Rendering your own Lard

I know some will turn up there nose at this.  But Lard doesn't have transfats.

I always boil down bones from meats to make my own stock/broth.  I have always had fat left over.  What do you do with it.  Yesterday I had used pork stock, and the left over fat.  I used the fat instead of shortening in my biscuits.  My Goodness those were the best biscuits I have ever had.  My middle child asked if I had gone and got Popeye's biscuits for breakfast.  Well they didn't exactly taste like Popeyes but they were soft flakey and so yummy.  So I started thinking, maybe I can make my own lard because whole generations use lard.  Well, I decided to look online this morning and see what I could find.  And low and behold I found something.  How to render and can your own lard.  Yippee!  I read it and decided this needed to be shared.

http://www.howtobaker.com/techniques/insane-foodie-projects/how-to-render-and-can-your-own-lard/comment-page-1/#comment-41660

Also on the site, How to make your own sea salt and How to make Cream cheese without starter cultures.  This guy is Brilliant.  I have set this site as a favorite and I think those like minded will too.

Remember real fat from meats are okay it is transfat that is bad.  And Lard is 100% natural, pig fat and water are the ingredients.  Gee can you get more natural?

Dilly beans (pickled green beans)

Last weekend at the farmers market, I picked up a bushel or so of green beans.  Miss S and I sat down and snapped them.  She loves snapping and shelling beans. She is such a little country girl.  Then it comes down to what are you going to make.  Well I have put up, 13 pints and a quart of green beans the regular way by cold packing and pressure canning, had a meal of green beans and potatoes from my garden, then I turned to dilly beans.  A friend turn me on to these a few years ago.  They are delish and easy for even a beginner as they are done by water bath canning.   You can water bath these because they are done in vinegar which the acid will prevent bacterial growth.  I looked through my canning books and recipes online out of curiosity.  There are tons of recipes listed but they are all the same and none of them are the same recipe I have so I thought I would share. They are a delicious little treat to eat just like pickles.

There are 2 recipes I have 1 for regular dilly beans and one for spicy.  I am posting both.  I hope you enjoy as much as we do.

 Dilly beans

• enough fresh green beans to fill a pint jar (snapped and washed) 
• 1 1/2 c vinegar 
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp dill weed
• 1/4 tsp dill seed
• 1/4 tsp tumerac
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Put your vinegar in a large sauce pan to boil.  Boil your jar/s to sterilize them.  Then pack raw fresh snapped green beans in the jar.  And in the clove of garlic and all the seasonings.  Then carefully poor the vinegar in the jars leaving 1 inch of head space.  Lid and boil for 15 minutes in a water bath canner.
Leave sitting for at least a week to let the flavor develop properly.

Spicy Dilly beans

• enough fresh green beans to fill a pint jar (snapped and washed) 
• Half of a fresh japeleno pepper ( no seeds for a milder burn seeds for good burn)
• 1 1/2 c vinegar 
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp dill weed
• 1/4 tsp dill seed
• 1/4 tsp tumerac
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes

Put your vinegar in a large sauce pan to boil.  Boil your jar/s to sterilize them.  Then pack raw fresh snapped green beans in the jar.  And in the clove of garlic and all the seasonings.  Then carefully poor the vinegar in the jars leaving 1 inch of head space.  Lid and boil for 15 minutes in a water bath canner.
Leave sitting for at least a week to let the flavor develop properly.  

I hope you like these dilly beans.  They are so Yummy! 

Oh Betty is looking good today!

So after the post yesterday, I made some strawberry pie filling.  Then this morning I made some strawberry betty.  Oh betty is so good.

Isn't she lovely?  And you know what, She is YUMMY!  Wanna know how to make it?  Well I guess I will share my recipe. If you twist my arm.

Strawberry Pie filling http://www.pickyourown.org/strawberrypiefilling.htm

To make it to Betty.

1/2 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

tsp salt

1/2 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 tbsp cinnimon

Mix and put over the top of your favorite pie filling.  bake 350 for 25 minutes

NOM NOM NOM

Would be delish with homemade vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!!

