Grandma's* Christmas Cake (no jars involved!)

This recipe was Dave and my wedding cake. We made it in my Grandma's kitchen under her supervision, the same way my parents had made theirs 28 years previously – probably even using the same pans. There was a lot of love baked into that cake, and I hear my Grandma's coaching voice every time I use this recipe. It's a dense, rich, wonderful fruitcake. 

I highly recommend you make and freeze 4–6 weeks or so before you want to start serving it because it gets so much better over time. This recipe makes a lot of cake, so you may want to half it. Half was enough for our smallish 3-tiered wedding cake. This time around, I made the full amount, and I had to use my large pressure canner as the mixing bowl. 

*Oh, I should probably mention – since Grandma always did when someone tried to give her credit for this recipe – that the original was Grandma's sister-in-law's mother's recipe. Mrs Manion, wherever you are, we thank you. 

You'll need:

• 4 cups sugar

• 2 tsp each cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice

• 8 cups flour

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 3 cups butter

• 2 cups molasses

• 10 eggs

• 2 cups sweet milk (2%)

• 2 lbs currants

• 1 lb walnuts, chopped 

• 1 lb dates, chopped

• 3 lbs raisins

• 1 lb mixed peel (my Grandma didn't use so I don't either, but you might love it)

• 1 lb glace cherries, red and green, chopped

• Canola spray

• If you're me, a rag-tag bunch of loaf or cake pans 

Before baking. I covered them with tea towels and left them on the counter overnight.

1. Mix sugar, flour, spices, and soda. Cut in butter and mix well.

2. Add molasses and mix well. (If you lightly grease your measuring cup with canola before putting the molasses in it, it will pour our out so much more easily without having to scrape.)

3. Add milk and mix well. That voice you hear in your head might be my Grandma telling you to mix a little more because she can tell your arm is getting tired, but you shouldn't stop quite yet. 

4. Add eggs and mix well. If you get your batter all well-mixed before you start adding your chunky ingredients, it is so much easier!

5. Add all the fruits and nuts and, you guessed it, mix well. Careful you don't break your wooden spoon (the voice is mine this time, speaking from experience); this batter is heavy!

6. Grease/spray your pans and fill with batter. Leave some room for the cake to rise. Allow to stand overnight in cake tins. Grandma said doing this makes the cakes not so apt to fall.

7. Several hours later, bake at 300F or 280F for longer. The original recipe, which assumes you are using very large pans for a wedding cake, says bake for 3–4 hours. My mini loaf pans were done in 45 mins, and the others took from 1 hour and 35 minutes to 2 hours and 5 minutes. The key is to check for doneness with a toothpick.  

8. Let them cool thoroughly on baking racks before removing them from the pans. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil for freezing. They'll keep beautifully for months, even years.  

After baking. Hello gorgeous!

Simple stewed tomatoes

I'm a little late with this post. It's been about a month since I made these, and it was getting to the tail end of tomato season then. It's been busy!

You'll need:

• Roma tomatoes, a 1/2 bushel or so (or however many you have of whatever kind of tomato)

• Quart (1 L)  or Pint (500 ml) Mason jars

• An equivalent number of snap lids and rings

And per jar:

• 1/2 t citric acid per quart or 1/4 t per pint

Directions for canning:

1. Wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse well. 

2. Put a good-size pot of water on to boil. Put ice and/or very cold water in a large bowl or your clean sink. Our new fridge has an ice maker. I had no idea how much I would love this feature for canning.  

3. Rinse your tomatoes well and rub off any bits of field dirt. 

4. Take a sharp paring knife and cut an X into each tomato.

5. Working with about a half-dozen tomatoes at a time, put them in the boiling water for about a minute, then remove them to the ice bath. 

6. Once they've cooled, their skins will slip off quite easily, especially if you've given them a starting place with that X.

7. Core each tomato and slice or rough chop. Put tomatoes into a large, heavy-bottomed pot and heat on medium. Let the tomatoes simmer happily while continuing to peel, core, and chop the rest.

8. Once the tomatoes are all in the pot and lovely and soft and juicy, squish them up with a potato masher. Cook until you like how they look. Add a sprinkle of salt if you wish, or not. 

9. Prepare your jars with citric acid. 

10. Heat water in a small pot and put your snap lids in there. They don't have to come to a boil. It's just to soften them a smidge to help them seal. 

11. Ladle your tomatoes into jars, leaving about 1/2 inch head space. 

12. As usual, "bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place a heated snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight.

