not last.

Her family moved to Daytona Beach just about the same time as my family. We went to the same schools and knew the same people, just not each other. Go figure! We met while she was a newspaper editor for Daytona Today and I was a DJ at a local night club. We didn't date long before I wanted to marry her. She was just what I was looking for. I am not sure I was what she was looking for, but never mind that.

 

This very same way of doing things was the way she ran our kitchen and cooked those many things. We developed and cooked over 1000 different varieties of products in our business. We started The Austin House Jams & Jellies about 24 years ago. Mary Lynn and I were making gifts to give our family. And then they wanted more and asked if they could buy some. It all started that way.
We enjoyed the unbelievable variety of things available within a 1 day ride of our house. We would travel to South Georgia to get Peaches, or Blueberries. We bought Blackberries from the kids in our Sunday School Class. We gave them $5 for each gallon of berries they brought to our store. We told all the kids and parents that if they wanted extra money for something, picking was a good way to get it. Many Friday and Saturday afternoons we would get a call asking if we were going to be at our store at a certain time. Their moms or dads would bring them over and we would have cash for their trip to the movies or the mall. We bought many gallons of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and even grapes. It worked for us and was a good teaching element for them. They learned that they had to earn their own money to spend.

On the Vampire Diaries set

Something else about Mary Lynn that keeps our house jumping; she works as an extra or a stand-in for movies and TV shows being filmed in our area. Were we live, just outside Atlanta, on any given day or week, at least 3 or 4 movies or shows are in progress.

She has worked on the TV show Vampire Diaries. She did 4 or 5 shows. In movies, she has worked as a teacher in Halloween 2. She also was in the movie Hall Pass. In the Disney movie Flash, she played a vendor at the fair (sort of type casting). She also worked as a stand-in for Lois Smith in the movie "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" starring Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton and others. She is very multi-talented. Just recently she played a Nun in the new movie, The Three Stooges.
You never know from day-to-day what is going on around our house. I am writing a book, as well as 3 different blogs. I also find time to keep us current with all the goings on in Facebook. We have a very large family and we all keep in touch via the internet. Over several states, we visit almost daily.
Now in the future when I talk about Mary Lynn, you will know who I am talking about. I write the blogs, but we live them. We have enjoyed our 26+ years together.

If you have any questions, please ask. If I can't make up a good enough answer, she will be able to help me. Just e-mail us a question or comment or even a suggestion at: jellymanga@gmail.com

Remember if someone ask you if you can can it, say YES I can can it.

Blueberry Picking Time part 2

Recipes that go with previous blog. Just print and save.

Blueberry Jelly
Put 2 cups of fresh Blueberries in a medium-sized pot with 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil and cook 2 or 3 minutes (long enough for all the berries to explode). Strain this thru muslin to get clear juice.

3 1/2 cups Blueberry Juice
5 cups cane sugar
1 package of pectin
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Combine fruit juice, lemon juice and pectin in a medium size pot (a pot big enough so that when the jelly boils, it will have plenty of room). Boil for 1 minute then add the sugar. Bring back to a full rolling boil and cook for 1 more minute (time is important here). Remove from heat and let sit for a couple of minutes. Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, remove any bubbles or other things floating on top. Carefully ladle into 8 ounce canning jars (you can use 16 ounce, but I always prefer 8 ounce). Clean tops of jar and place clean domes and rings. Process in canning pot 10 minutes. Remove from boiling water and let sit undisturbed over night. In AM check for unsealed jars that will have to be reprocessed. Jars are ready to eat.
The processing of the jars in the canning pot with boiling water at least 2 inches above the lids is the same for all the recipes on this page. I will not repeat the processing for each one, so just refer to this, if needed.

Blueberry Jam
6 cups of washed blueberries
6 cups cane sugar
1 package of pectin
Crush berries and add pectin. Bring to a boil then add the sugar. Bring back to full boil and cook 1 minute. Skim and ladle into 8 ounce jars and process.

