Easy & Delicious Strawberry Freezer Jam

 There can be great enjoyment from making jams and jellies. It brings about a feeling of accomplishment. Usually you prepare food and it is immediately consumed but with preserving, you have a beautiful product that lasts for many months. You can be creative with jams and jellies through combining fruits for unique flavors, packaging the product and gifting. Making freezer jam is extremely quick and easy and I actually like strawberry jam freezer style better than cooked.

Always Have Avocados on Hand - How to Preserve in Minutes

Being a Bountiful Baskets participant I find myself accumulating lots of Avocados on a regular basis. I hate wasting food so I now have a method to preserve them for future use.

Preserving Avocados only takes two ingredients and a few minutes of preparation. The Avocados hold up very well in the freezer and do not change color. Now I always have Avocados on hand and ready to go for any recipe. Great to use for sandwiches, salads, dressing and dips. Busy Just Got Easy.



Avocados should be soft-ripe with bright green or purplish rind.
Wash and cut Avocados in half and remove pit.
Scoop pulp from rind and mash with a fork or potato masher.
Mix 3 tablespoons lemon juice with each quart of puree.
Pack into jars to within 1 inch of top and close with cap and screw band tightly
Or I like to use snack-sized closeable bags.
Freeze immediately.


Authored by +Terri Henkels

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Quick & Easy Sweet Pickles - Microwave Quick

These microwave sweet pickles are quite the time saver and yet you have that sweet crispy homemade deliciousness!  In fact, they take less than 15 minutes. If you are not into canning, don't have extra time, or don't have enough cucumbers for the traditional canning method then this is the recipe for you!!  It is also the perfect recipe for people who are single, empty nesters or the only one in the family that likes pickles! Just store them in your frig.  Quick & Easy Sweet Pickles = Busy Just Got Easy.

How to Freeze Peach Pie Filling & Peaches in Syrup in 5 Easy Steps

There is nothing like pulling out freshly preserved fruits in the middle of the winter. Learn how to freeze peach pie filling and peaches in syrup in 5 easy steps!

These beautiful freestone peaches came in a 22 lb. box through Bountiful Baskets (click to see my post on bountiful baskets) so I set out on a mission to preserve fresh peaches in syrup and of course, my very favorite peach pie filling.

Freestone is the preferred peach for canning. Freestone peaches easily fall away from the pit. the Clingstone peach "clings" to the pit. With a Freestone peach you can cut it right down the middle and the peach easily pulls away from the pit.

Tutorial on How to Freeze Peach Pie Filling & Peaches in Syrup

STEP 1: Prepare your dry ingredients before you do anything. I used quart bags to mix the dry ingredients - one bag per pie. This recipe is for one 9" pie:

3/4-1 cup of sugar

4 tablespoons flour (mine were slightly heaping)

1 teaspoon ascorbic acid (to keep fruit from browning)

Shake bag until ingredients are incorporated

Add dry ingredients to 5 cups of peeled & sliced peaches (approximately 6 large peaches)

See Peach Pie post for pics of the pie and baking instructions

Freezer Sweet Pickles

If you love homemade sweet pickles you are going to love this quick and easy method of preserving. You also won't be able to resist the sweet mix of flavors!

There is one thing I can count on and that is every summer having more cucumbers than I can use. In response to the overload you can count on me making a batch of freezer pickles.

Frozen Grapes for a Hot Summer Day

I am definitely an outdoor type of person so I spend most summer days outside and I don't mind sweltering heat. Eating frozen grapes is a great way to cool down. I also add them just like ice cubes to a tall glass of water. This is a great way to refresh yourself when you are hot.

Sweet Pickled Beets

Sweet Pickled Beets are delightful morsels of spice and sweetness. Their color is absolutely tantalizing. This is a family recipe handed down from my grandmother. We make these every year to serve with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Also, they are a refreshing accompaniment with light summer meals.

If you are leery of beets or you know that you don't care for them - keep an open mind! Eating sweet, spicy and cold pickled beets is a much different experience than eating them warm with butter. The truth of the matter is I don't like warm beets but I love this recipe and in fact, I like them so much that I just keep some in the frig to munch on whenever the mood strikes.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOOD PRESERVATION SAFETY

Preserving food is somewhat of an art that over the years lost its appeal to many people due to a decrease in home grown foods, busy lives, and not passing on the art to new generations. The good news is that many people are recognizing the value of growing their own fruits and vegetables which has increased home food preservation interest. However, home food preservation takes a lot of knowledge and care in order to have a safe supply of preserved food. The last thing any of us wants is to make family, guests or ourselves sick due to improper preserving methods.

Sweet Pepper Cowboy Candy

Last week  I posted that it is almost the end of my season for my vegatable garden. I only have a few things that the heat hasn't burn't off. What is left is my sweet pepper plants and jalapeno plants. I had picked almost two pounds of my sweet peppers and 1 pound of my jalapeno's. I decided to do a Cowboy Candy with them. In my orginal recipe it calls for 3 punds of jalapeno's. Knowing that the sweet peppers could change the flavor I decided to go ahead and experiment and see how it turns out.

Apricot-Peach Pie Jam

There is nothing better than homemade jams and jellies and I have my tried and true Grape, Blackberry and Strawberry that I make every year. However, I absolutely love the flavor of Apricots and Peaches combined but have never put them together when making jam.

Scrumptious Freezer Strawberry Glaze

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Strawberries are one of the most beautiful fruits and I just love to grow them as well as bake and cook with them.  Today I was making a strawberry cream cake which required a strawberry glaze. Many of the strawberry recipes I use require a glaze so I decided since I had a large container it would be handy to make enough to have on hand in the freezer. Now when I am under a time crunch I have a portion of my recipe ready to go.  Busy Just Got Easy!

How to Cut and Freeze a Mango

One of my favorite fruits is the Mango. I use it in my salsas, BBQ sauces, glazes, jellies, drinks and of course just to eat alone. Now through June one of the sweetest varieties are produced. It’s called Ataulfo (aht-ah-uhl-foe); the flesh is creamy and smooth with a small pit. While they are plentiful and the prices are lower, it’s a good time to freeze them for the future. Mangos freeze up to a year and they hold their texture and flavor quite well.

Hot Red Pepper Jelly

Fresh from the Garden

 Since I had a few jalapenos left from my previous recipe and my red peppers from my garden are ready, I decided to make Hot Red Pepper Jelly.

Cowboy Candy

This year I planted a Jalapeno plant in my garden. It produces non-stop.
After so many salsas, guacamole's and jalapeno poppers I decided to can one of my favorite things to eat.......COWBOY CANDY!
For the ones who like a little Sweet Heat, this is it.
My favorite is on top of Smoked Fish Dip. You can also put it on hamburgers, cream cheese and crackers, well just about anything.  Take it from me they are soooo goooood!

Ahh yes the beginning.