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School, already? Anybody heard that lately? Debbie and Jeff both were heard to say that last week when we reminded them this is the month they return to their studies. It was a short summer, both because of all the things we didn't get to do because there's only seven days in a week and also because of a quick, but oh-so-hot summer. Instead of getting red, my tomatoes turned blue from the chilly nights. They really don't taste bad, but blue catsup? That leads us to the subject of this month's bulletin. Pickles and relish along with a few other canning items and assorted recipes picked up last month on the Open Line. I hope you can use the recipes and hints and because they're from the world's best cooks (the Open Line Listeners), I know you'll enjoy them.
GERTRUDE'S HOMEMADE ICE CREAM
½ gallon whole milk
1 pint half and half
1¾ cup sugar
4 Rennet tablets (dissolved in
hot water)
3 eggs
¼ cup vanilla
Heat milk and half and half to room temperature. Add well beaten eggs and sugar. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Add rennet tablets and vanilla last. Freeze in ice cream freezers. (Mrs. Dan Loyd, Henderson, Kentucky).
CHOCOLATE COCONUT COOKIE BARS
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup melted butter
2 cups coconut
1 cup Borden's Sweetened Condensed
Milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1 large Hershey Bar
Make graham cracker crust by mixing first three ingredients. Press into bottom of pan and bake for ten minutes in 350° oven. Next mix milk and coconut. Pour over baked crust and return to oven for another ten minutes. While this is baking, melt the chocolate chips and chocolate bar to pour over the coconut after baking. Chili before serving to harden chocolate.
BEST HINT OF THE MONTH: Cut corn over angel food pie pan using the center of the pan to support the ear, cutting the corn off the cob and into the pan.
The following recipes for Saccharine Pickles are both Edith Hanson recipes. They were sent in by Mrs. Gerald H. Westendorf of Hawkeye, Iowa.
SWEET PICKLES (SACCHARINE)
Wash small cucumbers and pack in jars. To each quart jar, add one teaspoon salt, one teaspoon mixed spices and ¼ teaspoon Saccharine. Fill jar with clear cold vinegar and seal.
SACCHARINE PICKLES
4 quarts cucumbers
2 quarts vinegar
1½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons powdered alum
1 teaspoon saccharine
3 tablespoons mustard
¼ cup salt
½ cup ground horseradish
Wash and dry cucumbers, leaving the small ones whole but splitting the large ones lengthwise. Pack into dry, clean jars; fill to overflowing with pickle solution which has been thoroughly mixed but not cooked. Seal and store in a dark, cool place. Will be ready in two or three weeks.
FREEZING CORN WITHOUT BLANCHING: Cut 20 cups sweet corn off cobs. Mix with 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup salt and 5 cups ice water. Stir all together. Put into containers and freeze. (Miss Faye Reinier, Cedar Rapids, Iowa).
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VEGETABLE OIL PIE CRUST
2 cups sifted flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water
Sift dry ingredients. Combine oil and water. Toss dry ingredients with a fork when adding liquid steadily but slowly. Work very rapidly. Press dough together. Divide into two balls. Turn out on lightly floured board. Cover with wax paper and roll out immediately. For baked pie shell, bake about 15 minutes at 425°.
SUGARLESS CANNED PEACHES
Peel and halve and remove stones. Make a solution of two tablespoons artificial sweetener (Sweet-10), 2 tablespoons lemon juice to a quart of water. Heat fruit in solution to boiling point. Pack into sterilized jars. Fill to within one-half inch of top with solution. Seal. Process 20 minutes in hot water bath.
MACARONI SALAD
6 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
1 cup minced onion
6 cups sliced celery
¾ cup chopped pimento
1½ tablespoons salt
1½ cup chopped sweet pickles
2 cups mayonnaise or salad dressing
¾ cup dairy sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
(optional)
Cook macaroni in salted water till tender. Drain and chill. Mix remaining ingredients, blending mayonnaise or salad dressing and sour cream with dill, if used, before mixing. Mix carefully but thoroughly. Cheese and peas may also be added. Serves twenty-four.
TWENTY-FOUR HOUR ROOT BEER
Pour three tablespoons root beer extract over two cups sugar and add enough water to dissolve. Add 1 teaspoon dry yeast to one-half cup warm water to dissolve. Add to sugar mixture. Pour into a gallon jug and Fill to top with luke warm water. Let set without cap at least six hours. Tighten lid and refrigerate. This is ready to drink in twenty-four hours. The longer it stands, the better it tastes. (Melvin Aanenson, Rushmore, Minnesota).
