Peaches Part 2, Using Your Peach Products

Peach ready to be picked

Once you have made the delightful peach products, you might think that you are finished. But you are wrong. There are many things that you can make using the jams, jellies, preserves and syrups you made. I am not going to be able to list all the different ways to use your products. I will give you a few and hopefully your imagination will take hold and you will think of more ways. But if you only use the ones I give you, that is OK.

Lets get started with things to make:

PEACH ICE CREAM
This is a short recipe because there are many ways to make home-made ice cream. Some use 2% milk, others use skim, some use half/half. So I will let you decide whatever base recipe you want to use for your ice cream. After you have your ingredients mixed and just about ready for your freezer or ice cream maker; add 1 jar of peach jam or peach preserves to your ice cream mix. Some people make a custard, like my grandmother did, but if you do add the peaches to the custard while it is cooking. This will make the peach flavor all thru the mix. Mix completely and then add to your container for freezing.

Old Fashioned Hand Crank Ice Cream Maker

I love the old-fashioned way of making ice cream. You have the large container that holds the ice around the container of liquid that will become ice cream. Inside this container is a large paddle that goes around in a circle keeping every thing mixed. You turn the crank on the top to move the paddle. Now they have electric motors that do the job. All you have to do is keep the ice full and add ice cream salt to the ice. I never could figure out how adding salt would make the milk freeze. During the churning process someone had to sit on top of the whole thing to keep everything inside the bucket of ice. We sat on a burlap bag with some newspapers inside. We took turns turning the handle and sitting on the bag. I am not sure we needed to set on the freezer while someone cranked it, or if it was just a way to keep us from saying "Is it done yet?" The ones that turned first had the easiest job; the milk mixture had not started to freeze, so it turned easy. As the milk mixture became colder and froze, turning got harder. When you could hardly turn the handle one of our fathers checked to see if it was done. I will never forget that the last two that sat and turned the handle got to lick off the paddle. It was covered in ice cream. I do remember that it was always hot outside and the paddle dripped a lot. We always wound up with ice cream down the front of our shirts and sometimes down our legs to to our feet. My grandmother would not let us inside till we had been cleaned up. Once inside we had big bowls of awesome peach ice cream. Memories like that are hard to beat. Makes growing up worth while. I feel sad for people who didn't get a chance to experience some of the old family things like I did. My family got together this past weekend and my cousin made peach ice cream and vanilla cheeses cake ice cream using a pudding mix for the cheese cake flavor. It was great, but I still miss turning the crank (his was all electric).

PEACH PRESERVES CAKE
1 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 eggs
3 cups non self-rising flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup sour milk (made by adding 1 tsp vinegar to regular milk)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup peach preserves (a jar is 8 ounces if you use the small jars)

Looks too good to cut.

Cream butter and sugar; beat in eggs. Sift flour with cinnamon and cloves. Dissolve soda in milk; add spice flour mixture to the cream mixture. Stir in pecans and peach preserves. Pour final mixture into greased sheet cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (time may vary for your oven). Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack. Sift powdered sugar over cake after it cools. Photo shows a PPCake with wiped cream icing and sliced peaches with wiped cream topping. Wipped cream is real made from real cream not canned of plastic tube. If you take this much trouble to bake a cake at least top it with real topping.

PEACH FRITTERS
These are the things that your doctor will tell you that they are bad for you. They are deep-fried dough sort of like a doughnut. Bad or not, they are great with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
1 1/3 cup sifted non self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 jar peach jam or preserves (8 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar

Don't count cholesterol or anything else but taste!

Sift flour, salt and baking powder and sugar together. Beat egg and milk then add to flour mixture. Add peaches. Stir till completely mixed.Using a small scoop drop batter into hot peanut oil. Keep turning to make sure it is done on all sides. Remove from oil and put on paper towels to drain. When drained and still warm dust on confectioners sugar. They are ready to eat.

