Freezing Green or Sweet Bell Peppers

This year I had an overabundance of many different types of peppers, so decided to freeze a few of the Bell Peppers.

Not only are bell peppers packed with lots of flavor, they also add important nutrients to any dish. 
One red sweet bell pepper provides an entire day’s worth of vitamins A and C, (more than twice the amount found in an orange) and are a good source of the antioxidant vitamin E!

Hot Pepper Relish

We grow numerous varieties of peppers in our garden every year, hot, sweet, mild and use them fresh in salsas, Pico De Gallo, on sandwiches, sliced on pizza, diced in casseroles and stuffed.

If there’s any leftover at the end of the season, I dice and freeze them to use throughout the winter months.

Recently, I've read many rave reviews online about Hot Pepper Jelly so wanted to give it a try. I made a couple batches using popular recipes, but I found it seem to lack the “hot” and the pepper “flavor” and was way too sweet for our tastes.

Zucchini Bread

Yowza! What to do with all the zucchini my garden produced this year!

Zucchini is one of the easiest vegetables to grow and as such, it's known far and wide among home gardeners for overwhelming crops. 

When cooking, zucchini is treated as a vegetable and is usually cooked and served as a savory or side dish. 
Botanically, however, zucchini is really a fruit.

Not only is the zucchini versatile to cook with, but it’s also loaded with nutrients and vitamins that can help prevent cancer and heart disease. 

Canning Whole Kernel Corn

It's summer and along with many other warm-weather activities, canning the vegetables that are ripe and in season is something I do every year.

When corn first comes in, it can be a little expensive but as the weeks pass the price per dozen is greatly reduced.

When buying sweet corn in the husk, look for bright green color snug husks and dark brown silk.

Sweet corn is a low acid food so must be pressure canned to avoid food poisoning and botulism.

Moving a Shed

Moving a small gardening shed or other small building is not impossible.  There's a couple of ways to move a shed; one takes hard work and numerous people, but no lifting. 

The second is to hire out the work.

We learned how to move a shed with PVC pipes and jacks from a guy who moved a shed for us about 20 years ago. 

The shed was sitting directly outside my kitchen at our newly purchased home and in the center of the yard.  Eyesore!  

Black Bean, Tomato and Corn Salsa

We love salsa and pica de Galla and eat both year-round.  

I have a favorite Honey Lime Chicken Kabob recipe that's grilled and needed a new side dish to complement that recipe.

 
Salsa of course came to mind, and although I make different kinds of salsa, like strawberry and peach, I decided to try a new version. 

This is way easy and super delicious!  We ended up eating nearly half of it with tortilla chips before dinner was even ready.

Propagating a Clematis Vine

I just love flowering clematis vines!  

There are so many different colors and types and all are beautiful growing up a trellis, over an arbor, up a lamppost, along a fence, or just anywhere really. 

The best way to grow clematis is from clematis cuttings.

Propagation is pretty easy and you can have anywhere from a 50% to up to a 90% success rate.

The Clematis is in the Buttercup family and hundreds of species and cultivars of clematis exist around the world. 

The Birth Tree

My daughter Jami

The last time my daughter came to visit she had a surprise for us.  She asked if we would be willing to plant a memorial tree on our farm using the placenta from her last child’s birth to place under the new tree.

My grandson Dax was born in Texas, so his placenta had to be frozen until the planting ceremony.

Truthfully I had never heard of this before and it all happened so very quickly that I didn't have much time to prepare. 

Afterward, I did a little research and found out quite a lot. 

There are simple ceremonies, eloquent ceremonies, and elaborate ceremonies performed to honor the placenta all over the world. 

Many cultures, including the Navajo Indians and New Zealand's Maori, bury the placenta to symbolize the baby's link to the earth.

Building a Greenhouse (Part One)

A greenhouse has always been on my list of things I want to help with gardening.  

When we lived in the burgs (city) our house had a 3 seasons room (sometimes called a Florida Room in this area), which was the closest to owning a greenhouse I have been.  

Because of all those windows it was easier to get my seeds going in early spring.  Having an actual greenhouse will give me a head start on planting and will also extend my growing periods. 

How a greenhouse works is simple. Sun streams through the windows and warms the surfaces inside. The glass or glazed panels trap the heat, keeping the temperature inside the greenhouse warmer than outside. 

Because the sun is key, it is best to build the greenhouse on the south – southeast side of the house and away from the shadow of other structures or large trees.

Strawberry Jam (No Canning Required)

Strawberry Freezer Jam in 30 Minutes

Strawberries are ripe here in central Ohio around the first week in June. 
I started making Strawberry Freezer Jam in the early 1990s and now my kids will not eat (or even like) commercially produced jam. Every year we go to a “Pick Your Own” farm to pick the strawberries fresh. 

When choosing strawberries, homegrown or farm fresh strawberries produce the best jam.  Store purchased lack the intense sweet strawberry flavor. 

I have also made cooked strawberry jam and it’s great for shelf life but there is just no comparison with Strawberry Freezer Jam for flavor. 

Canning Hot Peppers

Most years we go through our garden fresh peppers pretty quick and never seem to have enough peppers. We use them on sandwiches, to make appetizers, on pizza and subs and as the main ingredient for Stuffed Hot Peppers.

So this spring I planted extra pepper plants.  Now, near the end of summer, I have such an over abundance of hot peppers I decided to can them so we have a supply this winter.

Peppers are also great as added heat or flavor booster in many dishes, soups, stew, in breakfast eggs, on a relish tray and in salads.  Their great on hot dogs too, along with this Homemade Pickle Relish!

Canning Tomatoes

Easy Home Canned Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of the first things I canned well over 20 some years ago as a beginner canner.  I read it was one of the easiest things to learn as a newbie canner and they were right.

There is nothing better than a fresh tomato straight off the vine, but I think the second best thing is a jar of home canned tomatoes in the middle of winter!

I use canned tomatoes in chili, spaghetti sauce, soups and casseroles and many different recipes.  If I run out, I also make salsa or tomato juice from the tomatoes I canned. 

I can so I can preserve my garden harvest but also because I can control what's in my food.  I grew it and I grow organic. I know what's in each and every jar. 

Canning is the process in which foods are placed in jars and heated to a temperature that destroys microorganisms and inactivates enzymes. This heating and later cooling forms a vacuum seal. The vacuum seal prevents other microorganisms from recontaminating the food within the jar.

Canning Green Beans

It’s great to preserve some of your garden's bounty to use during the cold winter months.  There is nothing like pulling a jar of preserves from the pantry shelf while the snow’s falling and the wind’s howling and getting a little whiff that takes you right back to summer.

For the best green beans, pick fresh tender pods first thing in the morning. Growing and picking from your own garden is always best, but purchasing from a local farm market will be just as good.

You will need about 1 pound of green beans for each pint jar and 2 pounds of beans for each quart jar.

Please Note: 

When canning green beans you must process them in a pressure canner.  There is a higher risk of botulism when canning low acid foods, such as green beans.  Pressure canning is the only recognized safe option. Dilly Beans, which are pickled green beans, are preserved in vinegar so can be water bathed. 

Sauerkraut In Mason Jars

Cabbage History

Cabbage is one of the oldest vegetables and is believed to have been grown in gardens as far back as 3000 years ago. 

The Roman writers Cato and Columella are the first to mention preserving cabbages and turnips with salt. 

It is believed to have been introduced to Europe in its present form 1,000 years later by Genghis Khan after invading China.

Sauerkraut (sour rout) is chopped cabbage that is salted and then fermented in its own juice. The word, which in German means "sour cabbage," was first mentioned in American English in 1776.  

The dish has long been associated with German communities in the United States.

Mint Jelly

Spring was late arriving here in Ohio but how wonderful it is to finally feel the warmth of the sun.

I am busy preparing my garden for planting and noticed the herbs and mints are coming up.

A few years ago I had mint jelly on Lamb Chops for the first time and loved it.  But trying to find mint jelly in most grocery stores is nearly impossible.

I finally gave up the search and have since been making mint jelly at home, which is easy and just as delicious!

Mint Jelly is mildly sweet and just a little tart, with a wonderful fresh mint flavor.

And guess what?   Mint jelly is not really green. It’s actually a golden color in its natural state. Adding a couple drops of natural food coloring will give it the traditional green color, or just leave it golden.

Roasted Asparagus with Feta Cheese

Asparagus is believed to have been cultivated for thousands of years.

It is native to Europe and Asia and is theorize that it grew wild near the sea in sand dunes.  I find it interesting that Asparagus is a member of the Lily family, which also includes onions, leeks and garlic.

Asparagus is a nutrient-dense food, high in Folic Acid and is a good source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, and thiamin.

Asparagus also has No Fat, No Cholesterol and is low in Sodium. Yea!

I wasn’t always a fan of asparagus but have in recent years grown quite fond it.  And last week, while visiting Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello I learned that asparagus was cultivated it in his gardens.

I have a small patch of asparagus in my garden but I also buy bundles of it when in season at the grocery store.

Growing Your Own Garlic

Growing, Harvesting and Storing Garlic

It’s the end of March and I have the worst case of cabin fever I have ever experienced. We've had an unusually hard long winter here in Ohio, and all across the Midwest, with temperatures remaining well below freezing and even well below zero for long extended periods of time, ugh.  Usually our snow melts after a few days, but not this year. 

Gardening and seed catalogs are arriving in my mailbox nearly every week.  But most days, it’s almost too cold to walk down the lane to the mail box!

I am already planning the lay out of the vegetable garden and what I need to plant, one of which is garlic. We love garlic and I use it in many recipes and dishes.

Debra's Stuffed Peppers

My sister Debra passed away three years ago. Her Birthday is in September so in honor of her I decided to share one of my favorite summer recipes. 

She was a fantastic cook, but didn't write down her recipes, so all were lost when we lost her. Although I did not have a copy of Debra’s recipe,  I created this one to copy the peppers she would bring to our parties and family gatherings.  She used Anaheim peppers which are a little on the hot side.  

Summer Tomato Sandwich

These are wonderful summer sandwiches,  extremely easy to throw together and oh so delicious.

My husband's friend Roger gave us this recipe. 
During the autumn months Bill and Roger sometimes watch a few football games together on Saturdays,  but during the summer months they sit outside at Roger's Antique store. 

While sitting in the beautiful gardens Roger built, the two of them solve all the world problems, and work up quite an appetite. Roger usually whips them up a couple of these.

I have been hooked ever since Bill showed me how Roger makes them.

Quick Raspberry Jam

This recipe locks in the summer-fresh-just-picked-from-the-bush raspberry flavor.  And what’s even better, there’s no canning process involved.

I have been using a similar recipe for freezer jam for years, but with strawberries.  This Raspberry Freezer Jam is just as good!

Remember, when choosing berries, fresh from the farm fruit is always best and has the most intense flavor, which in turn produces the best results.

If you are purchasing produce from a grocery store, try to stick with the organic.
If you are concerned about the sugar, Sure-Jell has low sugar and no sugar recipes on their website. But please research the dangers of artificial sweeteners before using!


I use homemade Raspberry Jam as an ingredient in my sauce for my Jamaican Pork Tenderloin, and on Raspberry Sponge Cake.