I found a bunch of old posts that I forgot to publish. This one is from a few years ago when I had first moved to North Carolina. Looking back on some of these posts makes me laugh. HAHAHAHAH I was so lame, but not really. 




It's a good thing I like jam because Nathan barely makes a dent our stock of jam/jellies/pickles. I was horrified to discover he had gone to the grocery store and bought a jar of Smuckers Strawberry Jam for his PB+J.  Apparently I jam I make is "too fancy for PB+J". I transformed into the hulk, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! I SLAVE OVER A HOT STOVE TO MAKE HOMEMADE JAM AND YOU BUY THIS CRAP!" Let's just say I made my point and there is no sign of that garbage anywhere in the apartment.  On a positive note, when Nate does like something he will gobble it all up. I made some of Marisa McClellan's tomato jam last summer and have been slathering it on toast with cheese, sneaking it on burgers, basically using it anywhere you would stick ketchup.  He was a bit resistant but eventually tried some and thankfully liked it. YAY!!! Since I knew it was a hit I added it to my list things to put up this summer. I got some great looking tomatoes for 1.50 a pound and made quick work of this jam. What I like most about it is how easy it is and you don't have to peel or seed these 'maters. Just chop everything up and let it cook down into a sticky, jammy mess. 



Tomato Jam with Smoked Paprika
from Food in Jars
Ingredients

• 12 cups chopped orange tomatoes (I use red)
• 2 1/2 cups sugar (I only used 1 3/4)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large, non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce temperature to a simmer. Stirring regularly, gently boil the jam until it reduces to a sticky, jammy mess. Cooking at a fairly rapid pace, it should take about an hour of cooking.
2. When the jam has cooked down sufficiently, remove from heat and fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe rims, apply lids and twist on rings. Process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes.
3. When time is up, remove jars from water bath and allow them to cool. When jars are cool enough to handle, test seals. Store jars in a cool, dark place for up to one year.

I went a little wild and bought 9 lbs of cukes at Produce Junction. *** this tale of massive produce buying will haunt in the future too. It was only last summer (2015) that I walked to the local farmers market for some eggs and came home with 10lbs of cukes because it was a great deal but also because I felt bad for the poor old farmer guy that everyone was ignoring. I will never learn.*** I only had 6 hours left in my mini vacation before I had to head back to work for 6 days in a row.*** Another side note, I have no fricken idea how I managed to work 6 nursing shifts in a row. I must have been Wonder Woman because now I only work 3 in a row at most and it literally kills me. Maybe I was high on New Grad knowledge or I was almost killing people without realizing it. *** It was now or never. Plus I had a bunch of peaches, tomatoes, peppers and meals for the week to cook up. Afterwards I am glad I got it all done but it was a mad dash to the finish line. I now realize I might have bitten off more than I could choose. In those six hours I made

Peach salsa
Pickled Peaches
Pickled Jalapeños
Tomato Jam
Ham and Cheese grits
Salads for lunch
Corn Chowder

Afterwards I was L'exausted. I had to do something with all those cucumbers so I made 2 different recipes. Hop Pickles and Old Bay Pickles. I love scoping out different kinds of pickles and then trying to find a copy cat recipe on the internet. At Whole Foods they sell some tasty looking pickles but I'm not paying $7-10 for a jar of artesinal pickles. ARE YOU CRAZY! So when I saw that Brooklyn Brine Co. was teaming up with Dogfish head brewery for beer pickles I knew I needed to figure out how to make these. I was a little bit of rebel and didn't dunk my pickles in a hot water bath to process them. Before you freak out listen to my reasoning.  After canning for awhile you develope a certain sense of comfort in fiddling with recipes. I have read in the past that for cucumber pickles they don't necessarily need to be processed as long as you are using hot jars, hot liquid and maintaining a 50/50 water to vinegar ratio. There is so much vinegar and salt in the brine that it is nearly impossible for anything to grow. That being said it is something you have to decide for yourself. This is the first time I have done cucumbers this way but I knew that I would be the only one eating them (Nate hates pickles) and I still give everything I can a close look before I gobble it up. You can still process them if you like. I was just looking for another way to make my pickles crisp and save some time. 