 

PBJ COOKIES

Jelly in the middle makes a difference

Everybody likes cookies and these will be a big hit on the desert menu. I don't even have a big recipe for you to follow. I guess I am too lazy to make peanut butter cookies from scratch, so I use the cookies in the frozen foods department for my cookies. After I have cut the tube and placed my cookie dough on the sheet for cooking, I take a spoon and spray it with No-Stick spray. Then I use the spoon and make an small indentation in the middle of the cookies. Place the sheet in the oven, set your timer. I want you to set the time for 4 or 5 minutes less than what it says to cook. When the timer goes off, take your spoon and spray it again. Make the indentation in the cookies again, this time you are going to take another spoon and put jelly in the pocket. Don't over fill, you want just a small pocket of jelly. Return to the oven for the time left on the recipe. The jelly will melt into the cookie. When your timer rings remove the cookies from the sheet and let cool on a rack. You now have Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies.

PEACH BAR-B-QUE SAUCE

This is another easy one. All you have to do is add 2 or 3 tablespoons peach jam or chopped preserves to your favorite sauce. Simmer on the stove, then use the sauce as you would before the peaches. This is great on pork. I am not sure about beef, I never tried it. Fresh pork roast cooked with this BBQ sauce is fantastic. You can cook this in the oven or on the grill. If you are cooking on the grill, be sure the sauce does not burn. It has sugar from the peaches and will burn easier. BBQ Pork served with fresh corn on the cob and any other side you choose makes a great meal. Because you are using Georgia peaches, you should serve Georgia Table Wine. In case you don't know what I am talking about, Georgia Table Wine is nothing but sweet ice tea. Ice tea is the non-alcoholic beverage of choice in my home state. I have noticed on TV that even people in other parts of the country are drinking iced tea. I see bottles of tea on the shelves when I stop at QT for something to drink and/or gas. Even McDonald's is catching up with us Sotherners. They now have Sweet Tea, wonder where they got the idea

PEACH TEAS

Add 1 - 2 tablespoons peach syrup to your unsweetened iced tea, then add your ice. You now have peach iced tea. Use as much as you need to make your tea sweet and great tasting.




HOT TEAS ARE GREAT WITH PEACH SYRUP

It is also good for hot tea. In the winter Mary Lynn and I like to have a cup or two of hot tea while relaxing in the evening. We have several types of tea infusers and many different types of teas to brew. Mary Lynn is partial to the Russian Tea, dark flavor and color. I prefer Earl Grey. Another favorite is Black Currant Tea, because of its fruity flavor without the sweeter. You can use a large tea ball infuser to make you iced tea in place of tea bags. You should try tea that does not come in a tea.Live it up, buy a tea ball or infuser and try something different for a change. Once you make tea without a bag, you will be hooked. I like to use our tea and infuser when we travel. We just ask for a pot of hot water and make our tea. It is nice not have something the restaurant has had sitting in the back for a couple of years.

A little secret I saw in a book; they said keep your tea and tea bags in a sealed air tight container. That way the tea does not absorb any strange taste or aromas from your counter or cabinet.

Well I told you that I was only going to give you a few recipes. I am sure that you will come up with plenty more ways to eat and use your s serving sweet tea. It has only taken 50 or 60 years for the rest of the country to catch up with us Southerners with our love for iced tea.

preach products.

My next blog will have more recipes for mixing peaches and other fruit to make jams and jellies.

Maybe in the future I will do more ideas for peaches. Please let me know some of your ideas for using peaches. If I use the recipe or idea I will give you credit for your suggestion. Sorry to say this is a free blog, you just get credit.

Please subscribe to my blogs. I enjoy getting ideas for future blogs from you. Also be sure and check out my other blogs, you might have missed one.

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Don’t forget, if someone asks you if you can can it. Say Yes I Can Can It!

It's Peach Time Part 1

The weather has turned hot. In many places that means different things, but in Georgia it means it is Peach Time.

