Condiment article

Dear Readers,

I recently sent an article to 501 Life Magazine on making condiments at home, and thought I'd post a few more for your enjoyment.  Some of these will save you money, but mostly they just taste good!  These first two I pulled off of Allrecipes.com. The pickle recipe comes from a newspaper article that my great grandmother read many, many years ago, and the salsa recipe comes from an adaptation of a recipe from Cooks Illustrated (the best cooks ever!).  I hope you enjoy them!

I'm trying to make homemade lotion for my next article, but it isn't turning out well.  The water comes out of solution.  I think I'm going to try emulsifying wax instead of beeswax.  Any other suggestions from those of you who've done it?

A note on how the novel is coming: it is still in the editing process.  I keep getting comments on Authonomy.com, and the general consensus is that it is a great novel that needs some work on the first couple of chapters.  I'm not surprised, since most first novels I've read aren't as good as subsequent ones.  Becoming an author takes practice!  Since we are in the process of moving, it might take me a while to get around to that...

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

adapted from Joy of Cooking

1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. molasses (I add this in, it’s not in the original recipe)
2 Tbsp. brown mustard (we like Gulden’s)
2-4 Tbsp. chili powder (start w/ a little and work up)
1-2 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger (can use 1 tsp. ground ginger)
2 garlic cloves, grated or minced
3 lemon slices, seeds removed (these are optional, but really good)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. or so liquid smoke (or to taste)
(optional–Tabasco or cayenne to make it extra spicy)

Mix all the ingredients together in a non-reactive saucepan and simmer on medium low for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Homemade Ketchup Recipe

Ingredients:

12 ounces tomato paste

2/3 cup water

4 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon dry ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat in pot over medium until dissolved.

Fresh Salsa!

3 tomatoes

1 clove garlic

2 T minced cilantro

1 T lime juice

1/2 t sugar

2T diced red onion

sprinkling of garlic salt and pepper

Mix together and use within three days.  You can add jalepenos if you want some heat! It's good on just about everything.

Grandma's Crystal Sweet Pickles

Put 1 gallon pickling cucumbers in brine (1 cup salt with water to cover in big bucket). Weight to hold under (I use a plate and add a lid) and leave in garage for 2 weeks.  Drain and rinse well, then cut into thin slices.  Dissolve 1 heaping Tablespoon of Alum (last found in the spice section at Harps) into enough water to cover and leave overnight in bucket again.  Drain and wash pickles.  Tie in cheesecloth 2 sticks cinnamon, 1/4 t mace, 1 T whole cloves and add it to 1 quart vinegar and 2 quarts sugar in saucepan. Add green food coloring if desired.  Bring to boil and pour over pickles.  The next three days, pour off liquid and boil it, adding it back to the pickles overnight.  On the fourth day, boil syrup and pack pickles into self-sealing canning jars. Pour boiling syrup into jars and put on the seal and ring, making sure that no syrup is on the rim (use a clean wet rag to wipe off drips).  They should seal on their own over the next twenty minutes or so.  Test them to see if the lid stays down when you press on it.  If it doesn't seal, you can boil the jars in a large pot, making sure they don't touch the bottom (crunch up aluminum foil to cover the bottom if you don't have the right kind of canning insert). Voila!  

These pickles are good in potato salad, tuna fish sandwiches, pasta salad, or all by themselves.  They also taste good on beans and rice!