Marmalades of the Food in Jars Mastery Challenge

A group of us are participating in the Food In Jars Mastery Challenge hosted by Marisa at Food in Jars and the first challenge was MARMALADE. It was so fun to participate and the results that the other participants came up with were awesome! Check out the recipes and pictures below!
If you would like to try your hand at making marmalade and not sure where to start, check out Marisa's great tips on Marmalade Troubleshooting! 

My friend Mary also joined in the fun. She is the Canning Queen around here! In her blog post Marmalade ~ January Challenge on Cooking with Mary and Friends, she stated:

"We all learned a few things from the others too, and everyone cheered on everyone else as their trials and tribulations were acknowledged. Everything from how adding liquor makes the marmalade take longer to jell and set up, to burning the pot ruining a batch happened, but no one got discouraged; they just tried again!"

YES! 

I was the one that burnt the batch and nearly ruined my pot! 

Check out the Pictures, 

and pick one to make yourself! 

Sloe Screw Up Against The Wall Marmalade

A traditional Seville Orange Marmalade with a Twist

Sue Harris - Jams 'n Pans

Caramelized Onion and Pear Marmalade

Anne Marshall-Candeloro

Cherry Marmalade

Mary Marshall - Cooking with Mary and Friends

Cinnamon Fig Orange Marmalade

Sue Burns - It's Ok to Eat the Cupcake

Drunken Cherry-Lemon Marmalade

Diane Baker - Canning and Cooking at Home

Lemon-Fig Marmalade

Lynn Elliott Vining - Southern With a Twist

Cranberry Onion Marmalade

Veronica McLaughlin Gantley - My Catholic Kitchen

Gin and Lime Marmalade

Nikki and Phil Carriere

Cherry Marmalade

Nikki and Chris Carriere

Strawberry Orange Marmalade

Julie Posigian

Strawberry Meyer Lemon Marmalade

Sara De Leeuw - My Imperfect Kitchen

Ruby Red Grapefruit Marmalade with Sage and Saffron

Pamela Gram - The Pit Stop BBQ, LLC

Thanks to Marisa at Food in Jars! 

Easter Dinner from my Blog...

My friend Laurie at Food is Love has thrown down the gauntlet! She has challenged me to make the Easter Holiday meal from dishes I already have on my blog. No pulling out Mama's old notes on the traditional Easter Feast this time! (Unless I've unwittingly already got it buried in all these posts :-) Soooo... Ok Laurie! I'm on it! Let's get ready to rumble!!!



Yes! That's me in the polka dot pants!!!

When I think of Easter, I think back to Easter Hunts with all my cousins, family and friends. I also think of a big ole whole picnic ham that has been cooked to perfection by my Mama, of course... green bean casseroles, brown rice, potato salad and someone always brings the Watergate Salad that most Southerners, that don't care for it much, refer to as "that Green Stuff"! No meal would be complete without Mama's macaroni and cheese. We also loved to churn ice cream and Mama always had a cake or two on the counter.



Now... let's see what I can come up with from previous posts that could come close to my Easter Food Memories!

First of all, what can I replace the ham with... I cannot believe I haven't covered something as simple as ham! Ok, let's go with Chicken Cordon Blue that has some ham and, you might think, is a pretty fancy holiday kind of feel, but wait, remember this is 'with a twist'! This an easy version that is turned into a casserole! So, it's perfect to fix for a large family get-together. Whew! Main course... check! Now let's find those sides!

There is Mama's Macaroni and Cheese and the green bean casserole. Instead of brown rice, let's go with Grandmama Bradham's Greasy Rice.

I can't believe I don't have my potato salad on here either. So, we'll go with my new popular Cornbread Salad. We always have to have some nibbles lying around so, I'll put out some Dill Pickles, pickled okra, pickled carrots and Bread and Butter Pickles. And no meal is complete without Mama's Short Biscuits. Oh and don't forget the Green Stuff!

Now, desserts... As I said, we loved to churn ice cream. So, I'd like to have some of Mama's Orange Pineapple Ice Cream and, I had already bought the ingredients to make the kids an Italian Cream Cheese Cake.

Well that's the Challenge... My Easter Meal from my Blog...

Thanks to Laurie at Food is Love! This was a fun challenge! So it's my turn to challenge some of my foodie friends. Here goes...

The Southern Lady Cooks

Rich Fletcher's Good Food Revolution

Cooking with Libby

Check out Laurie's Challenge Results too at Food is Love!

Mama's Sweet Pickles Sticks

Mama's Sweet Pickle Sticks

Cucumbers
3 ¾ cups Vinegar
3 T Salt
4 ½ t Turmeric
3 cups Sugar
4 ½ t Celery Seed
¾ t Mustard Seeds

Use fresh, firm, medium cucumbers. Wash and cut into quarters. Pour boiling water over them and let stand overnight. Next morning, pack solidly into clean jars. Make pickling solution, boil 5 minutes. Pour hot solution over cucumbers. Put lids and seal. Fill 6 pint jars and process according to your canner instructions. (usually 5 minutes for pints and 10 minutes for quarts)

Canning Veggies and making Jelly

I had a lot of fruit and veggies left from my back-up for catering the wedding this past weekend. Not wanting them to spoil, or throw them out... I canned them!

Getting started making Dill Pickles

Dill Pickles

1 pickling mix package
7 1/3 cups water
3 1/3 cups white vinegar
1/8 tsp dill weed per jar
1/2 tsp chopped garlic per jar

Boil mixture. Pack jars with dill, garlic and sliced pickles. Pour mixture over cucumbers leaving 1/2 inch. Then follow canning instructions.

Ready to sit for at least 24 hours

I also pickled some carrots. Turned out yummy to me!

I also did a quart of tomato sauce (on the left)
and 3 pints of strawberry jelly.

Strawberry Jelly

4 cups mashed strawberries
1 cup sugar (taste for sweetness)
1 packet of strawberry jello

Boil mixture, and follow canning instructions.

My son, Elliott opened a quart of the pickles tonight
 to try them, and this is what's left :-)