Hot Stuff

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Amy

This year we grew lots of hot peppers in our garden with the plan of making hot sauce.  We started several different varieties from seed, but unfortunately the long cold wet Maine spring made our baby pepper plants very unhappy.

When the weather finally warmed up, we put the peppers in our garden (supplemented by a few purchased seedlings just in case) and hoped for the best.  For much of the summer it didn’t look like we were going to have any peppers to show for our efforts.  As September has arrived however, we have found an abundance of hot peppers to harvest.

It was Paul who had the vision of making hot sauce, but given my addiction to canning this season, I volunteered to try to create something fiery and delicious.  Since we had both red and green pepper options, I decided to go for a red sauce and a green sauce.  First up was the red sauce featuring cayenne peppers.

Today’s hot sauces were made almost entirely with vegetables grown in our own garden, which was extremely satisfying.  The cayenne sauce contained homegrown peppers, carrots onions, and garlic.

The veggies were simmered until tender and then run through the food mill.  Since I wanted a really smooth sauce, I also buzzed it with the immersion blender.  The resulting sauce was a beautiful silky orange.

Next was the green hot sauce.  I had a variety of peppers to work with:  cayenne, ancho, jalapeno, serrano.

For this sauce, I just decided to throw all the peppers together and hope for yummy results.  This one also featured onions and garlic from our garden.

Like the red sauce, I simmered the veggies until tender, processed with the food mill and blender and come up with a luscious green sauce.

I am pleased to report that both sauces are quite tasty!  The green sauce has a nice fiery bite, and the red sauce has a warm sweetness.  It doesn’t hurt that they are both very pleasing to look at.

We put them to the taste test for supper this evening.  Paul grilled veggies and meat and these sauces were the perfect accompaniment.

For the red sauce recipe, click here.

For the green sauce recipe, click here.

Posted in Canning, Cooking, Recipes | 1 Comment

Refurbished Pillows

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Amy

I have many projects that fit into the “I haven’t gotten around to doing it” category.  Making new pillowcases for the living room pillows is one example.  I’ve been planning on doing it forever and even bought the fabric a month or so ago, but I just haven’t sat down to do it…until now (thank you blog)!These pillows really need some love.  The big ones were made by my mother, and they have gotten a lot of kid abuse (i.e. serious stains).  The smaller ones were part of a futon cover set and the fabric is terrible – it pills, and it attracts bits of lint, dust, and dirt that I didn’t even know were there until they came in contact with the pillow.  I’d rather keep that stuff hidden!I decided to keep it simple and just make basic envelope style cases.  Maybe someday I’ll get all fancy and learn how to sew a zipper, but that’s an adventure for another day. I started by cutting the fabric to the width of the pillows.  The length was less critical, so I just made sure that it was twice the width of the pillow plus several inches for overlap.Then I did a double fold hem on the short ends of the fabric strips (press a ¼ inch fold and then fold over again and press).Next, I sewed down the hem.Then I spread out the fabric strip, placed the pillow on top, and folded up the sides.  I marked the overlap line with pins and then removed the pillow.All that was left was to line up the hem to the pin line, even up the edges, and sew.I am pleased with the results and am very happy to finally have decent looking pillows on our living room couch!The children also approve.  They promptly put the refurbished pillows to the test by piling them up and jumping on them!

Posted in Sewing, Tutorials | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Blackberry Jam

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Amy

The blackberries are ready for picking!  I love picking berries.  There is something thrilling about finding that perfect spot for picking, watching the mound of berries grow in your bucket, sampling a bite or two along the way, and finally enjoying the harvest.  I’ve been looking forward to making jam with this year’s blackberries since probably the end of last year’s season!

The boys and I headed up to Rumford last week to pick berries on the land near my parents’ house.  My mother was kind enough to be our guide for our adventure.  It’s awfully nice to have someone to look after the children while picking and canning berries.

Once we reached the berry patch, we all got down to business.  Some berries actually made it into our picking buckets.

Some berries were just too irresistible.  Joey commented, “It’s like our own wilderness snack bar!”  Tommy clearly agreed.

Berry picking can be serious business.

I managed to fill a whole bucket with blackberries (thanks to my mom who kept the children entertained).  The berries were just beginning to ripen, so there will be many more to pick in the days to come.

Back in the kitchen, it was time to make some blackberry jam!  Last year I made a great discovery in jam making: Pomona’s Universal Pectin.  Unlike traditional pectin, this type does not require massive amounts of sugar to gel and that allows you to use far less sugar in your jam.  You can even use fruit juice concentrate to sweeten your jam, although my experiments with this last year were not as delicious as I had hoped.  This year I’ve been making all my jam with only 1¼ cups of sugar per batch.  This is significantly less than the several cups of sugar that recipes with traditional pectin require. The jam is perfectly sweet and captures the essence of berry without being overly sugary.

With my bucket of berries and a few from my mother and the boys, I was able to make three batches of blackberry jam.

Click here for the recipe for Blackberry Jam.

Posted in Canning, Recipes | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments