Strawberry Rhubarb Fruit Leather Roll-ups

Strawberry Rhubarb Fruit Leather Roll-ups

2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cups strawberries
1 1/2 cups rhubarb

Mix all together in blender until pureed.  Follow the Fruit Leather Roll-ups instructions posted earlier for complete instructions.

This is the combination that we liked the best.  It is sweet but tart.

I did find that the frozen rhubarb pureed best.  The skins pureed best if the rhubarb was chopped into ½ inch or small pieces before blending.  I peeled some of the rhubarb before pureeing it.  The skins make really pretty strings of color throughout the leather.

Sweet and Sour Green Beans

Sweet and Sour Green Beans   This recipe came from my friend Ruth.

10 oz green beans

2 slices bacon

¼ C chopped onion

1Tbsp flour

½ water

¼ C rice vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Cook bacon.  Remove.  Cook onion in bacon fat.  Add flour.  Add remaining ingredients except beans.  Boil and stir 1 min.  Add beans; cook till tender.  Crumble bacon and add.  Serve warm.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Bread and Butter Pickles   This recipe came from my second mom, DeLoa.  This is my favorite pickle recipe!

10 large pickling cucumbers, cleaned and sliced

3 cups sugar

3 cups white vinegar

3 large yellow onions, diced

1 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp mustard seed

1 Tbsp turmeric

Boil vinegar and sugar.  Add all other ingredients.  Simmer 8 minutes.  Put in jars.  Makes 3 quarts.  Cure at least 3 weeks.

NOTE:  I do not like onions, so I use 15 to 20 large pickling cucumbers and one onion.

NOTE:  I slice the cucumbers and put the slices into the jars.  I heap the jars.  I find that this is the perfect way to measure and get exactly three quarts full after adding the other ingredients and cooking.

NOTE:  I double and triple this recipe.  I simmer for 8 minutes no matter how big of a batch I make at one time.

NOTE:  I do not hot water bath my pickles.  I find that they get soggy.  They do get crisp again in the refrigerator, but not as crisp as the ones that are not placed in a hot water bath.  If you want to hot water bath these than process quarts for 20 minutes (4500 ft. elev.)  This recipe is old enough that is doesn’t have hot water bath instruction with it.  I got the information for processing from another pickle recipe and tried it one time.

Dill Pickles

Dill Pickles   This recipe came from my second mom, DeLoa.

Wash and put cucumbers into jars with fresh dill or 2 t. dill seed.

Boil ½ C plain salt, 1 pint white vinegar, 3 pints water, and 2 t. alum.  Pour over cucumbers.  Boil lids and seal.

NOTE:  This recipe is at least 35 years old.  I am guessing that this enough liquid for at least 6 quarts, so that is about 30 to 40 cucumbers.

NOTE: I usually slice the cucumbers first.  If you use the cucumbers whole they seem to have better flavor if you put a tiny “X” is the end of each cucumber.

NOTE:  Try adding garlic cloves if you like garlic dill pickles.  I added 2 cloves to each of 2 quarts last year, but haven’t opened them yet.

Fruit Syrups

Fruit Syrups   This recipe came from Rosa Smith, Extension Home Economist, University of Idaho Cooperative Extension Service, Payette, Idaho.  I got this recipe from the state fair in 2005 or 2006.

Basic Recipe for Making Syrup

1 ¼ cups of prepared juice or crushed fruit

1 ¾ cups sugar

Combine juice and sugar in a large, heavy kettle.  Bring to a rolling boil and boil for one minute.  Count the time after the mixture comes to a boil that cannot be stirred down.  Remove from heat and skim off any foam.  Pour into clean, hot ½ pint or pint canning jars.   Adjust the lids according to the manufactures direction.  Place in hot water bath.  Be sure the level of water covers the top of the jars by at least one inch.  Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes.  Remove from water bath and cool.  Check to see that the jars are sealed.  Label and store on a cool, dark shelf.  No refrigeration is needed if the seal is not broken.  Syrup should be stored in the refrigerator after it is opened.

Too Thick or Too Thin?

These directions make a mildly tart and fairly thin syrup.  If a more tart syrup is desired add one tablespoon of lemon juice to the basic recipe.  For a thicker, but not sweeter syrup use 1 ½ cups sugar and ¼ cup white corn syrup in place of the 1 ¾ cups sugar called for in the recipe.  If desired, both the lemon juice and corn syrup may be used.

It is difficult to give foolproof directions for making fruit syrups at home.  The pectin, acid, and sugar content of fruit varies with the kind of fruit and the season.   These directions will give satisfactory results under mist conditions.  Make a test batch and allow it to cool thoroughly before testing for thickness.  If the syrup is too thick, allow the rest of the prepared juice to stand in the refrigerator overnight.  Some of the pectin will be destroyed and the syrup made from this juice will be thinner.  If too thin, add corn syrup to the recipe.

NOTE:  Payette, Idaho is 2100 ft. elev.  My elevation is 4500 ft.  I processed my syrups for the same10 minutes time that the recipe called for and it seems to be fine.

NOTE.  I did not find any of the syrups I made to be too thick.  They were all very thin even using the 1 ½ cups of sugar and ¼ cup of corn syrup.  I have made cherry, blueberry, and strawberry.  I used a steam juicer to get the juice out of the fruit.  I did grind some of the blueberries in the blender and make it into syrup that way too.  It is thick and has a grainy texture.  Everyone likes it though.

