When I was in Osseo briefly last week (a few hours), my mom gave me my Grandma's Refrigerator Pickles recipe card. So far, I've received wonderful reviews of the pickles (Greta was the only one on the fence). Once you see the recipe, you'll understand why they are so good. Refrigerator pickles really remind of my Grandma Lundberg who is a WONDERFUL cook and is probably making muffins or jam as we speak. She's pretty amazing.
Here's a picture of the pickles taken in my Grandma's relish dish:
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| Refrigerator Pickles - Grandma Evelyn's Recipe Card |
I wanted to take a picture with my Grandma's recipe card (it's so nice to see her writing). My Grandma was the best speller ever. She was always doing crossword puzzles and she watched Wheel of Fortune every night, but on this particular recipe she spelled pickles "pickels". She must've been in a hurry the day she wrote it down.
Thinly slice 7 cups of cucumbers and add 1/2 cup of salt. Let sit for 1 hour and drain juice. Combine 1 cup of vinegar to 2 cups of sugar and add 2 tsp. of pickling seasoning. The first time I just combined the vinegar and sugar, the second time I boiled the vinegar and the sugar and then the vinegar did not seperate from the sugar. Refrigerate for 24 hours. These are fantastic!!
I picked most of my jalapeno's from the garden on Monday, so I decided to try baked jalapeno poppers. They were sooooo good, but Chad and I only had a few and our dog ate the rest. Dang dog.
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| Baked Jalapeno Poppers |
This picture was also taken on my Grandma Evelyn's platter.
Ronda Tworek inspired me to try Squash Blossom Soup. Basically this is a soup made out of flowers. I was hesitant, because it looked like a lot of work, but like Ronda says, "Life is too short to eat bad food". Isn't that the truth? The soup is GREAT. It basically tastes like corn chowder.
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| Ronda Tworek's Squash Blossom Soup |
Squash Blossom Soup
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
• 1 ½ T butter
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 3 C. broth - chicken or veg.
• 1-2 small potatoes, peeled, roughly chopped
• 25 Squash Blossoms, cleaned, stem, pistil & green sepals removed.
2 poblano (or other) chiles, roasted, skinned, seeded & diced
• 1 C milk
• 1 med zucchini, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1 lg ear of corn, kernels husked
• ½ C. Thick Cream (whp. cream or creme fraiche)
• Salt, to taste
• Parsley to top
Directions:
Saute Onion in butter until brown. Scoop out half and set aside.
Add broth & potatoes: Partially cover and simmer 20 min.
Slice blossom crosswise into 1/4" strip - including bulbous base
Add half of the blossoms, simmer 3 min. Puree (either in blender & return to pot).
Add diced chiles to soup w/ milk & remaining onion. Add zucchini & corn. Simmer another 10 minutes.
Add remaining blossoms, cooking until blossoms turn into ‘streamers’. Remove from heat. Puree. Add salt to taste. Add cream. Stir. Serve warm, garnish w/ parsley.
**Variation**
Replace blossoms (or in addition to) 2 yellow zucchini, cut into 1/4 “ dice add ½ to the soup in each of two places the blossoms are called for. Add 1 C. roughly chopped spinach along w/ zucchini & corn. Finish as follows.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
• 1 ½ T butter
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 3 C. broth - chicken or veg.
• 1-2 small potatoes, peeled, roughly chopped
• 25 Squash Blossoms, cleaned, stem, pistil & green sepals removed.
2 poblano (or other) chiles, roasted, skinned, seeded & diced
• 1 C milk
• 1 med zucchini, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1 lg ear of corn, kernels husked
• ½ C. Thick Cream (whp. cream or creme fraiche)
• Salt, to taste
• Parsley to top
Directions:
Saute Onion in butter until brown. Scoop out half and set aside.
Add broth & potatoes: Partially cover and simmer 20 min.
Slice blossom crosswise into 1/4" strip - including bulbous base
Add half of the blossoms, simmer 3 min. Puree (either in blender & return to pot).
Add diced chiles to soup w/ milk & remaining onion. Add zucchini & corn. Simmer another 10 minutes.
Add remaining blossoms, cooking until blossoms turn into ‘streamers’. Remove from heat. Puree. Add salt to taste. Add cream. Stir. Serve warm, garnish w/ parsley.
**Variation**
Replace blossoms (or in addition to) 2 yellow zucchini, cut into 1/4 “ dice add ½ to the soup in each of two places the blossoms are called for. Add 1 C. roughly chopped spinach along w/ zucchini & corn. Finish as follows.
Thanks Ronda!!!
Last but not least, I made a great, easy Blackberry Pie from the blackberries growing rampant on our property. The only downfall this year is that the mosquitos are worse than ever right now, so it's hard work to pick. For our pie today I used some stock from the freezer because I couldn't face the skeets.
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| Blackberry Pie |
The vintage omelette maker in the back I found at the Hayward Ventures Thrift Store. I use it several times a week and it makes killer, perfect omellette's every time. The awesome tea pot I got from my cousin Erinn for my birthday. I LOVE it!!!
I digress....here's the easy recipe:
1 double pie crust
4 cups of blackberries
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of flour
Mix the bottom 3 ingredients and add on top of one pie crust. Add pie crust on top and crimp. Sprinkle the top with a little milk and sugar. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 and for 15 minutes at 375. Delish!!
Even my near-teenager liked it (and he's hard to please).
I had better get shuffeling. School starts tomorrow and I have a lot to do.
Kristin :)