13. Put the filled jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. Put the pot lid on and boil quarts for 45 minutes, pints for 35 minutes. If you're mixing jar sizes in the same load, be sure to process to the longest requirement. 

14. Remove jars from the canner.

15. Repeat the process with the next batch. So simple and gorgeous and just waiting for your favourite chili, pasta, or soup recipe.

Jalapeno Jammy Jelly

First, I'll tell you what you should do, and what I have done many times in the past, to create a beautiful, tasty jalapeno jam. Then, I'll tell you what I did do this time around as a what not to do. Servicey!

The Right Way

With thanks to My Kitchen Addiction for the fabulous recipe that I started with.

You'll need:

• 4 cups of seeded and finely diced peppers (whatever ya got, long as they're hot but not, you know, too hot – and you'll want a mix of red and green for the pretty; say about 10 green jalapeños, 2 red peppers, 4 smaller, hotter red peppers)

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1 package of low-sugar powdered pectin*

• 2–3 cups granulated sugar 

• 6 1/2 pint (250 ml) jars

• 6 snap lids and rings

*You can substitute regular pectin and use about 5 cups of sugar. That would be delish. I would definitely steer away from the no-sugar pectin for this recipe though. I tried it once and it had sort of a chemically taste to me. 

Directions for cooking and canning:

1. Wash your Mason jars in hot soapy water. Rinse well.

2. Combine your diced peppers and vinegar in your cooking pot. As it heats, add the pectin and stir it in well until dissolved. 

3. Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Add the sugar. 

4. Stirring constantly, return mixture to full rolling boil that doesn't calm down even when you stir it.

5. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.

6. Quickly ladle hot jam into jars, using a wide mouth funnel. Leave 0.5 cm headspace. Important: make sure your jars aren't cold or they might react quite dramatically to hot jam. I find this is not a problem in a hot summer kitchen, but you may be a fan of frigid air conditioning, in which case you might want to heat your jars in the oven or water bath before filling.

7. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place the snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

8. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 15 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

9. Remove jars from the canner (or let them sit in the canner until everything calms down).

Enjoy! This spread is fabulous on brie and crackers. It's one of my go-to's whenever I'm looking for a snack or hors d'oeuvres that feel a little special for guests. I also gave a jar as a thank-you gift to a friend, who said he enjoyed it served on vanilla ice cream! You do you. It's fail-safe.

The not-as-right way to make jalapeno jelly

And now for a version that is not as good, but I tried it so I want to share. I won't be making it this way again. Live and learn. 

You'll need:

• 12 medium (about 3/4 lb) jalapeno peppers or other peppers (again, follow your bliss), stems and seeds removed   

• 6 cups sugar

• 2 cups white or cider vinegar

• 2 packets (1 box) liquid pectin

• 5 1/2 pint (250 ml) jars

• 5 snap lids and rings

Directions for cooking and canning:

1. Wash your Mason jars in hot soapy water. Rinse well.

2. Heat 1 cup vinegar in pot with peppers. Boil for a couple of minutes. I'm not sure why I felt like this was a good idea. I think I was thinking it would soften the peppers and make them easier to puree. Or maybe I was planning to strain the liquid and thought this would give more flavour?

3. Puree peppers and vinegar. If you've cooked them first, you are now dealing with a hot mixture in your food processor. This wasn't my best idea. Also, the mixture just wouldn't fully puree, so I really just ended up with finely minced peppers in vinegar.

4. Put mixture back in pot. Add remaining cup of vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.

5. Add liquid pectin and boil for 1 minute.

6.  Heat snap lids in a small pot of water. 

7. Quickly ladle hot jam into jars, using a wide mouth funnel. Leave 0.5 cm headspace.

8. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place the snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

9. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 10 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

10. Remove jars from the canner (or let them sit in the canner until everything calms down).

Here's this rather muddy looking jam. I gotta take a pic of jam made with the other recipe. It's lighter and more golden in colour with gorgeous green and red flecks. 

So... this is sort of pretty much like the directions that came with the pectin, except for the extra boiling at the beginning. It's really not your best way to go. It didn't set perfectly; it's a little runny. Plus, it's a little muddier in colour and not as attractive as the recipe above makes. I probably could have improved it by adding food colour, but that's not really my preference. It tastes good. It's just not as good as the my fave version. 

