Operation Faux Olives Part 1

I love a good food experiment. I do it all the time, play with textures and flavors and unusual combos. So as a Facebook user (City Girl, Country Life) I came across another Facebook page called Growing Gardens that had a post for an end-of-the garden kind of refrigerator pickle. I love reading what other people are doing in the garden and in the kitchen so I read their instructions:

• Fill a quart jar 1/2 to 3/4 full with green beans
• Fill remainder with green tomatoes, cut in quarters
• Chop some fresh basil and pack that on top

Bring 3 cups of water to boil, stir in 1/2 cup salt until dissolved. Pour into vegetable jar. Add white vinegar to jar until full, close and store in fridge. After 2-3 week the pickles will be ready and the tomatoes will have a taste and texture similar to green olives. Kept in fridge, veggies will last 6-8 months.

Well, I couldn't help but wonder if the tomato CHUNKS taste like green olives, wouldn't green CHERRY tomatoes ? I asked the question on their page and they challenged me to try it so..... here we go!!

I knew I did not have enough cherry tomatoes to fill a quart jar- more like a half pint. So next comes the math. I guestimated on the boiling water and used a little less than 1/3 cup and enough to salt to make it "pickle salty". We'd already had a first frost so I had no fresh basil, I used just one dried leaf, crushed up. I poked each tomato with a toothpick, placed in the jar, added the water, topped off with vinegar, dated it, placed in fridge and now........ we wait........

Well, I am 4 days into the experiment and finding it EXTREMELY hard not to break into that jar and just see what one tastes like. I am going to try real real hard not to. I also heard from my canning enabler friend Janet that she has lots of green tomatoes for me, including cherries, so I will have more to experiment with and work on that olive brine flavor. Stay tuned !!!

Zombies Revisited

Ohhhhhhh Zombie Burger.......how I love you so. Your naughty menu of ridiculously high calorie yummies makes me happy.  So today's visit to Zombie Burger after visiting the World Food Festival I wasn't exactly starving but my nephew hadn't ever been there so.......

The menu is the most creative you will find almost anywhere. The burgers are just ....... well..... unusual combinations.

We started off with a couple cocktails. Jeremy had The Zombie, a combo of two kinds of rum, Cointreau and cherry liquer. I had the Blood Tang Martini, Three Olives Rang Tang Vodka, Cointreau, Blood Orange puree and lime, garnished with a drizzle of blood colored candy goo.

My nephew had the "They're Coming To Get You Barbara" burger.......a frightening combination of two patties (double tap), cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, and two grilled cheese sandwiches instead of a bun.

It's........unspeakable.

My choice was the 28 Days Later Burger, with bleu cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo. MUCH more manageable.

I'll just say.......too too much food after the food festival.

Jeremy, however, polished off the evening with an adult milkshake- The Tallahassee- vanilla ice cream, Twinkie, cherry kool aid powder and vanilla vodka.

It was the perfect ending to the perfect Aunt/Nephew Day !!

Foodie Field Trip: Big day in the city- the World Food Festival

Not much going on in my little corner of the world on a Saturday, so when my nephew asked me to go with the World Food Festival in Des Moines, I couldn't say yes fast enough! Mother Nature cooperated as well, with a beautiful 60ish degree day, sunny, with a nice breeze. Perfect day out.

The World Food Festival is an annual event in Des Moines and offers a diverse menu of foods from all over the world, from local restaurants, ethnic stores and other organizations. Visitors can choose from several menu items anywhere from $2 to $5 or a "taste" for $1.

We decided to forego the usual around-town things like Italian sausage sandwiches and pasta dishes and made our first stop at the Cafe Fuzion booth. Cafe Fuzion offers a variety of Thai, Korean, Japanese and Chinese foods. Rather than just the taste item, we chose the Fuzion Sampler- tempura vegetables, crab rangoon, egg rolls and purple passion rice. It was a hit! The tempura vegetables were just from the fryer fresh, zucchini and sweet potato slices- were oh so delicious. The purple passion rice was a mystery- it was sweet and sticky and delicious, with no clue as to how the purple color got there.

The Ethiopian Association of Iowa's booth was our next stop. We had a hard time deciding what to try, not being familiar with Ethiopian cooking whatsoever, but we again passed on the $1 taste and chose "Wot", a spicy red sauce with chunks of beef simmered til tender, served with a sauteed mixture of cabbage, green beans and onions, which was so delicious I could have eaten an entire plate of just that! The food was served on an odd crepe-like pancake that was a little unusual in texture, I would have passed on that part.

