Apple Pie a la Nana

I remember Nana making her famous apple pie and knowing how much Richard loved it and had a non-pie-making wife, she would think of ways to send it to us when we lived in California. Papa flew for a corporation that came to Cali often, so when she baked a couple of pies, she would send one with Papa for us. I would drive to little executive airports many times to pick up a delicious pie. What a wonderful memory to cherish now.

–Sherry Kanaga Harmon

Deep Dish Double Crust
Ingredients
2 1/2 C. Flour
2 T. Sugar
1 t. Salt
1/2 C. Cold Shortening
1/2 C. Cold Butter (diced)
3 T. Apple Juice
3 T. Cold water (more if needed)
 
Directions
In a food processor with the chopping blade on, combine flour, sugar and salt.
Cut in the shortening with 7-8 pluses and add the butter. About 4- 5 more pulses should produce a pea like texture. Add the water and juice mixture and do a few short pulses, just until it starts to come together. Turn onto a bread board and push it into a ball.Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes. It can stay in the fridge longer if you don’t get to it right away.

Apple Filling
Ingredients
8-9 mixed variety apples
For a mix of naturally sweet and tart varieties, try these: Bramley, Cox, Pippin, Fuji, McIntosh, Stayman Winesap, Jonagold, Rome, Cameo, Jonathon, Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. If unavailable, try Red Delicious or Gala. Granny Smith were Nana’s favorite to mix in as she liked a tart apple pie. You want flavorful, aromatic and firm apples. Always use a mixture - never just one type. The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor!

1/4 C. Apple juice (or balsamic vinegar)
3 T. Butter
2 t. Vanilla
1-2 C. Sugar (1 part can be brown)
2 T. Cinnamon

Optional additional spices to add are:
1/4 t. Nutmeg
1/4 t. Ground cloves
1/4 t. Ginger
1/4 t. Allspice

Nana was not a fan of ginger or allspice for sure, only sometimes would add a little nutmeg and maybe a dash of cloves if she were in the mood. Experiment and decide what combinations you like.

3-4 T. Ultra Gel (can use flour or cornstarch for substitution)
2 T. Butter (to dot top of apple filling in the pie)

Directions
Peel, core and wedge the apples. Place into a large frying pan with butter and juice on medium heat. Cover for about 8 minutes, or until just barely tender. Remove from heat, add vanilla and allow to cool. Mix Ultra Gel, sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over cooled apples and toss. Place apples into bottom crust in a deep pie dish. Dot with butter and cover with top crust. Cut a few slashes in top crust to allow steam to escape while cooking. Trim edges to 1/2” bigger than the pie dish, fold excess under itself and crimp edge down to seal in the filling. Paint top crust with cream and sprinkle sugar over top. Egg wash can be used, but doesn’t brown as well.

Bake at 375º for 20 minutes in lower half of oven. Then reduce heat to 350º and move to center of the oven. Bake another 30-40 minutes. This will insure the bottom crust gets nice and done for a flaky melt in your mouth crust and should keep the crust edges from getting too brown.

When pie is nice and golden brown, remove and cool on wire rack.

Tip: Sometimes I use foil to make little shields for the crimped edge of pie. Keep in place for first
30 minutes of bake time and then remove. This will keep the crimped edge from getting too brown.
 
Tip: Sprinkle 1 T. of lemon gelati over apples before adding the top crust. Flavor is delicious and gelatin helps to prevent spillovers.

A apple a day, or 10 boxes in a month!

It seems like Jade, Tawna, Tracy and I have been doing apples for a month. Wait, we have been doing apples for a month! Not every day. We did 10 boxes of apples this year in our family and I lost count how many Tracy ended up doing. The squeezo was a great investment and I highly recommend it. The pie apples are much better this year and are prettier too. We opted for wedged sliced instead of the easier spiral slices we did last year. Jade and I made our rebellious non-sealing 7 quarts (out of 55 quarts) into apple pie. I think I may have made an apple pie like 20 years ago, so I'm going to say this was my first attempt at doing apple pie. Jade remembered lots of Nana's little tips, so she was a better student than me by a long shot. I found a good recipe online for pie apples, so used it to can our pie apples. I'm posting it here for anyone who wants to try it. It's been fun.

Choosing your apples
Select apples depending on how tart you like your apple pie. The more tart varieties like Granny Smith result in a tart pie unless you add more sugar.

For a mix of naturally sweet and tart varieties, use from these groups: Bramley, Cox Pippin, Fuji, McIntosh, Stayman Winesap, Jonagold, Rome, Cameo, Jonathon. If you can't get any of these, then try Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, etc. You want a flavorful, aromatic and firm apple (Golden Delicious and Galas are too soft, for example). Always use a mixture - never just one type. The Fuji's and Gala's give it an aromatic flavor! Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are also excellent, sweet, flavorful apples.

Preparing Jars and Lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars or you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, keep the jars hot until they are used. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot apple pie filling.

Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.

