Toast!

[digitS']

Do you ever get excited about toast?

Wow. It seems like the least-exciting food in the world. Right? Unless you have a good AppleButter recipe !

Or apricot jam or grape jelly or ...

I was inspired to post this reading @ninnymary 's Gardening Humor about not being tempted by an apple. She needs eclairs .

My AppleButter didn't have apples from the garden, the Granny Smiths were given to me. I hope that I don't offend anyone; those aren't my favorite apple variety. But! They sure made good apple butter .

I will post the recipe here in a few minutes. It may take longer to find it in the recipe folder than typing it out -- simple, dimple!

Do you have a favorite jam recipe! Favorite varieties of fruit to use?

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

we made garlic toast this past week for Tuesday's visit (spaghetti and meat balls, gotta have good garlic bread)... we start by slicing french bread 1/3-1/2 inch thick slices, and then dry it out for at least three days. yes, that sounds odd, but then you get this very crumbly bread which is not too hard. since we had leftovers i made fake liver pate' this morning and had that for breakfast. garlic, garlic, garlic butter, yum, it's all good. Mom was going out to clean up the little garden at the Post Office this morning and she was pouting that she would not be here for the pate' but i told her that of course i would not eat it all! it's much too rich for that...

my favorite recipe for jam and kind of jam is strawberry freezer jam. it's so good to have in the middle of winter when nothing else is out and it is so bright and sharp a taste (i add extra lemon juice - it really pops). besides being a great jam it also works as an ice-cream topping or strawberry shake ingredient.

i've made peach butter exactly once. it was good, but in the end i decided to just put the lemon peace sauce precursor up and ate that instead. it would have taken way too long on a hot day all those years ago to cook it down and by then i'd already done 40something pints of cooked peach jam. i was whupped!

apples, i like tart apples so granny smiths are fine with me. never had them turned into apple butter, but always willing to try.

 

[ninnymary]

Toast? I eat toast! But not with jam. I eat it with peanut butter! Jams are just two sweet for me. I have occasionally tasted some homemade ones where I could actually taste the fruit and not the sugar. I was at a restaurant once having breakfast and I raved to the waiter about the peach jam. The owner came out and he said his mom makes it every year and he gave me a full paper cup to take home at no charge. That was very nice. My favorite would be raspberry if I had to pick one.

Apples? Well I don't like tart ones so that means I don't like Granny Smiths. It seems like my 3 grafted apple tree just produces Granny Smiths! Good thing the kids like them. There is supposed to be a Fuji apple on that tree but I don't seem to recognize them or the sweeter taste.

Mary

 

[Carol Dee]

Toast? I eat toast! But not with jam. I eat it with peanut butter! Jams are just two sweet for me. I have occasionally tasted some homemade ones where I could actually taste the fruit and not the sugar. I was at a restaurant once having breakfast and I raved to the waiter about the peach jam. The owner came out and he said his mom makes it every year and he gave me a full paper cup to take home at no charge. That was very nice. My favorite would be raspberry if I had to pick one.

Apples? Well I don't like tart ones so that means I don't like Granny Smiths. It seems like my 3 grafted apple tree just produces Granny Smiths! Good thing the kids like them. There is supposed to be a Fuji apple on that tree but I don't seem to recognize them or the sweeter taste.

Mary

You accidently get Granny SMith aples! We have tried for YEARS to get
a granny smith to grow and produce. No luck Granny Smith is my #2 grandsons favorite as well as mine!

 

[digitS']

Here is the AppleButter recipe with microwave instructions. It works just fine on stovetop, how I did it this week but have done both ways. I had enough apples to double recipe.:

8 c chopped apples
1 c apple juice (water is okay to substitute)
2 c granulated sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t allspice

Combine apples and juice in large bowl. Cover and microwave on high for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Blend, then stir in spices and sugar. Microwave uncovered on high for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check consistency.

You can then can or freeze the AppleButter. I freeze. It's been 20+ years since I did any canning.

The stovetop was used this time and I use my usual technique: stir frequently and progressing to constantly. Continue until digitS' etc. are in danger of splatters ... Quit!

Steve
who will error on the side of more generous spice measurements

 

[digitS']

For quite a few years, I made pear butter using Bartlett pears. They ripen during the summer which is my busy season. I tried D'Anjou and it works but I still prefer Bartlett. In my last trip down the produce aisle, Bartlett was in the bins but those things must have been picked when they were hard as rocks and put in cold storage. Maybe, Comice and Bosc should be given a try.

This is my Pear Butter recipe, adapted from Ball Canning book:

Chop peeled pears, add a little water, and cook until soft. Mash.

For every 6 cups of pulp add,
3 cups of sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
1/4 t ginger

Continue cooking until splattering drives you away from the stove!

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

Making grape jam/jelly from your own grapes tastes WONDERFUL!!! I have canned the juice. DH has ALmost convinced me to use my brand new, never been unloaded from the box pressure canner, and more jelly to come!!
The taste from fresh grapes is intense, and cannot be duplicated in a jar with preservatives.
Don't care much for apple butter myself, although I like to dip leftover friend chicken in it.

Recipes | Fresh Preserving

www.freshpreserving.com

 

[Prairie Rose]

My mom is the apple butter fanatic around here; I like good apple jelly, but have a hard time getting the texture right. Right now my absolute favorite jam is plain strawberry. Made right, it tastes like summer in a jar!

Ducks I still have a few quarts of grape juice canned from last year I need to use up..might have to try my hand at grape jelly!

 

[valley ranch]

Mama put up apricot, I don't think she added sugar it was wonderful ~ and Mrs. Butler, Rons mom, she had this apple butter ~ first time I tasted it ~ very nice ~ toast ~ I like toast ~ and Preserves with very little or best yet No sugar added ```

 

[digitS']

The French plum that I planted in Mom and Dad's backyard was the source of bushels of fruit.

They soon decided that the jam needed no sugar.

The trees are semi-dwarf and very well suited to this climate and a suburban yard.

Steve