And boy did it snow! Like I have said we have had a great winter so far, but now it looks more like winter here. Snow, ice and even a day missed from school this week. Doing the chores isn't quite as much fun as it was when it was warmer either. Especially cutting the hole in the pond each day for the horses. Swinging an axe in 0 degree weather isn't exactly a fun job, but just one of those things that has to get done. I stall as long a possible, but can't stand it when they are out there looking at their frozen hole each morning! At least I am able to get my coffee in me before they notice :)
I am getting a little tired of winter comfort food already, and needed a little something to remind me of warmer days. I look to my canned food from the garden to get my fix. I found the perfect thing to perk up our meal. Dilly beans, which is also a family favorite. Basically just dilled green beans, but with a kick.
So good! You need fresh green beans to start with. Not smooshy tasteless canned beans from the store. This is the recipe I use.
2 lbs green beans 6 tsp dill (more or less to taste)
1/4 cup canning salt 4 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups vinegar 2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less)
2 1/2 cups water
Wash and trim ends off of green beans. Mix salt, vinegar and water in pan and bring to a boil. Pack beans into clean, hot pint jars (4-5 jars). Add 1/4 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp dill and clove of garlic to each jar. Ladle hot liquid over beans, leaving 1/4" headspace. Run plastic spatula through jars to release any air bubbles and clean off your rims with a clean cloth. Secure your two piece caps. Process you pints for 10 min. in a boiling water bath canner.
EASY as that! The longer they sit the better they are.
I do advise that if you have never done any canning before, you really need to get a book to learn all about it first. The amounts of certain ingredients like salt and vinegar, and the water bath process and times CANNOT be changed in a recipe. Here is a link to a wonderful book I have used over and over.
Here is their website as well. http://www.freshpreserving.com/
We ended our week with our first round of the stomach flu. YIPEE Two of our kids were down yesterday with it. A double whammy since it was our 11th anniversary and we had planned on a good night out. But when you have kids you kinda just have to roll with it. Yesterday wasn't a total loss though. The restless ones got out the 4-wheeler and hooked up a sled for the afternoon. Everyone slept well that night!
That'll do it for this week. I have been working on my lip balm flavors and perfecting the perfect ones. I will have more on that next time.
So, from our Farm to you, have a great week!!
Hurray for a dilly bean recipe that doesn't require dill heads. Took the kids to a U-pick farm yesterday to get green means to make these. Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteYou're so welcome!
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