A couple booths away we stopped at Mi Patria Restaurant. Ecuadorian cuisine was also very foreign to me so I decided to go with the $1 taste- arroz con pollo. Wow !! It was fantastic !

The thing about eating foreign food- you're bound to find something you don't like. We found it at Papillon Bosnian Food's booth. The $1 taste item was a sarma- beef and rice wrapped in a cabbage leaf and served with a thin tomato broth that was way too vinegary for me. I didn't even finish, it was just too tart.

We walked along, passing on several booths from places we'd already eaten at or, again, something we can have anytime. BUT........around the corner was a booth we just HAD TO stop at. Gusto Pizza had several of their many unusual combos available to taste. Jeremy tried the Spartacus, which was a thin crust, red sauce, Graziano's sausage, pepperoni, banana pepper and cremini mushroom flavor blast, and the Fromage-a-trois- exactly what it is, a three cheese pizza on a cracker thin crust. I bravely tried the "#24"- creamed jalapeno corn, chopped smoked beef brisket, mozzarella, bleu cheese, sweet corn and red onion. It was sooooo delicious.

After Gusto we hit the Hawaiian Grill for some crab rangoon that were unlike any I have ever had- lots of cilantro and an amazing ginger dipping sauce. Bacon Wrapped Des Moines offered a giant jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon, and charred on the grill. Ok, but more for a Superbowl party. The Pacific Rim Noodle House offered wok-fired veggies tossed with soba noodles, and we finished up our tasting tour with a trip to Pronto/Tami's Tarts for a bowl of Bread Pudding with Bourbon Caramel. O.M.G. The pudding was sooooo lush and rich and amazingly fluffy, and the caramel- wow, you could taste the bourbon !! Loved it !!

In the middle of all this yummy food was a stage with live entertainment. While we were there, World Port was on stage with an awesome instrumental show.

We couldn't leave the Festival without attending at least one cooking demonstration and we were lucky enough to be in time for George Formaro's demonstration. Unlike his other endeavors, Centro, Django, Zombie Burger+Drink Lab and Gateway Market, his demo was Mexican ! George is one of the best chefs in the United States with a keen business mind and a brilliant imagination and creativity. Barbecoa with Roasted Tomato Salsa was the recipe he prepared and the audience each got to sample- it was fabulous.

So I will share Mr. Formaro's recipes (hey, he passed out copies so I guess it's alright) so you can try it at home.

Barbecoa (George likes to make it at home in the crock pot)

3-4 lb chuck beef roast, trimmed of fat and cut in cubes
2-3 teaspoons salt
2 c flour
oil or lard for browning (George prefers lard for flavor)
1 onion, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp mexican oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tb chopped fresh garlic
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1 can fire roasted tomatoes

One night in advance, salt beef and place in fridge overnight.

Heat a large dutch oven, add oil or lard. Dredge the meat and shake off excess. Cook without crowding until well browned. Mix the meat with all remaining ingredients in crock pot. Turn on high for about 3 hours and hold at least 3 more hours at low. Stir occasionally. Serve on tortillas with salsa or toppings of choice.

George's Roasted Tomato Salsa

6 roma tomatoes, cored, seeded and cut in half
1/2 onion, minced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
1 jalapeno, sliced
4 cloves garlic
2 tb olive oil
1 tb salt
2 tsp chipotle powder
2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 mexican oregano
1 bunch cilantro, stems removed
1 tb vinegar

Heat a large saucepan on stove, add olive oil. Add vegetables and cook on high heat until vegetables start to brown. Add rest of ingredients. Remove from heat and blend with immersion blender or blender until smooth.

Boooo....I mean Mooooo....I mean YAY !!! Free Beef Bones !!

My wild goose chase has ended and I learned 2 valuable lessons.

#1. Never count on the big city grocery chain meat counters to help you out when looking for beef bones for stock making, and later, Louie snacks. My experience went like this: Enter major grocery store in Clive, browse meat selection, no beef bones, oxtail, or anything like that. A few puny short ribs but $9 each- ummmmm, no thanks. Inquire at meat counter "Do you have any beef bones suitable for making beef stock?" The "butcher" responded by saying "No, but over in the pet food aisle we have marrow bones for dogs, the shrink wrapped ones."   Sigh............I'm not making my beef stock from Alpo......

#2. Small towns are where it's at. One phone call to the locker in the nearby small town of Redfield and the answer was "Sure we do !! I can have them ready for you tomorrow."  My next question- "What do you charge for bones?" The response ?? "Oh gosh, we don't charge for bones." YAY !!!