Hop Pickles 
from Cupcake Rehab

MARILLA’S HOP-PICKLES MADE WITH IPA

MAKES ABOUT 4 PINTSIngredients:

• 8-10 small pickling cucumbers (about 3 pounds)
• 2 cups white vinegar, 5%
• 2 cups water 
• 2 tablespoons pickling salt
• 4 sprigs fresh dill, 4 dill heads or 4 teaspoons dill seeds
• 1 teaspoon pickling spice (divided into fourths)
• a little sprinkle of mustard seed per jar
• half of a medium sized white onion, caramelized (done beforehand, allowed to cool & patted “dry”) I omitted this from my batch.
• 1 chili pepper, seeded & sliced
• a dash of cumin seeds
• 2 medium cloves garlic, each cut in half
• 1 bottle Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA (or the IPA of your choice)

*** I omitted the 2 cups of water since you need a 50/50 ratio of acid to water/beer. It's always better to go a little heavy on the vinegar and skimp of the water instead of the other way around.****
Directions:

1. Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber. This prevents a “mushy” pickle, as the ends of cucumbers contain an enzyme that makes them mushy. Place jars in canner to sterilize them and place lids in hot water to soften seal. Keep jars hot.
2. Meanwhile, combine vinegar, water, and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Add the bottle of beer (you will end up with leftover brine, it’s almost certain).
3. Remove hot jars from canner. Divide the fresh dill or 1 tsp dill seeds, 1/4 teaspoon pickling spice, chili peppers, cumin seeds, onions and garlic among the jars (they should be still hot); pack in cucumbers.
4. Pour the hot beer brine mixture over cucumbers to within ½ inch of rim (head space). Place lids, then bands, turning only to fingertip tight. Let sit in a cool dark place for 24 hours. Check seal. If not sealed, put the jar in the fridge and enjoy right away! If sealed, allow jars to sit for one week before opening for optimal flavor.

Explanation from someone else on skipping the hot water bath...

Before anyone gets on my ass, no I didn’t process them. I figured the salt & vinegar was enough to ensure safety, not to mention the fact that I had a feeling they’d be opened & eaten fairly quickly. If you want to process them, then go right ahead. An experienced canner should know exactly how long, etc (as a general rule it’s 10 minutes for pint jars, 15 for quart). However there are a lot of pickle recipes (like this one) that don’t require processing, the lids seal as soon as the liquid/jars cool. I’ve never had a problem with doing pickles this way now & then, but obviously you need to make sure all of your produce is 100% clean and that your equipment is 100% sterilized, and that you’re using white vinegar with 5% acidity. Yes, yes, yes, I know the USDA would have my head for that. But whatever. I’m nothing if not a rebel.


Old Bay Pickles
From Coconut & Lime

Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, cut into forths and to fit pint jars (I just swapped cukes for the zucchini)
1 1/2 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons pickling salt
2 tien tsin dried peppers
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dillseed
2 teaspoons Old Bay 
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed
2 cloves garlic

Directions:
Bring the vinegar, water and salt to a boil. Prep the lids/jars. Evenly divide all of the ingredients between 2 wide mouth pint jars Pour in the vinegar mixture. Close the jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Allow to sit 2 weeks before eating. 

Yield: 2 pints

I got real lucky when I found my current roommate situation in Mocksville. Not only is she really laid back but  her Dad has a farm down the road from the house. One of the perks is that we get produce from the farm. Last time Kim went over she asked if I wanted any veggies. I said I would take whatever.  Well that ended up being a whole bucket of beets, 8 heads of cabbage, 3 bags of kale, mushrooms and a bunch of onions.  SCORE! I made quick work of the cabbage and made a second attempt at making kraut. This time I made sure if was submerge in brine and checked on it daily.  But then I went to PA for a long weekend… when I returned the kitchen smelled REALLY funky. I know fermented stuff takes on an odor. When I checked on the kraut there was some colorful blooms of mold growing on the top of the brine (totally normal, just skim the funk off) but then I looked closer and saw a bigger problem. MAGGOTS! Ewww!!!!! Make my skin crawl! Lots of time little while worm things crawling everywhere. I called up my Mom to see if I could salvage the kraut and just skim them off. She said NO WAY! Throw it out. You need to watch kraut EVERYDAY, lesson learned. As I tossed the batch into the compost head I could smell the lovely scent of the sauerkraut from the bottom of the jar that was maggot free. Bummer. Luckily I had some kraut brewing in different jars that had not been affected.

