Bread & Butter Pickles

My cucumbers have been doing fantastic—that’s about the only thing doing extremely well in my garden this year. We’ve had so much rain in our part of the world, it’s giving everyone fits with their gardens.
I’ve had an abundance of cucumbers. An “abundance” for me, maybe not for anyone else. Actually, I don’t even get enough at one time for a full batch of pickles, but I didn’t let that stop me from making some pickles. My sweet Jacob loves bread and butter pickles, but they must be homemade—none of that store-bought stuff for him. I was able to make two separate half batches from our garden and thought I’d share the recipe. Thankfully, batches of pickles (unlike jellies and jams) can be halved, doubled, or tripled and still have great results.
We have always used Southern Living's recipe. Bread and butters almost always turn out crunchy and they are super easy to make. Dill pickles can be so finicky and you don’t always get consistent results. I think the moon has to be just right and the proper stars aligned for dill pickles. (No, I’m not bitter at all.) Not so with bread and butters! The recipe on the SL website is for a smaller batch than the recipe in the cookbooks my mom and I have. Below is the recipe I used. I took pictures of most of the process, but with a two year old and a crawling 5.5 month old helping me, I missed a few steps.

My kitchen smells like HEAVEN while the pickles are getting mixed up and while they chill. The smell almost runs my husband out of the house but it smells divine to me, which is funny because I don’t care for bread and butter pickles at all.
Also, I’m assuming you know the basics of canning. If not, please visit here before starting.
Bread & Butter Pickles (Half Batch makes 5-6 pints)
3 lbs cucumbers, washed and sliced
2-3 medium onions, sliced
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/6 c. salt (original recipe calls for pickling salt, but we have always used regular salt and had great results)
Ice—crushed is best, but I’m still old school and have ice trays.
~~~~~
2 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 c. white vinegar
1 T. yellow mustard seeds
3/4 t. turmeric
3/4 t. celery seeds
~Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large dutch oven or pot. (I use my 11 quart soup pot. I’ve also just used a large Tupperware container, it just needs to be able to fit in your fridge.) Stir well, then add the salt and stir again.
Add ice and stir well to make sure the ice is distributed evenly throughout the pickle mixture.

Let chill in the fridge for 3 hours and drain. It’s ok if there is a little ice left, just so long as you get all of the water out. Set dutch oven on stove.
Mix together in a bowl remaining ingredients.

Pour over cucumber mixture and mix to coat.
Heat mixture til just boiling. Don’t let it boil for very long at all or you may end up with mushy pickles. Everything will turn a lovely mustard yellow color.

Immediately pack into hot jars (be sure and check the rims for nicks and make sure the rims are clean), put lids on and tighten rings finger tight. Place in a hot water bath canner, cover jars with water 2-3 inches above lids and process 10 minutes (let the jars boil for 10 minutes –set a timer) then remove with a jar lifter. Let jars set for at least 12 hours before moving them. Enjoying the happy popping sounds of the jars sealing!

A word about hot water baths: it’s a commitment. The recipe makes it sound so quick and simple. But it’s not. It takes FOREVER and a day for that massive pot of water to come to a boil. I think it took around an hour. And I started with warm water. Just warning you.

One Dish Meals—my favorite thing to make!

Lately the creative juices have been running dry about what to cook for supper. I’m pregnant, so my tastebuds have a mind of their own, my energy levels aren’t what I wish they were, and living in the city means restaurants are close by. 

At this stage in my life, recipes that are quick and easy to prepare, don’t require many dishes (have I mentioned my cute little antique 50’s house doesn’t have a dishwasher?) or crockpot recipes are very, very appealing to me right now.

So, having said all that, I tried a new recipe this week for Sunday dinner.  A friend had just made it and raved about it so I decided to give it a go. I bravely tried a new recipe and invited my in-laws over for dinner—breaking one of the oldest rules in the book: Never try a new recipe out on company!

The recipe was one that I had seen floating around on Pinterest and Facebook for a little while.  You bake chicken breast with green beans and potatoes and it looked pretty fast and easy. I was a little skeptical, but when my friend went on and on about it, I thought I’d give it a try.

It turned out amazing!!!! The chicken was so moist, the green beans were the best I’d ever had (which floored me because there was no bacon in it), and the potatoes were perfect. I made some cream cheese chili corn to go with it and Overnight Sourdough Rolls (recipe forthcoming) and my husband pronounced the meal “The BOMB!” My in-laws loved it and my mother-in-love said she was going to add it to their menu.

It turned out so yummy that I ended up making it again for supper the next night, but with center cut pork chops instead of chicken. I wasn’t disappointed. The results were just as delicious. I will have to be careful and not make it too often, lest I burn the husband out on it.

It took only about 15 minutes (maybe!) to put together and it baked for an hour and a half.  My kitchen didn’t get destroyed, it didn’t mess up every dish in the cupboard and I had time to get things done whilst it baked. Win, win, win, all the way around.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I’d remembered to take pictures. I will next time! You’ll just have to take my word for how yummy it looks.

Here’s the recipe:

Oven Baked Chicken, Green Beans & Potatoes

4 chicken breasts (I used boneless, skinless, and the next night I used center cut pork chops!)

2-3 cans of green beans, drained OR fresh green beans

1 1/2 lbs-2 lbs small red potatoes, quartered

1 package dry Italian dressing mix (I used Good Seasons)

1 stick (or 1/2 cup) of butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Place chicken down the center of a large baking dish (I used an 11X14 Pyrex). Place the green beans on one side, the potatoes on the other. Sprinkle the package of Italian dressing mix over everything and drizzle with the melted butter.  Cover in foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is done and potatoes are tender.

Venison and Veggie Soup

With the evenings beginning to turn cool, and especially with us being at the deerlease, my husband requested soups and chili for a few of the meals while we are here.

Everyone has their method or recipe for the “ultimate soup” and I thought I’d share mine with you. This recipe is very simple and fast, and is a husband pleaser. It is chocked full of fresh veggies—I used frozen, fresh, or what I have canned. It is a from scratch recipe and most of the ingredients I just throw in ‘til it looks and tastes right. There are a few ingredients that I know how much I use, but for the most part I’ll just give you the ingredients and you can tweak it to your own taste.

1 lb ground venison or lean ground beef

1/2 medium onion, cut into large pieces*

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to taste

Brown meat and onions in a large pot. Add salt , pepper, and garlic powder. Add 2-3 quarts of water (I really have no idea how much I put, I just pour until it looks right) 3 8oz cans of tomato sauce. Stir well, bring to a boil and add the following:

1/4 large head finely chopped cabbage

Carrots, sliced

Potatoes, sliced or cubed

Peas (my favorites to use are purple hull or black-eyed)

Butterbeans

Green beans

Whole kernel corn

Return to a medium boil and boil covered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (You want the cabbage, carrots, potatoes and peas to be tender.) Reduce heat and let simmer til ready to serve. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. You may need to add more water to the broth, or continue to simmer until the broth has thickened some.

* I put it in large pieces because we love the flavor the onion gives, but we don’t like to eat the actually onions. After the soup is finished cooking I remove the onions. If you like to eat onions, chop them as small as you like ;)

Homemade pasta

Yesterday I whipped up some homemade lasagna and spaghetti noodles. I made lasagna for supper and dried the spaghetti noodles for later use.

Here are a few pictures ;)

Jacob loves to take pictures of me cooking. He loved how everything turned out. He’d never had fresh, homemade pasta before.