Category Archives: cooking skills

All Things Cranberry

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There are some pretty standard Thanksgiving side dishes that are just required to be on the table and cranberry sauce is one of them. Many people I talk to claim to not really like cranberry sauce for me to later find out they are referring to the jellied store bought canned sauce they grew up with sitting on a plate that was still in the shape of the can, ridges and all. Well yeah… that ISN’T very good! If you haven’t had home made cranberry sauce, then you really are missing out! The internet is overflowing with amazing cranberry sauce recipes and each and every one of them are super easy to make!

Fresh Cranberries are cheap this time of year and even freeze really well! I always stock up on them around now. I don’t live somewhere that I can grow them myself or I absolutely would! Grab some extra bags of fresh cranberries and have them handy for after the Thanksgiving rush of baking so you can pull that canner out again! Cranberries are naturally acidic and are very easy and safe to can! You can even try fermenting them! I have some in the pantry now fermenting in honey.

Canning cranberry sauce is a very easy project and you can have home made cranberry sauce ready for whenever the urge strikes you. Simply make your cranberry sauce and can it using the same processing time as mentioned for the juice. Most cranberry sauces consist of only acidic ingredients (other than the seasonings) so safety isn’t really a concern here. Just don’t add any nuts before canning if you like nuts in your cranberry sauce.

Ok so why do you want to can all this cranberry sauce if you only eat it on Thanksgiving and Christmas!? Well that’s easy! Eat it on more than just Thanksgiving and Christmas!

There are tons of ways to enjoy cranberry sauce other than the obligatory spoonful of cranberry sauce on your plate 2 days a year!

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Spoon a little over your cheesecake or pound cake.

Put some on a sandwich (of course I also mean those left over turkey sandwiches).

Try stirring some mayo or cream cheese into the cranberry sauce for an amazing sandwich spread.

Use as a filling for small single serving pies.

Add some to your yogurt and granola for breakfast.

Make your own pop tarts with that left over pie crust.

Add a spoonful to your oatmeal.

Whip up some cranberry butter for toast or muffins.

Use as an ice cream topping.

Make a glaze for meats or create your own BBQ sauce recipe.

Add some to the top of your cream cheese covered bagel.

Create your own cranberry vinaigrette salad dressing by adding a spoon full of cranberry sauce to some oil and vinegar.

Use cranberry sauce in muffins, cakes, and bread recipes.

Cranberry Bars and cheesecake bars .

Mix in with apples or other fruit to make a cobbler, crisp, or pie.

Cranberry cookies.

Add to some roasted root vegetables.

Add to smoothies.

Serve with brie and crackers.

Make sure you don’t miss this opportunity to stock up on cranberries and hit up those after holiday sales in the grocery stores!

Happy Homesteading!

Mayo from scratch

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As someone who ALWAYS makes EVERYTHING from scratch….. HAHA just kidding! I do NOT do this. I do, however, think it’s important to know how cook from scratch. I believe having skills is imperative. I believe knowing what goes into your food and how to do it yourself is essential. You probably can’t do everything from scratch. You may not even want to but it is always a good idea to learn. How DO you make mayonnaise from scratch? Learn these skills now so when and if you need them, you already know, even if it isn’t something you exclusively do all the time. Do I buy store bought mayo sometimes? Yes. Can I whip up some delicious home made mayo on the fly when I need to? Absolutely. Does it taste better than store bought? Is this a real question? OF COURSE!

It is convenient to be able to just go to the store and buy things. It’s easy to grab a cheap bottle of ketchup and mustard for a weekend cookout. No one thinks twice about grabbing prepackaged items (especially condiments) from the shelf at the store. Until you run out. Until the store runs out. Until someone is sick and you can’t get to the store. OR until you realize that those prepackaged convenience foods are full of artificial flavors, colors, unhealthy oils and preservatives! Until you realize that you can do it yourself with better ingredients and it will taste better too!

When we got our chickens, there quickly became a problem in our house. What in the world do I do with all these eggs? We do like eggs for breakfast. I do use them for baking but the fact is, other than the winter time and when they are molting, you typically end up with a lot of eggs. Everything seems fine then all of a sudden you realize your counter is overflowing with them. So off to figure out some creative ways to use these fresh delicious eggs. Yes, of course it’s a good idea to preserve some for the times the chickens aren’t laying but there’s still plenty to get creative with during the year. Mayonnaise was something I had put off learning because I had heard that traditionally it can be a little tricky. Then someone assured me that with a couple simple tricks, it was super easy and I will kick myself for not doing it sooner. They were right.

Mayonnaise is just simply an emulsion. The traditional method of making mayonnaise involves slowly pouring while whisking and saying prayers that you don’t mess it up.. which you might. Then you start over. No. Nope. I’m not even going to bother. I am already frustrated hearing this and I’m not going to do it. *Crosses arms, looks the other way* Ok. I will take a moment to say here that even this is a skill I’d like to master. I just haven’t yet.

Both eggs and mustard contain substances that act as an emulsifier. Oil and water typically don’t mix. Emulsifiers are attracted to fat on one end and oil on the other end. This allows for everything to dance happily in one creamy delicious condiment for your sandwich. But it isn’t simply as easy as just stirring it all together though. Your technique matters. The traditional method of pouring slowly while whisking can very well turn into a curdled, greasy, gross mess.

Blenders work ok but it is difficult to make a small batch of anything in a blender. The solution is one of my favorite modern day appliances! The Emersion Blender! I love this thing. I use it for all sorts of things!

Ok so you will notice that mayonnaise uses raw egg.. *GASP* If this makes you nervous, you can purchase pasteurized eggs. If you want to dance in danger like me, grab those fresh eggs from the counter and get crackin.’

Put immersion blender at the bottom of the jar for about 20 seconds and then move it up and down until all of the oil is incorporated and the mayo is smooth and creamy.

Mayonnaise from scratch

Simple immersion blender recipe
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Equipment

  • immersion blender
  • wide mouth mason jar

Ingredients
  

  • 1 egg (pasturized if you're concerned about raw eggs)
  • 1 cup mild tasting oil (vegetable oil, avocado oil, light olive oil)
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp ground mustard
  • 1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)

Instructions
 

  • Add all the ingredients to a wide mouth mason jar
  • Put the immersion blender all the way to the bottom of the jar and blend on high
  • After about 20 seconds of blending when the bottom of the mixture is white, lift up on the immersion blender to incorporate the rest of the oil.
  • You may have to go up and down a few times with the immersion blender until it is all blended
  • The whole process will take just a minute or two.
  • Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if desired

Notes

Store your mayonnaise in a mason jar in the fridge for up to about 2 weeks. 
Keyword condiment, Mayo, mayonnaise

Happy Homesteading!