I had to do something with the rest of the produce. I made kale pesto, stuck it into ice cube trays and froze those bad boys for a rainy day. The mushrooms were made into barley risotto Trader Joes style (apparently Nate says it’s one the the best things I have made in the past) and some oven roasted beets. It took me all afternoon to cook up this stuff but I am set for the week. All I need to do is nosh on my prepared meals. No cooking!!!!

Kale Pesto

This recipe is pretty loose. Feel free to add or delete whatever you like to suit your flavors.

Big bunch of kale (stems removed)
5 cloves garlic
½ c. nuts (I used pecans)
½ c. parm
¼ c. EVOO
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
A couple good shakes of crushed red pepper flakes
S&P

Pulse everything in a food processor, slowly add EVOO in while the processor is running. 

Warning, this post might be a little sappy

I'm sure everyone says this but I have the cutest niece. I’m lucky to have a real cute niece who is turing 3 TODAY.  It’s hard to believe that it’s been 3 years since she made “Christmas in July”(she was born on July 25th) I do remember I was in the midst of driving back and forth to Philadelphia that summer lugging all of my personal possessions for my final move at the end of the summer. Melissa was as big as a boat and I got the call that things had started to move. Luckily it took some time for Nora to make her appearance so I was able to see Melissa before the final labor process began. I was the FIRST of the Socha clan to get my hands on her. She was so tiny and cute I could have died! I soaked her up for the next month and then I had to head out to Philly to start my adventures in being a Nanny and hopefully get into a nursing program (Luckily I was accepted AND passed). The night before I left I went over to Lissa and T-Pet’s casa for some last bits of snuggles. I must have looked like a crazy person. Melissa is in the kitchen taking a break while I was with Nora crying. Melissa was alarmed, “What’s wrong?” I started balling that Nora wasn’t going to know who I was since she wasn’t going to be seeing me as often. Psshhh,  I was freaking out over nothing. Skype dates gave me the chance to see Nora and I drove home as often as I could to see as much as I could. I love to go home but the real reason I go back as often as I do is to see Nora. I want her to know who I am. I wish Melissa didn’t have to feed her so much because she grew at an alarming rate. I guess that happens with kids.  As Nora grew she became more and more exciting. It was fun to watch her roll around, then she was clapping, watching her starting to walk was fun too (like a drunk sailor) and then she started to talk. I could have died when she started to say my name. (Even though she still gets me confused with Emma, I don’t know how…) Every time I go home we get to do more and more things. Last time I went to VT we hit up Duke’s creemee stand, our first unsupervised outing.  It took her FOREVER to eat her cone. It was only filled to the brim, not even a full baby creemee. Melted, sticky mess everywhere. While we were sitting there she was chatting away “ It’s a beautiful day, tomorrow we go to the library? Baby brother can’t eat ice cream, makes his belly sick” I just love her too much. Now when we Skype she asks me “ Whatcha doin Ashee?” and jumps around like a Mexican jumping bean. She says crazier and crazier things. She recently is really into “boobie shows”, I don’t even know what that is.  She is just the best little person. My sister and T-Pet have taken the hard job of parenthood and molded such a wonderful little person. Now not only do I have the most wonderful little niece to love, I ALSO HAVE A NEPHEW! I can’t wait to see what kind of a person Henry turns into. I just know I can’t wait to go home and spend time with both of them, oh yeah and I guess I should probably see the rest of the fam too.

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. In fact I have more of a salt tooth. Mom and I joke that we want to be buried with a salt lick around our necks when we croak. For the insane amount of salt I consume I have somehow been fortunate to have low BP but I know I’m living on borrowed time. When I do have the occasional pang for something sweet I usually have nothing in the house to eat and it’s usually fueled by raging lady hormones. I was having a major craving for my Aunt Val’s  Black Bottom cupcakes. (Mom don’t kill me for sharing this wonderful recipe)