Rainy Saturday Onion–Apple Jam

I've had a hankering to make this concoction for a couple of weeks, ever since one of the characters mentioned a similar recipe in a book I was reading. I found a few recipes for jams or chutneys with both onion and apple, then came up with my own. Since apples are a high-acid, safe-for-canning food and I was using vinegar as well, I was confident in free-styling a bit.  

This recipe is perfect when you’re looking for a productive yet low effort (at least compared to salsa!) way to spend your Saturday. No fancy ingredients, so you probably have all this stuff in your kitchen already.

You’ll need:

• 5 cups apples, peeled and chopped (about 7 apples; I used a mix of Gala and Granny Smith)

• 5 cups onions, peeled and sliced (1.5 big red onions and 2 smaller white onions)

• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced fine

• 2 T fresh ginger, peeled and diced fine

• 3 T lemon juice

• 1 T mustard seed

• 3 cups apple cider vinegar

• 4 cups brown sugar

• 3 t salt

• 7 ½ pint (250ml) jars

• Lids and canning rings

Directions for cooking and canning:

1. Combine apples, onions, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, mustard seed, salt, and 2 cups vinegar in a large pot.

2. Heat until boiling, then reduce to a simmer.

3. Stirring occasionally, cook for at least 90 minutes. Once the apples are softened, used a potato masher to really smush 'em up. Or don't, if you like it chunky. 

4. Add sugar and the last cup of cider vinegar. Continue to cook down until the consistency is thick and jammy. Probably another 30 minutes or so.

5. When you’re getting close-ish, fill your canner with water and add your empty jars. Bring to a boil for at least 10 minutes. Don't skip this step with this recipe, since the canning time is less than 10 minutes. 

6. Remove jars from canner. Empty the boiling water from one of them into a small pot and place the snap lids in there to soften.

7. Quickly ladle hot jam into hot jars, using a wide mouth funnel. Leave 0.5 cm or a little more headspace.

8. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place the snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

9. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 5 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

10. Remove jars from the canner. Enjoy the pops!

The best chile–lime no-vinegar salsa ever

I've made this salsa a bunch of times, tweaking and refining. The following instructions are how I've made it the last two times and, I have to say, I think we nailed it. I make it in BIG batches, so we have enough to last all year. In fact, in 2014, I doubled the recipe so we actually didn't run out until spring of this year. (We had to buy salsa all summer waiting for the tomatoes. Believe me, homemade is so much better.)

I find the lime juice gives this salsa a brighter, more summery taste than those made with vinegar. And you can vary the heat considerably by the peppers you choose, but be sure not to increase the proportion of peppers to other ingredients. That is, if you want to make it hotter, swap in some Thai chiles for a couple of jalapenos, for example, or make it more mild by using sweet pepper instead of hot pepper. Got it?

This is a lotta work. You ready? Here we go!

You'll need:

• 1/2 bushel plum tomatoes

• pickling salt

• 4 large onions (I used a mix of red and white that I had on hand)

• 3 heads of garlic

• 1 pound Jalapeño peppers (I used a mix of jalapenos and med-hot red peppers out of our garden; they were all big and beautiful this year so it was probably 18 or so)

• 6 large Ancho chiles

• 2 1/2 cups minced cilantro (2 big bunches)

• 1/4 cup cumin seed, ground

• 1 can tomato paste

• 20 pint (500 ml) Mason jars

• 20 snap lids and rings

And per jar:

• 3 tablespoons lime juice

Instructions for cooking and canning:

Start the evening of the day before. I warned you about the amount of work, right?

Roast the ancho chiles:

1. Preheat grill on med-high. Rinse and pat dry the chiles.

2. Place the chiles directly on the grill. Roast them, turning occasionally, until they are nicely softened and blackened all over.

3. Once they cool, the outer blackened skin is fairly easy to rub/peel off.

4. Slice in half. Cut off the stem and scrape out the seeds.

5. Chop.

Here they are after they've cooled and have had their crackly outer peel removed.

Prep the tomatoes:

1. Make sure you have plenty of ice or very cold water.

2. Wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse well.

3. Rinse your tomatoes well and rub off any bits of field dirt.

4. Take a sharp paring knife and cut an X into each tomato.

5. Put a good-size pot of water on to boil. Put ice and/or very cold water in a large bowl or your clean sink.

6. Working with about a half-dozen tomatoes at a time, put them in the boiling water for about a minute, then remove them to the ice bath. 

7. Once they've cooled, their skins will slip off quite easily, especially if you've given them a starting place with that X. Peel the tomatoes, core and chop the tomatoes.