Peach from our yard

Georgia is called the Peach State. It seems that everything that has to do with Georgia has peaches in it. We enjoy Peaches from June til late August. Peaches in neighboring states are available a little longer. This means we can eat and cook with Peaches all summer long. With a season that long there are so many things to make and so many ways to eat what we make. I can remember when we got together in a big family feast, it always meant that you would eat two things, fried chicken and afterwards home-made peach ice cream. As a youngster I would get to set on the ice cream churn as someone would turn the crank. The taste of peach ice cream is something I hope I never forget. You can buy it in stores, but the taste is nowhere near the flavor of ice cream from a churn. I will tell you a way to make ice cream at home with a taste real close to those memories. I will also cover many ways to use peaches in many ways. So I am going to take your on a trip thru Georgia peach country. We will make several of our best items using our best Georgia peaches. You can use peaches from other states, just don't tell anyone.

Peaches at Farmers Market

Peach Preserves is as good a place to start as any. So let's get started. You always want to start with fresh peaches. They should be firm and smell fresh. Smell the peaches, if they smell peachy and not like a package go ahead and use them. Peach preserves needs peaches that have no skin on them. You don't have to peel them, just drop the peaches in a pot of boiling water for about a minute or so; then remove the peaches and drop them in an ice water bath. This should loosen the skin so that it can be peeled off. If all else fails, you can peel them, but be careful not to cut into the peach too much. Next step is to remove the peach from the pit. Cling peaches are a little more trouble than freestone. Most of the early season fruit are of the cling variety (the meat clings to the pit = cling). If you have a peach that pulls away from the pit when cut, then you have a freestone peach (the meat pulls away = freestone). Either way you want to make even slices about the same size. Thin slices are by far the best to work with, but not too thin. You still want a nice size to work with. Cling peaches are a little harder to do, but it can be done. Just work carefully.

Freestone Peaches

Put 8 cups sliced peaches and 7 cups sugar in a large bowl mix and let set overnight in you fridge. If you want to use the same proportions of peaches to sugar, smaller batches are fine. Do not try to do batches bigger. Next day cook over medium heat while stirring til the peaches turn translucent. If the juice thickens before the peaches are ready, add 1/4 cup boiling water. If the juice is still not thick and your peaches are ready, gently remove your peaches and continue cooking the juice. After it gets thick add the peaches back in. When you are finished cooking place pot in cold water - stir occasionally until the foam goes down. When almost all the foam is gone skim to remove the rest.

I have to stop and tell you a little story about skimming your jams and jellies. We used to give tours and demonstrations in canning at our store. We had all sorts of groups coming in and Mary Lynn and I would show them a little about what we did. We had groups from schools and groups from churches. We had home school classes and just about every other way you could think of come to us for a little knowledge and a little bit of fun and entertainment. We both never really thought of ourselves as entertainers, but that is sort of what we were. We had a group of third graders from a whole county come to our store. It took three days for all the kids to visit. The groups that we enjoyed the most were the church groups. Most of them were our age and a little older. They knew what we were doing because that was the way it was done in their homes growing up. We were talking about making peach jam and talking about the foam. Mary Lynn said the you skim the top to get the foam. A lady raised her hand and said that when she was growing up, she never ate jelly or jam out of the good jars, all she ever ad was the foam. So you don't throw the foam away. Put in another jar or a dish. It is still whatever you cooked, it just isn't the pretty part. It still tastes good.

Getting back to the job at hand, after the foam is gone ladle into prepared jars and process in boiling water bath 10 minutes. The next day you can admire what you have done. You have made real Georgia Peach Preserves.

Peach Jam



Peach Jam is the next stop on our trip thru Georgia. Jam is easier than preserves. Peel the peaches as above. Use crushed peaches to make jam. That means you don't have to be careful and get the same size slices. You can just cut the peach off the pit any way you want.


