Gelatin Fruits Cake

Techie Smurf brought his family for the visit we were going to have last year until the pandemic hit.  Exact same sightseeing list, just a year-ish later.  This version also included Writer Smurf's birthday.  We had a very small party that I'm considering this year's tea.  And of course, there had to be cake.

This concept of cake decorating came up on my YouTube recommendations.  Specifically, Boone Bake had an excellent video.  I could only find recipes that seemed any good on Korean sites, so I'm going to call this a Korean design and label it non-American.

The inside of the cake can be anything.  Sponges are the most common.  I made Vanilla Chiffon.  You want a light frosting.  I used whipped cream stabilized with half a tub of store-bought vanilla frosting.  Many sites use a cream cheese mousse, making it more like an entremet.  I didn't feel like buying ring molds to do that and redesigned the concept for standard cake pans and springform pans.

Then there's the fruit.  Most videos showed kiwi, mango, and several fruits that are nearly impossible to get in my area.  I went for berries and cherries, with thinly sliced plums between the layers.  I wanted fruits I could throw together in a pot for some quickie mixed jam if there was any left over.

For the gelatin, all the recipes were in metric.  I have nothing against it, but that isn't how gelatin is sold in the U.S.  Also, I don't know if the concentration is consistent worldwide.  As I was about to tear open the packets and guess, the back of the packet held the recipe for the consistency I wanted.  Problem solved.

I'll admit, this was almost a complete disaster.  The gelatin ran out the bottom on the first attempt to fill the springform.  It was a good thing I had wrapped the bottom in plastic wrap.  I let the remaining half an inch chill in the fridge for an hour to set it.  Then I carefully tried again.  With the bottom sealed and the gelatin in the measuring cup much thicker, I was able to fill the form as high as I had intended.  It set in the time I had allowed for the project, and everyone was amazed with the effect.

2 or 3 layer cake, any flavor
Whipped cream, stabilized with either cream cheese or buttercream frosting
Sliced and pitted fruits of choice
4 packets unflavored gelatin (for an 8" cake in 9" springform)
1 quart water (same)
1/4 C lemon juice, or to taste
1/2 C sugar, or to taste

1.  Start the decorating process a minimum of 6 hours before serving, 8 to allow for extra setting time.  Trim cake layers 1-1/2" to 2" smaller in diameter than your springform.  Trim flat if necessary.

2.  Slice fruits to no more than 1/2" thick, and filling fruit as thin as you can make it.

3.  Prepare frosting.  For 9" springform, I whipped 1-1/2 C of whipping cream and added approximately 1 cup of store-bought frosting once it reached firm peaks.  Be careful not to over-whip into butter, but the frosting needs to be able to support the fruit coating.

4.  Base assembly.  Place bottom layer directly on the springform bottom or on a circle parchment on the bottom.  Make sure it is centered.  Spread frosting on it, layer fruit, and put a little more frosting over the fruit.  Add the next layer and repeat if using three layers.

5.  Crumb coat cake top and sides with remaining frosting, into a layer about 1/4" to 1/2" thick.  Chill about 5 minutes to set everything while you organize the topping fruit.

6.  Make sure your fruit is dry, or it's going to slide off.  Cover top and sides with fruit.  A little frosting can show through, but you basically want it to look like a Jell-O mold.  Snap on the springform rim.  Line inside of rim with parchment or food-grade acetate.  Wrap the bottom well with plastic wrap and chill while you make the gelatin, about 30-45 minutes.

7.  In a medium bowl, bloom all the gelatin in 1 C cold water (for 4 packets) for about 15 minutes.  In a saucepan, heat remaining 3 C water and sugar until sugar dissolves.  It does not need to come to a boil.  Add lemon juice and stir.  Pour into bloomed gelatin and stir until dissolved.  Allow to cool to room temperature and start to thicken.

8.  Get the cake out of the fridge.  Gently spoon the cooling gelatin over the top of the cake.  If this fails, you've at least made the fruit glossy.  As the gelatin starts to collect at the bottom of the pan, check for leaks.  Adjust paper and wrap as necessary.  When you get about half an inch of standing gelatin, put the cake back in the fridge for half an hour and leave the gelatin on the counter.

