Homemade Noodles! | Recipe

 

Thanksgiving is approaching! It the best holiday of the year! 

With Thanksgiving comes a lot of food preparation. So much cooking! Last week I made 5 batches of noodles. One of these years I'm going to have to invest in a pasta machine. I'm sure it would make the job go a lot faster!

Does anyone else have egg noodles as part of their traditional Thanksgiving meal? For most of my growing up years my family never had noodles for Thanksgiving. One year a guest that we were having over said that Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be complete without egg noodles. My mother wanted to accommodate their tradition so she found a recipe for egg noodles in her Good Housekeeping cook book. 

Her Good Housekeeping cook book is like a cooking encyclopedia for the kitchen. It is a few inches thick with step by step illustrations; teaching everything from gravy making to bread baking, from how to cut a multi-layer cake to how to prepare a lobster, how to carve everything from ham to leg of lamb, humble things like biscuits and not so humble things like blinis with caviar. This is the kind of book that every new Bride needs!

It is the book that my Mother turned to when she wanted to learn how to make noodles. The recipe was good and so were the instructions. It walked a complete newbie through the process without using any special equipment. Then I tried my hand at it. My noodles were thin and ribbon-y and my mom's were thick and dumpling like. 

The consensus was that I should be the noodle maker. And I still am today! Whenever we go to my family's for Thanksgiving I bring homemade noodles.

Homemade Egg Noodles

2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup water

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 TBS. oil

1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl combine 1 cup flour and remaining ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat for 2 minutes.

With wooden spoon, stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Cover dough and let rest 30 minutes.

Cut dough in half. On floured surface roll dough out to a 20"×14" rectangle, then fold in half crosswise, and in half again crosswise, (flouring between the layers), to form a 5"×14" rectangle. Cut into strips.

Unfold strips and lay on a cloth towel. 

Repeat rolling, folding, cutting, and unfolding with remaining dough.

Let strips dry at least 2 hrs. before cooking. Continue drying the noodles until crisp to store for later. Noodles can be stored in airtight containers or bags in the freezer at this point.

Cook 5-8 minutes in boiling broth, unless you want to drain the cooking liquid, in that case just use boiling water.

Green Tomatoes Before The Frost

This year I picked all my green tomatoes before the frost and lacto fermented them. This is the first time I have tried preserving green tomatoes. I didn't want the tomatoes to go to waste, if possible.

I have this belief that fermented foods are really healthy. That is why I settled on lacto fermentation as my preservation method.

My Harvest! 18 pounds of produce.

I chopped the tomatoes and the peppers that 
I found in the garden.

I salted the vegetables and submerged
 them in a brine.

In one crock I used these muslin
spice bags to help contain the tomato
pieces under the ceramic weights.
The spice bags didn't have any spice
in them. I just needed some kind of cloth
to hold all the tomatoes under the brine. 

In these glass containers I used plastic lids
to hold the tomatoes under the brine.
I stacked the one vessel inside the other to weigh
the lower tomatoes down.

After 12 days at room temperature I checked
the tomatoes for acidity by tasting them.

There was quite a lot of kahm yeast
growing on the surface of the brine.
This yeast is benign and harmless.

I tried scooping off some of the yeast,
But most of it mixed into the brine and fell.

The tomatoes tasted briney and sour.
They had a nice tingly zing. 

Now, tell me if these picked tomatoes look appealing to you. I think they look delicious! But I am weird that way. Lol! I like all kinds of foods that turn Mr. In the Mid-west's stomach. Let me add: he is in no way a picky eater. I'm just strange. Haha!

Anyway, I really like to chop these pickled tomatoes into a smaller dice and use them as a topping for bowls of rice with natto, tuna, and freshly diced onion. Yum!.......for me. :)

Paw Paw Time!

 We went to the Paw Paw Grove this week 

 to see if there were any ripe fruits. 

 We found a few!

You can read about our Paw Paw harvest in 2020

in a blog post HERE.

Paw Paws are native to the North American continent.

The fruits have a very tropical taste and aroma.

They are a special treat!

This is the time of year when many 

treats are being harvested.

Apples, pears, and grapes,

are a few that come to mind.

It has been several years since I have had

any local pears or grapes.

Genesis 1:11 
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass,
 the herb yielding seed, 

and the fruit tree yielding fruit
 after his kind, whose seed is in itself, 

upon the earth: 
and it was so.

Have you been busy with harvesting

or preserving?

Let me know your favorite fruit!

