Down Mulberry Lane

Dandelion Jelly...Link

Many have asked me for a recipe for dandelion jelly.  I may yet share a post on our own adventures, but for now, here is the site that I have used in the past.  I love that it has pictures.  Although, I will comment on one thing...  Dandelion Jelly

When clipping your petals, if you are very picky and don't get the green sepals in your petals, you will not need to worry about the greenish hue that your infusion may make.  However, that will add alot of time to your preparation time.   I did not separate the sepals and my infusion looked much like the pictures on this site.  I did not add food coloring, either, but after cooking, some of that green-ness came out.  My end product looked like honey... without food coloring. 

I also tried another dandelion recipe, found online, but I don't have it handy... and the infusion was made by boiling the petals and the water together, and then straining... the result decreased your time, if you need to make jelly that SAME day and without the wait of the infusion time.  So, look around. There are more recipes out there.  Both tasted the same, by the way. 

AND, I doubled the recipe without any trouble with it jelling.  I found in nicer to get 7 to 8 half pints done at one time, rather than 3 to 4 half pints and starting the process all over. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Violet Jelly... a tutorial

VIOLET JELLY?

Yes, indeed!  Violets are an edible flower and purple violets will make a beautiful pink-violet jelly.  Want to learn how?  Join us as we share our pictures from our violet jelly making adventure.

First, I will share the recipe that we used.  I searched for it online and found that there are several different ways to go about getting to the final recipe, but ultimately the recipe was the same, as far as ingredients go. 

Violet Jelly Recipe:

2 cups fresh violets

2 cups boiling water

juice of one lemon (4 tablespoons)

1 package of powdered pectin

4 cups sugar

Make an infusion with the violets and boiling water.  Pour water over the violet flower heads (remove stems if they have any).  Let sit anywhere from 2 to 24 hours (put in fridge if longer than 2 hours).  Drain liquid from flowers, squeezing to get every last drop of liquid for the recipe.  Add lemon juice.  (notice color change!)  Add one package of powdered pectin.  Bring to a boil.  Add four cups of sugar.  Bring to a second rolling boil.  Boil vigorously for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Skim foam, if necessary.  Ladle into jars.  Seal with paraffin wax OR can with lids and waterbath for 5 minutes (1/2 pint jars). 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

TUTORIAL

Our Violet Harvest!

Our yard happens to be filled with WHITE violets, and a few purple violets.  We picked about 1/4 of the white violets and all of our purple violets.  These are quart jars and you can see we got about 6 cups of white violets and about 3 cups of purple violets.  To make the infusion, there are various ways to make it, depending on how much jelly you plan to make.  (our white violet jelly was an experiment...white violets are edible as well, but we were unsure what color the jelly would end up being). 

Though we didn't try it, I would think you could double the recipe with NO trouble at all.  Alot of times you are not supposed to double the recipe, because it will interfere with the jelling aspect and often times not set up.  But the jelly we made was very thick, and because of that, I feel you could likely double the recipe without worry. 

Ok, back to the infusion.  One recipe said to fill a quart jar with flower heads (no stems) and cover completely with boiling water, all the way to the rim.  In the picture below, you will notice we did that with the white violets.  Other ways were to pack violet heads down to one cup and add 2 cups of boiling water.  Some just said, measure 2 cups of violet flower heads and add 2 cups of boiling water.  If you chose the full quart jar method, you measured out 2 cups of the liquid for the recipe.  If you measured the 2 cups of boiling water method, use simply used that liquid. 

As for preparation, many said none, just watch your flowers, make sure they are clean, bug free, etc.  One recipe said they rinsed their flowers, but I would recommend measuring out your flowers before rinsing as they wilt to nothing once wet.  We just looked at our flowers, we figured the boiling water and boiling with the jelly preparation would kill what we missed.  *grin*

Violets Infusing.

The set time to infuse was a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 24 hours.  We chose 24 hours for maximum color, since our purple violets were a mixture of true purples and crosses with whites (so less purple color).  The white violets made a murky yellow gray color.  The purple violets it was a murky blue color.

Strain Infusion.

(Don't we look so happy?  LOL)  Anyways, this is a picture of the white violets being strained.  We used a jelly bag.  You could also use cheese cloth.  Once drained, you still want to squeeze as much liquid out of the flower heads as possible for ultimate color and liquid for recipe. 

Squeeze Liquid.

This is a picture of the white violet infusion.  A yellowish-gray murky coloring of liquid.  Did we really want jelly out of this???  We were wondering about our experiment! 