8. Layer the chopped tomatoes with salt in a strainer. I usually end up filling two or three strainers, sitting them each inside a pot or a bowl to catch the drained liquid. If the strainer would otherwise touch the bottom of the pot/bowl, I put a small bowl overturned on the bottom to elevate the strainer. Don't want the tomatoes sitting in their own juices overnight. (That is the opposite of draining!)

9. Let them sit somewhere cool overnight, but not in the fridge. I also drape tea towels over them to protect them from any rogue houseflies that tend to be around at this time of year.

This is the next day. See how they're much less juicy?

Sleep. And then wake up, and get started again. You might want to have a couple of good podcasts queued up. (Have I mentioned Rex Factor? So good. I'm on the Kings and Queens of Scots now.)

1. Now chop all the other things. Always wear gloves for the pepper chopping. For real real.

2. Place the strained tomatoes in a very large pot. I like to use my pressure canner pot for this because it's huge and so lovely and heavy. Turn the burner on to medium.

3. Add the chopped onions, garlic, and Ancho chiles. Add most but not quite all of the jalapeno peppers. Stir, stir, stir.

4. Add the mixed cilantro and ground cumin seed. More stirring.

5. Mix the tomato paste with a cupful of the salsa, until it is lump-free. Mix it into the pot of salsa.

6. Taste the salsa, and add some salt if you think it needs some more. It probably does, but not a lot. Now, you need to make a decision about the level of pepper heat. If it's pretty awesome how it is, add the rest of your chopped jalapeno. If it's too tame, chop and add a small amount of hotter chile (like Thai bird's eye, for example.) My garden peppers were nicely hot this year, so no need for me to swap anything out. A few shakes of Tapatio sauce could safely upgrade the heat for you as well.

7. Bring the salsa to a boil.

8. In the meantime, wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse well. Heat water in a small pot and put your snap lids in there to soften.

9. Add 3 tablespoons of lime juice to each jar.

10. Quickly ladle hot salsa into jars, using a wide mouth funnel. Important: make sure your jars aren't cold or they might react quite dramatically to hot salsa. I find this is not a problem in a hot summer kitchen, but you may be a fan of frigid air conditioning, in which case you might want to heat your jars in the oven or water bath before filling.  Leave about 1 cm headspace.

11. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place the snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

12. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and heat to the boil. Boil for 20 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

13. Remove jars from the canner (or let them sit in the canner until everything calms down).

14. Repeat with the next batch.

Enjoy! So worth the work. And like childbirth, you'll sort of forget the labour pains until you're well into it the next time!

No pressure pressure-canned green beans

You’ll need:

• Green beans

• Quart jars

• Lids and sealing rings

I love the ease of canned green beans in the winter. Even faster than frozen (plus they save room in the freezer) and waaay better than long-travelled grocery store "fresh" green beans in January. It probably would have been better to do this back in July with early green beans, but hey, it's September and better late than never.  I did try one of the beans before I bought (I checked with the market vendor first; I'm not a bean-sneak-thief!), and it was fresh, crisp and tasty. Good stuff. 

 Directions for canning:

1. Trim both ends of the green beans.

2. Follow your pressure canner's instructions to double check that your pressure canner is ready to go.  

3. Wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse well.

4. Heat snap lids in a small pot of water to soften them.

5. Stuff the beans in the jars, leaving one inch of head space. I don't know an elegant way to do this. 

6. Boil water and add to each jar, ensuring the head space remains.

7. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place a heated snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

8. Add hot water to your pressure canner.  Mine requires 3 quarts; check your instructions to be sure for yours. Load up the canner and close it, following manufacturer instructions. 

9. At sea level, which I basically am, quarts of green beans take 25 minutes at 11 pounds pressure. 

... And done! 

Peaches come from a jar (in the winter)

You'll need:

Freestone peaches (I used New Havens; I think it was a 6 quart basket)
White sugar
Lemon juice
½ pint (250ml) jars (I used lucky 13)
Lids and screw tops

No strict measurements in this recipe. Since peaches are acidic, they are in and of themselves safe for water bath canning. Makes it simple!

Naked peaches!

Directions for canning:

1. Make sure you have plenty of ice or very cold water. Wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse well. I didn't bother to pre-sterilize them because I’ll be processing them in boiling water for more than 10 minutes.

2. Rinse peaches well, and take a sharp paring knife and cut an X into each peach. (I do it with tomatoes so it makes sense for peaches.)

