One thing you could give them to me, (kidding) my garden only produced several cukes, and tomatoes, a couple of watermelons (the size of grapefruit) and one lonely pepper.
Or you could can them. This recipe works with radishes, cukes, peppers, and of course cukes.
Here are a few "no nos" or canning mistakes to prevent illness:
Making up your own canning recipe: Without testing by experts, you will not know how long the products needs to be processed to be safe.
Adding EXTRA starch, flour or other thickener to recipe. This will slow the rate of heat penetration into the product and can result in under cooking.
Adding EXTRA onions, chilies, bell peppers, or other vegetables salsas., The extra vegetables dilute the acidity and can result in botulism poisoning.
Using an oven instead of water bath for processing. The product will be under-processed since air is not as good a conductor of heat as water or steam. The jars also may break or explore.
Not making altitude adjustments, Snce boiling temperatures are lower at higher altitudes, the products will be under-processed. Pressure canning requires adding ore pounds of pressure while water-bath canning requires more processing time.
Not venting pressure canner. Lack of venting can result in air pockets (cold spots) which will not reach as high as temperature as is needed.
Not having dial-type pressure canner gauges tested annually. If the gauge is inaccurate, the food may be under-processed and therefore unsafe.
Failure to acidify canned tomatoes. Not all tomatoes have an adequate acid level (pH0, especially if the vine is dead when tomatoes are harvested. This can result in botulism poisoning.
The above article was courtesy of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Here are a few recipes for canning your produce. Next week more hints and more recipes.
Perfect "Pickles"
Put one clove garlic, sliced; 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes; 1/2 tsp. dill seed; and 4 dill springs into each of four clean pint jars.
Divide 2 pounds trimmed veggies among jars. Het 3 1/2 Cup white vinegar, 11/2 Cup water and 2 Tbsp. each kosher salt and sugar to boiling; pour over veggies, cover and refrigerate three days before opening. Opened pickles will keep for two months, so you can enjoy all winter long.
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Chunky Tomato Salsa
8 pounds ripe tomatoes (about
16 medium)
2 Cups seeded and chopped
fresh chile peppers (2 to 3)
1/3 Cup seeded and chopped
fresh jalapeno chile peppers
(2 large)
2 Cups chopped onions (2 large)
1/2 Cup lime juice
1/2 Cup white vinegar
1/2 - 6 ounce can (1/3 cup)
tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
and crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Cups yellow, green or red
cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 Cup torn fresh cilantro
Seed, core, and coarsely chop tomatoes (you should have about 15 cups). Place tomatoes in a large colander. Let drain 30 minutes.
Place drained tomatoes in a 7- to 8-quart non reactive heavy pot. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, about 1 1/2 hours or until desired consistency, stirring occasionally.
Add chile peppers, onions, lime juice, vinegar, tomato paste, garlic, crushed cumin, salt, and black pepper. Return mixture to boiling; reduce heat.
Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in cherry tomatoes (if using) and the cilantro. Remove from heat.
Ladle hot salsa into hot, sterilized pint canning jars, leaving a 1/2-inch head-space. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids.
Process in a boiling-water canner for 15 minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars; cool on racks.
Note: you may use as many peppers as the recipe calls for, or if you don't want it that "Hot" use less. This is not my recipe. Too spicy for me.
Next week my mom's chili sauce recipe, plus others.