Monday, October 24, 2011

Try a Different Flavor or Two

I pulled this right off a forum I'm on. How about trying some of these flavors for your next jams or jellys.

Chocolate black cherry jam (great on dessert, ice cream)
Spiced Blueberry (I love mixing fruits/berries & adding spices)
Bacon-Bourbon jam (great on meat sandwiches)
Blueberry Wine jam (wonderful flavor, I used grape wine, couldn't find blueberry locally)
Spiced Peach & Spiced Pear (tastes like honey)
spiced peach & blueberry jam
Mango Jalapeno jam (hot, good with meat sandwiches)
Kahlua spiced peaches (not jam, but very tasty)
Banana split freezer jam (wonderful on ice cream, angel food cake, banana bread)
Tropical fruit freezer jam (pineapple, papayas, mangoes)
Pina Colada jam (very popular)
Spicy strawberry chipotle jam (strawberry with a little kick, very good)
Exotic Mango Banana jam (great on banana bread)
Jalapeno strawberry jam (slight bite to the strawberry taste, good)
spiced strawberry jam (not your store bought strawberry flavor)
Strawberry Balsamic black pepper jam (sounds strange, very good strawberry flavor)
Kiwi strawberry daiquiri jam (something special)
Strawberry Maple syrup jam (no sugar)
Spiced Blackberry jam (not the plain usual flavor)
Banana jam (great on banana bread or pancakes with banana slices)
Rose hip & Rhubarb jam (high vit C, healthy & good fiber)
Fall pumpkin jam (great on pumpkin bread or bars)
Red Hot Pepper Jam (for those who like it HOT, mix with cream cheese on crackers or on meat sandwiches)
Melon Mandarin jam (try with diff color melons)
Carrot Cake jam (nice topping on carrot cake or spice cake)
Sangria jelly (unique & good)
Wine Jelly (tried with grape wine, I don't know wines, use your favorite)
Mint apple jelly (I grew applemint, spearmint, peppermint, lime mint, ginger mint, chocolate mint, pineapple mint. This was a great one to try each flavor. I also use them for tea)
Chokecherry jelly & syrup is a favorite, I didn't get berries this year. Buffalo berry jelly is a 'man' flavor, not sweet. Do not add pectin you get rubber.
Rose Hip jelly (good when you have a cold, very high vit c)
Rose petal jelly (fun for a ladies tea, a nice rose petal suspended in the jelly, dark roses color best, sweet fragrance is sweet jelly)
Tomato juice jelly (good on toasted cheese sandwiches, meat sandwich)
Mexicalli Jelly (Jalepeno & hot peppers, very hot, nice on meat or cooled with cream cheese on crackers)
Champagne Jelly (I'm not a drinker, asked help from the liquor store, a nice gift for Honeymoon Breakfast basket...or anniversary)
Watermelon Jam (fun with diff color melon to each diff batch)
Tomato Chili (peppers) jam (good on sandwiches)
Christmas Jam (fun to give gifts with fresh bread: cranberries, orange, strawberries spices) Also
Jingle Jam (cranberries & Jalapeno)
And Cranana (cranberry & Banana: family favorite)
Cranberry Orange

I'm also raising sea buckthorn berries, 3 color current, 2 color gooseberry, saskatoon blueberry, blackberry, cherries, 2 color grapes, apples, pears, apricots, raspberries. We'll be planting lingonberries (great jam, a side dip to meat balls).

I've never tried Prickly Pear jelly, would like to. And Cactis jelly.
If anyone's tried these, and has 'harvest' you could ship to me, I'd pay shipping.
Never tried dandelion jelly or corn cob jelly, has anyone? Good?

We were in OR, at Ikea, and ordered swedish meatballs, they made them authentic (like going to Mexico instead of Taco Johns), and they have a side of lingonberry jam & dip their meat balls into this

Monday, October 17, 2011

Long Time, No Write...

I guess I took a vacation from blogging, but now I'm back. With the weather getting cooler in places other than So Cal, it starts to feel like a homemade soup and bread day.  Maybe I can help with the bread part.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD, BUNS AND ROLLS (from Pantry Cooking)

6 cups warm water
4 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons salt
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup oil
2 tablespoons yeast
10 to 11 cups whole wheat flour

In a heavy duty (8 lb.) bread mixer, combine warm water and 4 cups of
bread flour. Mix briefly. Add salt, sugar, oil, and
yeast. Blend. While the mixer is running, slowly add whole wheat
flour until the dough pulls away from the bowl. Scrape sides of the
bowl; add an additional 1/2 cup flour. Knead 10 to 12 minutes or
until dough is smooth and is not sticky when touched with well-oiled
hands. If it is still sticky, add 1/2 cup more flour and knead 2
more minutes. Remove the dough and place on an oiled surface.

HAMBURGER BUNS: Tear off small portions of dough and shape them into
the size and shape of a hamburger patty or smaller. Place on a
lightly greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Cover and allow
to rise until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bake 20 minutes at 350
degrees. Remove from baking sheet to cool. Makes 36 buns.

CINNAMON ROLLS: Roll one half of the dough into a
rectangle. Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar; sprinkle on chopped nuts
and/or raisins. Roll up jelly roll fashion starting with the long
side. Slice into 1-inch slices. Repeat with remaining half of
dough. Place in shallow baking pans, cover and allow to rise until
doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Bake 20 to 25 minutes at 350
degrees. Remove from baking pan to cool. Glaze while still warm
with a glaze made of 2 cups powdered sugar and 4 tablespoons milk.

RAISIN BREAD: Roll out 1/4 of the dough to a 9 inch width. Sprinkle
on 1/2 cup raisins; roll up, starting with the 9-inch side. Place in
a greased 9x5-inch bread pan. Press the dough down to make it
conform to the pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1-1/2
hours. Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from the pan to cool.

CINNAMON ROLL BREAD: Make raisin bread but sprinkle cinnamon sugar
on the dough before rolling it up.

PECAN BREAD: Substitute 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans for raisins in
raisin bread.

SURPRISE ROLLS: Roll 1/8 of the dough into a circle. Cut into 12
wedges. On the wide end, place a filling such as chocolate chips,
1/2 teaspoon chopped nuts or jam. Roll up, wide end to narrow
end. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet about 1/4"
apart. Cover and allow to rise until doubled, 45 minutes to 1
hour. Bake 18 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from baking sheet to cool.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD: Divide dough into 4 portions. Place each portion
in a greased bread pan. Press the dough down to make it conform to
the pan. Let rise 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until doubled. Bake 30 to 35
minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from the pans to cool.

SIX-GRAIN BREAD: Grind 8 cups of six-grain whole-grain mix. Start
mixing the bread using 4 cups of the six-grain flour. Continue
following the recipe instructions, using light brown sugar instead of
dark brown. When the six-grain flour runs out, continue the recipe
with bread flour until the dough forms as directed. Shape, let rise,