Purple Violet Infusion.

Here you can see the purple violets makes a dark grayish greenish blue.  You don't really see the green in the photo.  In real life it looks more dirty like, lake water, just with blue in it. 

Add your lemon juice.  (notice the color change!)

Wow!  Wasn't that pretty? The liquid now should look pretty clear and ready to be jellied.  What about the white violet infustion?

Is it changing?

Oh my!  It did (thank goodness!)  LOL  It now looks like a grapefruit pink.  Once canned it looked light peach in color.

Add Pectin.

Now this step is one you may want to pay some attention to, for this is where our story goes bad.  LOL.  Don't just dump in the pectin.  It will thicken almost immediately, even before cooking it.  Pour it in slowly and stir evenly (but not too roughly to cause bubbles) to dissolve the pectin.  You can do this step in a pan on the stove before heating... to save the mess from transferring it to the pan as it will now stick to the bowl once it thickens.  (This we learned). 

Our mistake with the first batch was that the pectin went in all at once and was lumpy.  It created jelly that had thicker spots than others, although it all jelled, it was like gelatin in jelly.   Our second batch, we whisked it, after my daughter again dumped it in... *sigh*... and it created bubbles that would not even cook out.  This step ended up being crucial for our final result in jelly texture. 

Bring to a Rolling Boil.

You want to be sure the boil is big enough not to be pushed out with the spoon.  It should boil even with a quick stirring motion. 

Add Sugar.

Return to a rolling boil as in the step before.  This time let it boil for 1 minute.  stir constantly so that the sugar does not burn and that you are watching closely for it could easily overboil. 

Remove from Heat, Skim Foam, if needed.

Use a metal spoon to skim foam.  Why metal?  I found that the foam tends to cling easily to a metal spoon and it IS what is recommended in my canning books.

Ladle quickly, but carefully into hot prepared jars.

I realize this is not in the directions for the recipe, but it is a necessary step with canning.  Prepared jars are cleaned and then boiled for 10 minutes on top of the stove.  Keep the jars hot as you are preparing your jelly recipe.  Once ready to ladle, get your jars out and fill them.  This jelly we found was quite thick, and if you weren't careful, you could create bubbles along the sides of the jars.  Using a plastic utensil designed for removing bubbles may have helped, but this jelly was really thick for us.  My daughter took more time than I might normally with skimming and the jelly may have thickened more than had we filled the jars more quickly after removing from the heat. 

At this point, you want to clean the jar rims from any spilled jelly.  You can either opt to fill with hot paraffin wax to seal, or do as we did and seal with hot prepared lids (lids set in boiling water for one minute... I use the teapot and put my lids in a bowl.  I boil the water while making jelly.  When I add the sugar and am doing the last boil, I pour the water over the jar lids to help soften the rubber.)  I then put the 1/2 pint jars in for a 5 minute waterbath.  Recipe yield is 4 half pint jars.

Excuse my jars!  They still need their vinegar bath!  After canning, especially with waterbathing with hard water, you may get a residue on the outside of the jars.  Washing with a rag, wettened with vinegar, will shine up your jars.  I shared these photes so you could see the bubbles and clumping of the jelly.  In the violet colored jelly, it is not so much bubbles that you see, but rather thick gelatin areas of the jelly...which I was unable to cook out.  The white violet jelly, below, if you look closely has lots of tiny bubbles from us whisking, and we were unable to cook them out as well.   I hope to make another batch tomorrow and be able to add a finished photo of jelly gone right.  LOL. 

We hope that by sharing some of our goofs, you can prevent your own.  Jelly making is usually quite easy, but can have it's unexpected AAAAaaaacks!   Don't be afraid to try again!  You'll be glad you did!

Since this recipe is backwards from many I've tried before... I may try doing as I have before, which is to switch the order of the sugar and pectin.  Adding the sugar to the drained infusion and lemon juice mixture and boiling, then adding pectin and boiling for a full minute.  I imagine the result will be much better.  Adding the pectin too early just made it hard to work with.  With fruit jellies, you tend to use 3-5 cups of fruit juice or fruit and with flower infusions you use only 2 cups of liquid for the package of pectin.  (dandelion jelly recipes are very similar to this, and the one I tried last year has you adding the pectin after the sugar, not before, as well).   I will let you know how it goes by reversing the order of the recipe.  If it turns out, I will redo my tutorial to reflect the happier ending with the jelly. 