Remove and let sit over night. In the morning you have beautiful peach jam. A favorite in just about any home.

Something we did at our store that many people never do was make Peach Jelly. It is a wonderful light taste of peaches for things you don't want a piece of peach on. You can make PBJ's with jelly. It is what the J means in the phrase. Many other times you might want jam.

Peach Jelly is made with juice. that you get from sugar and peaches. When you were making preserves you mixed slices and sugar. To make jelly drain the juice off the peach slices and save the slices for other recipes or eat them with cottage cheese or something. You can also make juice another way. Take all the peach peelings, add 3 or 4 peach pits and 2 or 3 whole peaches that you have cut up. Add 4 cups water and boil for about 10 minutes. You will need 3 1/2 cups juice, 5 cups sugar, 1 package of pectin and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. If you use the sugared peach juice, then drop the 5 cups of sugar to 3 cups.

Beautiful Peach Jelly

Combine juice, lemon juice and pectin. Bring to full boil for 1 minute. Add sugar and bring back to full rolling boil for 1 minute. Always keep stirring to prevent your jelly from sticking. Remove from heat and let sit for a couple of minutes. Skim the top, then ladle into prepared jelly jars. Clean rim of jars with damp paper towel and place sterile domes and rings on. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Let sit over night, check for unsealed jars. They need to be reprocessed.

Not very hard was it. You would be surprised how many people have never had Peach jelly. The only thing they have had has been jam or preserves.

Peach Syrup is made using juice, sugar and light corn syrup. Peach syrup is fantastic over hot pancakes, awesome over ice cream in a sundae, killer in a coke to make peach coke (vs cherry syrup make Cherry coke). You will be surprised how many ways you can think of to use peach syrup. How about peach syrup in iced tea to make peach tea. It is easier than all the above recipes.

Take 6 cups peach juice (from fresh peaches or bottled. If bottled make sure it is only peach juice with nothing else added). 3 cups sugar and 3 cups light corn syrup. Combine all ingredients and simmer slowly til completely mixed. Ladle into prepared jars or bottles. Boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Now you have peach syrup. Use this syrup when relatives are visiting. Make pancakes for breakfast and serve your peach syrup. It will surprise them that you could do something like this.

The next blog will also give you some more of the different things we made with peaches.
In our set up for shows we had an entire section of our booth devoted just to peaches. Mary Lynn and I were really proud to decorate with signs and things we got from the state. We even had artificial peaches hanging around. It was great. We were proud to say that our number one customer was the State of Georgia. The Department of Agriculture bought many things from us to give to people who visited the state. One time they ordered 50 gift baskets from us. Mary Lynn went to one of the basket wholesalers and ordered baskets made in the shape of the state. She put in peach colored straw and put in jars of many things made from Georgia produce. We always said on the label that it was Georgia Peach Jam or Georgia Blueberry Syrup or Georgia Apple Butter. We used only Georgia products in the making. The state used those gift baskets to give to foreign visitors that came to look over the state with thoughts of building something here. I can't tell you how proud we were to be chosen to do something like that. I wish we had one of the state baskets to show you but they are all gone. I do have one of the smaller baskets that Mary Lynn made I can show you.

You never know what a simple gift of home-made goodness will bring. I will give you some of the ideas Mary Lynn and I, along with some of our customers, how to use the above products. Use the things that you took the time and care to make the very best.





Part 2 will show you ways to use your peach products. Then in the next blog, we will make some interesting combinations with other fruit and things. It will follow in just a few days, followed by part 3.

Please let me know what you would like to make or any ideas you
have for the next blog. Just drop me a note at jellymanga@gmail.com

Don't keep my blogs a secret, and pass the word on to your friends, neighbors and family members. They just might make something and share with you.

Don't forget, if someone ask you if you can can it. Say Yes I Can Can It!