9.  After about 30 minutes, check that the gelatin is starting to set around the cake and there are no major leaks.  The bowl on the counter might be a little thick and gloppy.  If too thick to spoon, microwave for 15 seconds and stir vigorously.

10.  Continue to ladle gelatin into the mold, checking constantly for leaks.  If it's dripping at all, put it back in the fridge for half an hour.  Eventually, you'll be able to fill the springform about to the top edge of the cake.

11.  Chill cake for at least 4 hours, until gelatin is firmly set.  Carefully remove springform, then paper/acetate lining.  Trim any torn pieces of gelatin.  If you placed the cake on parchment, you might be able to carefully slide it onto a serving plate.  Not promising.  Otherwise, use the springform bottom as your server.  Cake should be served slightly cold, and might melt on a hot day if left out.  Slice and serve like a normal cake.

Makes one 9" cake, about 16 servings

Difficulty rating :-0

Olive and Feta Bread

I wasn't planning to make this into a post.  I wasn't planning to make bread at all.  Then the loaf at the bakery section was $5.99 and didn't have cheese in it, just rosemary and olives.  Kalamatas and feta were already on my shopping list, and I didn't plan to use all of either in the salad, so making my own bread was the economical option.

As long as I was baking, I made twice as much bread as I needed.  Part of "Cooking for the Future" is making extra and freezing it.  No canning required.  Now I have a four-serving loaf in the freezer for the next time.  This technique works for cookies and pretty much any baked good.  Just make a lot and freeze it.  Granted, having a chest freezer, even a small one like mine, makes this a lot easier.

This is a variation of the olive and feta breadsticks.  I changed up a few of the amounts and it's a bit lighter in consistency, since I was putting it in a pan.

1 C 100º milk
1 Tb olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 tsp honey
1 tsp dry yeast
1 C whole wheat flour
1+ C AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
*2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
*1/3 C chopped kalamata olives
*1/4 C crumbled feta

1.  Stir olive oil, honey and yeast into the warm milk.  Allow to sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.  I used that 5 minutes to finely chop the olives. 

2.  In the stand mixer with the paddle, combine whole wheat flour and the rosemary.  Yes, it sounds like a lot of rosemary, and maybe my taste buds are still a bit dulled by Covid, but I really wanted that much as a counterpoint to the olives.  Add yeast mixture and beat with the paddle into a batter, 2 minutes.

3.  Add 1 cup of AP flour and the salt to the batter and beat into a thick batter/soft dough, about 2 minutes.  Pour out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Flatten dough and work in chopped olives and feta.  The olives are going to make everything gooey, so have more flour on hand.  Once dough has returned to the elastic stage, it's ready for the first rise.

4.  Shape dough into a ball and turn over in a lightly oiled bowl to coat all sides.  Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

5.  Punch down dough and allow to rest 10 minutes.  Form into desired shape. This dough is soft and works best placed in a greased loaf pan or casserole dish.  I used two 6" cake pans.  Allow to rise 45 minutes.

6.  If desired, brush top with a bit more oil and sprinkle with salt and/or more rosemary.  You can also make slashes in the surface for designs.  Bake at 375º for 30 minutes, then check. Top should be browned and it should sound hollow when thumped.  Allow to rest 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out to cool.

Serves 8-10

Difficulty rating :)

Cauliflower Steaks with Mixed-Herb Pesto

This is a slight change from a recipe in the L.A. Times.  Their sauce was a north African spread called chermoula, which I had to look up because even spell-check doesn't recognize it yet.  By the time I decided to make pesto instead, I had already bought the cilantro and parsley, figuring I could spread it over several recipes like the Summer Rolls.  So I decided to toss those into the food processor with leek greens, basil flowers, and a bit of my scrap garden celery's leaves to make a mish-mashed pesto.

I think this is only the second time I've done cauliflower steaks.  They're super easy, but do leave you with leftover cauliflower ends.  You can blanch and freeze those, or use them later in the week.  I'm getting better at batch cooking, to follow the current chapter theme.  You have to meal plan a way to use everything you've bought for the week.  That can either be in another recipe or prepping it for the freezer or canning.  I've never done pickled cauliflower, which can be made with a quick stovetop brine.  You don't have to process it, just stick it in the fridge for a week before using.  It was tempting, but I decided to roast it up with an extra carrot I bought for the next meal.

The biggest downside of cauliflower steaks is that they aren't meat.  There's cheese and nuts in pesto, but I wanted another protein/iron.  I had half a cup of quinoa in the pantry to round out the meal.  The original recipe used couscous and kept the whole thing vegan.  Yeah, I need cheese with cauliflower to make it palatable, so no.

2 heads cauliflower
olive oil
salt and pepper
*4 C assorted soft-leaf herbs such as basil, parsley, cilantro, etc
*2 cloves garlic
*2 Tb pine nuts or walnuts, lightly toasted
*Parmesan to taste, about 1/4 C grated
*1 Tb lemon juice, optional

1.  Preheat the oven to 400º.  Trim leaves and stems off the bottom of the cauliflower.  Cut heads in half through the thickest part of the stem.  Then cut 1"-thick slabs.  Do whatever you want with the outsides.

2. Place cauliflower slabs on a rimmed baking sheet and brush both sides with olive oil.  Lightly season with salt and pepper.  Bake 15 minutes, flip, and continue to roast until a fork can easily pierce the stem, about another 15 minutes.

3.  While the cauliflower is roasting, get out the food processor.  Run nuts and garlic into a paste.  Add herbs, lemon juice, and the first 1/4 C of parmesan and run into a paste.  The lemon juice isn't totally necessary, but it does help to preserve the color of the herbs and provide a counterpoint to the oil.

4.  Taste and add salt, garlic, and/or parm as necessary.  Set the processor running again and drizzle in olive oil until desired consistency is reached.  I like mine as more of a dip than a sauce, so it was still pretty thick.

5.  Serve cauliflower with pesto and some kind of grain or starch for a vegetarian meal, or chicken or fish if you're having it with meat.

Difficulty rating :)

Baked Oatmeal

I only heard about baked oatmeal recently.  It's a great way to prepare a nice breakfast ahead of time.  It's portable, freezable, and nutritious.  You can make it sweet or savory, but breakfast versions are generally fruity.  You could even serve it as dessert with a bit of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Baked oatmeal is basically the oat version of bread pudding.  You pour an egg custard over the oats and whatever else, then bake it.  Cut the resulting casserole into bars and serve.  That's as hard as it gets.

I'm still trying to cut cholesterol when possible, so I subbed some egg white in mine and only used one yolk.  Naturally, skipping the yolks will make it less rich.  And I cut back on the sugar considerably from most recipes because I hardly use any in my daily oatmeal.  I don't put any added sugar in overnight oats other than what's in the fruit and milk.  If you follow my amounts, you might feel the need to drizzle the casserole with maple syrup when it's served, which isn't entirely a bad thing.

Side note, the bins are back at Sprouts!  For most of the pandemic, you could only buy pre-portioned bags of their bulk items.  Still the bulk price, but you were stuck getting however much it was packaged as.  The whole point of the bins for me is getting only what I need for a single recipe, or maybe the month.  Bulk spices and teas were pulled entirely.  That was when I switched to the local Tampico brand.  It isn't inferior at all, but they don't carry a huge variety.  It's just cheaper, which was a big part of buying bulk spices and only getting the few tablespoons I wanted in the spice rack at once.  Long story short (too late), I'm thrilled to be able to choose how much oatmeal to buy at a shot.

*2/3 C pecans, chopped
2 C rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1-3/4 C milk
*1/4 C maple syrup
*2 eggs
2 Tb butter, oil, or coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 C fresh, dried, or canned fruit, bite-sized

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Toast nuts, either in a dry pan or on a cookie sheet in the oven for a minute or two.  Set aside to cool.  Grease one 9"x9" pan or two standard loaf pans with the first tablespoon of fat.  Melt the rest for step 3.