**I retried the recipe swapping instructions.  I found it did not set up.  However, I can see the pectin is still grainy inside the jar.  I made a second re-do batch and the pectin did the same thing...so I am thinking the pectin is bad (I bought a three pack).  I won't be able to retry again this season... my flowers are fading!  If you try, leave a comment and let me know how it went.   

Warmly, ~Melissa

Burger Patties (vegetarian)

Thought I'd share a recipe.  This is what we had for lunch today.  One picture is the patties frying before flipping.  The second picture is of a patty close up after frying... so you have an idea what they might look like.  If you use store bought eggs, they won't look quite so "yellow".  Our dark yolks do change the colors on some of our foods!

Burger Patties

1 can of vegetarian burger

1-2 eggs

1 teaspoon of sage

2 Tablespoons of flour

1 Tablespoon of oil (may omit, I often do)

1 medium to large potato, grated

1 small to medium onion, chopped

DIRECTIONS:     Mix all the above ingredients together.  It should be a sticky mixture.  Make sure the onion is chopped small (large pieces cause the patties to fall apart).  Fry in a lightly greased pan until firm and browned. 

Serve on a bun, as you would hamburgers.  My husband loves these with toppings of tomatoes, lettuce and mayo.  (And he isn't a vegetarian).   Two of my kids prefer the standard ketchup... which to me is yuck on these... I just can't imagine!  A good tasting patty. 

*Tips* 

*Fry on a low to medium heat.  Let the patty sit for a while before attempting to flip it or it will fall apart.  The egg needs to set before it can be successfully flipped.   Practice makes perfect!

*Vegetarian Burger... has brand names of Loma Linda, Worthington, and others.  I use worthington low fat and it works well.... and tastes good.  You need a wet burger substitute to help hold things together.   You can order online, find at some Walmarts (not all carry them, but some do), check a health food store, or an ABC...Adventist Book Centers carry great vegetarian food products. 

* If you don't like onion chunks, just delete and add 1/2- 1 teaspoon of onion powder in it's place.  The patties cook easier, meaning they don't fall apart as easily.  We do this on occasion to please the kids or when I've run out of onions.  My in-laws serve with raw sliced onions for a topping, so not cooking with the onion is fine with them.   I personally like the onion chunks, they have a nice sweet flavor.  But learning how much onion to keep them from falling apart takes a couple give and takes... start small and work up. 

*To keep warm, place in a casserole dish in the oven after frying and while still frying the rest of the batch. 

*IF the batch is too crumbly... caused by not enough egg, or flour, or too wet and you don't want to adjust for those factors... just fry it all together like a maid rite.  It is still good, just a bit like a loose burger sandwich. 

*Leftovers are great.  I never have to freeze these, because they are gone the next day if we didn't eat them all.  The kids or Dad calls dibs on these for lunch the next day. 

ENJOY!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Salted Peanut Chews - Recipe

This is an older family favorite.  If you like the old salted peanut chew candy bars, this will be similar, although not exactly the same.  I like it better.  *grin*  I haven't made if for quite some time, but was wanting something different for a change. 

Crust: 

1 1/2 c. flour

2/3 c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 egg yolks

3 c. miniature marshmallows

Topping:

2/3 c. corn syrup

1/4 c. butter

2 tsp. vanilla

12 oz. peanut butter chips

2 c. Rice Krispies cereal

2 c. salted peanuts

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine crust ingredients, except marshmallows until crumb mixture forms.

Press into bottom of ungreased 9 by 13 pan.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until light golden brown.

Sprinkle with marshmallows and bake 1-2 minutes until they begin to puff. 

Cool while preparing topping.

Topping:

Heat in large saucepan corn syrup, butter, and chips until smooth and melted, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Stir in cereal and nuts.

Spoon over marshmallows and spread to cover.

Chill and cut into bars.

Enjoy!

~Melissa 

Spicy Pepper Jelly...

This is one of my best selling jellies at Farmer's Market.  It is good on crackers with cream cheese.  Some use it on cornbread.  Some use it on meats when cooking.    And some just like it on toast.  It is not terribly spicy, but can get warm in your mouth the more you eat.  I will share the original recipe given to me by a friend, Rosanna, who got it from someone else.... we have been enjoying making these with different variations for a couple years now.  I always think of her when I make this jelly. 

I tried to get a picture outside so you could see the contrast of the jelly and the peppers.  The picture is a little blurry.  You should see red, yellow and green bell peppers with jalapeno peppers and seeds floating in a clear yellow jelly.  MMmmmm.....