CARROT LOAF
2 cups cooked mashed carrots
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup cracker crumbs
1 small finely diced onion
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1½ tablespoon butter
Green pepper to taste, if desired
Season to taste. Bake in moderate oven, in a loaf pan, until firm and nicely brown, usually 35 to 45 minutes. (Bellevue, Iowa listener).
HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE BARS
2 cups sugar
1 stick (one-fourth pound) margarine
4 eggs beaten
1 2/3 cup flour
½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 #2 can crushed pineapple, well
drained
1 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
Add melted margarine to sugar, mix well. Add beaten eggs. Add sifted dry ingredients to above. Add crushed pineapple, nuts, and vanilla. (Can melt margarine in the pan used to bake bars). Bake in a 9 x 13 x 2 inch greased pan in a 350° oven 30 to 35 minutes or until well browned. Cool and cut in two inch squares to serve. (Mrs. Stanley Hotle, Marion, Iowa).
APPLE COFFEE CAKE
1½ cup flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon baking powder
Rub butter into flour with fingers. Blend the above with one beaten egg and one tablespoon water. Spread in pie tin. Press one cup sliced apples (do not peel apples) into dough. Apples should be in rows. Sprinkle over top a mixture of one half cup sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Nuts for topping can be used but not needed. Bake for 25 minutes at 350°. (Gwendolyn Elmegreen, Monmouth, Iowa).
HOMEMADE WALL CLEANER: Mix one cup Bo Peep Household Ammonia, one-half cup vinegar and one-fourth cup soda to a gallon of water.
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AUNT FANNIE'S KOLACHE
Dissolve one package dry yeast in two cups warm water. Mix. Add the following ingredients:
2/3 cup sugar
1½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup soft shortening
2 eggs
1 cup lukewarm mashed potatoes
(Instant may be used successfully, too)
8 to 8 ½ cups flour
Mix ingredients well, particularly after adding shortening. An electric mixer can be used up to about three cups of flour. After that the dough becomes too stiff and a wooden spoon is used. Add more flour if needed. This is a fairly soft dough. After mixing well, cover with shortening and place in a tightly covered bowl. Refrigerate overnight. (It will keep for a week or more in refrigerator). When ready to bake, make bails the size of walnuts (or slightly larger). Place on greased baking sheets. Let rise. Make indentations in center. Fill with desired filling. Bake about eight to ten minutes in 425° oven. For filling use Wilderness or Thank You brands of prepared pie filling mix. Cherry and apple are best. (Margaret Jasa, Marion, Iowa).
DRIED CORN
Select nice tender corn. Cut from cob. Measure out eight pints of corn. Use one-half cup sweet cream and one-third cup sugar and one-fourth cup salt. Mix well. Cook slowly for twenty minutes, in a heavy skillet, stirring frequently. Spread out on tray or cookie sheet and heat in a very slow oven (200-225°) with door open. Stir often and heat until corn is dry and brittle. To use in winter, cover and let stand two or three hours. Then cook until tender.
$1,000,000 PICKLES
Wash and slice six quarts cucumbers. Soak three hours in one cup coarse salt. Drain and add the following ingredients:
2 cups chopped green peppers
12 onions, medium sized and sliced
1 four ounce can of pimentos diced
1½ quarts cider vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons mustard seed
Simmer altogether until cucumber slices are just tender. Seal in hot sterilized jars.
BOHEMIAN KOLACHES
1 pint lukewarm milk
¾ cup butter
3 egg yolks, well beaten
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cake compressed yeast
6 cups flour
Small amount of grated lemon rind,
optional
Mix ingredients well, beating thoroughly. Let raise for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until double in size. Then beat down again and let raise again. On a floured board, place dough, and cut off in pieces about size of an egg. Put on a greased pan and butter biscuits good. Let rise again. When raised, make a center for any filling you desire with your thumb. Let raise again and then bake in a 400° oven for about 15 to 18 minutes.
