PB & J (in a cookie)

I finally found an awesome peanut butter cookie recipe, and instead of filling them with the salted caramel which was how they were served by David Lebovitz...I filled them with pear butter. you could use jam or whatever you prefer, but pear butter was really good...

feel free to leave out the jam or fruit butter and just flatten into regular peanut butter cookies. they are great with a cup of coffee...

recipe slightly adapted from this site.

1 stick soft butter

1/2 each brown sugar, white sugar

3/4 c peanut butter, I used crunchy and it worked well

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 c flour

preheat oven 350. cream butter and sugars, add peanut butter and egg, vanilla, mix well. add cinnamon, baking soda, salt, mix, stir in four. (if dough seems too dry, add a splash of 1/2 n 1/2 or milk). roll into balls, put on cookie sheet, flatten and put an indent in middle of cookie.

bake approx. 13 minutes, rotate cookie sheet 1/2 way through baking. remove from oven, make indent more pronounced with the back of a spoon and put approx. 1 tsp jam or fruit butter in the indent. cool on rack. enjoy!

pickled beets with cumin and cloves

check out these beauties....

My only advice is to know in advance, that these need to process for quite a bit longer than your average pickle....i.e. 40 min for those of you living at altitude.

Recipe is here. No sense in re-typing it!

enjoy! and remember, preserving is fun:)

center street pickles

Can we all just agree to stop being afraid/timid/baffled by canning, PLEASE@#%$!!!

It really is not hard! In the not too distant past, canning, putting up food, preserving during harvest time was considered common in many households, and I'm happy to find myself in the kitchen doing the same, even if it IS 97 degrees out and even hotter in my kitchen...

I've recommended  Put 'em Up by Sherri Brooks Vinton in the past, and I'm doin' it again...

center street pickles adapted from this book

5 lbs cucumbers, cut into pint-jar-size spears (see note about size below)***
1/2 c canning salt (non iodized and without the anti-caking ingredient)
2 c ice cubes
4 c distilled white vinegar
2 c water
garlic cloves, approx 20
4 T dill seed, plus dried fronds if you have them
2 tsp peppercorns
2 tsp mustard seeds, black and yellow
1 c sliced onion
(and any other addition you want to put in there...)

wash and slice cucumbers (fewer seeds are better), lay on tray, sprinkle generously with (normal, not the canning ) salt, toss into bowl, cover with ice cubes and put in fridge or cool basement for 2 hours.

bring canning salt, vinegar and water to boil, stir and remove from heat. cool.

after 2 hours, rinse cucumbers and pack into sterilized jars. distribute other accompaniments in there, i.e. garlic, dill, peppercorns, mustard seeds, onion....whatever you like. 

***note pour cooled brine over spears to cover by 1/2 inch. Leave 1/2 inch of head space between the top of liquid and lid. (So, you should have about 1 inch of room between the top of the cucumber and the lid rim).

process for 10 min. adjust for elevation if needed.  

Cucumber Cooler

Do you have a ridiculous amount of cucumbers to harvest from your garden? Or did you go a little crazy at the farmers market and now you have a fridge full of cucs? Well I've got just the solution...

cucumber cooler

any amount of cucumbers, peel on, that you have
fresh mint or fresh ginger (or try a combo!)
sugar

roughly chop the cucumbers, put in blender or cuisinart. whiz them up and pour contents into a fine sieve, gently press blended cucs through with spoon. 
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in the meantime, make a simple syrup:

1 part water
2 parts sugar
chopped mint or grated ginger (amount depends on your taste...for 2 c simple syrup, add approx. 1/4 c grated ginger or 1/2 c chopped mint)

combine ingredients in saucepan, let simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat and steep for about 15-20 min. for a stronger ginger or mint flavor, steep longer (I recommend this...)

the measurements are approx because the amount of simple syrup depends on a couple things:
1. how sweet you want it
2. how many cucs you have

so, make extra and if you have leftovers, just save it to flavor homemade lemonade or iced tea.
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once you have drained the cucs, fill glass with ice, pour cucumber juice over ice, fill glass about 3/4 full with juice, 1/4 with water, add a splash of simple syrup to your liking, stir and enjoy!