Here are some creations my son-in-law, Kurtis, and I tried.  All were good.  We did find that the banana is very thick and  did not keep well after opening.  It went moldy fast.

Banana Syrup #1   Makes 5 cups

3 C bananas pureed

2 Tbsp lemon juice, added to the bananas when pureeing to keep them from turning brown

1 C corn syrup

2 ½ C sugar

Cook using the same directions as above.

Banana Syrup #2   Makes 5 cups

3 cups bananas pureed

2 Tbsp lemon juice, added to the bananas when pureeing to keep them from turning brown

1/2 C corn syrup

3 C sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Cook using the same directions as above.

Banana Syrup #3   Makes 4 cups  (Kurtis’s favorite)

3 cups bananas pureed

2 Tbsp lemon juice, added to the bananas when pureeing to keep them from turning brown

1/2 C corn syrup

3 C brown sugar, not packed

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

Cook using the same directions as above.

Pear Syrup   Makes 4 ½ cups

8 cups very ripe pears, pureed

5 cups sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon (slightly rounded tsp)

½ tsp nutmeg

Cook using the same directions as above.

NOTE:  I actually used 5 ½ cups of sugar and it tasted fine, but as it set it seemed to get too sweet.

Extra thick Apple Syrup   Makes 6 ½ pints.  We wanted extra thick syrup to put on our German Apple Pancakes.

8 cups apple homemade none chunky applesauce

4 cups unsweetened apple juice

2 ½ cups brown sugar, packed

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

¼ C Ultra Gel (Carnet Foods product)

Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly.  Follow processing directions above.

Green Bean Soup

Green Bean Soup   This recipe came from my friend Janiel and the recipe came from her Husband’s Great Great Grandma.

Of course this never had any measurements but family kind of came up with some for me.  This is the best we can do. It is good. I haven't made it in years but I plan to this summer. I love this on any kind of day with some butter rolls.

1 cup onion (chopped)

1/2 - 1 Lb. bacon (chopped)

4-5 Medium potatoes (chopped into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces)

1-2 Lbs. fresh green beans (cut/ snapped into 1-1/2 inch pieces)

1 pint or 2 cups of half and half or milk

salt and pepper to taste

Note: some like garlic. (fresh or powdered)

In frying pan cook bacon pieces till almost done then add onion (and fresh garlic). Cook till onions are browned.

Mean while cook potatoes in a big pot. When potatoes are almost done add the green beans and cook till Green beans are almost done.

Drain all but 2 Tbsp of grease from bacon and onion pan. Then add bacon and onion mix to the potatoes and green beans.

Simmer for about 5 minutes then add half and half or milk and simmer for another 5-10 minutes till green beans are done.

Add salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste when you add milk.

Zucchini Drop Cookies

Zucchini Drop Cookies   This came from my friend Janiel.  She says “I don't have a clue how I came across this. It is so worn out. I just know it is in my childhood handwriting.  I think I started collecting recipes when I was about 9 or 10 years old.”

1 C grated Zucchini

1 tsp soda

1 C sugar

1/2 C margarine or butter

1 egg (beaten)

2 C flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Optional--- 1 C chopped nuts or/ & 1 C raisins

Combine Zucchini, soda, sugar, butter and egg.  Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, nuts, raisins and add to zucchini mixture.  Drop by teaspoon onto greased baking sheet.  Bake at 375 for 12-15 min.

Two very similar Zucchini Casserole Recipes

Zucchini Casserole   This recipe came from my friend Leslye.  She got it from a newspaper in Salt Lake City years ago.

2 lbs (6 cups) zucchini or crookneck, sliced

¼ cup chopped or sliced onion

1 can (10oz) condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded carrots

1 pkg (8oz) herb seasoned stuffing mix.

½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted

Cook zucchini and onion in boiling salted water for 5 minutes.  Drain.  Combine soup and sour cream.  Stir in carrots.  Fold in drained squash and onion.  Combine stuffing mix and butter together.  Spread half of the stuffing on the bottom of a baking dish.  Spoon vegetable mixture on top, and sprinkle remaining stuffing over vegetables.  Bake 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

NOTE:  I do not like this recipe using crookneck only.  Zucchini alone or a combination of the two is good as long as there is more zucchini than crookneck.

NOTE:  I use cream of mushroom, celery, or chicken.  All work fine.

NOTE:  I find all the stuffing mixes taste good except the cornbread and the one with cranberries in it.

NOTE:  I put all the stuffing mix on top of the vegetables.  My family likes the crunchy topping.

Zucchini Casserole   My friend Janiel got this one from her husband’s family.  I will write is as shown on recipe card.

4 C Zucchini (cubed)

3/4 C grated carrots

you can add 2 C cubed chicken

1 large onion - sauté in butter

2 1/4 C stove top dressing mixed with seasoning

1 can cream chicken soup

1/2 C sour cream

Mix all together (minus 1 &1/2 cups of the stuffing) and put in 9x13 pan.  Put the remaining 1 &1/2 C of stove top and 2 Tbsp. butter on top.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes