I see now that I wrote about my projects last week, but failed to explain what was in our CSA box.   Well, we got 1 bunch beets, 1 bunch radishes, 2 quarts sour cherries, 1 pint blueberries, 1 pint wax beans, 3 cucumbers, 3 small zucchini, and  a head of red leaf lettuce.

We'll start with the beets.  I separated the greens from the roots and will be making roasted pickled beets ala Alton Brown's recipe . I usually fiddle with recipes and make them my own, but this one is SO GOOD that you'll eat the whole jar in one sitting.  Trust me.

The beet greens were stored in the refrigerator and later chopped and sauteed along with chopped swiss chard, bacon, salt and pepper, and a sweet onion.  We ate this with a loaf of crusty bread and it was a perfect light dinner on a 90 degree day!



At this point, I actually had 2 bunches of radishes waiting to be eaten.  I did a separate post dedicated to this because I came up with a radish salad idea that takes the bite out of radishes. And I was PROUD of it!




The blueberries were eaten before the day was out.

The sour cherries were pitted and made into Blackcap/Sour cherry wine (it's still bubbling on the counter!).  

I made the wax beans plus about a quart of green beans from my Mom's garden into Dilly Beans!   I wait all year to make these!

The cucumbers were eaten whole by my husband and kids.

The lettuce was washed, chopped and kept in a bag in the refrigerator for easy green salad making.

AND the zucchini will be grilled tonight in oil and garlic to go alongside some BBQ chicken.

ENJOY!!

I've been processing away all day today.    

I pitted the sour cherries and had about 4 gallons of frozen blackcaps in the freezer.  It is OFFICIALLY time to make Blackcap Jam and Wine!

Here's this years first small batch of Blackcap Jam!

Follow the link above to find my original recipes for these. 

This year I'm doing a variation on the Blackcap wine recipe that includes 2 lbs of pitted sour cherries.  For the fruit, you just add 2 lbs Blackcaps and 2 lbs Sour cherries.  Mash, add dried cranberries (or golden raisins) as suggested let set 24 hours, and carry on from there just as the instructions from the original post tell you!

First, you pit the Sour Cherries!

Put all of your frozen fruit (cherries and blackcaps) into a large pot, add raisins (or dried/sweetened cranberries), and top off with 4 quarts of water.

Cover with a hand towel and set sit 24 hours.  This is actually 2 different batches of wine. One plain Blackcap, and one Sour cherry/blackcap

See the original recipe here!
Have Fun, and Happy Fermenting!!!

The humungous zucchini that they were giving away at our butcher shop last weekend was just screaming for my attention.  So, I brought one home.  We made salsa, zucchini bread, and breaded/fried zucchini "steaks".

Big as a baby...

Day 2
 Start a waterbath (Bring water to a rolling boil) in a large pot to process your salsa once it is in the Mason Jars.


Remove the bowl from the refrigerator.  Rinse and drain the veggies.  Put the veggies in a large pot and add the rest of the ingredients.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

While the salsa is simmering, prepare 2 quart canning jars with caps and rings by washing them with hot soapy water. Fill the jars with the salsa when it is done cooking.

Cap the jars and put them in the waterbath.  Boil for 15 minutes.  Remove jars and let them cool on the counter.  They should seal themselves fairly quickly after being removed from the boiling water.

Enjoy!   Or keeps for up to 1 year on the shelf.

I had quite a few zucchini left over from my last market haul and decided to try out (and slightly tweek, as always) a favorite family recipe for sweet zucchini pickles that came with the guarantee  "makes hamburgers taste better" boldly emblazoned on the recipe card. 

I have to say, my version adds a little extra character and depth that I LOVE and it'll be a great addition to any green salad, tuna salad, potato salad... anything that needs a little extra tang and depth.

Back in June I picked and pickled a jar of wild grape leaves when I found them newly growing on the vines in the hedgerow by our house.  A couple weeks later, I've decided to turn them into dolmades!  They were fairly easy to put together, and I loved the flavor combination.

Enjoy!

Admittedly, with 2 young kids in the house the "veggie growing" portion of my mini-homestead lifestyle has been... uuhh... lacking.   But, living in a house that has been here for over 150 years in an (albeit formerly) agricultural community, has some inherent perks.  The now wild grapevines growing in the hedgerow are certainly to be counted among those perks.  Yep.  I've torn a good amount of them down, but they keep coming back (go figure) and they are actually quite useful if you take the time to process and prepare what they have to offer. 

The leaves have unfurled bright green and tender over the last couple of weeks, so I decided to pickle a small batch for later use as "wrappers" for Greek Dolmades.

This was super-easy and the recipe I based it off of was very intuitive and fun to do.  My kind of canning!

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add enough Seasalt to make a brine that "tastes like the sea".
2. Get a large bowl of ice water ready.
3. Boil the grape leaves for 30 to 45 seconds, then plunge into the ice water to cool. Drain them once the leaves are all cool.
4. Take about 6 grape leaves at a time and roll them up into a cigar from the side — not the top or bottom. You will need to fold over the leaf end to fit into the pint jars. Pack the grape leaves into a clean (disinfected) pint jar, making sure you have about 1 inch of head space at the top.
5. Add the lemon juice to the pint jar. Bring the water you used to cook the grape leaves back to a boil and ladle it into the jar to fill the rest of the way. Make sure the grape leaves are covered with the brine. Wipe the edge of the pint jar with a clean towel and seal the jar. 
6. Let cool on the shelf until the jar lid seals itself, then store in the refridgerator until you're ready to make Dolmades.

   Can't wait to try these!   Will update with a "Dolmades" post once we've made them... probably for when friends come over.