Preserving corn

Finally got  a round to picking the corn from my garden.  Instead of canning I decided to roast and dehydrate at the same time. It gives it, the taste of corn that has been cooked on the grill when you rehydrate it

First step, is to husk and clean the corn. then place in a pan of boiling water. Blanch for 5 minutes.

Next. cut the corn from the cob. Using a bunt pan makes it a lot easier.

Lay out on a pan in a single layer.  Cook in the oven on 200 for 4 hours. Stir every half hour. The corn will dry out and turn golden. I know this takes some time. But the taste is so worth it. When it is dried hard  it is done.

Place in a plastic bag or sealed glass jar. When ready to use. Rehydrate in a bowl of water. They will puff back up just like they were fresh. Cook and enjoy!    Preserving

Spicy Pineapple Zucchini Bread

3eggs, 1 cup oil, 2 cups sugar, 2 1/2 cup grated zucchini, 1 can (81/2 oz) crushed pineapple drain and juice squeezed out. 3 cups flour 2 tsp soda, 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, 3/4 tsp nutmeg,1 cup walnuts finely chopped,  and 1 tsp vanilla

With mixer, beat eggs to blend. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. Continue beating until thick and foamy. add zucchini and pineapple. Combine flour, soda, salt, baking powder, Cinnamon ,nutmeg and nuts. Add to mixture mix just till blended.( don't over mix)

Divide batter between 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or in till a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out on a rack to cool.  While warm ( Not Hot) add the lemon glaze. (optional) Glaze recipe at bottom of page.

For more of a cake like texture, Just drain pineapple . Don't squeeze it. ( the extra liquid makes it moister)
                                                 Lemon Glaze
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 1 lemon, zest finely grated and 1 tbsp unsalted butter.

Mix the lemon juice, and sugar together in a microwave safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps. Then drizzles the glaze over the bread. Let it set for a minute before serving . You will have extra glaze. I set it on the side, just in case someone wants extra.

dehydrating veggies

 Wanted to try my hand on dehydrating veggies. I was surprised how many you could dehydrate.  Since I had two heads of cabbage,I thought I would start there.

What I really liked was the dehydrator did all the work for me. It  took18 hours to dry.

When I saw this I wasn't sure it worked. It looked really brown to me.I summoned all my courage up to try it. To my surprise it had a intense flavor,but really good.

I bagged it up and placed it in a cool and dark place . I did give one to my friend Heidi. She has hers on the counter. Which she eats as a snack.

Squash was next on my list.I cut it into 1/4 inch rings.It took two large size squashes.

I layed it in single layers. Any veggies you use have to be in single layers. All the time and veggies you can dehydrate ( It will surprise you what you can use.) are at. http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/  There is  also recipes  for the produce from the garden.

apple pies

My husband was craving apple pie. I had two jars of pie filling  ( that I canned last year) left. But didn't have time to make pie crust. Luckily I had one pie crust left after Easter in the freezer. I rolled it out and sliced it, then laced it on top of my bowls of pie filling. My husband found he liked it better this way. ( He felt he got more apple this way.). What I liked was I got 4 pies. So he got his pie and I was able to give one to a friend. Plus I was able to freeze the other two for later.

OKRA done right

 For those of you who hate okra. I have a recipe that might change your mind. I have had several people tell me,  that Okra is slimy and nasty. One of which was my own husband. Now, not only are they all fans of this recipe. They are the one's that asked me to put it on the site. Just give it a try. You might be surprised. And I guarantee it will not be slimy. The recipe can be found on my recipe page.

Drying Herbs

 Do you have a lot of herbs and would like to learn how to dry them? You will find the directions on my garden page.