A Bunch of Drying

 I've been drying some of summer's bounty the last couple months.

The children and I picked pineapple weed all throughout June. We were able to collect almost a full quart jar of dried pineapple weed flowers. I blended them with mint and lemon balm for tea.

The rest of the herbs and flowers from my yard, that can be used for herbal infusions, I have been collecting and blending together. 

There is a little borage, calendula, mint, lemon balm, lavender, and rose petals. I added some anise seed and ginger. I'm calling this Yard Blend Tea. :)

From our neighborhood community garden I have all this basil to dry.

These hot banana peppers are from my garden. I did not feel like pickling them. I decided to hang them and once they're dry maybe I can grind them into some kind of chili powder. ? I have never done anything like that before. Have any of you ever dried banana peppers? I could use some advice!

Psalms 104:14
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,

and herb for the service of man: 

that he may bring forth food 

out of the earth;

Sweet Zucchini Relish And Dill Cucumber Relish

In this post are my recipes for sweet and dill relish. 

These relishes play an integral role in my chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, and potato salad. 

The Confetti Zucchini Relish won the first place ribbon every year for as long as I can remember at the county fair where I grew up in Putnam County Indiana. The lady who made it didn't mind sharing the recipe and neither do I. :)

Confetti Zucchini Relish

10 cups chopped or grated zucchini (you can use the food processor)

4 cups copped onion

5 Tablespoons salt

1 sweet red pepper, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

3 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

3 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons celery seed

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 1/2 cups cider vinegar

Combine zucchini, onion, and salt; let stand overnight in refrigerator. Rinse and drain well. Place in large kettle or dutch oven along with remaining ingredients. Cook 10-12 minutes until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Do not over cook. Pack hot into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water. Yields: 5 pints

Last time I made this recipe I used 1/2 of the sugar and was pleased with the results. I am not sure if it was a safe thing for me to do. I didn't think of the preserving quality of the sugar, at the time. I didn't have any problems, though, and I was happy I did have to use as much sugar as the recipe calls for.   

Dill Cucumber Relish

8 lbs. Pickling Cucumbers

1/2 cup Pickling Salt or Non Iodized Salt

2 tsp. Tumeric

4 cups Water

2 1/2 cups Finely Chopped Onion

1/3 cups Sugar

2 TBS. Dill Seed

4 cups Vinegar

In food processor, working in batches, finely chop the cucumbers. Transfer batches to a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Sprinkle with pickling salt and tumeric. Add water, cover and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

Transfer cucumber mash to a colander and rinse and drain thoroughly. Using hands, squeeze out excess liquid.

Prepare canner, jars and lids. In a large stainless steel pot; combine drained cucumbers, onions, sugar, dill seed and vinegar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and the vegetables are heated through, about 10 minutes

Ladle hot relish into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rims. Screw bands to fingertip-tight. Process in water bath 15 minutes. Yields about 8 pints.

Peppers, Peppers, Peppers!

 

I have been able to harvest a lot of peppers from our small garden plot this year.

I have used the banana peppers to make Lacto-Fermented Pickled Peppers. I still think this is the best recipe for pickled peppers. You can follow this link for the recipe:

https://simplyinspirations101.blogspot.com/2017/11/lacto-fermented-peppers-recipe.html?m=1

The habanero plants have produced marvelously! I have been using them to make some aged pepper hot sauce. If you are curious about my method you can read all about it here:

http://simplyinspirations101.blogspot.com/2020/10/my-aged-pepper-hot-sauce-recipe.html?m=0

When my Mom was in town to meet our newest baby she froze the majority of the bell pepper harvest for me. She just diced the peppers and froze them in freezer bags. It was a blessing to have her help! :)

Genesis 8:22

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Seasons are changing here in the Mid-west.  My flowers are fading. The days are shortening. Soon we will be going to weiner roasts and enjoying campfires with family and friends.

Apple Butter Made With Crabapples

Crabapple Butter Recipe

10 lbs. Crabapples

1 Orange Peel (Optional)

4 cups Sugar

2 tsp. Molasses

2 tsp. Salt

1 TBS. +1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Wash the crabapples and cut off the stems and blossoms. Cook the crabapples and the orange peel, if you choose, in a large pot with a some water (about 2 cups), covered until the apples are soft and mushy (about 20-30 minutes).

 Use a Victoria Strainer to process the crabapples. This will eliminate the seeds, skins, and orange peel. 