2.  In a medium bowl, stir together oats, nuts, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.

3.  In a small bowl, whisk together milk, maple syrup, eggs, and melted butter.

4.  Arrange 3/4 of the fruit on the bottom of the baking dish.  I opened a jar of grapes in syrup and cut up a couple of bananas.  Top with the oat mixture and spread it out evenly.

5.  Pour wet mixture over the oats and allow it to sink in, about 5 minutes.  Do not do this step the day before, or the oats will absorb everything and not bake properly.  Scatter remaining fruit on the top.

The chunks are coconut oil

6.  Bake 40-45 minutes, until custard is set.  Allow to cool, about 20 minutes, then cut into bars for serving or storing.

Serves 8

Difficulty rating  π

Shrimp Summer Rolls

99 Ranch carries rice paper wrappers in several sizes.  I picked up some 6" wrappers with a potential tea party in mind.

And then I bought the wrong noodles.  Totally my fault.  I saw vermicelli and didn't read that they were the bean-based and not rice-based.  Once cooked, it didn't really matter.  And the bean ones have better nutrition anyway.

I decided to be more interesting in wrapping these than the rainbow summer rolls.  I layered so that the shrimp would show through with carrot accents.  It sort of worked.  I need to get better at wrapping.  Besides, I learned that raw carrot will puncture a rice paper wrapper.

These have considerably fewer ingredients than the rainbow rolls.  Pretty much the same sauce, because I really liked it.  And I bought cooked shrimp to save a few minutes.  This whole 20-minute dinner thing is getting old.

20 6" rice paper wrappers
1 C dry vermicelli noodles
*1/4 green or red cabbage
*2 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 C cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 C flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
*2 Tb fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 small carrot
1/2 lb 40 ct shrimp, cooked & tail off
1/4 C hoisin sauce
2 Tb smooth peanut butter
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tb oil

1.  Whisk together hoisin and all ingredients below it to make the sauce.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

2.  Cook vermicelli noodles according to package directions.  Drain and allow to cool.

3.  Finely shred cabbage.  Sprinkle with salt and massage for about a minute to work the salt in.  Allow to sit 10 minutes, then rinse out the salt and shake dry.  Add chopped green onion, parsley, mint, and cilantro and toss to combine.  Sprinkle with lemon juice, and it will keep the greens vibrant.

4.  Finely chop the carrot.  Slice the shrimp laterally so you get two mirror halves.

5.  Set a sheet of rice paper in a pie dish.  Cover with hot water and allow to soften for about 30 seconds.  Transfer to a work surface.  Arrange one shrimp (both pieces) on the bottom half of the wrapper.  Cover with carrot bits, cabbage mixture, and noodles.  Wrap like you would a burrito: pull up bottom 1/3, fold in sides, and roll until sealed.  Place on a plate seam-side down and continue until all the wrappers, shrimp, and fillings are used.  Serve chilled, with peanut-hoisin sauce for dipping.

Difficulty rating  :)

Cherry Jam Two Ways

So I guess I don't have a post for cherry jam.  Really thought I did, until I went looking for it.

I really like cherries.  To me, they don't need spices or any help to be special.  I do combine them with other flavors on occasion, like the cherry-blueberry jam.  When I had a half cup left over after filling three half-pint jars, I decided to put a splash of Sabra (chocolate-orange liqueur) into the last jelly jar's worth.  I'm not super fond of chocolate cherries, but the result is pretty nice.

I'm basing this on the Sour Cherry Jam out of Food in Jars.  There's a bit less sugar because I bought sweet cherries, and I'm using Ball low-sugar pectin instead of Marisa's recommendation of liquid.  My actual yield was about half of this recipe, since I canned the pie filling first.  This amount is about a very full bag of cherries.

