Biscuits

Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour
½ cup solid shortening (Crisco)
¾ cup milk

*Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with a fork, it needs to be the consistency of coarse meal. Add milk and stir until mixture leaves sides of bowl and forms soft, moist dough. Turn onto floured surface; sprinkle dough lightly with flour. Knead gently until mixture is no longer sticky. Roll out 1/2” thick; cut with 2’ floured cutter. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 450°F for 8 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

* Be sure to measure flour by lightly spooning flour into a cup and level off. Do not pack the flour. In any baking, measurements have to be precise and always use the same set of measuring cups with all ingredients.

Beer Bread

Beer Bread
5 cups unsifted self-rising flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ cups sour cream
1 can (12 ounces) beer – warm

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour and sugar. Add sour cream and beer; mix well. Pour batter in a greased 2-quart casserole. Bake 45 minutes and brush top with melted butter, then bake 15 to 20 minutes longer until tester (a toothpick or knife inserted) comes out clean. Let cool slightly before removing from pan.

Cheese Biscuits

Cheese Biscuits

1 cup flour (plain)
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
½ cup milk

Sift flour, and then sift together with baking powder and salt. Work in butter and cheese with two spatulas or tips of fingers. Add milk. Mix quickly and lightly. Drop by teaspoonfuls on well-oiled cookie sheet or use parchment paper. Bake at 450°F for 10 to 12 minutes.

Beer Battered Fish

Beer Battered Fish

6 cups (MOL) peanut oil
8 fish fillets (your choice)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 (12 oz.) can beer
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt

Combine the flour, cornstarch, beer, egg, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, or up to 3 hours.

Heat oil to 375ºF. While oil is heating, wash and pat dry the fish fillets. Dip fillets into batter, then into oil with tongs. Hold fish, with the tongs, a couple of seconds to set batter. This prevents sticking to the bottom of pan. Cook until golden brown (about 5 minutes), then transfer to platter, lined with paper towels.

Simple Syrup

Simple (Sugar) Syrups

When canning or freezing some fruits, the recipe may call for a “Simple or Sugar Syrup”. There are basically three types of syrups: Light, Medium or Heavy.

Light – 2 cups sugar, 4 cups water = 5 cups syrup
Medium – 3 cups sugar, 4 cups water = 5 ½ cups syrup
Heavy – 4 ¾ cups sugar, 4 cups water = 6 ½ cups syrup

Bring water to a boil, add sugar. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. For canning, keep syrup HOT. For freezing, let syrup cool completely.

Peach Salsa

Peach Salsa


6 cups peaches, diced
1 ¼ cups red onion – chopped
4 jalapeno peppers – chopped
1 red pepper – chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro – chopped and loosely packed
½ cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
3 cloves garlic – chopped fine
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne

Simmer all ingredients on low for 5 minutes. Pack in hot, sterile jars. Water bath process for 10 minutes.

Sweet N' Sour Pork

Sweet N’ Sour Pork

STEP ONE
In a bowl combine and beat until smooth:
1 beaten egg
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt

Use 1 pound boneless pork, cut into 1” cubes; dip pork into batter. Fry in deep hot cooking oil (365º) for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden. Drain; keep warm.
STEP TWO
In a skillet with 2 tablespoons hot cooking oil, cook, until tender (but not brown):
1 large green pepper, chopped
½ cup graded carrot
1 clove garlic, minced

STIR IN:
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Bring to boiling; boil rapidly 1 minute.

Blend ¼ cup cold water into 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir into vegetable mixture. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 or 2 minutes more. ****
****THIS IS WHERE I ADD MY PINEAPPLE CHUNKS!
It is optional, I use ¼ cup.
Step Three
Serve over hot cooked rice.

Overcoming fear of Canning

Over coming fear of Canning

The worst part of learning to can is getting over the fear of trying. Don’t worry; it’s just like any other new project which new and strange for anyone. The first thing to do is to decide what you what to try first. We recommend canning tomatoes and they are easy for a first-timer. First pick what kind of tomatoes, some are better than others, for the type of cooking you will be using at a later date. Tomatoes are so versatile in everyday cooking, you will welcome having a supply on hand.


Talk to your family and friends – do you want help or make it a group activity. Gather your ingredients, equipment, and set aside time enough to complete the project. IF you are tackling your first time by yourself, ONLY plan to fill a canner one time (7 to 8 pints or quarts). I strongly recommend that you watch our video on canning tomatoes. It is listed on the right side under videos, just click on the link and it will bring it right up. The video will walk you through a small batch. Check back as there will be several more informational blogs as we come into the canning season.



Good luck and we hope this is the beginning of many years of successful canning. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us.

Special Diets

Special Diets

If you have a health problem that requires a ‘Special Diet’, home canning can be a solution to your problems. Some health problems call for a low-sodium diet. You are canning your own food, if it calls for salt to be added, in most cases, the salt is optional. Don’t put it in or cut down on the amount you use. Either way you can control your sodium intake.

If you can’t have sugar because of a health problem, but love your morning toast and jelly, the problem can be solved with home canning. Controlling sugar in jams and jellies is easy, use pectin that calls for no sugar. When you are shopping for your canning supplies, notice that the pectin companies manufacture sugar-free pectin. The instructions inside the box will walk you through preparing your jams and/or jellies. This is an easy way to control your sugar.