Blueberry Preserves
4 cups blueberries, washed and drained.
4 cups cane sugar
Combine berries and sugar in a large bowl, let stand for an hour, (til juice begins to flow from berries). Put mixture into pot and bring to a boil very slowly (you don't want to do this too fast because it will stick. You don't want the berries to break up, you want as many as possible to stay whole). Gently stir and cook till the juice gets to the jelly stage (the bubbles start to stick together and the juice is slow to drip from your spoon). Skim and process.

Blueberry Syrup
6 cups blueberry juice
3 cups cane sugar
3 cups light corn syrup
Combine all ingredients and simmer slowly. When everything is completely mixed and slowly boiling, remove from heat and skim. Ladle into jars or if available syrup bottles or syrup containers. Seal the containers promptly after putting in the liquid. If you use canning jars, process as usual. If you use bottles or something similar, keep refrigerated when not in use. To get blueberry juice to use, put 2 cups berries in pot with 1/2 cup water and boil till all berries have exploded. Strain and use juice. If you want to add some fresh berries so that you have chunky Syrup add about 1 cup of fresh berries just before you finish cooking.

Blueberry-Orange Marmalade

5 cups blueberries
6 cups sugar
3 cups oranges (cut into sections, no white membrane)
1/2 cup Julienne strips of orange peel
3 cups water
Mix berries and sugar in large pot. Chop orange segments (cut from whole orange after you cut all the rind off. Do this carefully to make sure you only get the segments). Take a peeler and cut away some of the out side of the orange. Peel lightly so you only get orange part. Cut these orange rind pieces into julienne strips (very tiny). Boil these strips in 1 cup water for 2 or 3 minutes then drain. Take strips and slowly cook in 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 water. Cook til these strips are tender and are almost candied. Add strips to berries and sugar and orange segments. Heat til you have a full boil, reduce heat and simmer till your juice starts to thicken (about 45 minutes) stirring to keep from sticking. Put into jars and process.

If you don't want to stand at your stove and cook for 45 minutes you can put your boiling mixture in a crock pot, let it simmer with the lid off. You still have to keep stirring occasionally. Cook until you get the right thickness. How long will depend on the amount of liquid from the oranges and blueberries. Either way, you want a nice thick liquid to go with the fruit. After you jar and process you will appreciate the time you spent making this marmalade.

I hope you try some of these recipes. I am sure you will be surprised at how delicious they are. If you use them for gifts, the recipient will be very happy with something that you made.

Many more blogs loaded with recipes for deliscious things to make and eat. If you have any ideas for things you want to see e-mail me at: jellymanga@gmail.com

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I hope it gives you a smile and ideas for cooking.

Anybody can do it. All you have to say is Can U Can It. The answer is yes you can.

Blueberry Picking Time part 1

I was in Sam's and saw that they had the most awesome looking Blueberries and Strawberries. The Strawberries came from California and the Blueberries came from South Georgia. They had a small display set up and were sampling the fruit. It was great, they gave you a little cup with a piece of sponge cake (from they're bakery) with a couple of pieces of strawberry and 3 or 4 blueberries and a blackberry just to make things better and served with whipped cream on top. They had a line of people waiting for their sample. This signaled that blueberries were in season.

Something about a basketful of fresh Blueberries.

When I did the blog about strawberries I left out strawberries from California. It seems that they have strawberries almost the year round. I still like my local berries, but I have to admit, the ones they were sampling were hard to beat. Well back to the subject for this blog, blueberries. Many people think the blueberry is a poor cousin in the berry family. They all rank blackberries and strawberries as co-champions with Raspberries following. I am not even sure where other berries rank. Blueberries are just sort of passed over. Well it is about time to have a vote for a new champion. I am going to cast my vote for blueberries. I want to lift their banner high with some new recipes that after you make them. You might join me in voting for blueberries.

It is widely thought that the best in the country come from the upper Northeastern part of the country, with the ones from Maine being the best. The only ones I have ever had from Maine were frozen, so I still have to go with my local fruit as best. But maybe someday I will have a chance to sample fresh berries from Maine. I would love to have a big box of berries from around my home area and a big box of Maine blueberries. I would eat a bunch then I would make some of the recipes that follow. Then I would eat a bunch using the recipes. If there were any left over I would mix them up and use them on my cereal the next morning. Then I think I would be a fair judge on where the best berries came from. If anybody would like to join me in my quest, just let me know. I will contact you as soon as someone else sends my a whole big bunch of berries. But don't hold your breath waiting.

I think the most popular things made from blueberries is Blueberry Jam and Blueberry Syrup. Everybody likes the blueberry syrup at IHOP and the ones in the grocery store. The only place I can think of where you might get blueberry jam is at Cracker Barrel. I don't think anybody else has jam available. There might be a restaurant that has jam for its customers in other parts of the country. Something you almost never see in a restaurant or snack shop is Blueberry Jelly.

Small in size, Big in taste. Blueberry jelly

Blueberry Jelly is something that is easy to make. For some reason, you don't often see Blueberry Jelly on the grocery shelves. But you see Blueberry juice in the specialty foods department. That is what we are going to start with. If you can't find the juice just buy a basket of berries and we will process them to get juice. The easiest way is by putting a couple of cups blueberries and about a 1/2 cup water in a medium-sized pot, bring the mixture to a slow boil. Stir to make sure all berries explode. Cook 2 to 3 minutes then remove from heat and let the liquid cool. I have found that 30 minutes is a good time, I want to get busy so I rush things a bit. Strain the liquid to remove any seeds or left over pulp. Don't push the pulp thru the strainer, you just want the juice. Save the pulp to make jam. If you really want prize-winning jelly, strain the liquid with muslin. We covered this in an earlier blog. Take 3 1/2 cups of juice 5 cups of cane sugar, 1 box pectin, and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. Combine all except the sugar, mix well and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Add the sugar and bring back to a rolling boil. After boiling for 1 minute remove from heat. Skim any foam off the top. Ladle into prepared 8 ounce jars (you can use 16 ounce, but 8 works better for me). Clean tops of jars and place dome and ring on. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes then let sit to cool overnight. Check for unsealed jars that have to be reprocessed. You now have a beautiful jelly that anyone would be happy to get in a gift basket. Remember to label your gifts with the ingredients on the jar. Some people might have a allergy to something used. That wasn't hard to do, all it took was a little time and effort.

Blueberry Jam is probably the most popular use for the fruit. It is even easier than the jelly. You will probably need 2 baskets of the fruit to get 6 cups berries. Then use 6 cups cane sugar and 1 box pectin. Mix crushed berries and pectin and bring to a boil, add the sugar, bring back to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, skim foam from top and using a ladle put into prepared 8 ounce jars. Boil in a water bath for 10 minutes, let sit over night. Check for unsealed jars. They are ready for a label or a toasted English muffin with butter. Now you have made two great items with just a little work.

Blueberry Jam and Preserves. This is what award winning jars look like.

Blueberry Preserves is a little more work, but worth the effort. Combine 4 cups washed and drained blueberries with 4 cups cane sugar. Mix to make sure all berries are sugared. Let set for an hour, till the juice begins to flow from the fruit. Put sugar and berries in a medium pot. Slowly bring to a boil, while gently stirring. Boil till the jelly stage. (This means that when you lift the spoon out of the pot, the liquid drips slowly almost ready to jell). Skim and ladle into 8 ounce jars, process 10 minutes. The next day you will have Real Blueberry Preserves. This is something that we won many ribbons for at the fairs. Put on hot biscuits with butter is a taste that many "Good Ole' Boys" have enjoyed for a long time. I guess you can call me one of those kinds of guys; because I am good and I guess I am old and the next is a gimme. So I plead guilty to being one.

Blueberry Syrup is easy to make. Add 6 cups fresh juice (or bottled juice), 3 cups cane sugar, 3 cups light corn syrup. Simmer all ingredients, till completely mixed then put in jars or syrup bottles if you have any. Sometimes you might want a little pulp in your syrup. If you do just push the fruit thru a little when you are straining the fruit. This will give you pulp without seeds or stems. If you wake up one day and want blueberry syrup on your pancakes and don't have any, then this is a short cut that will make do. Heat your regular syrup on the stove and add a tablespoon of blueberry jam or preserves. Stir to mix and pour over hot pancakes. It makes me hungry just talking about it.