Warning Yummieness ahead.

I just put up a batch of Blackberry pie filling.  I put it up (canned it) instead of just making the cobbler I have  planned for it, because at our house momma's rule is, 1 dessert at a time.  I still have devils food cake with cream cheese frosting in the fridge.  Which reminds me, I want a piece of cake.  Hang on back in a few....

Okay I am back and happy.  That was good. But I digress.  I put up a quart of blackberry pie filling so I can make blackberry cobbler.  It is not necessarily my favorite cobbler, peach is my favorite.  But Hubby loves black berry and the kids love blackberries.  Well to be perfectly honest cobbler isn't exactly my favorite anyway.  I am a brown betty nut.  I may have to make this into blackberry brown betty instead.  I have taken my ex mother in-laws recipe for apple brown betty and created others like peach betty, pear betty,  and so on.  Blackberry betty might just be the ticket.

The recipe I used for my pie filling isn't mine so I don't have the recipe for you but I do have a link for you.  This is the recipe I used.

http://canningusasupplystore.com/recipes/index.php/making-and-canning-blackberry-pie-filling

And I bought my berries from a local farmer at the farmers market.  They are so juicy and yummy.  When I decide what I end up making I will post pictures and tell you how yummy it is.

Busy bee, and then it got cold.

I have been a busy little bee for a few weeks, then today in May in Texas, it is cold.  Like turn the heater on cold.  Seriously there are parts of Texas getting Freeze warnings tonight.  Luckily I am not in those areas but seriously, we are a little over a month away from the official start of Summer.  And I do remember the summer I had M, from April 15- October 1 that year there were only 5 days that weren't 100 degrees or more.

Now mind you, I don't believe in Climate change ( at least not due to global warming).  Seriously I believe that like an Inconvienant Truth is the same kind of truth as Al Gore  invented the Internet. And remember his wife forced the music industry to start putting stickers on music to prevent perverted or violent music out of peoples hands.  Anybody remember the outcome of that?

What do I believe in, well, I believe weather comes in cycles.  If you look back at recorded weather and read the farmers alamenacs.  It all goes in cycles, just like earthquakes, hurricanes, ice ages, and eclipses.  It all goes in cycles, that is the way God created it.

So for dinner tonight I am making speghetti with meat sauce, and homemade garlic bread.  Doesn't that sound yummy.  Yes it does, well until after dinner when the acid reflux kicks in.  But it is worth it.  Pain is good.  Pain is just fear leaving the body.    And as my typical behavior I will be canning my leftovers.  Well just the sauce.  Noodle don't can well.  They become some nasty starchy brick in the bottom of the jar.

Special Speghetti sauce

• 6 pints of tomato sauce
• 1 pint of diced stewed tomatos
• 1 pound of browned hamburger meat
• 1 cup of lemon juice
• 1 1/2 red wine (make sure you would drink it otherwise it will taint your sauce)(if you don't want to use wine use sparkling red cider it works too)
• seasonings to taste: minced onion, garlic powder, orgeno, italian seasonings, parsley, pepper, 
• 6 packets of stevia (you could use sugar but I have to cut carbs somewhere)

Cook for about 20 medium heat, jar up hot and can, I am using 10# pressure for 20 minutes with quart jars and 1 in head space.

My house smells like Strawberries!

This morning I got up before everybody and started making Strawberry Jam.  The Strawberries aren't from my garden, but I did get to harvest 7 strawberries out of my garden this morning.  Miss S ate them with breakfast this morning, leaves and all.  She said, "Ymmm I like the leaves."  She is a strawberry junkie.  I have decided, I will only make strawberry jam in the 10 gallon stock pot.  Because no matter how many jars I am putting up or what size pot I use my strawberry jam always boils over.  Seriously every time.  You would think a 6 quart dutch oven would be enough to make 5 1/2 pints worth of strawberry Jam.  No not in my experience.  I have done other jellies and jams and not boiled over from the same pot but strawberry boils over every time.  Does anybody else have this problem?  Or is the canning powers that be trying to tell me not to put up strawberries jam?  Miss S's answer would be not to put it up because she wants to eat every strawberry that comes in the house.  And she gets quite mad that I limit her.