3. Put a good-size pot of water on to boil. Put ice and/or very cold water in a large bowl or your clean sink.

4. Working with about a half-dozen or peaches at a time, put them in the boiling water for about a minute, then remove them to the ice bath.  

5. Once they've cooled, their skins will slip off quite easily, especially if you've given them a starting place with that X.

6. Slice the naked peaches and put them into a bowl with water and lemon juice (about 1 T lemon juice per gallon of water).

7. Prepare your syrup by heating sugar in water until sugar is dissolved. It’s your choice of how sweet to make it. You can also use plain water or juice. See below for suggestions.

8. Remove peaches from their lemon-water bath. Strain them well. I was clever and put them in a strainer in the lemony bowl. Verrah easy for draining! Add them to the pot with syrup and heat them through.

9. Heat water in a small pot and put your snap lids in there. They don't have to come to a boil. It's just to soften them a smidge to help them seal.

10. Pack peaches into each jar and top with hot syrup. Leave about 1/2 inch head space. 

11. As always, "bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place a heated snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

12. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 20 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

Ta da! Gorgeous, summery peaches you can enjoy all through the winter.

Whole pressure-canned roma tomatoes

You'll need:

• Farm-fresh Roma tomatoes, a bushel or so

• 14 quart (1 L)  Mason jars (if nobody eats any tomatoes before you start canning, you might need 15)

• 14 (or 15) snap lids and rings

And per jar:

• Sprinkle of kosher salt (optional)

• 1/2 t citric acid or 2 T bottled lemon juice  

Having a home near Leamington, Ontario is absolutely GLORIOUS in tomato season. Tomato fields start glowing red as the crop ripens. And there are so many farm stands, like real actual farm stands. (The St. Jacobs Farmers Market has taught me to always ask where the produce I'm buying comes from. The year-round stalls selling berries super cheaply, for example, aren't likely to be local berries, even if you're buying at the height of the local berry season. I love the St. Jacobs Farmers Market, and there are a lot of actual farmers there. But you gotta ask. Anyway...) 

So when I bought these tomatoes, I asked the elderly Italian-accented lady where they came from. She gestured toward the house, and said,  "the field outbacka the building!" Sure enough, just beyond lay acres of glowing red tomatoes. That's local!  

Directions for canning:

1. Make sure you have plenty of ice or very cold water. Follow your pressure canner's instructions to double check that your pressure canner is ready to go.  

2. Wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse well. I didn't bother to pre-sterilize them because pressure canning will take care of that.

3. Rinse your tomatoes well and rub off any bits of field dirt. These were pretty pristine, but if there's been a recent rain they might be a bit muddy. 

4. Take a sharp paring knife and cut an X into each tomato. (Not super necessary, but helpful.)

5. Put a good-size pot of water on to boil. Put ice and/or very cold water in a large bowl or your clean sink.

6. Working with about a half-dozen tomatoes at a time, put them in the boiling water for about a minute, then remove them to the ice bath. 

7. Once they've cooled, their skins will slip off quite easily, especially if you've given them a starting place with that X.
8. Core each tomato and put it into another bowl. Try not to be too rough at this point because you don't want to squeeze too much of the juice out. 
9. Prepare your jars with either citric acid or lemon juice. I do 7 jars at a time because that's how many quarts my canner will hold. My first batch used citric acid. My second used lemon juice because I ran out of citric acid. 
10. Heat water in a small pot and put your snap lids in there. They don't have to come to a boil. It's just to soften them a smidge to help them seal. 

11. Once you have a big bowl of prepared tomatoes, start packing your jars. Basically you're just squashing tomatoes by the handful into the jar. Pack as many as you can in (squish them down to release the juice), leaving about 1/2 inch head space. 
12. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place a heated snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 
13. Add hot water to your pressure canner.  Mine requires 3 quarts; check your instructions to be sure for yours.
14. Load up the canner and close it, following manufacturer instructions. (As many times as I've used my pressure canner, I also reread the instructions. I don't know. The whole possibility of explosion thing makes me nervous, I guess. But I do love it.)
15. At sea level, which I basically am, tomatoes take 25 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. While your first batch is on and then cooling, you might as well get the second batch ready. 

So worth it! You can totally do tomatoes safely and effectively by water bath canning as well. Follow all the directions the same, up to step 12. Just boil the cans in the water bath for 85 minutes. I opted for pressure canning this time around because we have no air conditioning so the less boiling, the better. 