Dipping Sauce

From your response, the hot stuff and strawberries are the favorites so far. Because of this response, I will throw out another spicy tasting bunch of ideas. I am sure that some of you have no idea what I am talking about when you read the title. A dipping sauce is something that you put into a small cup or container and dunk your fried mushrooms, chicken nuggets, fish sticks or what ever into. The sauce adds flavor, spicy taste, and a sweetness that makes it all work.

Family photo of our sauces. Check out the labels

We made our first dipping sauce out of strawberries. The reason we started with Strawberry was because we had SO VERY MUCH juice from the 55 gallon drums of strawberries from the winery. After we had just about emptied our container, the winery called and ask us to come back down. When we got there they told me that they wanted us to take at least two more drums. He said that they were beginning to thaw faster than he could use them and it would be a shame if all the berries went bad. He talked me into taking two more drums. On the way back to the store Mary Lynn and I tried to figure out how we could possibly use 110 gallons of strawberries. We had exhausted our ideas with the first 55 gallons. We decided to use one of the two drums for juice only. As the berries thawed they gave off the best looking juice you could imagine. I stopped and bought a plastic siphon hose, like you use to get gas out of a tank. We got our neighbors to use their front-loader and get the drums into our store. I got to work with the hose and drained gallon after gallon of juice from the barrels. We found that once the juice was out we could scoop the thawed fruit to use.

This is the reason the we had juice to experiment with and make some things really different. I am not sure where Mary Lynn got the recipe or the idea for a dipping sauce. We experimented to make the recipe. Then we let our neighbors and family taste. That is how the first dipping sauce came to be. I really love the sauces because they can work in so many situations. They can be a topping for a meat or mixed with veggies when cooking. They can be with an appetizers or if you really want to get strange, a dessert topping. Don't laugh, spicy with sweet is a combination that has been around since people started eating. Remember when you ate something that was too hot, someone would give you milk or something sweet.

We decided to give it a shot at a show. We picked a large show so that many people would have a chance to voice their opinion. I was very surprised when we sold out of our first supply. I told our customers that I didn't have anything other than a cracker to sample it on. Most just squeezed the plastic bottle and put it on their finger. I told them to imagine that they were eating one of their favorite appetizers. I believe that our customers all have good imaginations, other wise they would not have tried it. They had to imagine that the guy doing all the loud talking knew what he was talking about. That is a stretch for anyone's imagination. I asked them to think that their finger was a chicken nugget, or something like that. Most said that they would like it on a Jalapeno' Popper. Some said they would like it on mushrooms. We got all sorts of answers about what they would eat it on. The dipping sauces are a type of fruit syrup, but plenty more than that. So I will leave it up to you to figure out what to try these on. I would like to ask a favor of you. Please let me know which one you tried and what you tried it on. Don't be shy, this is just among us friends.

To serve at a party put into a plastic squeeze bottle, but make sure the opening will not get clogged up. You can set the little cups or containers next to it. This will keep the sauce from being dribbled on your table-cloth. It will also keep people from double-dipping.

You can play with the numbers to make less for your first attempt. Afterwards make the full recipe because the longer you keep it, the better it is.

We have always made up names for our products to make people laugh or at least stop and look again. So you try one of our Dipping Sauces. I also hope that you will continue to imagine that the guy doing all the typing knows what he is talking about. If you do, keep tuned in for further stories of taste and fun. Let's get started with the first sauce that got this whole group going:

FIERY BERRY DIPPING SAUCE
3 1/2 cups strawberry juice (we covered how to get juice from the berries in earlier blogs)
10 cups cane sugar
2 cups apple juice
1/4 cup finely chopped Habanero Peppers (no seeds or membrane)
1/4 cup finely chopped Jalapeno' Pepper (no seeds or white membrane)
1 pack of pectin
Combine all ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, then simmer 30 - 45 minutes. Make sure to stir frequently to avoid sticking. You can either strain the pepper pieces out for a clear liquid sauce or purée after it's cooled to blend everything. Reheat if you blend it. Put in 8 ounce jars and process. To serve just carefully pour into serving cups or squeeze bottle. Dip your favorites. Enjoy the taste. If you don't want as much heat use Bell Peppers in place of the Habanero Peppers. Remember that when you are working with peppers, use disposable gloves to protect yourself.

