Bucking for the Domestic goddess Award - Part 2

Prickly Pear Jelly
First, you should be sure you have a Tarzan to pick the fruit, it's not called Prickly Pear for nothing. The little white dots on the fruit is cactus prickles. Use tongs and stand back from the cactus. These cactus are in our front yard. Next, you will prepare the fruit. I didn't get all the pictures for that step. Tarzan does this first part and I had to leave to run an errand while he was doing it. But this is what you do. Wash the fruit--handle it with tongs. Rub the fruit on the bottom of the sink to remove the prickles. Then you cut the fruit in quarters and boil it for 10 minutes. You can remove the seeds if you like, we don't bother to do that.

Then put the fruit into a cheese cloth and squeeze the juice out into bowls. Tarzan tells me he strains it 3 times. First, he uses a potato masher and smashes it into a mush, then he puts it through a collander, then he puts it through a wire strainer and finally he puts it through the cheese cloth.

I am putting the recipe next and then there are pictures. There are a few pieces of advice I would give.

1. This is very sweet jam so don't skimp on the lemon juice.
2. There is a rule when you are making candy--don't scrape the sides of the pan while it is cooking or it will turn to sugar. I followed that rule for my jam and it turned out great.
3. My friend from Russia, Boris, makes a rice dish he brings to work from time to time. I have asked him for the recipe and he can't quite give it to me, but he does say this. When you make this dish, you have to be in a good mood. If you are not in a good mood, it won't turn out right. I think that holds true for this jam. Have fun, make it with love, relax and take your time, it will turn out right.
4. The instructions say to take 5 minutes to add the sugar, I take closer to 10 minutes. Put a little sugar in, stir until it is dissolved and then let it almost boil again stirring frequently.
5. Oh, yes, and I added a little red food coloring. When we made this last time, as the jelly aged, it lost its natural ruby color, so I thought I would see if a few drops of food color would help it keep its color.
6. This is called a hot pack, so you don't need to cook it after it is in the bottles, just put the lids on tight and let them pop.

The Recipe

Prickly Pear Jelly

3 ½ cups fruit from Prickly Pears
1 bottle or 2 packages of liquid pectin
Juice from 2 lemons
8 level cups sugar

Remove fine thorns and blossom ends from 3 pounds of ripe cactus fruit. Cut into small pieces, crush and add 1 cup water. Stir until boiling, cover pan and simmer 10 minutes. Place in cheese cloth bag and squeeze out juice. Measure sugar into a separate pan. Bring juice and pectin just to boil, stirring constantly, and begin to add sugar slowly with constant stirring, taking about 5 minutes to add sugar, and keep juice nearly at a boil. Then bring to a rolling boil and boil for one-half minute. Remove from fire, let stand a few seconds, skim, pour quickly into jars and seal hot.

Next canned peaches

Bucking for Domestic goddess Award - Part 1

Tarzan and I saw the familiar little sign on the side of the road, "Okra for Sale." So we drove down the country road to a house and the farmer (whose financial situation has improved from our bussiness for a few years now) let us in. We bought all he had picked and all of his cherry tomatoes. Yum. Now, what?

I reached back in the recesses of my mind and searched the Internet for quantities and we pickled and froze okra.

Frozen Okra is the easiest so I will tell you how to do that first. You should remember this-- okra doesn't get slimy until you cut it open, so whole okra is the only way to go.

• Get your deep pot and fill it with salty water
• Bring it to a boil
• Drop a bunch of okra into the boiling water and let it boil for 3 minutes
• Remove the okra from the water and place it in single layers on large flat cookie sheets and freeze it
• Once it is frozen, place it in freezer safe Ziplock bags
• Oh yeah, and put it back in the freezer

When you are ready to cook it, simply put the frozen okra in boiling water and cook it through. It should not be limp, rather it is better if it is still kind of firm. All it needs is salt and butter, but I have a bunch of other ways to use it if you need them just ask.

Pickled Okra
Once I get started on a bottle of pickled okra, I may as well just enjoy the whole bottle without guilt. It is better than pickles especially when the seeds pop in your mouth. Here is what you need:

-Fresh whole okra pods (the smaller okra works best, but it is not necessary)
-1 cup water
-1 quart white vinegar (don't get creative here, this is canning not a gourmet salad)
-1/2 c. salt (there is a special pickling salt, but it is hard to find, so remember the important thing is NO IODINE. We used Kosher salt)
-1 cloves garlic for each bottle
-Dill seed
-Fresh dill weed
-Hot dried chilli peppers (we like the red ones)

Sterilize your jars and lids in a hot boiling water bath (or the dishwasher if you have one).

Wash the fresh okra; drain well. In hot clean pint bottles, pour a little dill seed in the bottom of the bottle, pack the okra pods, as tightly as you can without bruising them, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Add 1 chilli pepper, 1 garlic clove, a little more dill seed and 2 sprigs of dill weed on top.

Combine the water, white vinegar and salt. Bring the mixture to boiling. Pour the hot liquid over the okra pods in the jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Wipe jar rims, adjust lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Let the bottles stand for 2 weeks before opening.

Yum!, Next--Prickly Pear Jam