Strawberry Jam

2 quarts of strawberries sliced and left over night in the ice box to juice a little
1 pack of regular pectin
4 c sugar

Place strawberries in a large (very large) stock pot and bring the hit up, then add the pectin and stir until it is all dissolved.  Then bring to a boil then turn the heat down a little and add the sugar 1 cup at a time stirring it in between each added cup.  After all the sugar is added, bring to a boil stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Let it boil for about 2 minutes or if you have a jelly thermometer to 220 ( soft ball).  Jar in 1/2 pint jars leaving 1/4 head space.  Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes at a full boil.  I got 5 1/2 pint jars.

It makes the yummiest jam.

Busy day!

Sorry I didn't post at all yesterday.  I had a busy day.  I put up 7 lbs of rice, 6 lbs of flour, 2 bottles (basically equals 4 boxes) of Bisquick mix, 2 lbs of Oatmeal, 2 bottles (5 servings each) raisin cinnamon oatmeal, and rearranged the cabinet all my dry food storage goes in and then I canned 1 quart of carrots, 1 pint of carrot stock, 2 quarts of vegetable stew, and 1/2 a pint of  vegetable stock.  On top of all that I made pot roast for dinner and not in the crock pot.  I was busy.   Now I am going to rearrange/organize  my canned food cabinet. But I thought I would stop in and post really quick.  

Bisquick mix

• ·         3 1/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• ·         1/3 cup sugar
• ·         1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• ·         1/2 cup cornstarch
• ·         1 tablespoon baking powder
• ·         1 teaspoon baking soda
• ·         2  teaspoons salt

Directions:

Mix together.

Cover tightly and store.

Use water, buttermilk or skim milk to moisten.

They were perfect last night to sop up the pot roast juice.

Just in case you are wondering how I do my bulk dry storage, I will tell you. 

I use 2 liter bottles washed and left to dry for 2-3 days upside down on a towel.  Make sure they are completely dry before use otherwise the moisture will ruin your food and make it unsafe.

I use a funnel (bought mine in the automotive section because they are cheaper than kitchen wares) to place ingredients in the bottle.  Then I place 3 100cc oxygen absorbers in or 1 Hot Hands hand warmer.Make sure you don't bust either one because you will have metal filings in you food, good for iron but bad for taste.  Screw the lid on tightly.  I lay all the bottles on their sides in a cabinet under my kitchen island.  

This picture is from a couple of weeks ago.  It is completely full now.  And the #10 can at the top has found a new home.  The white in the bottom is borax to discourage pest. 

Cranapple Jelly.

Got up this morning and made some Cranapple Jelly.  It is yummy on biscuits or toast.

 Cranapple Jelly

• 3 cups of Cranapple juice (tried to get one with lower sugar content)
• 1 package of powdered pectin
• 4 1/2 cups of  sugar.

Makes 5 1/2 pints of jelly
Sterilize your jars and lids
Start your water in your water canner boiling
In a Large sauce pan pour in all your juice and turn to high.  I like to get my juice hot first.  Then add pectin and stir until fully dissolved.  Let boil for a minute, then add the sugar and stir until it is all dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil for 1 1/2 minutes stirring and being careful not to let it boil over.  Pour into your jars leaving 1/4 inch of head space.  Put the lids and rings on the jars and carefully place in the water bath canner.  Make sure there is at least an inch of water over the top of jars.  Once the water is at a boil set your timer for 10 minutes.  Then let it cool and listen to the music of the Ping.  When the Jars are completely cool check the seals, label them, and up them way.  If a seal isn't secure put in the fridge and use immediately.

This recipe works for Grape, any of the Cran juices, and pomagranite juice. I have even made green tea jelly, but you have to add 1 tbsp to it.  J loved it but I thought it tasted like liquid Pez.
Happy Canning!