So after this first recipe you see what a dipping sauce is. I have only given you recipes with one juice. If you use multi juices, try not to let one over power the other. Make it a good mix, something that when you eat, you will be able to taste both fruits. So buckle up, here is the next recipe.

HOT'LANTA DIPPING SAUCE
10 ounces peach purée, canned are OK if you drain them good. Fresh is the best.
The best of the fresh is free stone peaches for this sauce. The peach pulls away from the pit. Cling peaches are the type that where the meat of the peach clings to the pit. Early peaches are usually the cling type. The freestone coming in later in the year. In Georgia our peaches started about the middle of May. We don't get the "Freestone" type till early July. These are usually the bigger, juiciest peaches. I guess I am like the salesman who when asked "Do you have anything better?". I have to say only the next one you are going to eat. Both types of peaches are good, but I like the later season peaches because they are the sweet and juicier. Living in Metro Atlanta, this had to be called Hot'Lanta. That is the name we call our state capital during the summer. We get so many beautiful days all year-long but it is hot as H*#$* just a few days in the summer. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

1/4 cup Jalapeno' Peppers (Red, seeded & finely chopped)
1 quart peach juice (Bottled Peach Nectar or made from fresh peaches that you sugar and let set and then drain the juice)
2 1/2 cups light corn syrup
5 cups sugar (if you use the sugared peach juice cut down on the sugar. If you use 2 cups sugar to get your juice, then only add 3 cups more)
Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a full boil, then cut the heat and simmer. Simmer 30 - 45 minutes (till the sauce starts to thicken), stirring often. Put in 8 ounce jars and process.

MANGO TANGO DIPPING SAUCE
6 cans Mango Nectar
1 cup Mangoes, peeled & finely chopped
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup Red & Green Jalapeno Peppers seeded & finely chopped
1/2 cup Red & Green Bell Peppers seeded & finely chopped
10 cups sugar
2 cups water
Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil. Then simmer till thick. Put into 8 ounce canning jars and process. Red & green peppers make for a more colorful sauce.
Awesome with little chunks of ham as an appetizer, or you can pour over a Pork Roast or Ham during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Leave the cover or foil off for this final part of cooking.

SWEET SMOKE DIPPING SAUCE
12 ounces Raspberry Jam, seedless
8 ounces light corn syrup
1/2 pint Pear Juice
3 - 6 Chipolte Peppers, very finely chopped (number depends on size, bigger peppers use less)
Make Sure that you remove the seeds and membrane from the peppers. Combine, bring to boil, simmer till it thickens. Put into 8 ounce jars and process. This was a sneaky favorite because of the taste of the peppers. Chipolte Peppers are dried and smoked Jalapeno' Peppers. When you dry a pepper you concentrate the flavor. It really makes it intense. The heat can also surprise you, so go ahead cautiously.
Most thought this would go with Sausage Balls, definitely Jalapeno' Poppers and Chicken Nuggets. In fact this sauce had the most uses of all the sauces according to our customers.

DRAGON'S BREATH DIPPING SAUCE
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pineapple, you can use
crushed if you don't have fresh pineapple
2 cans pineapple juice
1/4 cup Jalapeno' Peppers finely chopped
1/4 cup Habanero Peppers very finely chopped
8 cups sugar
1 pack pectin (helps to thicken)
Make Sure that you remove the seeds and membrane from the peppers. Combine all ingredients, bring to boil then simmer 30 - 45 minutes till thick. Put in 8 ounce jars and process.

