Canning Crazy!

I have been trying to round up as much as I can from the garden and canning like its no one business. Below, is a list of everything I have canned so far. Let me know if any look interesting or you would like to try and I will dig through my recipes and post for you. 🙂

These are only one jar of each item I have canned. Imagine each one with multiples….. 🙂

The List( in no particular order):

cinnamon rhubarb jam

caramel apple jam

strawberries and cream jam

honey lavender peaches

sweet cherry jam

spiced apple butter

rhubarb-beer jam

carrot cake jam

applesauce

butter spiced nectarines

black pepper-rosemary apples

spiced apple chutney

my way marinara

sweet Riesling radishes

sweet hot caramelized onions ( the only way Handy Husband likes his onions)

jellied cranberry sauce

apple butter

roasted garlic pizza sauce

dilly beans

lemon curd

blackberry honey thyme jam

Adventurous Blueberry Pancakes

Good weekend to all!

Today we decided to take a trip up to the Washington peninsula, to a small town known as Sequim. Just so happens, this weekend is the lavender festival, and I (in all my 25 years living in WA) have never been to experience the purple flower ” goodness”. The weather was great, and by great, I mean it was over 60 (still cloudy) and not rainy, versus the 80 degrees and sun we got today in Tacoma.

(dont my kids look excited?)

After inhaling enough of the wonderful lavender to last us a year, we wandered over to the blueberries, grabbed up a bucket and started plucking away.

We had a little extra help picking blueberries….

…and we filled that bucket full.

Then I started thinking…..you know what would sound REALLY good tonight for dinner? Some pancakes….even better…BLUEBERRY pancakes. So we packed up our lavender and blueberries and made the trek back home. I mention the farm we visited? oops. sorry. They are called Graysmarsh Farms in Sequim WA. Very nice farm and nice people. You can visit them online at http://www.graysmarsh.com/, but its best to visit them in person. 😉

ok, ok, we are back home and I whipped up some homemade pancakes with blueberries. Here is the recipe, should you want to recreate this masterpiece. 😉

Cinnamon Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 cup of blueberries (you can always add more if you like)

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, melted

cooking spray

Directions

1.      Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour”.
2.      Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into “soured” milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone. Add in blueberries and stir just until well mixed.
3.      Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

EAT UP!

What to do with my strawberries and rhubarb?

Up here in the great northwest we are coming to a close on the strawberry growing season. Makes me sad, really. 😦 Luckily, I collected up as many strawberries as I could (I had to contend with a three year old and a two year old sneaking berries off the plants when they could).

I stashed away my berries into the freezer, along with all the rhubarb from this year. Now it’s time to break out the canning jars, so I can savor the flavor all year long. I haven’t done canning in a few years, and to be quite honest, not very experienced at it. Quite recently though, I came acrossed this book, entitled “Canning For A New Generation”. I love it! So many of the recipes look and sound so yummy!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=canning+for+a+new+generation

Two recipes I found include- rhubarb and strawberry spread and strawberry and lavender spread(sounds interesting, and just so happens, I grow lavender too). I think these will be two I will start off with in my canning adventure.

Pretty sure I will have more than enough rhubarb left over, and with that being said, I plan on making some rhubarb muffins, which the hubby LOVES. The recipe for the muffins will be posted shortly. 🙂

I would love to more ideas/recipes on using strawberries and rhubarb. 🙂