Classic dill pickles

You'll need:

• Mini cucumbers, a whole bunch (I used the equivalent of almost four 4-litre baskets or so) 

• Equal parts white vinegar and water (I used about 16 cups of each)

• 1 T of kosher salt per cup of water (I used 16 T)

• 1/2 T of white sugar per cup of water (I used 8 T)

• 30 pint (500 ml) widemouth Mason jars 

• 30 snap lids and rings

And per jar:

• 1 large fresh dill head

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 t mustard seed

Directions for cooking and canning:

1. Wash your Mason jars in hot soapy water. Rinse well.

2. Trim both ends of each cucumber and slice in half.

3. Fill your canner about half-way or so with water and heat on high.

4. Combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar in a large, heavy pot and bring it to a boil.

5. Working in batches of as many jars as your canner will fit, add dill, garlic, and mustard seed to each jar. My canner comfortably holds 7 widemouth pint jars at a time.

6. Pack the cucumbers tightly into the jars. This is where the widemouth style makes life easier.

7. Scoop a small amount of water into a small pot and put your snap lids in there to heat. 

8. Once the pickle brine is boiling hot, ladle it into the pickle jars making sure the cucumbers are well-covered. You could also pour it into a heat-proof pitcher and use that to pour into the jars, but that much pouring of large quantities of boiling liquid sounds terrifying to me. Leave about a half-inch or so of head space.

9. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. It's a little tricky when the cucumbers are tightly packed. Do the best you can. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place a heated snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight.

10. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 15 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

11. Remove jars from the canner.

12. Repeat the process with the next batch. Easy peasy!

See how the lids on these don't yet have that slight circular dent in the middle? They haven't sealed yet. You may hear a pop! when a lid seals. You can tell they're sealed if there is no little give under your finger when you gently push them down.

Make sure all the lids have sealed. Stash any that don't seal properly in the fridge (ALL of mine did, woo hoo!, but sometimes they don't for whatever reason), and use them within a few weeks. The properly sealed ones should sit for at least 6 weeks before you dig in and can be stored for simply ages. 

The entire sink (1/2 bushel) of mini cucumbers transforms like magic into 41 gorgeous jars of pickles! The ones are top are bread and butter.

Bread and butter pickles for mom

You'll need:

This is what a 1/2 bushel of mini-cucumbers looks like when you haul it home from the Farmers' Market and put them in the sink to wash. I was feeling ambitious. The market tends to do that to me at this time of year.

• 24 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

• 5 medium (think baseball-sized) white onions

• 1/3 cup kosher salt

• 3 3/4 cups white vinegar

• 2 cups white sugar

• 3 T whole mustard seed

• 1 1/2 T whole celery seed

• 1  t ground turmeric

• 11 pint (500 ml) Mason jars

• 11 snap lids and rings

Directions for cooking and canning:

1. Rinse the cucumbers well. Trim the ends. 

2. Set up your entertainment system. 24 cups will take a while. I'm finally watching Gilmore Girls about a decade after it left the air. Yay, Netflix.

3. Slice the cucumbers thinly. I used the mandoline (or mangler as it's known in our house because it tends to bite!) set at 1/16". 

4. Layer the cucumbers in a strainer, sprinkling salt between layers.  Set the strainer inside a larger pot or bowl to catch the drips and set it aside to drain for at least 3 hours. I left it overnight in the fridge.

5. Thinly slice the onions. Maybe they were supposed to be salted and drained as well? I didn't do that. Everything was fine. 
6. Wash your Mason jars in hot soapy water. Rinse well.
7. Fill your canning pot halfway-ish with water and put it on to heat. Put 6 of your jars in there to heat up. While you don't necessarily need to pre-sterilize, you'll be packing the jars with hot stuff, so it's important for the jars to be hot as well. 

8. Put the vinegar, sugar, spices, and any remaining salt into a large pot. Bring it to a boil, giving it a stir to help dissolve the sugar. 
9. Shake the cucumbers in the strainer to drip off as much of the liquid as you can, but don't rinse off the salt. Add alternating handfuls of cucumbers and onions to the hot pickle brine. 
10. Stir everything together thoroughly and bring it back up to a gentle boil.
11. Scoop a small amount of water from the canner into a small pot and put your snap lids in there to heat.
12. Retrieve your hot jars from the boiling water and quickly ladle the hot pickle mixture into hot jars, using a wide mouth funnel. Leave about an inch of headspace.
13. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place a heated snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 
14. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 15 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 
15. Remove jars from the canner (or let them sit in the canner until everything calms down). Put the remaining 5 jars into the canner to heat up and repeat the process. 