Hard to beat this for GREAT TASTE

Next we are going to cook something that is a bit harder and requires much more hands on. We are going to make Blueberry-Orange Marmalade. Navel oranges work the best for us. They don't have any seeds and the skin is thick enough to give us enough peel without the white part. You will need to peel the orange lightly to get strips of orange with no membrane. This requires several attempts to get the process down. I usually have to use a couple or oranges before I get it right. Next cut the peel into julienne strips, no longer than an inch. You will need 1/2 cup. Boil the slivers in water for 1 minute then drain. Take these slivers, 1/2 a cup sugar and a 1/2 cup orange juice, boil for at least 5 minutes. What you are doing is cooking the peel and making it sort of candy. Next take the orange that you have removed the skin from and cut the segments of fruit out. Mix 5 cups blueberries, 6 cups sugar, 3 cups orange sections, cooked pieces of peel and 3 cups water. Heat the mixture until it comes to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until it begins to thicken (usually about 45 minutes). Stir to keep from sticking. Ladle into 8 ounces jars and process. If you don't want to stand at your stove and cook for 45 minutes, after you have brought it to a boil put it in a crock pot. Cook on high with the lid off. You still have to keep stirring occasionally. Cook until you get the right thickness. How long will depend on the amount of liquid from the oranges and blueberries. Either way, you want a nice thick liquid to go with the fruit. After you jar and process you will appreciate the time you spent making this marmalade.

I saved you just a little Blueberry-Peach Pie

Blueberries are a very strong fruit, they can make something with no help from any other fruit. Many fruits don't mix well with other fruit. Mary Lynn made another combination, Blueberry-Peach Pie. She was making a peach pie and just for the fun of it, she add blueberries to the peaches. She cooked the peaches and just before she poured the hot peaches into a crust, she added fresh blueberries. The pie was beyond good, it was one of the best pies I have ever tasted. If you know me, then you know that I have tasted plenty of things. It was more than a blueberry pie and even more than a peach pie. It was the best of both. Served warm with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream, it was almost too good to be true. Try to make at least one of the items above, and just for good measure, try the pie. I have seen ads on TV that say blueberries are high in antioxidants and other good things for you. Well I don't know about that, but I do know they are high on the taste chart.

Another interesting thing I like to do with Blueberries. I like to freeze them on a cookie sheet  (so they don't touch each other) then pour them into a freezer bag. When you use them they are little round balls of goodness. I like to pour a bowl of frozen berries and add milk. The milk freezes instantly and you get a summertime Blueberry Milk Snowball.

Tonight while I was hard at work typing this, Mary Lynn surprised me with fresh Blueberries on cottage cheese. Look pretty good, tasted even better. Nice way to cool of a warm evening.

All the recipes from the above blog is being posted as Part 2 in the very next blog. Use this blog to print and save any and all recipes about the beautiful little fruit the Blueberry.

I have gotten a couple of requests for blogs. I need ideas so I can give you what you want to see. Without you there is no blog; it is just me typing on my computer.

A gift of something you made personally means so much more than say towels or something else from a store. It took maybe 15 minutes to buy where you took the time required to make a home-made item.

I have the recipes for the items above in another blog, strangely enough it is call Blueberry Picking Time page 2. It will be posted in 48 hrs.
Just open page and print and save.

 

Please comment and please help me spread the word that home canning is not hard work. Anybody can do it. All you have to say is Can U Can It. The answer is yes you can.

Making Hot Relish & Sweet Pepper Relish

As promised when we made Pepper Jelly, we are now going to use the left-over peppers. When added to other peppers they will fit in nicely. Remember, never throw something away that may be used in a future recipe. That is being Frugal. Something I learn many years ago watching Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet. I have save many dollars by following he way of saving and using things.