DILL PICKLES
Split cucumbers into quarters, lengthwise. Place in sterilized jars. Make a solution of:
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
¾ cup sugar pinch of alum
2 teaspoons salt
Put a couple of heads of dill in jar. Pour cold liquid over pickles, seal jar and bring canner water to boiling point. Remove jars. Makes two quarts.
SWEET PICKLE RELISH
1 peck or 12 pounds cucumbers
12 medium sized onions
4 green peppers
7 cups sugar
1 quart vinegar
12 whole cloves, tied in cloth
bag
1 tablespoon mustard seed
2 tablespoons turmeric
Grind cucumbers, onions, green peppers in food chopper. Mix together and add a handful of pickling salt and let stand overnight. Next morning drain real well. Add remaining ingredients. Cook slowly for thirty minutes. Seal in hot sterilized jars. Makes twelve pints.
FLAVOR WITHOUT CALORIES: Try adding spices and extracts to water packed or fresh fruits for more flavor without added calories. Almond extract or a dash of mace for peaches and cherries.
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PLAIN OLD EVERYDAY PICKLES
Wash finger-size cucumbers. Cut off both ends. Soak in sail water (one tablespoon salt to one quart water) for one-half hour. Combine:
1 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices
Boil until sugar is dissolved. Add cucumbers and boil until pickles begin to change color. Pack pickles in jar and pour syrup over them. Seal.
GLAZED PICKLES
Make a salt brine to hold up an egg. Soak whole cucumber for three days in the brine. Then drain well and soak in clear water for three days, changing the water each day. Then after that, cut the pickles in slices and soak three days in a solution of one cup of vinegar and four cups water and one scant teaspoon of powdered alum to every quart of solution needed to cover the pickles. Let pickles remain in this solution for three days. Then drain well. Make a syrup of two cups vinegar, two cups sugar, desired spices and pour over pickles and let stand one day. Next day drain off syrup, add two more cups of sugar and bring to a boil and again pour over pickles. Next day repeat procedure exactly. The following day, drain off syrup, bring again to a boil, pack pickles in hot sterile jars, pour hot syrup over them and seal. (Mrs. Dick Lindeman, Clarksville, Iowa).
OPEN CROCK DILL PICKLES
1 peck of four to six inch pickles or a few more are needed. Wash and place in alternate layers in a four gallon crock with grape leaves and dill. Heat six quarts of water, 1 ½ pint vinegar, and 1 ½ cup of canning salt in a large dish pan and bring to a boil. Then add two level tablespoons alum. Cool this liquid then pour over the pickles. Cure for ten days. If desired, a clove of garlic may be added, but do not add until the eighth day. (Mrs. L. VanDee, Cedar Rapids).
When canning tomatoes, put onions and peppers in with them. This is delicious with rice or macaroni and ready to use.
BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES
4 quarts sliced medium cucumbers
6 medium white onions, sliced
2 green peppers, sliced fine
3 cloves garlic (or equal amount
of juice)
1/3 cup coarse salt
5 cups sugar
1½ teaspoon turmeric
1½ teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons mustard seed
3 cups cider vinegar
Slice cucumbers thin (do not peel). Add onions, pepper, and garlic. Add salt. Cover with cracked ice and mix thoroughly. Let stand 3 hours. Drain completely. Add remaining ingredients over cucumber mixture. Heat to a boil. Seal in hot sterilized jars. Makes six to eight pints.
SWEET SOUR PICKLES
Split each cucumber and pack in clean jars. For each one-half gallon jar, mix;
2 tablespoons coarse canning salt
1½ tablespoon pickling spice
1 teaspoon powdered alum
2 cups cold vinegar
Pour over pickles. Add enough water to fill jar. When you are ready to use them, drain and add 2 cups sugar. Put into refrigerator for at least twenty-four hours. Stir once in awhile. Solution is put on cold. (Mrs. Lloyd E. Schaffner, Ladora, Iowa).
SUGARLESS BEET PICKLES
Wash beets. Cook until tender. Peel. Pack hot beets in hot jars. Combine 1½ cups beet water, 1½ cup cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons Sucaryl. Heat to boiling and pour over beets. Seal.
CORN RELISH
10 ears corn
4 red peppers
1 gallon vinegar
1 pint water
1 tablespoon mustard seed
8 onions
½ cup salt
1 tablespoon celery seed
4 cups sugar
Boil all together for fifteen minutes. Scald in jars. (From a Coggon listener).
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