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Stocking Your Pantry
Setting up A Recipe File
A recipe file is a must for every new kitchen, and especially for a young lady who is setting up her kitchen for the first time.
Whether a newlywed or a young girl in her first apartment, they will appreciate this as a housewarming gift. A mother-in-law can make sure her son has all of his favorite foods prepared like at home; this may keep him out of your kitchen for a while too!
There are many ways to set up a recipe file, an index card or notebooks are two ideas. Another great idea is one of the recipe files you can purchase through the internet, the kind that sends out a new set of cards each month.
An index card file is one common way, and can be set up either alphabetically or by topic, (casseroles, desserts, breads etc.). This is up to your discretion, but a topic is usually the easiest for her if she is unfamiliar with cooking!
Be sure to provide plenty of extra index cards, they can be color coded for the favorite recipes or plain white cards; this again is up to you.
A notebook is the most common way to set up a recipe file, and leaves plenty of room to add recipes as she learns more about cooking. Pages can be added from magazines too, if she happens to find something she would like to try in a magazine.
You can include a category on meals, which could include cards with entire meals, on them, with the individual receipts listed separately.
Another category could include basic cooking facts, measurements, cooking times, kitchen tips are always helpful.
I remember one of the things that I didnt know was how long to cook a turkey, now they just have the little pop up to let you know, but in my time they didnt have those!
There are so many little hints you can give someone, to you they are standard, to her they may make the difference between a great meal, and a total disaster!
See Also:
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Tomatoes Everywhere!
I have often been amazed at the number of tomatoes on one plant, and the number of plants a person will maintain at one time.
It seems that every person who plants tomatoes has to have at least 4 varieties, and to be safe two plants of each variety, at that minimum thats 8 tomato plants in a season!
So, just how many tomatoes come on a plant, all I know is that there are a lot.
One bushel or 45 pounds can make 26 to 34 pints of frozen tomatoes and 20 to 28 pints of frozen juice. Once you freeze tomatoes they become mushy, so they can only be used in soups, stews and spaghetti sauce.
My mom used to make breaded tomatoes that I loved, they were made with canned tomatoes, day old bread and sugar, I can still taste them!
The procedures for freezing different tomato products are:
*Raw tomatoes, after washing dip in boiling water to loosen skins, peel and core, freeze whole or in pieces, when packing containers, leave 1 inch of head room.
*Tomato juice, wash, sort and trim firm, vine-ripened tomatoes, cut in quarters and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Press through sieve, season with 1 tsp salt for each quart of juice, pour into containers leaving 1 ½ inches head space, seal and freeze containers.
*Stewed (for breaded tomatoes), remove stem ends, peel and quarter ripe tomatoes. Cover and cook 10 to 20 minutes until tender. Place pan of tomatoes in cold water and cool, pack into containers leaving 1 inch head space, seal and freeze.
Tomato sauce, puree, catsup and chili sauces can be frozen. Prepare them as directed and cool rapidly, pack in rigid containers leaving head space and freeze.
There are hundreds of foods that can be prepared with fresh or frozen tomatoes, enjoy them year round. |
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Pressure Canning
1Put 23 inches of hot water in the canner, using a jar lifter, place filled jars on a rack.
2.Fasten canner lid securely. Leave the weight off the vent or open the petcock, heat at the highest setting until the steam flows from the petcock or vent.
3.Maintain high heat and exhaust the steam for 10 minutes, place weight on vent or close petcock. In the next 3-5 minutes the canner will pressurize.
4.Begin timing when the pressure is at the recommended pressure or the weight gauge begins to jiggle or rock.
5. Adjust the heat to maintain a steady pressure at or slightly above the correct pressure.
6.When the timed process is complete, turn off the heat, and remove the canner from the heat if possible, let the canner depressurize. Do not force cool a canner, it can result in spoiled foods or damage to the seal.
Cooling with cold water or opening the vent before it has depressurized will cause seal failures and loss of liquid from jars. It may also warp the lid of older canners causing steam leaks. Older models will require about 30-45 minutes for depressurizing.
7.After it is depressurized, remove the weight from the vent or open the petcock, wait about 2 minutes, unfasten the lid and carefully lift away from your face, this is to prevent burning.
8.Remove the jars with a lifter and place on a towel or cooling rack. Do not retighten the lids when you remove the jars from a canner, this can cut the gasket and cause the seal to fail.
Cool the jars at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. Place jars on racks or towels to prevent damage to the counter top.
After 24 hours, remove the screw caps and test the lids for proper seal using one of these methods:
*Press the middle of the lid with your finger, if it springs up when released it is not sealed.
*Tap with the bottom of a teaspoon, a well sealed lid will make a high-pitched, ringing sound.
*Hold at eye level and look across the lid, it should be slightly concave in the center, if flat or bulging, it is not sealed.
If a seal fails, the jar may be reprocessed and resealed.
Related Topics: Fried Rice is Nice,
Childrens Recipes, Tomatoes Everywhere
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