Apricot Nectar

 Sorry Jennifer I have taken so long to post this but canning season is in full swing at my house so everything else takes a back seat.

Apricots are a weird fruit to me.  People either like them or hate them.  

I think there is so much hate involved because if you have a apricot tree that is within a 5 mile radius of your house those "neighbors" will try to pawn their fruit off on you.  I guess we should link apricots with the quote of "if you have a apricot tree you can feed a nation" (okay not really but your entire neighborhood!).

Apricots are like zucchini in that way, there is always a million of them and you never know what to do with them because after eating them all day long for 2 weeks straight, you kinda get sick of them and nobody wants to take them off your hands.

Except me.  At least a few bucket loads because even I can only handle so much of these little beauties.

We like apricot jam a little bit at our house so one or two batches gets jamified but we L.O.V.E. apricot nectar.  Isn't it beautiful in the jar?  I love how brilliant orange it gets and it is delicious.

This is my grandmother's recipe and we grew up drinking this juice.  We always mixed it with orange juice or orange koolaid but it's totally up to your preferences, I just know that it's awesome to drink and quite easy to can (as far as canning things goes anyways...) so if you have a apricot tree near you give it a try and because in my neck of the woods people will let you have as many apricots as you want for free.  Sweet!

And if you have never canned before, read this post first.  It's a great introduction to canning.

Apricot Nectar

(click here for printable version)

Apricots (a 5 gallon bucket produce about 10-12 quarts of juice)

Water

Sugar

Lemon juice

Water bath or steam canner

Canning jars, sterilized (I send them through a cycle in the dishwasher)

New lids

Rings

Chinois Strainers(we just called it a sieve growing up)

1.  Wash all your apricots and remove pits.  Put apricots in your large thick bottomed pot--very important because you don't want the bottom to burn.  For every 4 cups of apricots you put in, add 1 cup of water. Let sit at a gentle boil until apricots are very soft--I let mine sit 3-4 hours or longer.

2.  After your jars have been sterilized, fill each one with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice.

3.  When the apricots are soft, set up your sieve (or chinois) over a bowl to catch all the juice.  Gently pour several cups of the apricot/water mixture in your sieve and using the pestle push the mixture all around trying to get out as much juice as possible.  Pour juice into jar, filling up to the neck.  Dump out remains of apricots in separate bowl.  Using a wooden spoon stir juice until sugar dissolves.  Repeat until apricot/water mixture is gone.

4.  Top each jar with a lid and ring.  Process for 20 minutes according to manufacture's instructions.  Enjoy!

Spaghetti Sauce

I have tried several different spaghetti sauce recipes and always come back to this.  We love it and it looks so pretty in the jars.

16 lbs. tomatoes (about 32 cups)

4 c. onions, chopped finely

1/4 c. garlic, minced

1 c. olive oil

1/4 c. basil

1/4 c. oregano

1 T. sugar

2 T. salt

2 t. pepper

2--12 oz. cans tomato paste

1.  Chop, blend, puree (it is completely up to you--we blend ours because my kids don't like chunks) your tomatoes and place in a very thick bottomed pot.  Saute onions, garlic and oil together until onions are translucent.  Add to tomatoes along with basil, oregano, sugar, salt, pepper and paste.  Simmer for 2-3 hours, or until it reaches your desired thickness.

2.  Process in steam bath canner 20 minutes for quarts and 15 minutes for pints.  Follow your canners directions and remember because the spaghetti sauce is very hot you do not need use cold water in your canner.  Start with hot water and place on medium high heat and start timing from the time steam starts coming out.

Canned Pickles

This is another favorite at our house.  We love pickles so I grow cucumbers in my garden so we can have these beauties.  Pickles can be canned in a water bath canner or steam canner.  These instructions are for a steam canner, which I prefer.

Cucumbers, medium to very small

2 heads of Dill

1 clove of garlic

1/8 t. alum

Brine:

13 1/2 c. water

4 1/2 c. vinegar

1 c. salt

Wide-mouth canning jars (cleaned and sterilized)

New lids

Rings

1.  In a large pot, over medium heat, combine brine ingredients until salt is dissolved.  Meanwhile, wash cucumbers very well, removing all dirt.  In your jar, place 2 heads of dill and garlic clove.  Add cucumbers, start with the largest and then work your way to the smallest, packing as tightly as possible.  Add alum.  Pour brine over the top of cucumbers till it reaches the neck of the jar.  Place lid on and ring, screwing down tightly.