To make this sauce a little different, add 1/4 cup coconut flakes at start then purée the cooled liquid. Reheat the final sauce. Gives it a different taste. So maybe make the sauce and divide it in half and use coconut in one of the portions. Use a little less coconut if only half a recipe. This sauce went over so well that we have had to make it in cases for family members.

HONEY MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCE
1 regular size jar of prepared mustard (regular yellow mustard)
1 jar Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey, use Wild Flower Honey in place of Clover Honey, if you can.
Rinse each mustard jar with a little white vinegar to get all the mustard out. Add the vinegar rinse and mix with all the other ingredients until blended well. If you like a little more bite to your mustard add a little prepared horseradish then blend. You can store in any good jar that you can keep in the fridge. Great on any type of pork snacks and on wings or nuggets.

HOT HONEY MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCE
Make Honey Mustard as above, but add
1 tablespoon cayenne powder (or to taste)
1 tablespoon chili powder (or to taste)
1 teaspoon cummin
1/4 cup Texas Pete Hot Sauce (Do not use Tabasco Sauce, it has salt and that changes the taste).

Combine as above and enjoy.

You could used Blueberry or Blackberry or other great things that have a juice as strong as the fruit. Try different peppers to go with each juice. Not everything works with all peppers. Some peppers the heat would cancel the fruit taste. In the case of a mild pepper, the juice might dominate. So you see our problem.

Be sure and check out my other blogs, you might have missed one.


Don’t keep my blogs a secret. Pass the word on to your friends, neighbors and family members. They just might make something and share with you.

Don’t forget, if someone asks you if you can can it. Say Yes I Can Can It!

Strawberry Salsa

I forgot a very special member of our Strawberry family recipes when I gave you the most popular items that we made and sold using Strawberries.

One of Mother Nature's best!

I left out Strawberry Salsa.

What??? You never heard of Strawberry Salsa, Mary Lynn made up our recipe for us to use at The Austin House. It proved to be a very popular and a real big seller. All we had to do to create a market was sample it at a craft show one day. I don't remember which show it was, but I had to just about hog-tie someone to taste it, but when they did, the rest was easy. The people who sampled became my best sales staff. They told everyone in the listening area how much they loved the taste. It was a blend of hot, sweet, spicy and just down right good.

The primary reason she decided to make the salsa first was a monstrous supply of strawberries at the best price available...free. How could we get so many berries free is a strange story.

We have a very good friend that owns and operates Fox Winery in Social Circle, Georgia. We set up our booth at a couple of wine tasting shows that he hosted. He called me one day and asked me if I needed any strawberries and I told him that we always needed just about any kind of fruit. He told me to come down to his shop and I could have a big bunch. I never expected what we saw when we arrived. He had many very large shipping drums of strawberries and they were going to thaw and go bad before he could use them. He said that he had got a phone call from a trucker who had a load of fruit to get rid of at a good price. The trucker was supposed to deliver the fruit to a processing plant here in Conyers. The plant makes many items for McDonald's, strawberry jam being the target for his berries. It seems that his freezer unit had failed and the tops of some of the barrels had started to thaw. The plant boss told him they could not accept any fruit that had started to thaw, so he started looking for a place to sell his load. He worked out a deal with the winery so that they took the whole load of fruit. Fox Winery makes many different types of wine, and Strawberry wine is one of the local favorites. They called the wine "Strawberry Shortcake".
 The reason he called us was he had more berries that he could get to before they thawed and went bad. He had about 100 barrels sitting in back of the service door, 55 gallons drums of frozen (but thawing) strawberries. It took 4 of us to get one of these drums onto the back of our truck. We had a bigger problem getting the drum off the back of the truck. It was so heavy that we had to get one of the people in our business park to use a front-end loader. We opened our drum to find it completely filled with beautiful, crushed, thawing strawberries. I had no idea what we were going to do with that many berries, so Mary Lynn went out and bought as many quart canning jars as she could find and we started filling the jars and processing them. That was the best way we could think to save as much as possible. I worked at how we were going to drain the juice out of the drum. We worked and got crushed berries and strawberry juice to be processed.
We worked all day and all night to get as much saved as possible. The next morning we still had about 1/3 of the drum left to be emptied. We started cooking all sorts of strawberry jam and jelly, we even had lots of large not crushed to make preserves from. So that is how we came to have more berries than we could think of a way to cook them. Making Salsa from fruit was something one of us had seen in a magazine, so we thought we would give it a try.