Mom would make these for holidays and special occasions. I remember them the most around Halloween. Mom tried to make up for not letting us go trick or treating by making baked goods to compensate. No trick or treating for the Socha girls? Yep, Mom and Dad said the neighborhood wasn’t safe enough and we weren’t supporting “The devil’s holiday”. Eventually I wore them out and was able to go trick or treating for the first time much to Mom’s dismay when I was in 7th grade. She assured me that Aunt Val was rolling in her grave at the thought of me trick or treating. Mom’s guilt trip obviously didn’t work. Since we were lacking in the costume department and Mom wasn’t going to buy me a costume I went as a scarecrow. I went with my gal pals to Woodcrest Circle, which was THE place for Halloween. There were tons of houses in that development. I couldn’t believe all the candy I got.  All the excitement was followed by a slumber party at Kristina Steves. BEST NIGHT EVER (for a 7th grade girl)

These cupcakes are super easy to make which is good because I hate to bake. You have to be exact with baking, not my strong suit.  I was feeling cheap and didn’t want to buy cocoa powder since I saw a can in the cupboard and Kim is more than happy to share pantry supplies with me. After whipping up the batter and sticking these puppies in the oven I noticed the color of the batter was a bit off. That’s when I checked out the expiration date on the cocoa powder. November 2010. Whoops, a little bit old but the cupcakes were already in the oven. Oh well, I can’t let good food go to waste. I ate them anyway.  In fact I ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is one of the pitfalls of living without Nate. I have to eat everything I cook. I offered some to my roomie but she obviously declined. She had a whole cake to eat, which I helped a little bit with that too (I hope she didn’t notice/care).

Auntie Val’s Black Bottom Cupcakes

Makes 18 cupcakes

8 oz cream cheese room temp
1 egg
pinch of salt
6 oz. chocolate chips

1 ½ c. flour
¼ c. cocoa powder
1 c. sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. water
1/3 c. oil
1 tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix cream cheese, egg, salt and chips together and set aside.

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. Mix fluids. Next mix wet and dry ingredients together by hand. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Add 1 tbsp of cream cheese mixture to top eat cupcake. Bake at 350 for 30-35 mins.

Bourbon and BBQ are kind of a big deal around here. I'm trying to acquire a taste for bourbon.  Mostly because I have a bottle of it back in PA that I have leftover from a bacon jam recipe. I found bourbon lemonade cocktail that I AMAZING.  It’s refreshing, strong and let’s me taste a little bit of the bourbon flavor without being overpowering.  It was so good that I bought a handle to have here in NC so I can have a cocktail at either house. A popular shot at the bars around here is the pickle back. It’s a shot of bourbon/whisky followed by a chaser of pickle juice.  It sounds right up my alley. Since I eat pickles insanely fast I always have leftover pickle brine that is so jam-packed full of my favorite flavors that often ends up down the drain because I don’t know what to do with it.  I was surfing the web for suggestions on what to do with this flavor packed pickle brine. I came across a blog with a recipe for pickle back ice lollies (popsicles). This sounded right up my alley. I was starting to like the flavor of bourbon in small amounts and I LOVE PICKLED anything.  I filled my Popsicle molds with 2 tsp. of bourbon per mold and topped it off with spicy lemon cauliflower pickle brine. I stashed these puppies in the freezer overnight and couldn’t wait to try them out the next time after a long day at work.  Alcoholic popsicles are a genius idea.

These popsicles are VILE. Don’t make them, EWWWW! It’s not the pickle juice that’s bad, they’re just so strong. I feel like I'm sucking on a rubbing alcohol ice cube. I tried multiple attempts to enjoy it but after 3 good licks I have to trash it. Luckily I only made 4. I’m thinking about taking the remaining ones and sticking  them into a bloody Mary as a chiller.  Too much concentrated bourbon flavor for me.

Instead I will enjoy my bourbon in this lemonade. I have also used rhubarb syrup from Food in Jars as my sweetener. 
Rhubarb Syrup Recipe



BOURBON GINGER FIZZ
makes 1 glass
From http://www.henryhappened.com/recipe-bourbon-ginger-fizz.html

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
• 2 slices fresh ginger
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 oz bourbon
• 1/2 cup club soda

First make a simple syrup with the sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Simmer them together until the sugar dissolves. Take the pan off the heat and add the peppercorns and ginger. Let it cool and then strain. Fill a glass with ice, add 1 tablespoon of the syrup and then the remaining ingredients. Garnish with a slice of lemon.