Place the resulting apple sauce into a large roaster pan. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Cook the apple butter in a oven at 350° F. for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally, until the apple butter reaches the desired thickness. 

Pour the apple butter into prepared jars. Apply lids and screw bands. Water bath pints for 20 minutes.  This recipe yields a smidge over 7 pints. 

I have picked crabapples off of the tree at the park for 3 years. The first year I made crabapple jelly. The next year I tried crabapple butter. And apple butter is what I opted for this year, too. 

This is an Apple Butter recipe that I have modified from Chef Jon. To see his original recipe click HERE.

I am sharing this recipe because it has turned out so good and I don't want to forget how I made it when I want to make apple butter next year. 

Last year I cut the crabapples in 1/4ers. But this year I found that that was unnecessary. I cooked the crabapples whole without any issue. I just cut the stems off because I thought they might jam up the strainer. And, I cut off the blossoms because I thought the tiny hairs would come through the strainer. The hairs from the blossoms would probably be unnoticeable in the final product. I may skip that step next year and see how it turns out.

This year I  added two orange peels to the apples while they cooked, on a whim. I was very pleased with the how the flavor turned out. But, the orange peels are totally optional. If you have some, I suggest throwing them in. If not, that is fine. The apple butter will be great either way.

The amount of sugar in Chef Jon's recipe is much less than the amount in other recipes that I have seen. For example the Ball Canning recipe for Apple Butter called for 4 lbs. of apples and 4 cups of sugar. Chef Jon's recipe calls for 5 lbs. of apples and 2 cups of sugar. Apples are acidic enough to water bath safely without any sugar added. You don't have to worry about the safety of cutting back the sugar in the Apple Butter. I think the amount of sugar in this recipe is just right. 

My Aged Pepper Hot Sauce "Recipe"

I call this a "recipe" in quotes, because it is more of a method than a recipe, per se. You can try this method with any kind of hot peppers you like. I like hot sauce that doesn't have a complicated flavor profile. When I buy hot sauce I like to look for a label that reads something like: "aged peppers, salt, and vinegar." The main flavors in the hot sauce I make are peppers and garlic. 

The first year I made hot sauce I made it out of habanero peppers. I didn't follow a particular recipe. I just made it up as I went. I took a bottle of the finished product to my Dad. My Dad is a hot sauce connoisseur. He has a couple shelves of hot sauce in the fridge. He eats food with his hot sauce instead of hot sauce with his food. He is serious about this condiment! My Dad loved my hot sauce!! He called me up and said, "I hope you remember how you made that hot sauce. The bottle is about gone and I am going to need some more!"

I was like, "Oh, I just fermented some peppers and blended them up."

My brother, Aaron, interviewed me to get more details. His questions helped jog my memory, and helped me figure out what I had done to make the hot sauce. Here is my method:

Hot Sauce

1 qt. Peppers

1 bulb Garlic

1qt. Water 

1 TBS. Kosher Salt or other Salt with no additives

Apple Cider Vinegar

Put fresh peppers and peeled, whole, garlic cloves into sterilized glass jar. Make a brine by mixing the water and salt together until the salt has dissolved. Pour the brine over the peppers. Keep the peppers submerged with a weight. I like to use a glass with water in it as a weight. Set the jar in a place out of direct sunlight and let age at room temperature for 10 days. If the brine level falls below the peppers just top the jar off with more brine. 

After 10 days blend the peppers and garlic in a food processor. Add as much brine as you would like. The hotter you want the sauce the less brine you want to add. Personally, I add all the brine and I think the sauce is plenty hot enough. Strain the seeds and skins out with a wire mesh. Add a little apple cider vinegar to reach the desired tanginess. You may, also, want to add more salt. I usually do add more salt. Pour into a bottle and store in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

Carrot Jam; Layer Cake Filling

This post is for documentation purposes. I was "winging it" when I made this jam. If you are interested in a recipe for Carrot Jam, I will share the one I found and I used for inspiration. You can check that recipe out HERE.

After making Carrot Food Coloring For Icing.......

I had a bunch of grated carrot that I had squeezed a 1/3 cup of juice out of.

I added a 1/3 cup of water back to the grated carrots and put them into a sauce pan. I cooked them; steaming the carrots with the lid on the pot, for about 10 minutes, until the carrot pieces were soft and tender.

I placed the cooked, grated carrots into a blender, reserving about 1/2 cup. I thought that leaving some carrots un-blended would add some texture to the final product that would be pleasant.

