Apple Pie Filling

This is a FIRST for me!  Three posts in 3 days!

 Here is the apple pie filling recipe that is super easy - especially if you have someone to help. 

Apple Pie Filling

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

4 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup corn starch

1 tsp. nutmeg

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 to 3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Put first 5 ingredients in a large pan.  Stir together.  Add 10 cups water.  Cook until thick.  Add food coloring and lemon juice. Remove from heat. This is usually enough to cover 6 to 7 quarts of apples.

Peel, core, and slice apples.  I used this thing to do all the work for me.  It saves alot of time, but, you can still do it by hand.

Fill the quart jars with the slices.  Really push them in tight.  Pour sauce over the apples in the jar.  It may take a while for the thickened sauce to ooze over the apple slices.  (I like to do it one jar at a time so the apples don't darken)  Place lids and rings on the jars and process in a water bath for 20 minutes.  One jar makes an 8 inch pie.  Can also be used for apple cobblers, topping for ice cream, or just out of the jar!

Thought I'd show you how the soup looks when opened and ready to serve.  Tonight for the Women's Conference, I'm taking a crock-pot of the chicken soup.  Here you can see that I have added my bottled chicken and a can of corn to 3 quarts of the vegetable soup.

Here is a picture from an earlier post made with the vegetable soup with beef boullion and tomato soup.  I added green beans, corn and hamburger.

Perfect Fall meal!

Vegetable Soup

Hi again! It's me, your friendly, neighborhood, soup-maker with another soup recipe just for you!  I had the day off work so I went to Candice's house to make vegetable soup.

As you can see by the pictures, it's another soup to put on the shelf for later - unless one doesn't seal, then you can eat that one right away!

It's easy, but requires some chopping.

Here's the recipe:

Vegetable Soup

In the bottom of a quart jar add:

1 tsp. salt

2 boullion cubes (beef or chicken)

1 Tablespoon barley

1 tsp parsley flakes

We place the jars out and add all the salt, then all the parsley, etc.

Next add 1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup sliced carrots

You can put as much or as little of the vegetables as you want. This is how we like it.

(It's good to have the kids help.  Just be sure to have sustenance, such as Doritos, to keep them going.)

 

Fill the rest of the jar with peeled, chopped, potatoes.  Thanks to Jordan, for helping us on this big project!  He saved us lots of time!

Fill each jar with hot water from the tap.

Wipe off tops of jars, place on lids and rings and process in pressure canner at 10# for 40 minutes.

We got 84 jars of vegetable soup!  This soup is good by itself, just heated with a half bottle of water added...or...add the tomato soup (see previous post) and some browned hamburger to the beef flavored soup for a taste treat delight.  I like to add left-over chicken or canned chicken and a can of corn to the chicken soup. It's SO fast when you need a quick meal that fills you up on a cool fall evening or a cold winter night. 

That was not all we did today, we also made 21 quarts of apple pie filling.  This picture shows them BEFORE processing. 

I need to go back to work to get some rest!

Tomatoes? Another recipe.

Are you still getting tomatoes and wondering what to do with them?  Are your neighbors hiding when they see you coming with a bag of tomatoes...no, wait...that's zucchini! 

Here's a recipe for tomato soup that you can bottle and use in the winter when the tomatoes are only a memory.  Perhaps we can do a zucchini recipe another day.

Start with a half bushel of tomatoes.  I really can't tell you exactly how much that is.  I just estimate and tonight when I made this soup, I had a few more tomatoes than I needed. 

Prepare the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them and removing the skin. Blend in a blender until smooth - OR - you can use this handy, dandy strainer to do it all for you and you don't have the seeds when you're done. (Just in case you're wondering, that's not my arm, I think mine is hairier!)  Andy helped me tonight! 

Chop 6 onions. (Here's another time saving device that's almost as good as having your husband help.)

3 large green peppers.

1 bunch of celery.   I don't have a picture of me chopping the celery.  I have to do that by hand because it's too stringy to use the great time saving tool! However, I have a good Cutco knife that's sharp and works great! 

Put all the vegetables in a large pan with a pint of water and steam until tender.  Put the tomato sauce in a different large pan and heat on the stove.

Make a white sauce using 1/2 pound of real butter, 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup salt, 1 cup sugar and 3/4 tsp. pepper.  Stir together in a pan on the stove until bubbly.  Add 1 quart of the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer.

Add the white sauce to the tomato sauce then add all the vegetables.  Simmer on the stove for 20 minutes.

Fill quart jars with the soup.  I got 12 quarts. Process in a water bath for 60 minutes or in a pressure canner at 10# pressure for 30 minutes.

While I'm posting this, I can hear the lids seal.  That's music to my ears, even though it doesn't have a good beat.

You can tell by this picture that there are not a lot of vegetables in this soup.  That's because I went overboard on the tomatoes.  However, it tastes SO GOOD! 

If you want to make this recipe and want to use all my handy-dandy time saving devices, (except Andy) you're welcome to them. 

Honest! You just have to come get them.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 bushel tomatoes - juiced.  (5-7 quarts)

1 bunch celery           3 large green peppers

6 large onions             1 pint water

Chop all vegetables.  Cook together with the water until tender.

Make a white sauce:

1/2 lb. butter              1 cup flour

1 cup sugar                1/4 cup salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

Stir until creamy.  Add 1 quart tomato juice to white sauce. Bring to a simmer.

Pour all ingredients together and cook 20 minutes.  Fill quart jars. Process in boiling bath for 60 minutes or pressure at 10# for 30 minutes.

PEACH PIT JELLY

My friend gave me a box of small, but delicious, peaches! I bottled 7 quarts. After peeling and pitting the peaches, I had a big pile of "garbage". What can be done with that pile?

Be sure you DON'T throw it away. Put the peelings, pits and pieces of over-ripe and bruised peaches in a pan.

Cover with water, put on stove and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Drain through a colander into a large bowl or pan.

Strain that juice through a clean dish towel or a cheese cloth into a clean bowl or pan.

I used the Sure Jell brand of pectin and followed the recipe for grape jelly. Bring 5 cups of juice and the pectin to a boil.

Add a "waterfall" made from 7 cups of sugar.

Bring to a boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, skim foam off top, ladel into jars. Place lids and rings on jars, place in boiling bath water for 15 minutes.

Look how pretty it is! It tastes delicious too!

I got 2 batches of jelly that filled 8 1/2 pints. All from peach garbage!

Don't forget to head over to Camille's blog to enter her "Sweet Tooth Fairy" give-away! You have until Sunday night.