End of summer veggies!

Ahoy there!
It's September and I'm already beginning to feel fall in the air! We deserve an early fall after this very toasty summer. My summer garden is looking terrible and overgrown, and will soon be pulled out for an early fall/late summer garden. Amazingly my cucumbers and bell peppers are still producing. Since my garden is looking grim, I've been visiting the local farmer's market for most of my produce. Last weekend I purchased: green muscadine grapes, yellow squash, tomatoes, eggplant, okra and some green onions. Yum! I put up most of the okra and broiled the rest with onions, garlic, and olive oil. Delish! I know some folks don't like okra, since it's a bit on the slimy side, but it really is a versatile and tasty veggie. So, here are a few end of summer recipes to help use up all those tasty farmer's market finds.

Greek Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
2 large tomatoes
1 cup ground chicken (or not, to make it strictly veggie)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese
Fresh oregano
Fresh mint
Salt/pepper to tast

First core your tomatoes, scoop out as much of the "guts" as possible, then salt and turn upside down to remove excess moisture. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, saute your chicken, adding onions, celery, garlic and salt and pepper. When cooked through remove from heat and add herbs and cheese. Stuff the tomatoes and place in a greased baking pan. Bake 20-30 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and cheese is bubbly. I made these with a side salad and sauteed summer squash. Yum!



Okra Pickles
I wish I could tell you how many pounds of okra I used, but I never measured it. A rough guess would be about a pound, but enough to fill four pint jars.
2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
8 TSP pickling spice
2 1/2 TBS canning salt or Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic
4 dried chile peppers (optional)

Sterilize four pint jars, throughly wash okra, and bring pot of water to a boil to seal jars. Bring vinegar, salt and water to a boil in a separate pot. Meanwhile add to each pint jar: one garlic clove, one chile pepper, 2 TSP pickling spice, and pack with okra. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over okra with 1/2 inch headspace. Seal and place in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. As always, once your jars cool the lids should "pop" indicating they are sealed. If they don't, no worries, just keep the jar in the fridge. These pickles should last up to one year.

It sure has be a while!

Whoops, it's been nearly a year since my last post! Things get busy and so it goes! For my return I bring a new jam recipe, salad dressing and summer dinner. Oh, and a look at the summer garden's gifts! In the basket: banana peppers, miniature orange bell peppers, an eggplant, Rutgers heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, and a few straggler onions.


Mixed Berry Jam
4 cups crushed mixed berries (I used blueberries and homegrown blackberries)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup honey (I used delicious wildflower honey harvested right here in the Apalachicola National Forest!)
2 tsp Pomona's Pectin
2 tsp calcium water (comes with Pomona's Pectin but must be made before hand)

As always, sanitize your jars, lids and rings. Crush berries and combine with lemon juice and calcium water, bring to a boil. Meanwhile, combine pectin and honey in a separate bowl. Add the honey/pectin mixture to the boiling berries and stir well. Allow the mixture to return to a boil for two minutes. Fill jars to 1/4 inch from the lip and seal in a water bath for five minutes. The beautiful thing about Pomona's Pectin is that you can use honey or lower amounts of sugar, as opposed to the six cups it takes to make traditional jam.


Quick Creamy Salad Dressing
1 1/2 tbs mayonaise
1 tbs coarse ground mustard
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Dash of olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar

Adjust to taste, these measurements are guesstimates. Yum!


Summer Veggie Pasta
1 small eggplant, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small bell pepper, sliced
1 tomato, cubed
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt/pepper to taste.

Saute the veggies lightly in olive oil, meanwhile toast the pine nuts at 350 degrees until lightly browned. Combine the cooked vegetables, pine nuts, and fresh basil and serve over pasta. So easy! All of these veggies, minus the mushrooms, came from the garden and could easily be substituted for whatever you have available.

Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly

Dear world, 

As you may have noticed, we have an abundance of jalapeno peppers at the Davenport ranch.  So for the last few weeks I've been trying my darndest to put them in everything I make! Tonight I tried a new jelly: Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly! I'm pleased to say, success! 

Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly

Makes 2.5 pints/5 half pints

6 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and quartered (wear gloves!)

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1.5 cups cranberry juice cocktail (I'd stay away from anything low sugar or diet though) 

5 cups sugar

2 packets Ball liquid pectin (6 oz. total)

Bring jalapenos, vinegar and juice to a boil.  Reduce and let simmer 10ish minutes.  Remove pepper bits by straining.  Combine pepper juice liquid with sugar and bring to a hard boil, stir continuously.  Add pectin, keep at hard boil and cook for one minute.  Remove from heat.  Skim the foam and ladle into sterilized jars.  Place in water bath for five minutes.  Once cooled make sure the dent in your lids is depressed, otherwise just keep them in your fridge.  

Jelly jelly, yum yums! 

Note the pickled green tomatoes in the background.  I'm waiting to eat them in a few weeks to determine if they're delicious enough to share with you! Stay tuned! 

A great many things

Hello there! Today's post is brought to you by summery goodness! There are some new garden pictures, more pickles and jalapeno jelly! 

First off, my adorable baby watermelons! Not only are they very cute, they're also yellow inside! Or at least they're supposed to be, they're still a few weeks away from harvest.



Here's a picture of the garden taken two or so weeks ago: yellow squash, tomatoes, lots of jalapenos, banana peppers, okra, and watermelon.