6 C pitted and chopped sweet cherries (measured after chopping)
2-1/2 C sugar
2 Tb lemon juice
2 Tb low-sugar pectin
Spirit of choice (cherry liqueur, chocolate liqueur, amaretto, etc) optional

1.  If canning, prepare a boiling bath canner, jars, and lids for a 3 pint yield.

2.  In a large pot, bring cherries and 2 cups of the sugar to a boil over medium-high heat.  Separately, stir together pectin and 1/2 C of sugar.  Set aside.

3.  Boil cherries and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.  You can skim off the foam if you like.  Jam should reach 220º on a thermometer and the cherries should be softened and suspended in a thick syrup.  The bubbles will be glassy and about half an inch across.  The liquid will sheet off the spoon.

4.  Stir in pectin/sugar and lemon juice.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes until thickened.  If adding a liqueur, do so after the pectin thickens.  1/4 C for a hint, 1/2 C to leave no doubt.  What I did was fill three jars, then pour about a tablespoon into the rest of it, which turned out to be 4 oz.  Boil one more minute, then remove from heat.

5a.  Fill hot jars with hot jam, leaving 1/2" headspace.  If the jam is very thick, de-bubble, but most jams don't need it.  Wipe rims clean with vinegar.  Center lids, screw on bands finger-tight.  Process for 10 minutes once the water returns to a boil.  Remove canner lid and let jars sit 5 minutes before removing to a towel to cool and wait for the ping.  Once cooled, remove rings and test seals.  Wipe clean and store in a cool place for up to a year.

5b.  For non-canning, allow jam to cool to room temperature, about half an hour.  Store in fridge for several weeks.  Can also be frozen for a couple of months.

Makes about 3 pints

Difficulty rating  :)

Egg White Frittata

I've been eating more meat than usual and decided to have a lighter meal.  What's better than breakfast for dinner?!  On the other hand, I'm still supposed to be trying to lower my cholesterol, so two-egg meals are kind of off my diet.  Egg whites, however, are cholesterol-free.

Frittatas can be an easy cheat that you throw together at the last second.  Of course, I had to go the hard way and prep a lot of veggies.  It still only took half an hour.

I'm not expecting you to use the cabbage that I did.  I had a quarter of one left in the fridge.  Spinach, kale, or another leafy green will fit nicely.  What surprised me was that the tomato kind of filled in the flavor profile of the missing egg yolks.  Artichoke, eggplant, or zucchini probably would too.

Feel free to use regular or green onions in your version.  I went for leek because my scrap garden one was bolting for a second time and had grown into a 2 foot tall monster.  I used the dense parts for this and stashed the leaves and scape in the fridge for a later recipe.

*2 C leafy green like cabbage, spinach, kale, etc
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
*1/2 C diced onion, shallot, or leek
2 Tb olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1/4 tsp kosher salt
white pepper to taste
1 C egg whites (boxed ok), or 8 if you're separating
1/4 C milk
*1/2 C shredded mozzarella

1.  Drizzle 1 Tb oil into a 10" oven-safe skillet and heat over medium.  Add onion to the pan and cook until softened.  Add diced tomatoes with their juice, salt, pepper, and parsley and continue to cook until broken down, about 10 minutes.  Start preheating oven to 350º.

2.  Finely chop leafy green and add to pan.  Cook until wilted.  Time will differ depending on type of greens used.  Transfer to a bowl for a moment while you wipe down the pan.

3.  Return cleaned skillet to medium heat.  Add other tablespoon of oil to the skillet and turn pan to coat.  Return vegetable mixture to the pan and distribute evenly.

4.  Whisk together egg whites and milk just until evenly distributed.  Don't get the whites frothy.  Pour egg whites into pan, then sprinkle top with cheese.  Cook on the stove until it starts to set, 1-2 minutes.  Place skillet in oven and cook until done, about 15 minutes.

5.  Allow frittata to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then carefully slide out onto a plate.  Cut into wedges and serve.  Can be eaten hot, room temperature, or chilled.  Leftovers should be eaten within 1-2 days.