Preparing the apples

Fill your sink or a large container with water to wash the apples. The fastest way to peel the apples is an “apple, peeler, corer, slicer” (but with the corer/slicer function off). With firm apples, it takes about 20 seconds per apple. These apple peelers don't work well on soft, mushy apples or apples with soft spots on them. In that case your stuck with a hand peeler!

Once they're peeled, remove any remaining brown spots. These apple peelers work absolutely great on firm apples, pears and potatoes. They don't work so well on apples that are mush or have soft spots. There are 2 types of peelers: those that have a suction base and those that clamp on to the edge of a table. I prefer the suction type as you can use it more places.
Slicing and coring the apples is next.

You can use a knife, but the $5 corer/slicer you see in the photo is the easiest way to do it. The apple corer/slicer, available at almost any large grocery store, kitchen store, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. With this or an ordinary knife, any slices that are between ¼-inch and 1/2 inch thick will do.

Remove seeds, stems, any hard parts near the seeds and brown or soft spots. Now you are ready to blanch the apples. Place sliced apples a batch at a time in a large pot with at least 1 gallon of boiling water - the larger the pot and the greater the volume of water, the better! Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. You're not really "cooking" the apples - just blanching them. Blanching means heating them at high temperature for a brief time to stop the enzymes that can cause the flavor to degrade during storage.

Drain and keep the hot fruit in a covered bowl or pot.

Pie Filling

In a large pot combine:
7 1/2 C. cold water (or 2 1/2 C. water and 5 C. apple juice for more flavor)
3 C. granulated sugar (Yes, you can vary the amount of sugar. You could use organic sugar or honey (about 3/4 cup of honey to replace each cup of sugar)
1 T. Cinnamon
1 t. Nutmeg
1 t. Cloves ( I use half this amount because I'm not a big cloves fan.)
Optional additional spices you could add are 1 t. each of Ginger and Allspice.

Stir almost constantly while cooking on medium high heat until the mixture begins to bubble.

Mix 1 1/2 C. Ultra Gel
with 3/4 C. Bottled Lemon Juice and add this to the juice in the pot. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken. Then remove from the heat./ It ought to be pretty thick, but still able to drip.

(I buy Ultra Gel at Shar's Kitchen) or you can use a product called ClearJel. You can also use cornstarch but know the following: According to the USDA's National Home Food Preservation Center at the University of Georgia, ClearJel® is a corn starch that has been modified to give it special and unique characteristics when used in food products. It is recommended by the USDA for making pie fillings because it does not break down in the acid food mixtures and does not thicken enough during heat processing to interfere with the intended effect of the heat on killing bacteria during canning. In other words it reduces spoilage and is safer than corn starch. It is preferred for thickening canned pie fillings as well as other foods over other corn starches because it has less or no aftertaste, the thickened juices are smooth and clear, and foods thickened with ClearJel® may be frozen.

Filling Your Jars
The best way to fill the jars is pictured here. Because the filling is on the thick side, layering is preferred so the filling is present through the jar. Fill to 1/2" minimum headspace. I like about 1" better. A thin spatula down the sides of the filled jar will release any air pockets present. Prepare lids and bands and close the jars.


Water Bath Method
Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. For our altitude here in Arizona, boil pint and/or quart jars for 30 minutes. After processing time is achieved, remove jars to a draft-free counter and allow to cool, usually overnight without disturbing. If all goes will you will hear the lids ping, or pop down to form the desired seal. If they don't seal, refrigerate and use, or apply a new prepared lid and reprocess.

Steam Canner Method
Follow manufacturer's directions to prepare the canner and water level. Place jars on rack and close canner. Once the steam is a steady 8" or so plume from both sides of canner start timing for 30 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes, turn off burner and allow to sit 3 minutes. Remove jars to a draft-free counter and allow to cool, usually overnight without disturbing. If all goes will you will hear the lids ping, or pop down to form the desired seal. If they don't seal, refrigerate and use, or apply a new prepared lid and reprocess.

Pressure Canner Method
Follow manufacturer's directions to prepare canner and water level. After jars are placed in canner and the lid secured, again follow the direction's for exhausting the air from the canner. After the weight is placed, allow the pressure to build to 6 pounds. Reduce heat to maintain pressure at 6 pounds for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pressure to fall on it's own. At that point, remove weight and lid and allow the jars to stay in the canner 5-10 minutes. Remove from canner to a draft-free counter and allow to cool, usually overnight without disturbing. If all goes will you will hear the lids ping, or pop down to form the desired seal. If they don't seal, refrigerate and use, or apply a new prepared lid and reprocess.
You can use your pressure canner as a water bath also. Follow manufacturer's directions for this process.

Finishing
Now your jars are all done, cooled and hopefully all sealed. Remove the bands and put them in hot soapy water. Take each jars and gently wash the band threads to remove and sticky residue from the canning process. Set them on a towel to dry or wipe dry and date the lids and label if you need to. I reapply the clean, dry bands for storage, but you don't have to.
Apple pie, apple crisp, over ice cream, there are many ways to use this wonderful filling.

Corn & Potato Chowder...

