Almost Fresh Salsa

I like fresh salsa best, but in middle of the winter when tomatoes aren't great, this recipe is a good substitute.  Especially if you can use canned tomatoes from your garden!  I got this recipe from my friend Jill.  Check our her recipe blog http://jbeanrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/02/restaurant-style-salsa.html.

Salsa
1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice ( I use 1 quart bottled tomatoes)
2 cans tomatoes with cilantro and lime, such as Rotel
¼ cup Chopped Onion
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 Jalapeno 
¼ teaspoons Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
½ cups Cilantro
Juice from one lime

Put it all in a food pocessor and chop to your desired consistency.  

Note:  All measurements are estimates,  and you can adjust them to your taste.
I don't always have a jalapeno or lime on hand, but the salsa stll turns out pretty good.  Just add a little extra cumin.  

110 Year Old Pie Crust

I'm not sure when this recipe was named "110 Year Old Pie Crust", but I'm pretty sure it's a lot older than that since my mom has had this recipe over 30 years :).  This is a very good recipe for pie crust.  Pie crust is not my favorite thing to make, so sometimes I opt for a simpler recipe.  But even so, this pie crust really isn't complicated at all.  Make sure you use ice-cold water.  By this I mean have your water on ice for at least 5 minutes before using it. 

110 Year Old Pie Crust (2 crusts)
2 1/2 c. flour
1 c. butter shortening (if you don't have butter just use regular, I don't even like butter flavored)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 Tbs. white vinegar
ice cold water

Cut shortening into flour and salt using either a fork or a pastry cutter. Mix slightly until small balls form. (Or, you can cheat like my mom taught me and put it in the Bosch mixer.  Just pulse your beaters a few times until small balls appear. ) In a one-cup measuring cup, mix the egg and vinegar.  Fill the rest of the cup with ice water.  Mix it around well.  Add 7 Tablespoons of the egg mixture to the flour mixture.  Mix slightly and then roll out for crust.

Tips:
*Never over-mix pie crust or it will be tough.
*For extra-flaky crust, put the dough in the freezer after you've rolled it our and put it in the pie plate.  Chill at least 15 minutes. 

Easy Pie Crust

Time for Pumpkin Pie!  This recipe for pie crust was given to me by my sister-in-law Jennie, and it is really quite simple.  It's a little tricky to get rolled out, but it really doesn't need to be beautiful, especially if you're just doing a bottom crust pie - like pumpkin pie!  If you want a little more sophisticated pie crust, or if you need one that makes a pretty top crust, check out my mom's 110 Year Old Pie Crust recipe. 

Pie Crust
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oil
3 Tbs. Ice Cold water

I mix this in a Bosch mixer using my beaters.  You could use something else, including a fork or a pastry blender. 

Mix flour and salt and then add in the oil.  Add 3 Tbs. ice cold water and mix just until crumbly.  You never want to overmix pie crust.  Roll it out between two pieces of lightly floured waxed paper or saran wrap.  Put in the pie plate and pinch he edges to make it look nice.  Add your pie filling and bake according to pie directions.  This is also great for cream pies.

For a baked pie crust: prick the bottom of the crust and bake at 375 degrees 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown.

Alternative way to roll out:
This could also be considered a "pat in the pan" crust.  After you've mixed everything together to form the dough, place it in a pie dish and simply press it around with your fingers.  VERY EASY! If you're not doing a top crust there is no need for the dough to be perfect. 
Tips:
*If you want to make a very flaky crust, don't overmix.  After it is rolled out and in the pie plate, place it in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before filling and baking. 
*This is for one crust, double the recipe for two crusts- such as for an apple pie.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

I really like the pumpkin spice cookies that are made with a spice cake mix and pumpkin because they are extremely easy.  But this Halloween I found myself without a spice cake mix, so I had to come up with another solution.  My children wanted a pumpkin treat as they carved their pumpkins.  These were a good alternative. 

Soft Pumpkin Cookies:
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened (1 stick)
1 c. pumpkin puree (Libby's is the best)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla

**Mix all together and then add the dry ingredients:

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

--Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 13-15 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet for a minute before moving cookies to a cookie rack to cool completely.  Drizzle glaze over cookies.  Makes about 3 dozen.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
3 tbs. milk
1 Tbs. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Meatloaf

This is a favorite at our house, and there is never any leftovers!  I have to at least double the recipe, plus I usually do baked potatoes with it as a filler.  The pictures don't always make it look super appetizing, but I promise its good. 

Meatloaf
1 lb. hamburger
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 Tbs. vinegar
1 Tbs. brown sugar
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 egg, beaten
1 can tomato sauce (reserve a little to drizzle over top)
bread crumbs (I break up about 2 pieces of bread)
salt
pepper


Mix everything together, reserving a little of the tomato sauce for the top.  Put mixture into loaf pans or a small glass casserole dish.  Drizzle reserved tomato sauce over top, or use ketchup.  Bake at 350 degrees about an hour.