Strawberry Salsa was one of about 25 different ways to use strawberries. More recipes will follow in the future, but this is all about Salsa. I will give you the recipe and then tell you some of the ways people used it.

STRAWBERRY SALSA

12 cups chopped strawberries (not too small, bite size pieces)
1 cup light corn syrup
5 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups chopped onion (a mixture of sweet onions and red onions works best)
1 cup chopped seeded Jalapeno' Peppers (chopped fine). If you wanted a hotter taste you could use 1/4 cup Habanero peppers and 3/4 cup Jalapeno'.
But be careful, too much heat does not work well with a fruit salsa. Fruit salsa works great with a little heat, but if you are afraid to use any Jalapeno' peppers use Sweet Banana Peppers or even Cubanelle. If you are not sure of a pepper, taste before adding, as you don't want to make something and then not be able to enjoy it.
4 ounces Lime Juice (you can buy real Key Lime Juice in the grocery store, and that is what we used)
1/8 cup dried or 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon cumin
3/4 cup red bell peppers
1/2 cup green bell peppers
1 teaspoon canning or sea salt
1 cup vinegar

Pretty to look at, great tasting as well

Using the Salsa:

Mixed with Sour Cream to make a different type of dip for a Mexican eating party. At the same party the salsa was put over ice cream to make an unusual desert (sort of spicy-cold).

Mixed with fresh spinach leafs and red onions to make an awesome salad, you can add a little extra virgin olive oil if you like. If you are adding oil, you might want to add just a splash more of vinegar.

Used as a marinade for pork loin then use fresh salsa as a side topping (not the same as you used for marinade).

Serve with chips and traditional salsa as a change of pace.

When you use as just a salsa, why don't you make special corn chips to dip with. Start with small flour tortilla's cut into quarters. Bake in oven til crisp then spray the chips with a butter flavor not-stick spray then sprinkle on cinnamon sugar. You can also use whipped cream in place of sour cream for dipping with the cinnamon chips.

I am sure that there are other ideas, but I can't remember them. But this will get you started. Please let me know any other ways you come up with. I am writing a book about our business and my years as "The Jellyman", and I want to have ideas for ways to use our products other than traditional. Not that Strawberry Salsa is traditional, but you know what I mean.

Try this recipe and ask some friends to taste. I am sure that they will come up with suggestions on how to use your salsa. Let me know if you come up with a new way, I will post it in a future blog and give you the credit in the blog.

This far from the last strawberry recipe. Between Mary Lynn and myself, we came up with some weird recipes. So keep checking to see just how we cooked up other combinations for the strawberries. On the right side of the blog is an item that says subscribe. Click that and you will get new blogs as a e-mail, you won't have to keep checking back to see what new post published. Also send me any comments you have or questions. I answer all questions, so far they have been great ideas for the future.

Remember something very important...
John Lennon and The Beatles sang "Strawberry Fields Forever" and that means an endless supply of Strawberries. So keep on picking, eating and cooking with Strawberries.

Any suggestions or request or just even want to make a comment. E-mail me at jellymanga@gmail.com

Don't keep my blogs a secret, and pass the word on to your friends, neighbors and family members. They just might make something and share with you.

Don't forget, if someone ask you if you can can it. Say Yes I Can Can It!

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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and the next blog will come in a e-mail message.
Make it easy to follow and in a easy printout format.
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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.