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Everyday Originals


how to can pickles {and how to mess it up}

Preserving & Freezing

I bought a ton of organic pickling cucumbers at the farmers market. I don't think I paid more than $3 or $4 for all of them! I took a stab at canning pickles, and, well, I did great. Until my entire kitchen smelled like vinegar and I realized my vinegar to water ratio was off. And I realized this after I had already processed the jars, turned around to clean up and saw my Pyrex measuring cup with 2 cups of water waiting to be added to the vinegar mixture. WHOOPS! However, that aside, the process worked really well and I've read that when you open them to eat you read more this way >>>

homemade pumpkin puree

Preserving & Freezing

Roasting pumpkins was something I've wanted to do for years now, but just haven't got around to it. I thought it would be best to try it when I have the worlds smallest kitchen. I guess I like a challenge. Roasting pumpkins were on sale so I grabbed five. To which Al responded with, "couldn't you have started with two?" while cracking up at me covered in pumpkin. Again, with the challenge. Anyway, this was the easiest process and I don't know why I waited so long to try it. It was time consuming, but I'm confident that was because of the size of my kitchen and the read more this way >>>

simple strawberry freezer jam

Preserving & Freezing

Organic strawberries were on super sale at Wholefoods about two months ago. so I stocked up and bought four pounds. Washed, diced and froze them for smoothies. But over the weekend we were out of jam and the cost of good quality jam is outrageous. So I decided to whip some up and I'm so pleased with the outcome. This was the easiest jam I've ever made and it made so much! I only used two pounds of strawberry for the first batch and I pureed it so I could eat it as well. If there are berry chunks it usually doesn't sit well in my gut. It's also pectin free. read more this way >>>

canning peaches without using a canner

Preserving & Freezing

Out here in CO they don't have u-pick farms easily accessible. Normally I enjoy a nice day of picking fruit and then canning it or making jams. I had to make do this year since there's no u-pick, which is how I ended up with 20 pounds of peaches from the farmers market. Al's face was hilarious when I walked up to him with my massive box of peaches. A local (and by local I mean many hours away from the city because no, there are not peach trees IN Denver) farmer was selling imperfect peaches for half the price of perfect ones. So I scored 20 pounds of peaches for $22. read more this way >>>

homemade peach applesauce

Preserving & Freezing

Fall is here. October to be specific, which means I'm cooking and baking like a crazy person. Over the weekend I made a large batch of peach applesauce. I’ve only ever made plain applesauce so I thought I’d try something new. Homemade applesauce is sooo easy to make. And is so, so delicious.  Peach Applesauce 7 Apples, peeled and cubed 2 cups Peaches, peeled and sliced 2 cups Water 1 tsp. All spice (or cinnamon or nutmeg, whichever you prefer) First, go ahead and peel all of the apples and peaches and then slice and dice them into smaller pieces. Place them read more this way >>>