Difficulty rating  π

Sweet Cherry Pie Filling for Canning

I'm pretty sure this is the last pie filling I'm going to can this summer.  Aside from running out of jars and space, this series has just run its course.  I bought a blueberry pie to get it out of my system, and because blueberries never got cheap.

Looks like the best I'm going to do for cherries this year is $1.99/lb.  As soon as I had my canning day planned, I flipped to the cherry filling page in the Ball book, only to realize the recipe is for frozen cherries that have been thawed 24 hours.  Whoops.  Off to the internet.

One advantage of making pie filling every other week is that I'm kind of good at it now.  Prep fruit, blanch fruit, wait an inordinate amount of time for 3+ gallons of water to boil, make Clearjel base, stir fruit into it, fill jars, process.  The ratio of ingredients changes slightly depending on the sweetness, natural pectin, and acid content of the fruit, but I can now look at a recipe and recognize if it's a good one.

The NCHFP chart came in handy again.  Love that they break it down by quart and canner-full.  The amounts also take headspace into account, which is why a "quart" is only 3-1/3 cups.  The cherries cook down in the 30 minutes of processing, but they cook into the Clearjel, which expands.  Like canning the apple filling, be generous with that inch of space, especially in regular-mouth jars.

I'm listing the amounts for a one-quart yield, which I doubled to make the day worthwhile.  The original recipe also lists the option of adding extract and/or cinnamon.  I'm trying not to add too many spices to this year's fillings, so they can be used in combination.  I'm also not adding food coloring to any of the goo, for the same reason.  If you're only planning to use this as cherry filling, feel free to add almond extract, a touch of spices, and a few drops of red coloring to the gel before it sets.

3-1/3 C fresh sweet cherries, pitted
1 C sugar
1/4 C + 1 Tb Clearjel
1-1/3 C water
1 Tb + 1 tsp bottled lemon juice

1.  Prepare water-bath canner, jars, and lids for a one quart (2 pt) yield.

2.  Pit a lot of cherries.  It's going to take way more than you think it will, nearly the whole bag.  Put on a podcast, music, Dances With Wolves...something.  On the other hand, it's going to take the water 45 minutes to boil anyway.  Set the pitted cherries in a bowl of acidulated water so they maintain their color.  One lemon in 4 cups of cold water should do it.

3.  Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Blanch the cherries for 1 minute once the water returns to a boil.  This is to force out some of the air in the fruit and make it safe for canning.  Drain and keep warm until needed.

4.  Rinse out the pot.  Whisk together sugar and Clearjel.  Add water and stir until smooth.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.  Once the Clearjel starts to clump, stir constantly.  Add lemon juice, return to a boil, and cook one more minute.

5.  Remove pot from stove and stir in cherries until coated in goo and hot.  Ladle into prepared, hot jars, leaving a generous 1" headspace.  De-bubble and adjust headspace if necessary.  Wipe rims well.  I used water first, then again with vinegar.  Center warmed lids, screw bands on finger-tight.

6.  Process in the water bath canner for 30 minutes after the water returns to a boil.  Turn off heat and remove lid.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing from the canner, then place on a towel and wait for the ping.  Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wipe clean, and store in a cool, dark place.

Makes 2 pints

Difficulty rating :)

Creamy Beet Slaw

I thought for sure I had made this before.  It just sounds like something I would do.  I've made non-creamy beet salads, but not a basic coleslaw incorporating beets.  And yes, I did have this with sauerkraut.  Didn't think that one through.

There are two ways to do beets in salad, raw and cooked.  I happen to prefer lightly cooked.  It's a texture thing, but it also brings out a bit more sweetness and heightens the flavor, not to mention removes a lot of the juice that would bleed onto the rest of the salad.  One minute of blanching is plenty for matchstick cuts.

I'm just using the standard coleslaw dressing that you would make for an all-cabbage salad.  Really, I'm just using my one successful beet out of the Pond instead of a carrot in the basic recipe.