I pushed the blended carrots through a mesh sieve. Why? I don't know. It seemed like the professional thing to do. I did want the jam to have some texture, so I probably didn't have to do this step.

I added the 1/2 cup of reserved grated carrots and 1 cup of sugar. I cooked the carrot mixture over medium/high heat until it started boiling, stirring as little as possible. Once it was boiling really good I cooked it for about 10 minutes, if my memory serves me correctly.

I allowed the jam to cool 10 minutes and then added 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice and 2 drops of lemon essential oil. I would have liked to add some lemon zest instead of essential oil, but I didn't have a fresh lemon. If I make carrot jam again I would add more lemon juice. I feel like my jam was lacking some acid. Carrots don't have any tanginess and most fruits that jams are made out of have a good amount of tanginess.

I used the carrot jam for the filling in a birthday cake. Everyone seemed to enjoy the carrot jam. Because of the color my mom expected the filling to be apricot. 

Carrot jam could be a little confusing on the taste buds, but it does make a very pleasant spread. I ate the leftover jam on oatmeal and liked it that way, too.

Recipe For Beef Jerky

Story Time Before The Recipe:

I grew up in a family that did not celebrate Valentine's Day. It was considered a pagan Roman Catholic holy day. We never participated.

After I got married I assumed that Mr. In The Mid-west had that same view of Valentine's Day. I remember saying in a conversation one day, ".....we don't do Valentines." And he said, "We don't?" That was my first clue. 

For several years we didn't do anything special. But, the year before last Mr. In The Mid-west did something sweet, gave me chocolate, I think. And, last year he bought me chocolate and a gave me a hand written card. I didn't have anything for him and I felt bad about that. 😔

This year I was determined not to be caught empty handed. I decided to make him beef jerky. It would be a special treat for him, because he never buys any for himself. He just can't justify the cost per ounce. Packaged store bought beef jerky is super pricy!

I watched prices for various cuts of beef. In January Beef Bottom Round roast was $2.99 per pound at our local IGA. I bought a 2 1/2 pound roast for $7.48 to make jerky for Mr. In The Mid-west.

The recipe I used was from Allrecipes.com (I really like their site). It so happens that it was a Chef Jon recipe from FoodWishes.com! I really like Chef Jon's YouTube video recipes. I have shared one of his videos in a post I did several years ago about making hash browns. I am not sure if any of you remember but here is a link. Back to jerky....... I went over to YouTube and watched Chef Jon demonstrate how to make beef jerky.

Partially freeze the roast. Pull it out of the freezer before it is solid. You want your roast to be firm this will help you to able to cut very thin slices of meat. Cut the beef into 1/4 slices.

Wisk together the marinade ingredients and pour or sliced beef. Separate the slices to insure that all surfaces are exposed to marinade. Soak overnight.

Pat the excess liquid off of the slices of beef on some paper towels. Dry the meat on racks in a very low oven for 5-6 hours. Package and present!

Chef Jon's Beef Jerky

From foodwishes.com

2 pounds thinly sliced beef top round

3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 rounded tablespoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 generous tablespoon honey

- Marinate for 3 hours or more.

- Bake at 175 F. for 3-4 hours or until dry and leathery

My jerky took longer to dry completely, more like 5-6 hours. Also, I didn't have honey. I used some brown sugar and molasses instead.

Drying Herbs, Trying A New Method

Psalms 104:14

 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

I cut several bunches of oregano from my oregano patch Saturday and a couple bunches of mint.

It the past I have dried herbs on screens in the sun. I decided to use a different method this time because I don't have the screens readily available, as in the past.

Hanging herbs and drying them without heat is supposed to preserve more of the flavor. I am going to give this hanging method a try and see how well it works.

Let me know if you have tried drying Herbs? What methods have you tried? Do you have any recommendations? Let me know in the comments section!

This Season's Butternut Squash Harvest

We have had our first hard frost of the season. And, that means all of our winter squash have been picked and stored.

The only winter sqaush we grew this year were Butternut squash. I planted two hills, and I think there were 6 plants. We did have some volunteer Pink Banana sqaush. They were not able to mature fully, thanks to squash beetles killing their vines. So, they had to be eaten in short order instead of being stored through the winter.

I think Butternut squash are the best! Grant it, I have not tasted every variety of winter sqaush. :) Of the winter squash I have eaten, which includes Acorn, Burgess Buttercup, Hubbard, Pink Banana, and Pumpkin, I prefer Butternut.

