Kitchen Experiments - Cherry Tomato Jam

The other day my cousin came to babysit our kiddos and brought with her some extra goodies from her garden! Just over 2 lbs of cherry tomatoes and 3 giant zucchini. Today I decided to try something new with the cherry tomatoes, tomato jam!

After checking out 1/2 a doz recipes on Pinterest I came across this recipe from Sacatomato and modified it based on our taste & what I had in the house. It came out yummy & I will definitely be making more for Christmas gifts!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 large onion, diced

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

2 large pinched kosher salt

2 lbs cherry tomatoes cut in 1/2

2/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp each: 

        minced garlic

        crushed red pepper

        fresh rosemary chopped fine

        fresh thyme chopped fine

DIRECTIONS:

1) In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium high heat. 

2) Add diced onions & sauté until they begin to turn golden. 

3) Add 2 hefty pinches of salt & the red pepper flakes. Sauté for 3 more minutes.

4) Add tomatoes, sugar, garlic, and apple cider vinegar. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

5) Reduce to a simmer and cook stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. The mixture should be much thicker.

6) Add fresh herbs & cook for 10 more minutes.

7) Ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of head space.  Wipe off the rims of each jar, add the lids on top, and twist on the rings to "finger tip tight".  I used six 4 oz ball jelly jars.
8) Process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes*. Remove jars  to a cooling rack and allow them to cool.  You should hear a ping for each jar which will indicate a proper seal.  The lid will also no longer appear domed. You can store properly sealed jars in your pantry for up to one year. 

* You don't really need any fancy canning equipment - although I highly recommend a jar lifter! For small batches you can do what I do and simply use a stock pot with pasta insert. The key is making sure they aren't touching the bottom of the stock pot (the pasta insert keeps them above the bottom) and are not touching each other. If I have more jars to process than will fit in the pasta insert, I place a few dish towels over the jars that will get processed in the second batch to keep them a bit warm while they wait their turn. Happy canning!

Kitchen Experiments - Apple Pie Applesauce!

I was given a few big bags of apples from a neighbor of my Great Aunt Honey. They were not really good apples to just munch on raw. So I cooked them up to make apple sauce, but they still needed help. A little cinnamon & brown sugar to the rescue. Now I have a 1/2 gallon of apple sauce that tastes just like apple pie!  I only used about a quarter of the apples. I think I'll pick up some Granny Smiths to add to the mix for the next batch. Don't be surprised friends if you get some Apple Pie Applesauce for Christmas!!

4 lbs apples, cored and cut into chunks, skin on
3 cups of water
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

1) Add apples and water to a medium sized pot and bring to a boil.
2) Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3) Add to a blender or food processor in batches and process until smooth.
4) Add brown sugar, cinnamon, & salt. Stir to combine.
5) Cool and refrigerate for up to a week or to can them, ladle into sterile jars and process for 15 minutes. Canned apple sauce can be stored up to 1 year.

Salt & Light... and BBQ sauce!

It's funny how little things can turn into great teaching moments. Right now I'm trying to use up things I have in my pantry and freezer instead of going to the store.  This leads to some creative cooking.  This morning I noticed we had some kalua pork and some leftover hamburger buns hanging out in our freezer. I also happen to have a head of cabbage that needs to be used up STAT.  So... pulled pork sandwiches for dinner it is!

My older girls (ages 3 & 4) are just starting to be old enough to cook with me.  I decided to have them help me make some BBQ sauce to go on the pulled pork. I have to say, the sauce came out REALLY good! We took our time tasting the ingredients before mixing them together, then we tried it before and after we cooked it so the girls could taste the difference.  The girls had a blast. AND an added benefit to having them help me in the kitchen is that they are more likely to try something new when they have helped make it. Now, they are both excited to try the pulled pork sandwiches! Woohoo! Score one for mama!

And here comes the teaching moment... while the sauce was cooling, the girls begin to play together with their tea set.  My oldest came to me and said "Here mama. I made you some hot chocolate! I stirred in the chocolate chips after it was hot to make it really chocolatey.  And I put a pinch of salt too." I asked her why she put the salt in and she replied, "I put in just a pinch. It will make it taste gooder." I smiled, gave her a hug and said, "Did you know that in the Bible, Jesus tells us to be salt and light?" She said "That's silly mama.  How can a person be salt and light?" So we looked up and read together the verse in Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth. If salt loses its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again? It is no good. It is thrown away and people walk on it. You are the light of the world. You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house. Let your light shine in front of men. Then they will see the good things you do and will honor your Father Who is in heaven." 