I never realized how much salt and sugar I was eating until I began reading the content labels. And there was no way to get around it, except through home preservation. Sometimes when you are at the store, or get up now, and go look at the content on any of you commercially canned foods (including jams and jellies). I know you will be as surprised as I was. Frankly I don’t know what some of the words that I read are.

Lemon Nut Bread

Lemon Nut Bread
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
3 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup milk
2 ½ cups unsifted flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tablespoons lemon peel
Topping:
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¾ cup unsifted confectioners’ sugar

Combine butter; gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to milk. Blend together flour and baking powder. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk mixture, beating well after each addition. Blend in nuts and lemon peel. Pour into 2 greased and floured 8 ½” x 4 ½” x 2 ½” loaf pans.

Bake at 350°F, about 45 minutes, or until done. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans and place on wire cooling racks. Combine confectioners’ sugar with remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Spoon over loaves. Cool. Makes 2 loaves.

Bubba Egg Casserole

Bubba Egg Casserole

7 slices of cubed bread
7 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups of milk
16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups ham, cubed

Preheat oven to 325º F. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Pour into 9” X 13”, greased glass baking dish. Put 9-10 Ritz crackers in a baggie; roll into crumbs; spread on top of egg mixture. Pour ¼ cup of melted butter on top of cracker crumbs. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, then bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned.

Orange Dream Squares

Orange Dream Squares

40 Nilla Wafers, finely crushed (about 1 ½ cups)
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed and divided in half.
2 cups orange sherbet, softened

Line a 13”x 9” pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mix wafers and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of prepared pan; set aside until ready to use.

Add milk to dry pudding mixes in medium bowl. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Spoon evenly over crust. Refrigerate 10 min. Add remaining whipped topping to sherbet; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Spoon over pudding layer; cover.

Freeze at least 3 hours or over night. Use foil handles to remove dessert from pan before cutting into squares to serve. Store leftover dessert in freezer.

New Cookie Recipe

Just posted a new recipe to http://nannyandpeepawscookies.blogspot.com/ be sure and subscribe so as not to miss any new recipes for cookies.

Chicken Casserole

Chicken Casserole

3 cups cut-up boneless chicken
1 small can sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 box of Stove Top Stuffing

Preheat oven 350˚F. Grease 2 quart casserole.

Make stuffing according to package directions and set aside. Mix chicken, mushrooms, and soup in a bowl. Add sour cream and mix thoroughly. Pour into casserole, fluff dressing and place on top. Bake 40 minutes, or until mixture bubbles.

Home Canning with a purpose

Hobby or Preservation

People equate survival to extremist; this is not the case for most of us. There are people that "can" for several other reasons. We live in Florida. Everyone knows that it is the home of bad weather. Between lighting storms, hurricanes, etc. we are faced with the possibility of food supply storage on a regular basis. We need to know that our food will not spoil, when we loose electricity. We also need food easy to prepare without electricity. There could be a number of reasons that anybody could be concerned about their food supply. Whatever your reason, "canning" is a good alternative to accomplish you goal.

However, home canning can easily become a hobby as it has for Peepaw and me. Knowing that we have food on a shelf, ready to use makes canning more than a chore…it’s become a hobby. Once you began your canning, wait until the joy of eating or sharing your home canned products. I remember shortly after we were married Peepaw helped the first time…he was hooked. Now he enjoys it as much as I do.

Tell us why and how you became interested in canning, either by email or the comment section. We don’t care if you are just starting out or have been doing it for years.

Easy Beef Dinner

Easy Company Beef

3 lbs. Stew beef, cubed
10 ¾ oz. Can cream of mushroom soup
7 oz. Jar mushrooms, un-drained
½ cup red wine
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low 10 hours.
3. Serve over noodles, rice or pasta.

Importance of Labeling

Labeling Jars

This may seem silly to you that we are even talking about labeling. Having a good labeling system can be very useful in more ways than you can imagine. Peepaw and I have had our system from the beginning. Basically we have three written lines on our labels;

1st Line: Our Name

2nd Line: The Content of the Jar

3rd Line: The Date

We put our name on the first line because we give so much away, and it’s nice for people to know when they use the product, who gave it to them. The second line will help because, ie. there are more than one kind of pickles and the label will let you know what is in the jar. Same for greens, they look a lot alike and without the label it would be a guess as to what is in the jar. Another thing about the second line is inventory, you can look through your jars quickly and know what is running low. The third line is important to know when you canned a favorite food, by the date, you can tell when that fruit or vegetable will be ripe and you can plan your next canning project. You can move your older jars to the front and help keep the jars from expiring.

The other day I heard a lady say that she puts a small number on the lower corner of the label. She numbers her cooking batches. This is in case a batch goes bad, she will only have to throw away the one batch. It is rare the a batch would go bad, however this would be nice to have if one did. We’ve never done this, we’re lucky that we never had a batch to go bad.

Were Back

Spring is almost here and it is time to start planning for the "soon to be here Canning Season". We are going to bring our Blogs back to life. We are going to start with an assortment of safety and general tips. The recipes will also start flowing - be sure to Subscribe to our other Blogs. This will get you a notice when we add content. And please don't hesitate to e-mail questions or add comments.