Ingredients:

2-3 cans sweet cream corn
1 yellow onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
1 large carrot
2 cups potato flakes
4-6 cups milk
2-3 cups chicken broth
3-4 TBLS parsley flakes
1 jar Hormel "REAL" bacon bits (or crumbled)
Salt & pepper to taste















Melt your butter in a non-stick frying pan and add in your chopped onions and minced garlic. Then take a potato peeler and with short strokes peel the carrot into the mixture and saute all of it together. Add your parsley to the mixture.

Transfer this mixture to a stock pot and turn the heat to high. Add your chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil. When boiling turn down to low heat and add in your potato flakes and stir well. Bring the soup to the consistency that you wish by using milk to thin out or a few more potato flakes to thicken. When the consistency is of your liking then add your corn and then the jar of bacon bits or crumbled bacon last.


Stir well and serve.

I served with garnish of cheese croutons and it was yummy!!!
















Side note: You can choose to use real potatoes in the soup rather than the flakes. If this is your choice then use 4-6 medium potatoes cubed, and saute in with the onions, garlic, carrots and parsley. Saute until the potatoes are tender.
Once tender transfer to stock pot and add the chicken broth the recipe calls for. Then you'll need to make a white sauce to use for the soup base. To do this, in a medium mixing bowl whisk together 4 cups of milk and 3/4 cup flour and blend well. Add to stock pot and continue on with the above directions from there. Either way it is yummy!

Granny's Homemade Whole Wheat Bread...

Ingredients:
2 TBLS salt
10 -15 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey
3 TBLS dough enhancer
1 cup high gluten flour
6 cups warm water (110º - 115º F)
3TBLS saf-instant yeast

Preheat your oven to 150º. The lowest settings on some ovens is 170º. If that is the case on your oven, set at 170º and when you place your loaves in to rise, leave the oven door cracked open a bit. Sometimes if you turn off the oven as you begin to put your loaves in to proof, by the time they are all in the oven has cooled just a bit. It is probably closer to 150º now, so just shut the door and leave it off.

Place all of the ingredients in the order listed above, and 10C. of the flour in the bosch. Make sure the yeast goes in last on top of the flour. Also, make sure that your water is the proper temperature. If it is not warm enough it will not properly activate your yeast and if it's too hot it will kill your yeast!

Turn on the “moment” speed of your bosch two or three times. Now turn to “1” and add more flour to "clean" the sides and bottom of the bowl as it is mixing. You will probably have somewhere between 13-15C. of flour (total) in the dough. If you get too much flour in, just add a smidgen of water until it loosens up to the consistency you prefer. Let the bosch do it's thing (mixing away!) for 10 minutes on a timer.

While the dough is mixing, grease your bread pans generously on the bottoms and sides. For added nutrition you can use liquid lethicin (sp?) in place of shortening.


Remove the dough from the bosch and shape into loaves. Place the loaves into the pans and slit the tops about 3-4 times on the diagonal with a single edged razor. This helps the bread to rise UP instead of OUT.
Place your bread pans in your oven to let them raise to double in size. This process is called "proofing". Set the timer for 30 minutes and check often. When dough has doubled in size, (sometimes it takes longer than 30 minutes, sometimes it is faster than that) set the oven temperature to 350º. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the interior bread temperature reaches 200 degrees.Temperature may be checked by inserting a thermometer into the center of the bread.



Turn loaves out of pans immediately and butter (or shortening) the tops. I use a stick of butter or I rub margarine over the tops. After about 10 minutes place in the bread bags, but leave the end open. This way the crust stays soft. When mostly cooled, slice and re-bag securing the end to keep your loaves fresh and soft. If there is a lot of moisture left in the bags I dry them out with a paper towel before re-bagging the loaves.

I usually wait about 30-40 minutes before I slice the bread. But, that's up to you!

This recipe will make 4-6 loaves, depending on the size. I always get 5 loaves.

Individual Meatloaf Balls...

A different way to make meatloaf... Originally Granny's or Nana's Cheesy Meatloaf Recipe only seperated into individual servings!

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs lean hamburger meat
2 cups italian bread crumbs (more if needed)
2-3 eggs (to make everything stick together)
1-2 green peppers chopped
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 can tomato sauce (or alternate sauce for top of meatloaf)
1 large brick of mild cheddar cheese
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste


In a large mixing bowl add together meat, garlic powder, salt & pepper, green peppers, onions, eggs, and bread crumbs.

Cut the block of cheddar cheese into large cubes. Pull off a chunk of meat mixture and place on the cutting board. Put the cheese right in the middle. Take another chunk of mixture and cover the cheese, like a big meatball. Place the meatloaf balls in whatever pan you are cooking them in side by side on top of 1 cube of melted butter.

Once all of your meatloaf balls are in the pan, pour whatever sauce you choose or the tomato sauce over the top. If you have a pan that sits on top of your counter like this (electromade??? not sure what it's called) then put the lid on and it will cook for about 45 minutes to an hour on about 350 degrees. Just check the centers to make sure cooked through. If using your oven, then I would say to set at about 350 degrees for the same 45 min to an hour.

The cheese melts inside and everyone gets their own cute little meatloaf. This was Kevins spin on Granny's cheesy meatloaf!

We all love the burned bottom side of the meatloaf and the cheese burns a bit too! Growing up we all fought over that part...

The gravy that you make from the drippings is a little bit of a cheese flavor also, but I add in some beef boullion and it's awesome beef gravy because it's diferent than the same old thing.

YUMMMMMMM!

Mom's Broccoli Cheese Soup...

This is my all time favorite soup!

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 medium head broccoli crown chopped
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
4 cups chicken stock
5 cups milk
3/4 cup flour
1 t dry mustard
8 oz brick of cream cheese
4 cups mild shredded cheddar cheese (more or less as you choose)

Saute chopped onion, clove of garlic and broccoli in the cube of melted butter. When tender, transfer to an 8qt stock pot and add 4 cups chicken stock. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together 4 cups of milk, 3/4 cup flour and the dry mustard and blend well. Add to stock pot. In another mixing bowl whisk together 8oz cream cheese and 1 cup of milk. Set aside.

Bring to a boil to thicken the mixture to the desired consistency, to make thicker add milk or cream, and to thin out add water or chicken broth. Once it starts to boil reduce the heat. When mixture is thickened to desired consistency add in the shredded cheddar cheese and the cream cheese mixture. Keep at medium heat until all of the cheeses are melted in. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Garnish ideas: Sprinkle some shredded cheese and green onion on top... this soup goes great with Mom's homemade bread too!!! Or crackers or rolls...

Ali's Pumpkin Spice Cookies...

These cookies are great and I got the recipe from my cousin Ali. Thanks Ali! I doubled the recipe, because I always do when I make any kind of cookies. I figure if you're gonna go to all of the effort to bake you might as well bake extra and spread the wealth!!! It made about 3 1/2 dozen cookies. I also ran short of time so I didn't make the drizzle for the top. I cheated and opened up a Betty Crocker vanilla frosting, opened it and put it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds then spread a little on the top of each. Cream cheese frosting would be yummy on top also!



2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 Tbls milk
1 Tbls melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt; set aside

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by Tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly

3. Bake for 15-20 mins in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork

4. To make glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 Tablespoon melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Applesauce made easy!

Jonagold apples, a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious



Rome apples. I wish I had a picture of the cut ones. They had bright red swirls inside. Really pretty. They made the deepest pink applesauce I've ever seen.





The Squeezo Strainer is high on my list of most loved kitchen tools. Jade, Tracy, Papa and I made applesauce on Monday from 6 -48 pound boxes of apples. Five boxes were JonaGolds and one box were Rome apples. The apples are so beautiful this year and I love that the whole house smells like an orchard. The garage too since there are still apples out there waiting to be delicious pie apples and applesauce. We followed the instructions that came with the Squeezo and in about 4 hours we processed all 6 boxes into applesauce. After the fiasco we had last year trying to get apples into jars, this was a breeze. No peeling, coring, slicing. Just steam the apples tender and push them through the Squeezo for beautiful applesauce. The sauce comes out and goes down the funnel thing and the garbage goes out the other way for dumping. We used the regular size screen that came on it for the first 2 boxes. Then we put on the pumpkin screen for a coarser pulp and we liked that better. The Rome apples came out very very pink. I ended up mixing my 2 JonaGold boxes with my 1 Rome box for a pink blushed applesauce. I only added about 1 cup of sugar and a dash of cinnamon to a 12 qt. bucket of applesauce. The apples were really sweet enough on their own unless you have a sweet tooth. Tracy took her 3 boxes of JonaGolds home to can and I did my 3 boxes here into the canners. Three boxes of apples yielded 50 pints and 14 quarts. Maybe I will be crazy enough to try tomato sauce someday. Not any time soon though. I love this stuff.

Chicken La Paloma

This recipe is from my wonderful mother-in-law. She first made it for me when I had just given birth to Faith and she was in town for a few days helping out. It was so yummy that It has been one of my favorites ever since. Nathan and I don't always have cheesy-casserolish type dishes, but this is a favorite comfort food or for when guests are coming over. Missionaries really love it!

Ingredients:

2 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp curry powder (or more or less depending on how much you like)

6-7 chicken breasts, cut into cubes and cooked with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (or can be barbecued on the grill and then cut up and added)

2 pkgs of (8 oz ea.) of California Blend frozen veggies (cauliflower, broccoli and carrots)

1 8 oz package of shredded cheese

1/4 to 1/2 cup of butter or margarine - melted

corn flakes

Blend the soup, mayo, lemon juice and curry. Add the cooked chicken and vegetables and mix until well coated. Spread evenly into a casserole dish (sprayed with cooking spray). Top with the shredded cheese. Crush corn flakes and add to the melted butter until coated, stirring with a fork. Spread corn flake mixture on top of the cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. YUM!

Bottled Ground Beef Mix

Tracy got me going on the goal to do some ground beef this year. I found a good recipe last year and tried it out. We have enjoyed being able to just get it off the shelf this year when we were in a hurry to make a meal. Tracy tracked down the sales and we bought lots of beef. It's easy, but takes time to pressure can it as it has to maintain pressure for 75 to 90 minutes. Tracy plays solitare on her computer while she's watching her canners. I make lists, pace the kitchen, talk on the phone, and check my email. I think I'll try solitare next time - it sounds like more fun.