 Beautiful Pepper Relish

In this blog we are going to make Sweet Pepper Relish and Hot Pepper Relish. We will even do some Pepper Sauce at the end, not just Hot but Mild also.

I know these titles are not going to fit the product for some people. I have had people at craft shows sample Pepper Jelly (Green) and tell me that it is too "Hot". Sometimes people hear or see the word "Pepper" and no matter what it is, it's hot. These are the same people who want Kraft to make a mild Ketchup. Some people have very delicate taste buds. To these people, I say sit this blog out, we will be back to sweet and mild maybe the next blog.

First step in making any relish is to get all the ingredients, get them processed and ready to cook with.

Looks like a market basket of things to use

Sweet Pepper Relish, you will need to buy (or pick):
Bell Peppers - enough for 8 cups chopped (a mixture of colors would make a pretty relish)
Cubanelle (a mild to medium type of pepper) or Sweet Banana Peppers - 8 cups
Vidalia Onions - 4 cups
Mustard seed - 4 tablespoons
Celery seed - 1 tablespoon
Salt (Kosher or canning) - 1 tablespoon
White Vinegar - 7 cups
Sugar - 3 cups


Don't cut the peppers or onions too small, you want it a little chunky. Thaw peppers taken from freezer. thaw on a folded paper towel to soak up and liquid. Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook about 1 minute, stirring till everything is mixed very well. Don't over cook, everything will get soggy. You want your relish to have a texture. Remove from heat and ladle into prepared jars. (8 ounce or 16 ounce size with relish the larger jars are OK). Use the size you think your family will eat. Left-over relish goes back into the fridge for next time. Just keep the dome and rings clean. They will rust due to the vinegar, so wipe them off regularly. Mary Lynn has bought Plastic lids for canning jars at Wal-Mart and she replaces the metal with plastic after opening. This will make the jar last all the way to the end. She then saves the rings to use on other jars. You can buy domes and rings extra in a box. You can also buy domes and rings individually in boxes. So be frugal reuse what you can. Save those dollar$.

I love to use this relish on my hot dogs, it is awesome tasting on the dogs. Sometimes I even use the hotter relish, but I have never gotten the nerve to use the hottest. I guess I don't want my hot dog cooked more than one time before I eat it.

For Hot Pepper Relish:
Bell Peppers - enough for 4 cups chopped (a mixture of colors would make a pretty relish)

Far from being the hottest peppers,
Jalapeno' peppers are used in many recipes
that want a little "heat"

Cubanelle (a mild to medium type of pepper)
or Sweet Banana Pepper - 4 cups
Jalapeno' Peppers - 4 cups
Vidalia Onions - 4 cups
Mustard seed - 4 tablespoons
Celery seed - 1 tablespoon
Salt (Kosher or canning) - 2 tablespoons
White Vinegar - 7 cups
Sugar - 3 cups

If you really want a "Hotter" relish use the following in place of Cubanelle or Sweet Banana Peppers. You still want Bell Peppers in your hot for their taste.

Hottest Pepper Relish- use the following ingredients in addition to the others listed.

Habanero peppers used to be the
"Heat King" of all the peppers.

4 cups Jalapeno' Peppers
1/3 cup Red Pepper Flakes
2 cups - Habanero peppers.

The Habanero Pepper was the "Heat King" for many years. Now there are at least a dozen peppers that are hotter. People constantly cross hotter peppers with other types of hot peppers in hope of creating the next "King". I just read that growers in Australia have developed a pepper the is many times hotter the the Habanero. They call the pepper "Trinidad Scorpion". It looks almost like a habanero but the bottom of the pepper is pointed. When you cook your extra hot pepper relish, use the steps as above, but be careful the smell will get quite strong and will make your eyes water. When you are preparing any peppers, mild or strong, it is better to wear disposable latex gloves or some other type if you have allergy to latex. Always remove the seeds and white membrane on all peppers. Sweet peppers have a membrane, if not removed, will give a bitter taste to your relish. Make sure you remove ALL seeds from hot peppers, they will turn your relish into a super hot taste and no flavor. Seeds also usually don't go well with anybody. You see them trying to politely remove them from their mouth. So just don't put any in.