Tips:
*If you like stuffed green peppers, cut the green peppers in half and stuff with the meat mixture.  Place on a cookie sheet to cook.
*If you are in a hurry, try cooking at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  It will be slightly drier and a little crispier on the edges, but I do it often. 
*I rarely measure any of the ingredients.  I just throw it all in.  It comes out great. 
*If you only have a single oven you can cook baked potatoes at the same time in the oven with the meatloaf. 


 Mix everything together in a large bowl (sorry, this stainless steel bowl didn't make for a very good picture). Spread into loaf pans or small casserole dish.

Drizzle the top with the remaining tomato sauce.  You could also use ketchup if you wanted to.  Bake at 350 1 hour or 400 30 minutes. 

Apple Pie

Apple Pie

6-8 apples, peeled and sliced

3/4 - 1 c. sugar

2 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbs. uncooked tapioca

1 Tbs. water 

2 tbs. butter 

Peel and slice the apples.  Add the sugar, cinnamon, flour, tapioca and toss to coat.  Cook the apples breifly with about 1 Tbs. water.  This step is just to cook the apples down a little so that there is not a gap between the top crust and the apples.  

Prepare the bottom crust and fill it with apples.  Dot the top with 2 Tbs. butter. Cover with the top crust, flute the edges, then poke holes in the top for ventilation.  

Bake at 375 degrees about 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  

First, peel and cut the apples.  I like to get it done fast, so I just use my apple corer/slicer.  The slices are a little thick, but I don't mind.

Usually when I make an apple pie it is with apples that I've picked from a tree rather than apples I've bought from the store.  Usually they are smaller, so I determine exactly how many I'll need by filling my pie plate to the very top and then some, so it is heaping.  In the pie I made today it took 9 apples.  Some spots had to be thrown away because of bruising.  

Place all the apples in a saucepot and add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, tapioca, and water.  I let the apples cook down for about 5 minutes so that they don't shrink after I've already put on the top crust. This step can be skipped, but I would recommend slicing my apples a little thinner.  

Poor apples into the pie plate with the bottom crust.

Dot the top with butter.

Put the top crust on and pinch the edges together.  Cut small slits in the top crust for ventilation.  

Bake at 375 about 25 minutes.  Serve with ice cream!

Sweet Green Relish (canned)

I love to can!  It's a great feeling of accomplishment.  I have a dear friend who just passed away about 10 days ago.  Not too long after I was married, she helped me get started with a lot of my canning.  She would lend me key ingredients that I didn't have on hand, sometimes I would borrow canning equipment, and sometimes I even borrowed jars when mine were all full!  Besides the borrowing, she got me lots of instructions and recipes on how to can different things.   I sampled many of her yummy foods at her house like grape juice, peaches, and this sweet green relish.  My husband and I were at her home eating dinner with her and her husband Dee when we were first introduced to this dish.  I believe that we just ate it on the side kind of like a garnish to the dinner.  It was so good; I knew I had to have the recipe.  We eat the relish on hamburgers and hot dogs especially, but my mom likes it on Roast.

As Nellie called it, it's an "End of the Garden Relish".  That's because you use large cucumbers, the ones that got away and grew too big before you noticed, leftover green tomatoes, and red peppers that take time to actually ripen and turn red.

I am grateful for Nellie and all that she taught me.  Her and her husband Dee had a canning kitchen in their basement right next to the storage room, and I always thought this was such an ideal situation. When my husband and I built a new home, we decided a canning kitchen in the basement was a must (now I just can't wait to get it finished).  I am happy to know that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with the knowledge that our relationships continue beyond the grave.  I am happy to know that Nellie will be reunited with her husband and that I too will see her again.  I am thankful for the sweet knowledge that Jesus Christ died for us, and that through his resurrection, we are all given the blessing of resurrection.  Even when they have lived an exemplary life of 84 years like Nellie did, it is always hard to lose a friend.

Sweet Green Relish
1 qt. green tomatoes
1 qt. onions (I use walla walla)
1/2 dozen red peppers
1 dozen green peppers
6 large cucumbers
1/3 c. plain salt

Grind ingredients.  I use a french fry cutter on my Bosch food processor, but I run the ingredient all through twice so they are diced.  Mix with salt and let stand overnight in the fridge.  Drain the next day and rinse briefly.  Stir in ice cubes and let soak a day or so (at least 2 hours).  Take ice water off (drain). Add the following:

6 c. sugar
1 Tbs. turmeric
1 qt. vinegar
2 Tbs. mustard seed
1 Tbs. celery seed

Cook 20 minutes.  Put in hot jars, screw on caps and invert for 5 minutes.  Tip right side up: jars should seal when cool.