Rose Petal Jelly

I LOVE reading food blogs so many great ideas & inspiration...  like this one from Cupcake Rehab ~

ROSE PETAL HIBISCUS TEA JELLY  

sounds amazing - right?  well, anyway the rose petal thing inspired me and I not could find a recipe that made sense to me (grams/ and dried petals? )   so, I just took what I know about canning & I must say I was very pleased with how it turned out ~ wonderful!  not too sweet, SO flowery & pretty pretty pretty!!!  

1 cup fresh unsprayed fragrant rose petals 

1 cup sugar  

2 tablespoon lemon juice 

2 cups water 

1 1/2 tablespoon Ball low/no sugar pectin 

1/3 cup sugar  (additional)

1 pat of butter

Trim white tips off petals with scissors rinse and dry

Combine petals, 1 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and let sit for 24 hours 

...add mixture to stainless steel steel sauce pan, along with water and 1/3 cup sugar 

Simmer on med low for 25 min

 OMG!!  this smells SO amazing  =) 

Return to medium add pectin and a pat of butter - boil 5 min 

~ sieve to remove petal pulp and pour into prepared jars  (sorry, I did not take a photos of this this step, petals will become all mushy and loose their color - you could add a few fresh petal to the jars before sealing for looks) 

~ Carefully wipe down rim of jars, place lids and bands on jars 

~ Hot water process the jars...   

8 oz jars for 15 min

4 oz jars for 10 min

Let jars cool completely - check seals (refrigerate if seal is questionable) store in a cool dark place. 

YUM!!!

Here is another rosy blog post I stumbled upon today  - ukrainian preserved rose petals (rozha z tsukrom)

very interesting ....  I just might try something similar to this next year  =) 

Small Batch Round 2!

Last week I busted open a jar of my Peach Jalapeno Preserves to share with my foodie work friends - we slathered it on bagels with cream cheese and we were all like NOM NOM  NOM!!! SO GOOD!!!  I think I even inspired one to try canning themselves - one guys started asking me all kinds of questions and next day he stops by to show me the canning kit he purchased....  =) 

Anyway, my first batch was too hot for my husbands delicate taste buds  (LOL - sissy!!!)  So CLEARLY I had to make another variety so that he could be in on the oh so amazing taste of homemade peach preserves - chose to add not one, but 2 of his favorite flavors - and once again I must say, I impress myself!  

Ginger Lemon Basil Peaches Preserves 

Makes 3 - 8 oz jars 

4 medium Peaches (diced)

1 small Purple Plum (diced and totally optional - it was in the bowl with the peaches, and well I am just reckless - so in it went =))

1/2 cup of granular Sugar 

2 thin slices of Fresh Ginger chopped super fine

a few 4-5 Lemon Basil leaves (finely shredded - scissors wok gret for this)

 ...  add ingredients above to sauce pan and simmer about 15 min - stir often 

then add... 

juice from 1/2 Lemon (1 tablespoon~ish) 

1 1/2 tablespoon Low Sugar Pectin 

... simmer a few more minutes

(boil jars lids, funnel - everything that will touch the jars for at least 10 min before canning) set aside on clean towel....  fill jars, wipe tops of jars clean with damp paper towel...   put lids on screw rings on and  process 15 min.   Makes 3 -  8 oz jars 

Urban Farm Handbook Challenge thingy =)

Something is not right with my Blogger right now...   anyway,  I have a few minutes (literally) so here goes - I FinaLLY stumbled upon this "Urban Farm Handbook" challenge thingy and since I need all the motivation I can get – I’m in! 

Looks like I am going from last week’s ½ gallon of fridge pickle extravaganza to small batch extravaganza (I dream of the day I will have pot large enough to process those GIGANTIC jars... sigh*) and since I was just given 4 pretty little Jalapeno peppers  (thinking peachy jalapeno jam) oh, YES!  Canning season is about to get VERY interesting...    =D   

*note to self -> add this  -> http://www.sustainableeats.com/  <- to my favorites 

pickles!!

I just finished this years first batch of pickles - ain't they pretty!?!!!

They are the refrigerator variety - Tomorrow is Ribfest at the ole ponderosa!!!

anyway, I am not one for "recipes" when making pickles -  kind wing it most of the time. Yes, I am reckless like that, but I have yet to disappoint myself  =D

so, today I began with a 1/2 gallon jar...
2 smallish-med onions thinly sliced sliced
1 yellow pepper thinly sliced
about 2 lbs of fresh pickles

I layered them as you can see -  SO pretty  - lol!

Then added 1 cup water + 1 cup cider vinegar...  and a little more water to fill...

Topped it off with about 1/3 teaspoon salt  6 pink pink peppercorns (bc/ i had em and they are prettier),   a 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (wish I had the real stuff - that.s the way to go!) and about 1/2 teaspoon pickling spice and 2 rounded teaspoons of sugar.

put on the lid - shook it up - tasted...  not to shabby I must say =)
Snapped a photo and popped it into the fridge.