Butternut squash seems to be the sweetest variety. It can be enjoyed plain without adding anything, and it is delicious!

Generally, Butternut squash is a great keeper. In proper conditions it can be stored all winter. This year I had several specimens that had to be cooked right away because of blemishes and flaws that would cause them to rot if stored.

I have found that I really like the flesh to be pureed. After I bake up several squash, I scoop out the flesh. At this point I can just put it into a large bowl and refrigerate it if I don't have time to blend it and bag it. The next step is to run it through the food processor in batches. And then it can be put in plastic bags and frozen for long term storage. I like to measure it and make sure I have 2 cups of pulp in each bag. That makes it nice in the future if I want to be able to use a bag to make "Pumpkin" bread or cake or something. So far, I have 14 bags of Butternut squash in the freezer. There are still 12 uncooked squash in the basement.

Do you have a favorite sqaush? Or squash recipe? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section! :)

Proverbs 20:4 

The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

Applesauce Numbers For Future Reference

I want to keep track of how many apples I canned, what they cost, where I bought them, how many quarts they yielded, etc.... I usually don't write these details down and forget from year to year.

We drove a couple hours to the Amish orchard. We went on October 18th and they still had plenty of apples. We bought 2 bushels of golden delicious apples.

The price was $16 per bushel for bag-it-yourself apples. We didn't have to pick any apples. They were in a large bin and we just had to put them into the bag ourselves. The apples were big and beautiful. They didn't have any blemishes. No doubt they had been sprayed with chemicals. Oh well. I didn't have to cut out any worm holes. :)

The bags of apples sat on the floor in our foyer for 12 days. The conditions weren't the best for storing apple because it got a little warmer than ideal in that room.  One apple rotted and two others had bad spots.

We probably ate 3+ pounds of apples fresh. Before I turned them all into applesauce.

Yesterday, (10/30/17) I canned applesauce. I started at around 11 a.m. and finished at 6 p.m. Everything went smoothly. I didn't have to stop progress to do any other duties. Since the apples didn't have any worm holes cutting them up was easy. I just quartered the apples and put them into pots to cook. No peeling, no coring. It couldn't be easier. I was able to keep at least two pots of apples cooking on the stove and 2 pots ready to process at all times. I put 2 cups of water in the apple pots to keep them from burning. That amount of water seemed to be just enough to make the applesauce a good consistency. So, I didn't have to pour any water off before processing.

When the apples were good and soft (they were falling apart when stirred) I pulled them off the heat and ran them through my Victorio strainer. While the sauce was still hot I ladled it into clean quart jars. When I had 7 jars finished they went into the canner.

They were water bathed for 20 minutes. I was able to keep up with the canner and had a batch to put in as soon as one load came out, or almost ready (I just had to ladle sauce into a few jars). I used all of the apples and canned 40 quarts.
We are going to enjoy all that sauce!

What Has Been Keeping Me Busy? Food Preservation!

Among other activities, I have been busy preserving fresh food from our garden and some produce from other people's gardens that they had extra.

I thought I would share a few pictures that I have taken along the way.

I don't have a separate post on each of these, but I just wanted to share some of what I have been up to quickly.

These pictures of my garden beds were taken back in June. The squash plants that you can see in this picture were volunteer. I wasn't sure what type of squash they would be, but I was pretty sure that they would be a cross. They turned out to be something like a pink banana squash. The squash beetles ended killing the plants, but only after they had produced several mature squash for us.

My tomato plants were just babies back then. :) Now they have exploded to be taller than me in some places! And, they are producing some good yields. I have been able to can a few batches of plain tomato sauce this past week.

This sink full of tomatoes came from a neighbor's garden. They were not able to use them and kindly offered some to me. I turned them into 30 pints of salsa.

I am so happy to see my cupboard filling up with canning jars. :)

A relative gave me lots of homegrown cabbage. I don't remember how many pounds I was able to make into sauerkraut. In the end I had a gallon size jar and a quart jar. It is sure to last me a while.

I have also learned how to ferment cumbers into pickles, and have made a few quarts of those with cucumbers from the garden. Sorry I don't have an pictures of that.

These are some tubs of washed and drained kale from the garden. I froze these and got 9 serving sized (maybe 2 cups each) bags in the freezer.

That's a wrap!

Have any of you been preserving Summer's bounty? What types of food do you put up for your family? What preservation methods do you employ the most?

Let me know in the comment section! :)

Genesis 8:22 

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.