Sometimes A Man Has To Can

In our last post I mentioned that I made an insane amount of applesauce, (it actually took two sessions because all of the peeled & sliced apples would not fit into one pot). Now I was faced with the problem of what to do with all that applesauce. While we did freeze some of it, I didn't want to take up all of freezer space for applesauce. So I did what any man put in this position would do, I rode to the Walmart, picked up a case of Ball quart-size jars, and started canning.

Now, I've never canned before, (why do they call it canning when it goes in a jar anyway?!) but the instructions on the box made it seem super easy. If you're curious, there are also recipe-specific instructions on their website, http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipes.aspx .

Since it was my first time and I was a little scared, I also checked on YouTube and of course found about a thousand canning videos there. When all the pain was over, you know that you did it right if the lid suctions shut and doesn't pop back up when you push it down. Mine were good, so at least I know I won't kill the family, well, not this time anyway.

Now that I know it's not to big a deal, I will definitely can some more things. Stay tuned!

When Life Gives You Apples...

Heather and I were wandering through the woods in one of our area parks, a bit lost, to tell the truth. We came upon a pair of beautiful apple trees. Now, these were not those crappy wild apple trees you sometimes find in the woods that wouldn't be fit to feed a horse. These apples, while smaller than typical apples, were plenty sweet and flavorful. Well, never one to pass up a free meal, I loaded up what had to be about 20 pounds of apples into the stroller and headed for home. I hadn't given much thought of what to do with the apples, but both of our girls like apple sauce and apple pie a lot and since I didn't have the patience to make a pie, apple sauce it is!

I had the luxury of an onion corer borrowed from the store to core my apples and that worked just great. Then I peeled them and cut them all into eighths and threw them into a pot. I added a small amount of water, a fair amount of cinnamon and a bit of salt an simmered the whole mess for about an hour. We like our applesauce a bit chunky, so I'd recommend a longer cook time if you prefer it smooth.

The simple home made applesauce was quite a hit with all and it was great to be able to make it for free.

Home-Made Tortillas!

When Albert Einstein had blocks of idle time while working at the patent office, he formulated theories that would completely revolutionize the field of physics. When I recently found myself with a few hours of downtime I opted to make home-made tortillas!

I decided to make both the corn and whole wheat flour tortillas, since our family seems to enjoy both, and who the hell knows when I'll have the time to do this again.

We have a tortilla press that we bought years ago at a mexican grocery store. You can pick them up for about $20 or can likely find them online. The press does speed up the process a bit, but I know people that use a roller and that works just fine too.

The whole wheat tortilla recipe I used here because I was looking to avoid using lard. Almost all corn tortilla recipes are simply Masa Harina and water like this one. After mixing the ingredients together I rolled the dough into small balls. I put a layer of saran wrap on both the top and bottom of the tortilla press to keep the dough from sticking to it. Then, I just put a dough ball in and put all my weight on the press handle. I'd then peel off the tortilla, flip, and repeat. I tossed the raw tortillas into a frying pan with no oil, on medium heat, for about 1 minute for each side.

The wheat tortillas were a much bigger hit than the corn, I'm guessing that this is because I didn't use lard, so they "...didn't taste like the store ones." Some of the wheat ones ended up a bit on the thick side, like a flatbread, so the girls had peanut butter sandwiches with those. If you make them really thick, you can use them as frisbees.

Enjoy.