*1/4 C mayonnaise
1 Tb milk
1 Tb apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 small cabbage
*1 large or 2 small beets
1/4 C finely diced onion

1.  Whisk together mayo, milk, vinegar, sugar, paprika, and salt to make the dressing.  Chill until needed.

2.  Start a medium saucepan of water heating to a low boil.  Shred the beet, peeling optional.  I had the V-slicer with the julienne attachment.  Food processor works, as does a box grater.  If using a manual tool, I recommend a cut resistant glove.  Raw beets are dense and your hand could slip.  Add the shreds to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute.  Drain in a sieve and rinse thoroughly to stop the cooking.

3.  Rinse whatever you used to shred the beet and go at it with the cabbage.  Coleslaw should be finely shredded, so the dressing can penetrate.  Toss the core and you're ready to go.

4.  Toss together cabbage, beets, and onion.  Pour the dressing over and toss to combine.  Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 2 hours.

Serves 4-6

Difficulty rating  :)

Canned Peach Pie Filling

Here we are in a drought, and I'm going through water by canning.  I need a smaller canner that's still deep enough to do pints.  They do make them.  I'm trying to use both the canning and blanching water on plants, but I have to wait for it to cool.  There's a bucket in the garage that comes in handy.

When peaches were 99¢ per pound, I bought enough for peach butter and pie filling.  Not a ton of either.  If I need to buy more jars, I'm canning too much.  And when it comes down to it, this pie filling is in wide-mouth jars because I'm out of the regular mouth pints.  Shouldn't have canned the kimchi in regulars.

No offense to Ball, but their version of peach filling was all kinds of complicated and includes raisins for some reason.  I get that they're trying to be interesting for people who have been canning since the Pioneer days.  I haven't, and wanted something basic that could be combined with other flavors.  The recipe on the National Center for Home Food Preservation filled that need.  It also broke down the quantities into either by the quart or the canner-full.  I planned to make two pints (one quart), so I just followed the quantities in that column.

It appears that I suck at knowing which peaches are ripe.  I'm expert at bananas, but rarely buy fresh peaches.  Sweetness doesn't really matter when you're putting in a ton of sugar, but the ripe ones are easier to peel and seed.  I had a total of one that was easy.  The other four were a pain in the butt.  And then I came up one peach short of two pints and had to get creative with stray jars lying around.  If headspace wasn't part of the canning equation, I could have just done the pint and a half with minimal headspace and been fine.  But with canning, that would have exploded all over the pot and turned into peach soup.  Going the other way, two pints with 2" of headspace each might not have been safe.  Just follow the recipe.

3-1/2 C sliced peaches (about 6)
1 C sugar
1/4 C + 1 Tb Clearjel
3/4 C water
1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/4 C bottled lemon juice

1.  To peel the peaches, dunk in boiling water for 30-60 seconds.  Theoretically, the peels slip right off.  If they don't, get out the vegetable peeler.  This could take a while, so go ahead and start your canner, lids, and jars for a 2 pint yield.

2.  Once you've finally peeled the peaches, set up a bowl of acidulated water.  The juice of one lemon should be enough for 4 cups of water.  Pit the peaches and slice wedges 1/2" thick.  Again, way easier if the peach was ripe enough to peel the skin off of in the first place.

3.  Good news, it's easy from here on out.  Blanch peach slices in a large pot of boiling water for about one minute.  This isn't just to par-cook them and get them soft.  The water forces out some of the air that can cause a problem in canning.  Drain slices and keep warm until needed.

4.  In a clean pot, combine sugar, Clearjel, and cinnamon.  Add water.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  I'm kind of addicted to the moment the Clearjel does its thing.  It's so cool to be able to create pie goo.  I think I've been on a quest to do it my whole life, without knowing.

5.  Add the lemon juice and return the gel to a boil for one minute.  Remove from heat and fold in peaches until coated and warmed.  Be gentle, they are soft from the blanching.

6.  Fill jars with hot peach mixture.  Wipe goo off the rims.  Center lids, screw on bands finger-tight, and process in canner for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat, remove lid, and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes to reduce the chance of siphoning.  Cool, test seals, wash, and store.

Makes 2 pints, for one pie

Difficulty rating  :-0