This recipe is probably permanently engraved upon my brain. I have made it so many times in the last week, I don't see how I would ever forget it. Try it out before you bottle it to see if you like it. I use it in spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, lasagne, rocket soup, and chili. You could use it for tacos too, but I like a drier meat and a little more spice for taco meat. I'm sure there are many recipes it would go well in. As the jars cool, the small amount of fat that stays in the hamburger solidifies at the top. If it bothers you, you can skim it off when you open your jar to use it. It should be very minimal if you have gotten a good lean hamburger.

Wash 9 pint jars or 4 quart jars and keep hot

6 pounds of very lean ground beef
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups (1 1/2 medium) diced onion

6 cups (1-48 oz. can) tomato juice
1 1/4 cups beef stock
1 T. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Combine last four ingredients in 6-8 qt. pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low to keep hot. In large fry pan brown meat (half at a time if necessary) until pink is gone. Add to tomato juice broth. Saute onions and garlic in meat drippings until tender. Add to meat mixture. Cover and let simmer about 5 minutes. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions. Pack meat mixture into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headroom. Wipe rims clean and attach lids and bands.

Process in a pressure canner at 11 pounds pressure.
Pints 75 minutes / Quarts 90 minutes - Remember processing time doesn't start until pounds of pressure has been achieved. Follow pressure canner manufacturer's directions to exhaust steam from canner and place weight to bring pressure up. Be sure to allow pressure to fall on it's own after removing from heat before opening the canner.

I usually double this recipe to get 7 quarts and 9 pints. I took this pic before I cleaned my jars up after canning. They are much prettier when they have been washed, wiped, labeled and boxed. I am still really enjoying all this canning. Kind of sick, I know.

The Green Chile in Jars!

I did get some green chile into jars for canning. Everything except the tomatoes and a little bit of flour for thickening. Those two items will be added when it's time to open the jars and enjoy.Tracy and I went to Orange Patch Too and got some of their wonderful New Mexico Chiles. They are already roasted and in zip locks. Yummm. They are so good. I put some in the freezer for future batches. I had 1 extra quart and a little pint of green chile just hanging out on the pantry shelf, but they didn't last long. Robert came home and opened it up one night. I guess I need to put instructions on what needs to happen to it once it is opened to avoid any confusion about how to prepare it for eating. He did pretty well, just forgot the flour for thickening it a little and maybe a few more tomatoes. I did try to explain we really didn't need to open the jars quite that soon after canning. I should get to savor the look of the pantry shelves for at least a month. I am on to ground beef now and getting some of the “on Sale” bounty into jars for later consumption. Crazy days of canning are still going strong. I will post the ground beef pics later with the recipe.

Apples arrive tomorrow. I hope my new gizmo that makes applesauce is not far behind. I just love a learning curve. We had such a hard time with apples last year, I hope this year goes better. Hence the gizmo to try. It's called a Squeezo Strainer and everyone I know that has one, loves it. I hope it will take some of the grunt work out of the applesauce process. The kid in the picture looks like he can manage it. Maybe there's hope for me. I guess it was originally designed to do tomato sauce. I don't think I'm that crazy yet, but you never know.

Cream Cheese Chicken

(Forgot to take a picture before we ate it all! Sorry!)

This is always an easy dinner but so very good! I like to make it when we have people over sometimes or when we need a good dinner without a lot of time in the evening to make something because it is in the crock pot. You can serve it over rice or some type of noodles. Enjoy!

6-8 chicken breasts
1 package of cream cheese
1 package of italian dressing seasoning
1 cube of butter/margarine
1 can of cream of mushroom soup

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours, stirring every now and then. As the chicken becomes tender shred it with a fork and a knife. Continue to cook until done. Serve over rice or noodles. If you would like the mixture to be soupier you can add more soup/cream cheese.


Tawna :)

Apple Upside Down Cake

Okay...first off I have to give credit where credit is due. My mom found the recipe for this cake on a blog-site called "Stephanie's Kitchen". It sounded so very yummy that I was dying to try it...with a few modifications! The wonderfully talented woman who we borrowed the recipe from made the entire cake from scratch, fresh apples, cake-not out of a box, etc! I decided that this would not work for the PTA function that I was hunting down a new dessert for so I needed to make it easier. If you would like the recipe for the "from scratch" version please go to http://www.stephanieskitchen.com/ . This is also a great way to use pie apples that you have canned for a quick and easy dessert, besides apple cobbler, which we have had a ton of this past year!

1 Jar of pie apples (already with cinnamon)

1 yellow cake mix

Spray bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Pour pie apples into the bottom of the pan. Mix together the cake mix as directed on the box. Pour batter over the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and then invert onto a serving plate. **Would be great with the tiniest bit of cool whip/whip cream or ice cream, though we loved it just by itself! Enjoy!