Pepper Jelly

1 c. finely chopped Jalapeno Peppers

1 3/4 c. finely chopped bell peppers (prettiest with a mix of colors, but not necessary)

6 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. white vinegar

Optional - green food color (she and I both do not add this in our jellies)

1 pouch Certo liquid pectin

Instructions:

Combine everything except the Certo in a large saucepan.

Bring it to a full boil over high heat.  Continue boiling and stirring for a full 10 minutes.  (may need to slightly decrease heat to keep from boiling over)

Stir in Certo.  Return to a rolling boil for one minute.

Remove from heat and can.

As far as canning goes... the USDA would have directions to wash and boil your jars, heating the lids, and then to water bath the jellies for 10 minutes or whatever is recommended in your area.   I however have done it both ways.  I have just put the hot jelly into hot sterilized jars.  I've heated the lids and cleaned the lip of the jar and placed the lids onto the jars.  I then turn the jelly upside down so the hot jam is against this seal.  I leave it that way 5-10 minutes.  I flip the jelly jars every 5 - 10 minutes so that the peppers appear evenly floated.  If you do not turn your jars, your peppers will almost all be at the top.  Usually after about 15 minutes the jars will pop... may take a little longer, but all of mine usually seal.  If not, I sometimes will take the lid off, rewash the lip of the jar and put the lid back on (wash the lid).  These jars, I will then waterbath. 

I have water bathed several batches and in my honest opinion it messes up the gelling of the jelly.  Sometimes it stays saucy.  Sometimes it takes 2-4 weeks to finally set up.  Sometimes it works... I just never get a similar response with results when I water bath.  I've honestly had the best luck with the batches I did not water bath.   But I would say that you should know where your veggies are coming from if you don't water bath... do you know the farming practices of those who grew the vegetables?   

Ultimately, the safest is to water bath.    I just shared so that if you water bath, you will be aware of the varying results.  If you are making the jelly for home use, feel comfortable with the water bath.   You can wait the 2-4 weeks for it to set up.  I water bathed all my market jellies.  I was frustrated at times, but ultimately most did set up and most were able to be sold eventually, even with late gelling.   Still is good jelly to try.   

Variations:  To make it spicier... add the seeds from the jalapeno peppers to the mix.   Experiment with other peppers... just be careful.  My friend makes it with one habenero (is that how you spell it?) pepper in her batches and she has friends that LOVE it that spicy.... not me.... I like the original recipe.  I found that both this and the one with the seeds included are both sellers at the market.  The one with the seeds is my best seller, aside from my strawberry rhubarb jam.  The milder version listed above is purchased often by those who aren't quite so daring, but who do like the taste... I offer samples on crackers at the market, so they can try. 

As for how hot.... The milder version is like a mild salsa heat.  The spicier version with the jalapeno seeds in it can vary depending on the size of the seeds.  I had small peppers once and the seeds were small... that was like a mild -medium salsa heat, but it can get spicier depending on how many seeds you add and how well developed the seeds are. 

After I posted this, I recalled some tips for "pepper jelly" making that have been useful to know.  IF you chop your peppers in a food processor (it doesn't look as pretty, but is still good) you need to blot away the juice from the pepper...do not add that juice sitting on the bottom of your chopped peppers.... it will keep your jelly from setting up.    A second tip, is to use the apple cider vinegar rather than white vinegar because the thought is the apple part of the vinegar will add some pectin type influence and help with gelling.  Now, I'm not sure if that is unfounded.  I've not tried it, so I cannot say if there is a difference.  I like the taste of my jelly with the white vinegar, so never tried it to see.  Honestly, I have used apple vinegar and never thought it thick enough to have pectin in it... but maybe it would be worth trying if you continue to have troubles with it gelling.  Also, the technique of getting a full boil/rolling boil is very important for gelling in this recipe!  If just a simmered boil or a soft boil... it just doesn't set as well... this 10 minute full boil is a hot process, but one that is necessary for you to stand and watch the jelly... keep it boiling hard and watch so the bottom doesn't burn (done that, walked away and jelly burnt to the bottom and messed up the entire batch!), keep stirring quite often...those peppers sometimes stick to the bottom.  The hard boil helps the sugar get to a gelling stage as well.    Hope those tips help.  With pepper jellies, this seems to be a common trouble, not setting up... the juice is the main complaint, the second is using the apple cider, and lastly I often hear the waterbath complaint.  So, just be aware, there is a learning curve here.  But don't be afraid, it's a good jelly!  It's worth getting to know!

