Category: This & That

1 large onion 
6 small zucchini squash 
1/4 cup salt
2 cups cider vinegar 
1 cup sugar 
1 teaspoon turmeric 
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon celery seed

Directions: Slice onions and squash 1/8 inch thick and place in large bowl. Salt thoroughly and allow to rest overnight. Combine remaining ingredients and bring to a rolling boil. Add zucchini and onion slices to pickling solution.  Bring back to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.  Pack pickles into hot sterilized pint jars. Fill to 1/2 inch of top with pickling solution, seal. Makes three pints

2 cups vinegar 
2 cups water 
5-6 cups sugar
1 tablespoon whole cloves
4-5 sticks cinnamon 
1 small ginger piece
1 gallon peaches

Directions: Boil vinegar, water, sugar, and spices for 5 minutes. Drop in peeled peaches and cook until tender.

Note: I did see these on the grocery store shelf in Louisiana, a few years back. I Don’t know if they would be in every state. I believe they were around the canned peaches and were called “spiced peaches”.

6 cups sugar
4 teaspoons vinegar 
1 1/4 cups water
5 pounds peaches, whole small clings
2 sticks cinnamon “4 inch”
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

Directions: Pour boiling water over peaches.  Let stand until skins slip then dip in cold water. Peel. Combine sugar, vinegar. Add cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil; add peaches; cover, and boil until tender, about 10 minutes. Let stand overnight.  Drain, saving liquid. Pack peaches in hot jars, bring syrup to a boil and pour over peaches.  Be sure to cover peaches and leave 1/2 inch head space. Adjust lids and process in boiling water bath 212 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remover jars from canner and complete seals unless closures are self-sealing type. Makes 5-6 pints.

6-1/2 pounds beets
3 cups vinegar 
4 cups sugar or more to taste

Directions: Choose bright young beets (same size as possible), cut tops leaving 2 inches of stem. Wash carefully, rubbing with hands, not a brush. Leave tops and root on. Place beets in large kettle and cover with cold water. Cook until tender, covered. Drain and cool. Slip skins and stems off. Return to kettle and add vinegar, sugar, and water. If vinegar is stronger than 4% use more sugar.  Bring to a boil and pack into jars. Makes about 16 pints.

1 (15 ounce) can mixed fruit with diced apple
1 dash ground cinnamon 
1 dash ground cloves
Brown sugar
Vinegar 
Cornstarch 
Water

Drain syrup from fruit into saucepan. Add cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, and vinegar to taste. Heat through. Make a paste with cornstarch and a little water; add to syrup mixture until desired consistency.  Serve over ham or roast pork.

Note: Grandma always came up with great sauces or extres to make a meal more pleasing. She would put out a big spread of food — several kinds of vegetables from her garden, corn bread, hominy, black eyed peas, plum juice from her plum tree, chicken and dumplings or pot roast. For dessert she would have cookies, coconut or banana cake, and homemade candy.

4 cups rhubarb, cut up
4 cups sugar1
(3 ounce) package strawberry Jello

Directions: Mix rhubarb and sugar together; let stand overnight. Pour into a saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. Add Jello and stir until dissolved.  Cool and pour into jars. Keep in refrigerator.

1/2 cup water, warm
3 tablespoon butter
1 cup + 2 tablespoon powdered instant dry milk
3/4 cup sugar

Directions: Place water in bowl; add butter and stir to melt; gradually add dry milk and stir until entirely dissolved.  Add sugar, a teaspoon at a time, stirring until dissolved. If needed, set bowl in a pan of hot water to dissolve sugar.