There you go! Eleven pints, ready to eat... after at least 6 weeks of waiting for them to flavourify in the jars.  

Runny, yummy, oh so sweet strawberry jam!

It's just not June without fresh local strawberries. (Okay, so technically, it hasn't been June for five weeks or so. I thought I lost these pictures when my BlackBerry died in a big way. As it turns out, I had already saved them to my laptop. Look at me go, more organized than I even know.)

At any rate, it was June, the strawberries were glorious, so I got my jam on. And there's even photographic evidence!

You'll need:

• 6 cups crushed strawberries (I think it was about 5 of those green plastic baskets)

• 2 cups white sugar 

• Juice of 1 lemon and 2 limes (~4 T combined)

• 1 pkg (57 g box) pectin

• 6 half-pint (250 ml) Mason jars 

• 6 snap lids and rings

Directions for cooking and canning:

1. Wash your Mason jars in hot soapy water. Rinse well.

2. Fill your canning pot halfway-ish with water and put it on to heat. Put your jars in there to get all sterilized and hygienic while you do the rest.

3. Wash, hull and crush strawberries, one layer at a time, until you have 6 cups worth.

4. Combine your strawberries your strawberries and lemon-lime juice in your cooking pot. As it heats, add the pectin and stir it in well until dissolved. 

5. Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Add the sugar. You might want more than 2 cups; taste and add more if you wish. The recipe called for a ridiculous SEVEN! cups of sugar, but whoa.  

6. Stirring constantly, return mixture to full rolling boil that doesn't calm down even when you stir it.

7. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.

8. Remove from heat. Skim off foam. My kids love the foam. For them, it's a treat in the order of licking the icing off the beaters.

9. Rescue your jars from the boiling water. Scoop a small amount of water into a small pot and put your snap lids in there to heat. 

10. Quickly ladle hot jam into hot jars, using a wide mouth funnel. Leave 0.5 cm headspace.

11. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place the snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

12. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 10 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

13. Remove jars from the canner (or let them sit in the canner until everything calms down).

14. Stack artistically and try not to sprain your arm while you pat yourself on the back. 

Gorgeous! I have to admit the jam is a little wee bit runny. I'm wondering if the pectin actually needed that crazy about of sugar to fully thicken. I dunno. I don't usually buy that kind but they didn't have any of the low-sugar kind in the store. Bright side is that a couple teaspoonsfull are unlikely to send anyone into a sugar coma. 

Canning season starts with rhubarb chutney

Yay! Finally, there's fresh local produce again. Makes me so happy. And kicks canning season into gear too. 

You'll need:

• 5 cups rhubarb, chopped

• 3 1/4 cups white sugar

• 1 1/4 cup white vinegar (I bet apple cider vinegar would rock too)

• 4 teaspoons curry powder

• 10 or so shakes of Tapatio sauce (or other hot sauce or a generous pinch of cayenne powder - follow your heart)

• Generous 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 5 half-pint (250 ml) Mason jars 

• 5 snap lids and rings

Directions for cooking and canning:

1. Wash your Mason jars in hot soapy water. Rinse well.

2. Fill your canning pot halfway-ish with water and put it on to heat. You can place your Mason jars in there for a good sterilization. (It's my understanding that you don't need to pre-sterilize jars if they'll be in the water bath for at least 10 minutes, but I often do it anyway. Belt and suspenders, people!)

3.  Wash and chop your rhubarb and put it in and the vinegar in another pot on medium heat.

4. Throw in the sugar. Admire it.

5. Add the salt, curry powder and Tapatio or whatever peppery element you're using. Stir it well. 

6.  It'll get really watery as the rhubarb releases its moisture. Cook it down. 

7. You might want to take a little taste to check for spice level. Add another shake or two of hot sauce if the spirit moves you. Cook it down some more, stirring occasionally. I think this part was at least 30 minutes. 

8. Rescue your Mason jars from the boiling water at some point while your rhubarb cooks. You can shut off the burner under your canning pot. It'll stay hot for quite awhile. 

9. When your chutney is nicely cooked down, ladle it into your nice clean hot jars. A wide mouth funnel makes this step much easier and neater. Leave about 1 cm headspace. Reserve any extra to enjoy as soon as it cools.  

10. Scoop some of the still-very-hot water into a small pot and put your snap lids in there to heat. (Apparently this step is also not necessary, but I do it anyway.) 

11. "Bubble" each jar with a skewer or chopstick to release any trapped air. Wipe each rim with a clean damp paper towel. Place the snap lid down and screw the ring on finger tip tight. 