Enjoy!

~Melissa

Dandelion Jelly...

I've been asked about Dandelion Jelly.  Here are some sites that I found recipes on.  They are almost all the same, just some add more details to the directions.  I've sold 7 jars of the jelly so far and I've had 3 come back and specifically tell me that it is very good stuff.  LOL

http://www.recipesource.com/side-dishes/jams/dandelion-jelly1.html

http://www.prairielandherbs.com/dandelionjelly.htm

http://www.recipecottage.com/preserving/dandelion-jelly02.html

http://www.recipecottage.com/preserving/dandelion-jelly.html

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1723,154185-255204,00.html

Have fun with this!  We did.  I plan to make another couple batches once the dandelions come back again.  Right now, they are seeded out, so it will be a few weeks before I probably get to make it again. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Tuna Noodle Salad

I had a request for this recipe, so here it is... quick and easy.

One box of ring noodles (can use small shells.  It is the small box, I think 7 oz.)

One can of peas

One can of tuna

Optional... 1/2-1 c. of chopped celery or onion for texture

Miracle Whip salad drsg, or similar

Cook noodles, rinse with cold water to chill the noodles.  Drain peas and tuna.  Mix all ingredients together except salad dressing.  Add salad dressing to coat.  My kids always ask, how much?  And I laugh, til it tastes right.  Too little, it is dry and bland, too much and it will be runny and too sweetish from the salad dressing.

Tips:  the ring noodles take less salad dressing.  The shells will take more s. drsg. to coat and have the same flavor.  The next day, you may need to add more Salad Dressing as it will soak into the noodles and become quite dry in texture, a dollup and a quick stir and it's back to day one texture. 

My kids prefer not to have the onions or celery in it, as they think the crunch is ~disgusting~, but I like it that way, even way back when I was a kid.  Who raised my kids anyways?  LOL  I know, I know... I did it, I catered to the whims and this is what I got.... but it is getting better...they tried Bean Burgers tonight and actually liked them... thought they were weird, but still good.  They said it would be good on our homemade tacos, then the beans wouldn't fall off, LOL. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Our Honey Wheat Bread...

Julia asked how I make my bread, so I am sharing.  The original recipe that I played with came out of Favorite Bread Machine Recipes by Norman A Garrett.  It was called Honey Wheat Bread.  I wanted a 2 pound recipe, so I tinkered with the recipe.  I also changed the proportions of white to wheat flour as my girls wanted a heavier denser wheat bread. 

Now, this was not something that just magically happened, that my girls wanted heavy whole wheat bread, but rather I tried for years recipe after recipe to find what they would eat... and I was always met with "eh... it's ok" and after one piece each the bread went out to the chickens.  However this last summer at Farmer's Market, we happened to be next to the organic whole wheat bread lady and she will NOT share her recipe, by the way... award winning bread... and I don't blame her, LOL.  But she offered samples of her different varieties of bread... and my girls sometimes came hungry to FM so they would ask if they could have a sample... which she always nicely let them have it... she even started giving the girls her leftover samples if she ran out of bread.  Her bread was quite dense, but soft and good.  Her secret to good bread is to use freshly ground wheat... she ground her wheat just before baking her bread.  She also ground it twice for softer wheat flour.  Anyways, we would trade her bread for our goodies and we loved the trade.  Once FM was over... the girls were begging me to make some homemade bread.  So this is where the recipe hunting began.  We tried this bread and liked the flavor basically, but the girls said it was not heavy enough... so I switched some ingredients and this is what we came up with...that everyone is happy enough... Happy enough that the girls come up to me and lovingly softly say... "I love homemade bread with butter and jam, mmmmm, ummmm, ummmm". 

So, here's our recipe... but it is heavy... the dough is heavy and not the typical soft dough...

For a 2 pound loaf, which I mix in the bread machine, then split into two loaves and bake in the smaller 8.5 inch bread pans (the 9.5 inch ones don't fit in my toaster):

1/2 c. warm water

1/2 c. warm milk

4 T. honey

2 TB butter (I just cube and drop into the water)

2 eggs

3.5 cups of whole wheat flour

1 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp of yeast... the second tsp is rounded... so probably 2 1/4 tsp.

I just put into the bread machine to mix into dough.  I let it rise, then take it out and shape into loaves, placing into sprayed bread pans.  Set it by our wood stove to rise.  Then bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. 

Warmly, ~Melissa