Variations on the above recipes can be made with a multitude of peppers, sweeter or hotter. Don't change the other ingredients, as they make the relish have a great taste. Another popular pepper that has a great taste is the Thai peppers. They are the peppers that make Thai food so hot.

Note the size of the plastic spoon in the peppers. They are small with a big shot!A hot pepper you can use, but use it sparingly is Thai Peppers. They will add a great flavor and a pile of heat to the party. Thai peppers don't look like much, but a little sure goes a long way.

Many people will not know what I am talking about, but here in Georgia, we like to eat Turnip Greens and Collard Greens. We also like to put Pepper Sauce on them to make them taste even better. If you have never had a Sunday Dinner of fried chicken, black-eyed peas, collard greens and corn bread, you have missed one of the Best Southern traditions. Not everybody likes "greens" but I am sure you can find other ways to use Pepper Sauce.
One of the things I like to make with Thai Peppers is Pepper Sauce. If you don't know what that is, it is the stuff on the tables with the little peppers in all that vinegar in the shake bottle. Thai peppers should have the stems remove and use a knife and cut a hole in the pepper for the vinegar to get in, other wise the peppers will just float. You can use different peppers for this, but the small whole peppers look best. Even with some Carrot added for taste and color.

Making Pepper Sauce is very easy. Just be careful when you work with hot peppers.

Plain or Fancy Peppers Sauce Bottles

First find a pepper sauce bottle that looks nice (something that you usually set on the table or somewhere in your kitchen). You can buy bottles in various stores, you just have to look for them. Once you have the right bottle, decide what king of peppers you are going to use. Around the South, Cayenne is the pepper of choice, but I really like the flavor of Thai. One will need 15 or 20 small peppers, or 4 or 5 larger peppers. Leave the stem on if you like. OK, you have you peppers and the bottle. Let's get busy and make you pepper sauce.

Take a small knife in make a slice in the side of the peppers, this lets the vinegar get to the pepper and lets the flavor of the pepper out.
Push the peppers into the bottle, try not to stack them, this will cut down on the number of peppers you can fit.

Bottle with peppers inserted.
1 cup of vinegar (I use cider because of the taste)
1/4 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon of canning, kosher or sea salt

Heat the vinegar, water and salt. Just heat it slightly, as you don't want to cook the peppers. Carefully pour the heat liquid into the bottles. Let the bottles set for a couple of minutes. Now put the cap or lid on the bottle then roll it around at a angle and shake slightly (you are trying to get the air out).
Let sit for about a week, now you have really good pepper sauce to use on greens, fried veggies (like Okra) and just about anything else you want. A hint, don't use on cake, pie or ice cream.

Sweet Banana Peppers
Great taste - No Heat

If hot peppers don't appeal to you, if you would like something with taste but little to no heat. Mary Lynn put on her thinking hat and made a recipe just for you. In place of hot peppers substitute sweet banana peppers or every bell peppers cut into thin strips. The sweeter pepper sauce gives you everything the other has minus the heat. Enjoy both or either one.

So looks like we got in more than just Pepper relish. Well that is how I am, you always get more conversation than was planned. When I get to talking about cooking and eating, well there is just no way to shut me up.

This blog was a request from one of my cousins. Carline and Wayne have planted a big garden and have already made a beautiful jar of Pepper Relish, maybe they will try my recipe for the next batch of peppers. They are also busy making Bread & Butter pickles. I will cover them later on when I do a couple of blogs about pickles. Not many people dislike pickles. Lots of things to talk about and make just so much room on a blog.

I am open to most any request for the next blog or two or seven.
Pass my blog address along to your friends, and maybe people that are not your friends, I don't mind.

New blog link for you to:  canucanit.com  or canucanit.net  save one of these links and you just have to click to see what is going on.

My next blog will be about Blueberries. So keep watching and cooking.