Chili Sauce

12 large tomatoes, chopped

3 bell peppers, chopped 

6 onions, chopped

2 1/2 cups vinegar

2 cups water

1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar

1 teaspoons black pepper

1 3/4 teaspoons salt 

Chop tomatoes, peppers and onions into small pieces and place in large pot. Add all of the other ingredients. Cook until done and of a desired thickness. A small amount of flour mixed with juice may be added at end to thicken if desired.

Sterilize glass jars and lids. Spoon hot mixture into jars and seal tightly. Let cool naturally. Jar tops should “pop” to seal.

If you don’t have a farmer’s market nearby, check with local grocery stores. They often discard “bad” tomatoes but in reality, the small bad spot can be cut off leaving a lot of fresh, ripe tomato. They’ve been known to make a deal.

Note: After months or years, the tomatoes at the top of the jars may darken. That is expected because of acidity. If you choose, spoon off and discard or stir into red sauce portion.

The late Earlene Mann Branton

 

Sweet Pickles

Note: The following recipe is the old fashioned, 

long process recipe that my grandmother made 

until she learned the shortcut which follows. 

You have a choice: quick or quality.

4 pounds of sliced cucumbers

4 lbs of sugar

2 quarts red vinegar

4 tsp pickling spice

Cooking lime powder (usually found in canning area of grocery store)

Take the cucumbers and put in 2 gallons of water. Put 2 big handfuls of lime into cheese-cloth and tie. Soak for 24 hours squeezing the lime sack occasionally.

Dump this curing into a clean sink and wash cucumber real well in cold water. Put in a pot, with cover, and add vinegar, sugar and pickling spice (like the lime, tie in bag). Soak for 24 hours.

Put pot on the stove and boil until cucumbers are mostly clear. Put in sterilized jars with fresh lids. Pour boiling water over them. 

Use on sandwiches, chop for relish or just eat plain.

Shortcut:

Large jar of sliced dill pickles 

1/2 to 2 cups of sugar 

Pour out all the liquid from the jar keeping slices in place. Put a half cup of sugar at a time over the slices allowing it to dissolve between each addition until they are the sweetness you prefer. This will vary depending on the tartness of the original dill. Pickles will re-make their own juice. 

The Late Gayle Baker Mann

 

Cucumber Marinade

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Peel and slice cucumbers and onions and place in deep covered dish. Pour over marinade and chill. They are good shortly after marinating, better half day later and will last for a while in the refrigerator. Depending on the number of cucumbers you are preparing, increase proportionately to cover vegetables. Add tomatoes, cauliflower or other vegetables as desired.

The Late Gayle Baker Mann

 

Canning Hints

The book “Preserving Summer’s Bounty” by Marilyn Kluger, is filled with complex measures for canning that can become second nature for those who have farms or enjoy doing the full process with all the equipment. For the rest of us, this is the method used by the late Earlene Branton.

Use a gumbo pot big enough to stir a big batch. While cooking, use the “stanitize” setting on your dishwasher to wash the jars, new or saved. They should be Ball or Mason jars with proper seals. Also sterlize the long-handled ladel and any other utencils you plan to use. 

You will need enough bands and new flat seals for each jar and these will be sterilzed just before use. Put the flat lids in a shallow bowl and just before filling, pour boiling water over them twice, to sterilize the first time and the second to keep seals soft. You will also want to sterlize the wide mouth funnel, a must when canning.

After dipping the ingredients leaving about 1-inch at the top, place lid then band, tighten as much by hand as you can. Let set until cool, top of lids should pop  and become concave or pressed in, not out.