Tawna :)

In the kitchen today

I have completely lost my mind and am considering canning some green chile meat. I know, I know, I am certifiable. I called Shar's and talked to their canning guru and I am fairly confident I can do this. I made some for dinner and it is so good. I love that recipe. Tracy and I went to Orange Patch and got some already roasted chiles from New Mexico and they are so delish. If you haven't tried the Green Chile recipe, get some chiles and go for it. I am going to make some (later) to take for dune food. So easy to warm up and everyone will love it.

Papa went to Bob and Syd's house for dinner tonight. I love that they host him every Monday for home evening. I know he really looks forward to going and loves the time he spends there with them. I hear he had some really good chicken noodle soup tonight. I hope you will put that recipe on this blog Sydney - soup season is really here! So exciting. I love soup. I'm sure you guys had some wonderful cuisine on your cruise. Any thing we could try?

Apples are coming soon, so will be getting a truck load of jars again. Whew! I will be researching a better way to do the applesauce than we did last year. If any one has a great applesauce recipe, please share.

Oh yes, I have ordered some 55 gallon water barrels from a guy that gets them after one use, sanitizes them and sells them. If anyone is interested in getting some, leave me a comment, maybe your email if I don't have it and I will put you on our next order list. They are very nice barrels and he says 2 are enough for emergency water for a family of 3-4.

Another Rocket Soup

Nana was the best at improvising. She could and did change and evolve her recipes. We may think we have her recipe for something, but chances are someone else who has the same recipe will have something different. Thus it is with her famous Rocket Soup. When I was pregnant with my twins, I made this is Utah for my friends the Grampps. Carter ate a bowl and said, “Wow. This should be called rocket soup. It is really hot!” Apparently I had overdone the pepper a bit. Nana thought that was too funny and found a way to make it rocket with flavor instead of just pepper. We all have our little twist to this wonderful family recipe, so take this one, and Sydney's (the first post on this blog) and hopefully Scott's (when he posts it) and do your thing with it.
One thing is for sure, it hits the spot on a cold day and is pretty inexpensive if you need to feed the multitudes. Serve it with rolls, bread (homemade is the best) and butter, or even just crackers. It is a great meal to take in to someone who needs a little love too.

Makes more than a gallon of soup. 

Brown in skillet:

1 lb. Lean hamburger

2 sm. cloves garlic, minced

Put into 8qt. stock pot, set aside.

In same skillet saute:

1 lg. onion, chopped

3 med. carrots, sliced

1/4 c. fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped

1 lb. small red potatoes, quartered (about 3 cups)

Add a little olive oil if needed. When veggies are just tender add to stock pot.

Place stock pot on medium heat and add:

2 qts. Water

or a combination of beef stock, V-8 juice (can be the spicy kind if more zing is desired) and water.

Quantity is personal as some like thicker soup and some like more broth. Can be stretched to feed more if needed.

2 T. brown lentils (or dried peas, or yellow lentils)

2 T. pearled barley (or handful of rice if you have it)

2 T. red quineoa (sneaky way to add some nutrition)

2 T. Knorr beef flavor base (or boullion cubes for 1 qt.)

2 28 oz. cans diced tomatoes 

(if fresh tomatoes are used, blanch skins off, dice - about 3 cups) Simmer in skillet before adding to stockpot so they are a little stewed.

1 7  3/4 oz. can El Pato sauce*  (or spicy V-8)

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 c. frozen corn

1/2 c. frozen peas  

Optional: I like to throw in a handful of some kind of noodle. Sometimes it’s egg noodles with a smidge of Alpha bet noodles. Many varieties to choose from. Not too many - keep it small.

Salt and pepper to taste and simmer about 30 minutes, or until lentils and barley are tender.

*Puts the rocket in the soup. Substitute another tomato sauce here if there are tender palettes or tummies.

Thanksgiving Pies, Anyone?

Just curious if anyone is interested in getting together for a pie fest after dinner on Thanksgiving. Kevin's sister Leslie has made it a tradition in their family and it looks like so much fun. If I got the info straight in my head, you just bring your favorite pies (or not if you only want to eat) and everyone samples the wares. If any of you are liking the idea, or have an idea of your own, just leave a comment and the cooks of this nook will endeavor to make it happen. It would be cool to start a new tradition we could all enjoy.

Spaghetti Sauce - So Gooooood!

October just seems to be the month we eat spaghetti. Probably because we would take all our kids to Papa and Nana's house to trick or treat. We all lived there at different times, so knew the neighbors well. It was and is still a great neighborhood to trick or treat in. Nana would always make spaghetti for the kids to eat before they went out. It sort of evolved into a tradition and after a few years we all came looking for the spaghetti dinner on Halloween. We would hand candy (gobs of it) out the side gate of their house to all the trick or treaters. Good stuff to the little ones, penny candy to the ones too old to be out. We have our standards after all. Hope you like this recipe, it is really good.