Sweet (but not too sweet) Refrigerator Pickles

6ish cups of cucumbers (speared, sliced, however you like them!)

1 cup vinegar

1.5 cups sugar

.5 cup water

1 cup sliced onions

1 cup sliced bell pepper

1 tbs salt

1 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp dill

Combine vinegar, sugar, water and spices in a pan and bring to a boil.  Boil long enough for sugar to dissolve.  Pour mixture over cucumbers, onions and bell peppers in sterilized canning jars. Keep in the fridge and enjoy! Note- some recipes use much more sugar than this, if you like your pickles extra sugary you may want to adjust the sugar content.  

Jalapeno Jelly (from the Ball Blue Book of Canning)

12 oz jalapenos (about 12 jalapenos, depending on size)

6 cups sugar

2 cups apple cider vinegar 

1 box Ball liquid pectin (two packets come in each box, you need both)

Green food coloring (if desired) 

Stem and seed the jalapenos, wearing gloves (trust me, you want to use gloves).  Process until finely chopped in food processor.  Add 1 cup vinegar to help blend.  At this point you can strain the mixture with cheese cloth for a clear jelly, or not.  I did not strain mine.  Bring the remaining vinegar and sugar to a boil, add pepper vinegar mixture and food coloring (if desired).  Stir frequently.  Boil approximately 10 minutes.  Sugar should be fully dissolved.  Add two pouches liquid pectin.  STIR STIR STIR.  Keep at a hard boil for one minute .  Note, I boiled mine for slightly longer about two minutes because it hadn't quite jelled enough.  Ladle the mixture into sterilized jars and seal in a hot water bath.  See my earlier posts on pickled peppers if you want more info on how to properly seal your jars.  The jelly is especially good on crackers with cream cheese, yum!    

Note- For something a little different try adding 1.5 tsp raspberry extract. Raspberry Jalapeno Jelly in no time! 

It must be summer!

Summer has arrived with it's gardeny goodness! We picked tons of blackberries this year, which Joe requested be converted into a cobbler. Here's a quick and easy cobbler recipe you can use with any type of berry. I've also included a recipe for pickled peppers. If you don't want to bother with a hot water bath, just store the jars in your refrigerator and treat them like regular pickles. They should be good and tasty after two weeks.

Blackberry Cobbler Yum!
2 1/2 cups blackberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter

Combine berries and sugar and let them hang out for 15 or so minutes. Meanwhile, heat over to 375 and combine remaining ingredients. Try not to over-sir the batter. Pour batter into greased 8x8 inch pan and spoon berry mixture over. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown.



Pickled Pepper Mix (makes 1 pint)
2 cups vinegar
1 cup water
1/8 tsp alum (per 1/2 pint jar)
1/2 tsp salt (per 1/2 pint jar)
pinch of dill and mustard seed
Sliced peppers or whole jalapeno or banana peppers*

Sterilize your jars and lids. Bring vinegar and water to a boil, meanwhile fill jars with peppers, salt, alum and seasoning. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over peppers to 1/4 inch from the mouth. Seal jars in a boiling water bath for 7-10 minutes. Make sure lids are properly sealed. If a lid doesn't seal, simply keep the jar in the fridge.
*Note- If using whole peppers, be sure to slit them in several places

Figgy Wiggy Jam

Hello there! Boy, we sure have been busy with Summer! Last Saturday we went to Cherokee Sink and swam and swam and swam. On Sunday Mom and I picked five pounds of figs and made delicious fig jam. Here's the recipe!

Fig Jam
From the Ball Blue Book of Canning
5 lbs of fresh figs
6 cups of sugar
¾ cup of water
½ cup of lemon juice

Boil your figs until they're nice and squishy, about ten minutes. Drain the figs, slice off the stems, and mash 'em up! Add the sugar and water and slowly bring to a boil. Make sure you sir continuously, otherwise the sugar will burn. Once the mixture gets to the jell stage (should slide off the spoon in a sheet, as opposed to drops). Add the lemon juice and stir for another minute. Pour the mixture into your sterilized canning jars, fill up to 1/2 in from the top. Seal in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Yum!



Boil them figgy wigs!


Waiting for the figs to boil, I know they look a little gross, but they taste delicious!


Ladling out the jam


The final product!

Peter Piper Picked A Peck

Of these guys! Today I pickled a couple of batches of banana peppers. I used my Aunt Karen's recipe so they should be delish! Also, today I pulled out all my cucumber plans (they were mostly done producing) and put in okra and white eggplant. I also shifted around some of the herbs since it's getting quite crowded in the herb box. I'm planning on pickling some cucumbers later this week, since I have about a million (and we don't want them to go to waste!). So stay tuned for more canning, pickling and preserving!

Aunt Karen's Pickled Peppers
Lots of tasty peppers, I used banana peppers
4 cups vinegar
2 cups water
1 tsp salt per mason jar
1/4 tsp garlic powder per mason jar (I also added some fresh sliced garlic)
1/8 tsp alum

Sterilize your mason jars-I boiled them, though I know some people just run them through the dishwasher. Bring the vinegar and water to a boil. In the meantime, fill your jars with the peppers, salt, alum and garlic. Pour the vinegar mixture into the jars until there is only about a 1/4 inch from the top. Screw the lids on real tight and let the jars hang out on the counter. The lids should pop, letting you know they're sealed. It's okay if they don't pop, that just means you have to refridgerate them.

And here they are:


Tasty and delicious!