2.  Fill bottom of your steam canner with water.  Put jars in canner and place lid on.  Place canner on stove over medium heat for 20 minutes or until steam starts coming out of holes (please make sure you read your instruction manual).  Start timing when steam comes out for 10 minutes.  Turn down the unit until gentle puffs of steam come out.  When finished remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.  Remove jars from canner and let sit until completely cool.  

Note:  If your jars do not seal (you can push the middle of the lid and it doesn't pop up) within 10 minutes, make sure ring is screwed on tightly and turn upside down for 20 minutes.

Another note:  The extra brine can be stored in your refrigerator until you have more cucumbers to can.

Canned Green Beans

Have you started canning yet?  Do you can?  I do.  I was taught by my mother who was taught by her mother-in-law, my paternal grandmother.  I have fond memories of canning hundreds of jars of fruits and vegetables.  One of the things we always did a ton of was green beans.  Our kitchen table would be piled at least 2 feet high and we would snap and snap and snap.  All the kids were required to help but by the time we were done we would have about 125 quarts of beans.  I don't can nearly that much but I still love to "put up" vegetables.  Right now I have been canning green beans and pickles (recipe soon to come).

Note:  Green beans need to be canned in a pressure cooker.  Please make sure you are familiar with and have read the instructions for a pressure cooker and that you have had it tested at your local extension agency.

Raw green beans (mine are from my garden but you can get them from a farmer's market.  You will need a lot, I have never actually measured but a grocery sack full will do about 7-8 quarts)

Salt

Water

New lids

Rings

Canning Jars (they need to have writing on the side to be used in a pressure cooker, cleaned and     sterilized))

1.  Snap off the ends of the beans (as little as possible) and then snap them into bite size pieces.  Do this with all of them.  Rinse them very thoroughly with cold water making sure all the dirt is removed.  Add beans to jars, packing tightly, till they reach the neck of the jar.  Add 1 t. salt to each jar.  Fill each jar with cold water to the neck.  Place a new lid on each jar and put the ring on, screwing tightly.

2.  Put a small amount of water in your pressure cooker, place jars inside.  Put lid on and cook at 10 lbs of pressure for 25 minutes.  Remember:  read your instruction manual because there are several kinds of pressure cookers and each one has different ways to reach 10 lbs of pressure.

South of the Snake River Salsa

This is my salsa recipe that I can every year.  My husband loves it so much that he drinks it.

12 pounds roma tomatoes (any others will make it very runny)

4 onions

22 jalapenos

5-6 green bell peppers

3 c. white vinegar

3 large garlic cloves

1/2 c. salt

1/2 c. sugar

2 cans 12oz. tomato paste

* Grind, puree or chop all your vegetables.  We grind or blend them up at our house because my kids don't like chunks.  A note on the jalapenos.  Everyone is different so it could be roasting hot with 15 or very mild with 22.  I usually take out the seeds of every other pepper to reduce the hotness.  Remember you can always add more pepers if it is too mild and don't forget to wear gloves when working with the jalapenos.

* Put everything in thick-bottomed pot (I use my pressure cooker because it has such a thick bottom and it will hold a double recipe of salsa).  Add vinegar, garlic, salt, sugar and tomato paste.  Simmer on stove 1-2 hours, the longer you let it cook, the thicker it will be.

* Process 15 mins for pints.

Favorite Apple Pie Filling

* Fill 6 quarts with peeled, cored and sliced apples (tart apples work best).

* In large bowl mix:  5 1/2 c. sugar
                               1 1/2 c. clear gel
                               1 T. cinnamon
                               1 t. nutmeg

* Then add:  1 1/2 c. cold water
                    5 c. apple juice
                    3/4 c. lemon juice

* Mix well and pour over apples in jars.  Wipe off tops of jars and put on your lids and rings.  Process 25 mins.  (make sure that you bring it slowly to heat because it will boil out very easily)

Canned Sweet-n-Sour Sauce

16 c. chopped, skinned tomatoes
8 c. chopped bell peppers
8 c. chopped onions
3 c. vinegar
1 c. soy sauce
4 20 oz cans pineapple tidbits
10 c. sugar

* Bring everything to a boil in a thick-bottomed pan (pressure cookers work great for this part).  So it slowly stirring well and often.  When it comes to a boil, mix 2 c. sugar w/ 2 c. clear gel, add 1 1/2 c. cold water.  Whisk well and stir into sauce.  Cook for 1 hour on a slow simmer.

* Pour into quarts and process in water bath or steam canner for 40 mins.

*This makes approx. 12 quarts.