Of course spaghetti is good anytime and we eat a lot of it during the year. October just inspires the good memories of time spent at Nana's bar eating a quick dinner before the sugar buzzz began. My family loves spaghetti, but as you know, everyone has their own little twist when they make it. There are many great recipes out there for spaghetti sauce. Taya married into a really good sauce recipe (thanks Kevin), but I am basically lazy, so I have simplified it, but kept the general flavor. Taya and Kevin will put their version in our file too, but in the meantime…

Everything in it could be on your pantry shelf, or in your garden. 

Spaghetti Sauce  in a Hurry

In a stock pot combine:

1 jar approx. 4# spaghetti sauce (I use Prego because that’s what Costco carries and I like it)

1 28 oz can tomatoes (already chunked or whole and you can cut them however you like)

a pinch of basil, (fresh is good if you have it)

a pinch of oregano (also good fresh if you have it)

In a large skillet brown:

2# lean ground beef

optional: can substitute 1# hot spicy Italian sausage for 1# ground beef 

2 cloves fresh garlic chopped as fine as you like

2 onions

Red onions are good, I use brown or mayan sweet, but they all work

Salt to taste

Brown until onions and garlic are very tender and beef is well done. If your beef is lean enough, by the time it is well done there should be very little if any fat left in the pan. Drain if necessary and add to stock pot.

Deglaze the skillet if necessary and add a little extra virgin olive oil. Saute together:

2 medium green peppers cut as fine or chunky as you like

1 medium red, yellow or orange pepper same cut as above

1 yellow squash

2 zuchinni

(I cut the squashes into 2” sections, then once in half from the top and then in slices for long thin pieces (like sticks). You can also coin them, it’s just whatever you like)

Salt to taste

When tender add to stock pot and simmer on low at least 30 minutes. Serve over spaghetti noodles, angel hair, linguini, or even ziti. If you like your sauce really thick you can add a 12 oz. can of tomato paste, to thin it down and stretch it a little add a small can of v-8 juice. 

This recipe serves 10-12 really hungry people. It would serve 15-18 normal appetites. Who knows how many it would serve if everyone were on a diet!

(is easily multiplied for large groups since you would times the ingredients by however many Prego jars you are using.)

Coconut Pecan Frosting

For all of us who love “the frosting with germans in it”. It's the recipe that holds the record so far for number of calls to get it. I can’t count the number of times I called Nana for this recipe. It is Papa's favorite frosting. We always say “with germans in it” because when the kids were little and found out we were having cake they would ask, “the kind with germans in it?”. Then they knew it wasn't the kind we put in a glass and serve with milk over it. We actually serve this kind of chocolate cake on a plate with a glass of milk. Like normal.

• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 beaten egg yolks
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 1/3 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Optional: 1 T. cornstarch (to thicken a little faster)

In a heavy saucepan combine first five ingredients. Stir constantly over medium heat until mixture bubbles and is thickened. Add coconut and pecans and remove from heat. Allow to cool a little before frosting cake.





Variation (I found on the internet): substitute 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (eagle brand) for the evaporated milk and the sugar.

I usually double this recipe when I do a cake. This insures I have way enough for my 2 cake mix cakes and there always has to be a little left for licking the pan.

OOoooppps!

I forgot to tell you if you want a copy of the green chile recipe, just click on it and it will take you a pdf file. You can print it, download it or whatever. I tried it and it actually works. Yayyyy for me. I figured it out. 

This Green Chile is the best!

Chickie’s Mexican Cafe is one of the things I remember most about the family farming out in Queen Creek. She was a little mexican woman that really had great food in her small restaurant. Nana loved talking to her about her recipes and they had a nice friendship. Eventually Chickie gave Nana this wonderful recipe for green chile. We put it in tortillas, combine it with other stuff, and sometimes just eat it like a stew. I can’t even think about dishes like this and not remember eating at Chickies with Aunts, Uncles, cousins and friends - and of course grading potatoes every summer on the graders in the sheds. I’m glad I got to experience that and am thankful for the memories I have because of those years.

Sherry Kanaga Harmon

If you are just making this for your family, the half recipe quantities below should be plenty. I use the whole recipe for larger groups and for canning. Our family loves this recipe and its a crowd pleaser for sure. It's good in a tortilla, or in a bowl garnished the way you like.

Half Recipe:
2 1/2# lean beef/and or pork, cubed
1 lg onion, diced (Sherry’s variation)
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 to 8 green New Mexico chiles, roasted, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 to 3 Yellow hot chiles roasted, peeled and diced
1-28 oz. Can Whole Tomatoes (drained) Cut into chunks
1 1/2 T. flour
1/2 C. water* (or) stock (pork or beef)
1 1/2 t. pepper (Sherry omits this)
1/2 t. salt

(if you are in a hurry substitute the following for green chiles):
1-16oz. can whole green chiles sliced into thin strips

Whole Recipe:**
5# lean beef/and or pork, cubed
2 lg onion, diced (Sherry’s variation)
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 to 14 green New Mexico chiles, roasted, peeled and cut into thin strips
5 to 7 Yellow hot chiles roasted, peeled and diced
1 #10 Can Whole Tomatoes (drained) Cut into chunks
1/4 C. flour
1 C. water* (or) stock (pork or beef)
3 t. pepper (Sherry omits this)
1 T. salt

(if you are in a hurry substitute the following for green chiles):
1-28 oz. can whole green chiles sliced into thin strips

In a large skillet brown meat. When well browned, transfer to a large stockpot. In the same skillet brown the onions and garlic - add a little vegetable oil if needed. When the onions are golden brown add to the meat in the stockpot.
Add the broth or water to the skillet, raise the heat and deglaze the skillet being sure to scrape all the bits and pieces from the sides and bottom. Pour this into the stockpot.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the stockpot and raise to just below boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 1 -1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and starts to fall apart.