12. Put the jars into your water bath canner. Make sure there is at least an inch of water above the top of your jars. Put the pot lid on and return to the boil for 10 minutes. Don't start your timer until the water is boiling. 

13. Remove jars from the canner (or let them sit in the canner until everything calms down). Listen to the music of the lids as they pop! pop! pop! sealed. 

Now, relax and enjoy! This chutney is great as a spread on cream cheese and crackers, as a condiment with pork or chicken, or as a chutney with a robust Indian dinner.  

Stoned wheat thins (heh heh), chutney, and cream cheese and an icy cold 67 on a hot, sunny May 2-4 at the beach. Heaven. 

I had such ambitions...

It was going to be amazing. Jars and jars of glorious spiced carrot and red lentil dal. Flavourful, warm, healthy meals ready to warm up and serve (to roaring acclaim) with a splash of cream and maybe a crusty loaf of bread.

I had the ingredients. 

I had the ambition. I peeled and I chopped and I chopped.

I cooked the soup. I pureed it. 

I served it for dinner, adding cream to the individual bowls.

The Dave had a canker sore, which made this soup a very painful proposition. Kid 1 tried it, said it was "okay, better than I expected." And Kid 2 ate a full bowl and was lavish with praise, going so far as to request it for lunch the next day. (You can guess who's got lead billing in the inheritance sweepstakes at the moment.)  

But really, it was delicious. Definitely worthy of canning and keeping on hand. 

Got out a dozen or so pint jars, washed them, started to heat them in the oven. Got out the pressure canner. The lid looked weird. There was a hole where there shouldn't be a hole. Got out the instructions for the pressure canner to see what was going on. Dammit! The top part of the "air vent/cover lock" was nowhere to be found. The bottom part was rolling around loose in the pressure canner. I looked and I looked. I swept out the pantry three times, hoping the fiddly little metal bit would magically appear. (Hey, it happened to the keys in "Making a Murderer.") Could not find it anywhere.

Apparently, it has gone to live with the blade from my Tupperware chopper and the lid of the spice grinder. They may be on the lam with the odd socks. 

Bummer.

So I ladled it out into a ragtag assortment of Rubbermaid, Gladware, and Tupperware and stashed it in an already jam-packed freezer. The containers with the lids that don't quite fit are gingerly balanced in the fridge to be heated and put into thermoses for tomorrow's lunches.  

It was going to be so pretty. Fortunately, it will still be delicious.  

About the recipe: "Spiced Carrot and Red Lentil Dal" is from the Soup Sisters and Broth Brothers Cookbook. A not-for-profit organization, Soup Sisters and Broth Brothers offers soup-making events in cities all over Canada and a few in the US too. I highly recommend you consider soup-making as a fun get-together with your colleagues, clients, or friends. It's a good time, and there's a chef on hand to supervise and teach some mad knife skillz. The soup is then delivered to recipients in need such as local women's and youth shelters. Their tagline is "Hug in a bowl."    

The gift of nuts

I am a fan of homemade gifts. When you are an adult, however, you don't get automatic points for making it yourself unless it's really frickin' good. These nuts are really frickin' good. 

You’ll need:

• 1 cup untoasted walnut halves

• 1 cup untoasted pecan halves

• 1 cup unsalted, dry roasted almonds

• 1 cup unsalted, dry roasted cashews

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

• Parchment paper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Combine walnut halves, pecan halves, almonds, and cashews in a large bowl. Add salt, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper; toss to coat.

3. Heat sugar, water, and oils in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until the coconut oil is melted. Cook for 1 minute and remove from heat. Slowly pour liquid over the bowl of nuts and stir to coat.

4. Transfer nuts to the prepared baking sheet and spread into a single layer. (This is why it needs to be a rimmed sheet. No nuts overboard!)

5. Bake nuts in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or so. Stir nuts often to ensure they are well-coated in the syrup. Bake until nuts are sticky and roasted. (They will smell amazing.)

6. Remove from baking sheet into a bowl to cool. While the nuts are cooling, stir them every few minutes so they don’t harden together. (Unless you want nut balls. No judging here.)

I made four batches and packaged them up in 250 ml mason jars for my co-workers this Christmas. And, of course, I didn't give them to anyone they might kill. I had jars of red and green jelly beans for the allergy kids. 

Recipe adapted from Chef John's Sweet, Salty, Spicy Party Nuts at allrecipes.com.