By this point my 3 year old had come over to listen. I explained that just how we sometimes add salt to our food to make it taste better, Jesus asks us to be flavorful around people which means to be our best selves and be the type of people that other people want to spend time with. And then we talked about how when it gets dark in their room a little night light helps it not be so scary, and that Jesus wants us to be like the night light and help people who are lost or scared.  I asked them what might be some good ways to be both salt and light to people we know and meet.  They came up with this great list:  (1) showing people you care about them by having good manners (can you tell we've been working on that one?!"), (2) giving hugs when someone feels sad, and (3) being a friend and sharing your things. Well praise the Lord, they do listen! It's hard to believe they are only 3 & 4 years old sometimes!

And in case you are interested, here is the recipe for the BBQ sauce we made. My oldest says "It's gooder than good Mama!" We may even make up a huge batch and give it as Christmas gifts this year.  It really turned out tasty!

Hughes Girl's Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup catchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon dehydrated garlic (garlic powder or fresh garlic could work too)

1 teaspoon each: powdered ginger, ground cinnamon, kosher salt

Directions:
Whisk all the ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced.  We then used an immersion blender to break down the tomato chunks, and cooked for another 10 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Memorial Day - Grilling & friends!

I love having people over - sitting around my back yard, talking about everything and nothing all at the same time, enjoying tasty food, and simply being in the company of good friends is the BEST! yesterday we celebrate Memorial Day with 2 other couples who have children around the same ages as our kids.  So much fun despite the funky weather! The children were digging in the dirt, running around, laughing, and playing with each other. The dads all gathered around the grill.  The mom's lounged in chairs trying to keep tabs on the kiddos and get caught up on life. Delightful!

And of course we had some great nosh! Beverages - Brazilian lemonade for the adults (although there is no alcohol, so you could share with the kids if you WANTED to) and juice boxes for the little ones. Grilled shrimp (with my new favorite condiment chimichurri sauce), three kinds of grilled sausages, hamburgers for the kiddos, fruit salad, corn on the cob, and a lovely new recipe for grilled sweet potato spears with lime and cilantro. For dessert we served strawberry bread pudding with vanilla ice cream, and some tasty s'more muffins.

While everything was D-LISH, the two standouts for me were both full of summertime lime flavor. Here is the recipe for the beverage with respective source link:

Brazilian Lemonade
(and yes, I do think it is odd to call a drink with no lemons a lemonade, but TRUST me! It is so smooth and tasty, yo won't really care!)

INGREDIENTS:
4 juicy limes
1 cup sugar
6 cup cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

DIRECTIONS:
1) Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.
2) Wash limes thoroughly to remove any wax. Cut each lime into 4 pieces and place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.
3)  Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 - 6 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a large serving pitcher and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Discard the pulp and skins. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water.
4) Add sweetened condensed milk (THIS is the secret ingredient that makes this beverage SO yummy!) You may want to taste test it at this point - If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more sweetened condensed milk.
5) Serve immediately over lots of ice. This will begin to curdle if it sits too long, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance).

NOTES:  Serves 6 - you'll want to have another batch ready to go though, because your guests will want more! My husband said it reminded him of Key Lime pie and was surprised how smooth and not too sweet it was. I could see adding a splash of coconut rum to this for a truly tropical summer adult beverage!

Tomorrow I will share the recipe for the sweet potatoes!! They were even tasty reheated for lunch!  I think they will show up often on our backyard BBQ menus.

Steel Cut Overnight Oats!

Ok, confession time... I love canning jars! and I like anything that saves me from thinking too hard before I've consumed my morning cup of coffee. So what could be better than this recipe?!?!!

These can be eaten cold, straight from the jar, but I prefer them hot. They can also me made several days in advance & make a fast, healthy breakfast! Below is the basic recipe. You can change it up to suit your tastes and what you have on hand- use regular milk instead of coconut milk, flavored yogurt, rolled oats instead of steel cut, flax seed meal instead of chia seeds... And you can stir in anything that floats your boat... Nut butters, honey or jam instead of date paste, chocolate chips, dried fruit... The possibilities are endless! I hope you'll try it and let me know what you think!

STEEL CUT OVERNIGHT OATS
(Single serving)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup steel cut oats
1/4 plain NF Greek yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 T. chia seeds

Toppings:
1 T. date paste
1 T. Unsweetened shredded coconut
1 T. papitas
1/2 cup fresh blackberries

1) Measure oats, yogurt, coconut milk, & chia seeds into your container.

2) Stir to combine. Pop the lid on and refrigerate overnight.

3) In the morning, give the oats a stir and pop the jar into the microwave for approximately 90 seconds.

4) Stir in your toppings, and enjoy! How easy is that?

Doesn't this look yummy?