* More stock or water can be added depending on how thick you want your green chile.
** The whole recipe is ideal for large gatherings as well canning into jars for enjoying at a later time. Just follow the guideline for canning ground beef and put some on your pantry shelf.

The Home Canning Bug Has Bitten!

We have gone canning crazy and actually having fun doing it. Below is the tomato recipe Tracy got from Leslie with our own little spin on it. It is an amazing mix and can be used in a variety of ways. Spaghetti, rocket soup (see Sydney's post) chili, lasagne and many more. It smells so good when you are preparing it I can't wait to get some out and use it. Enjoy.

Tomato Base Mix

I will do a nicer recipe later, but here are pics and the how to if you are wanting to do the tomato mix. 

For about 24 lbs. of tomatoes:

6 onions

4-5 cloves fresh garlic

2 bunches fresh Italian parsley

4-5 green peppers

2-3 C. sliced celery

1/4 C. (4 T.) salt

1. Take out stems, I like a strawberry stemmer. Cut in half down through the stem hole and cut off any bad imperfections.
   
2. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 seconds, remove and immerse immediately in cold water. The skins will be loose and will come off easily. Put tomatoes in a container and cover. (I had some help from Papa on this part)
   
3. Chop the rest of the vegetables the way you prefer. I leave them chunky, but you may prefer a finer chop. I also chose not to do the celery and green peppers in my mix because I don't like them in my soups/chili, etc. I can always add green peppers later if I need them. Just do what works for your end use.
   
4. Cut the tomatoes into chunks - leave them a little on the big side as they cook down some. I used a bussing tub to mix everything and it works great. Combine all the stuff in the tub and add the salt. If you don't have a tub, clean out your kitchen sink, plug it up and use it like a tub. It works well too. Toss well. (I use my hands)
   
5. Fill the prepared jars (dishwashers are great to wash and keep them warm for you) with the mix trying to keep the liquid to a minimum. Once the jar is full and packed just a tad, add enough liquid from the mix in the tub so it is just below the lid screws. Leave about 1/2 to 3/4 inch head space.
   
6. Using a chopstick, or something like it, release any trapped air in jars by running the chopstick down the sides of the jar and the air pockets will bubble to the top.
   
7. Wipe the rims of jars with a clean cloth or paper towel to make sure the rim is clean and ready for lids. Prepare lids by putting them in a pan with water and bring just to a boil. Using a lid lifter (handy little tool with a magnet on one end) grab a lid and ring and screw finger tight on each jar.
   
8. Place the jars in your canner not touching each other and not touching the canner sides. Following the manufacturer's directions secure the lid and bring up to 11 pounds of pressure. Once there, start timing for 25 minutes and maintain the 11 pounds of pressure. You may have to adjust your burner heat and let out a little pressure from the weight now and then to maintain the proper pressure. Just tilt the weight to the side to release some pressure if you need to. DO NOT Remove the weight to do this.
   
9. When the time is up, remove from heat and let the pressure drop on its own. When it does, remove the weight, remove the lid (careful, or you will get steam burned) and using a jar lifter bring jars straight up and out of the canner and onto a towel on the counter. Do not tilt jars. Straight up and straight down. 
   

As the jars cool, if all goes well you will hear the lids “ping” (a metallic pop) as they seal in your hard work. If you have a jar that doesn't ping you can reprocess it with a new lid, or just put it in the fridge and use it up right away. (I cuss them out now and then but it doesn't help). They should sit undisturbed until the next day. You can then carefully remove the bands only. Rinse the jars carefully in cool water to clean off any boil over. Same with the bands. I pile them all in a bowl and soak them in suds. After a while I rinse them, make sure they soaked clean and lay them out to dry. If you want to put them back on your jars you can, but you don't have to. If you have curious kids, it is sometimes a good idea to store the jars with the bands back on them.

I like the Presto brand 23 quart pressure canner. It is large enough to do four 1/2 gallon jars at a time and has been a good investment for me. I found them online for around $88.00. 

If you just want to do plain tomatoes, you can leave them whole in your jars, make sure as you pack them you push on them a little so some juice squishes out. There should be enough liquid in your jars but you can add a little water if you need to. Add a teaspoon of salt to the top of each jar. You only have to bring them up to 10-12 pounds of pressure and then remove from heat. They don't have to pressure for any sustained length of time. Allow pressure to drop on its own as before. You can also use a steam canner or the water bath method for just plain tomatoes. They are excellent all by themselves as well. 

Don't be afraid to try this. It is fun and you will get a sense of accomplishment just to see all the jars ready for your family to eat.