So...... my little 15 mile or so road trip ends with me bringing home about 15 lbs of big chunky beef bones with lots of meaty bits still attached.  Of course, the smallest one immediately went to Louie, who occupied himself to the point of exhaustion with his new bone.

I rinsed these meaty monsters well, and placed them on pans to roast in a slow over (275 degrees) for 3 hours. While that was going on, I was able to catch up on some much needed housework, putting canned foods away, washing and cutting up carrots, celery and onion to add to the pot when it's time. I did have a pic of the veggies but since I am notoriously technology challenged, I managed to delete them- but you know what a carrot looks like.

My next dilemma was WHAT IN THE WORLD, or this house at least, am I going to cook all this beef stock in ?? Easy solution !! The water bath canner !!! So out of the oven and into the pot went the roasted beef bones (with all that excess fat rendered away) and the vegetables, a good big fat pinch of salt and a palmfull of peppercorns. I'm just going to let this amazing smelling pot of love simmer as long as possible- maybe overnight ?? I'll have to remove some shelves from the fridge to fit it in there to chill !

It's too close to bedtime to drag out the canning equipment and I don't think I've had enough simmer time to really make it yummy, so into the fridge the pot went, tomorrow I'll simmer for another 2-3 hours and see what it tastes like. Might be doing some canning !!!

Day 2 of stockmaking is going famously. Since it was in the fridge overnight I was able to skim off alot of the fat and get rid of that. Then I added 2 whole heads of garlic (just cut in half with the papery junk removed), a whole pile of parsley and several bay leaves. This will be the last night of simmering. I let it go for about 3 more hours and then skimmed off the delicious stock and had a HUGE pile of discarded bones and vegetables.

One more night in the fridge, one last chance to skim off the fat then tomorrow it's strain and heat and can this amazing beef stock!!

Alright......Friday night has arrived and the canning procedure is beginning. First step, make sure all the jars are cleaned, heated, and lids are hot and ready to go.

Next, remove stockpot from the fridge and skim off the last of the fat (which was TOTALLY gross because stock made from bones always has that gelatinous quality that is oh so gross if not cherry flavored) and then heat the stock to boiling.

Remember, I had to make the stock in the BWB- it was the only pot  I have that was big enough 

I set up my little assembly line- pressure canner filled and simmering, stock heated to boiling, jars and lids hot and ready, scoop, strainer and funnel, lots of paper towels and I'm on my way. Some people use a ladle to fill jars but amazingly, I don't have one, so I use a Pyrex measuring cup with a pour spout and poured it through a fine strainer placed in the funnel, placed in the jar.  Fill to correct headspace, wipe rim and fix lids and rings and into the simmering water in the canner they go. Repeat until canner is full !

Process according to your area- for me it's 15 lb pressure for 25 minutes for quarts. Then you know the drill- remove from heat and let canner reduce pressure to zero before opening. And at the end of my loooooong stock-making project I ended up with 9 quarts of beef stock, 100% homemade with not one thing artificial added!

Ingredients:

Beef bones with bits of meat attached (I had about 12 lbs)
4-5 carrots, cut into thirds
5-6 stalks celery, with leaves, cut into thirds
one large onion, quartered
2 heads garlic, cut if half crosswise and most of papery skin removed
BIG bunch fresh parsley
1 cup cabernet sauvignon
water to fill stockpot

That's it !!

Harvest Time is the Best Time of Year

Iowa has had such a weird summer too- very early warm weather, everything was in bloom earlier than usual, then just not enough rain to even keep the few piddly things in my garden alive. Many many fruit trees in the state suffered.

I was lucky enough to have a friend with a GIANT apple tree and GIANT pear tree that produced massive amounts of fruit this year- way more than their family of two would ever eat. Rather than let it all fall and rot, she generously offered some to us- we just had to come and pick as much as we wanted.

So we loaded ourselves and two 5 gallon buckets and an unknown number of grocery sacks and headed over. Best score of the year !!! As I sat and watched the Vikings lose I peeled a crockpot full of apples and started my first batch of apple butter, I'm sure I'll be adding more apples to that batch this afternoon as it cooks down. I have always loved making apples in the crockpot, and the recipe is so super simple. Maybe I'll try a pear butter and a pear and apple butter ? Maybe ? I'm searching the internet for other uses for these fruits besides the obvious butters and applesauce (we really don't like applesauce)

Crockpot Apple Butter

peeled, cored and cut up apples to fill the crockpot
sugar to taste
cinnamon 1-2 tsp, more if you  like
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg.

Place all ingredients in the crockpot. You can add a small amount of liquid to help cook and break down and cook the fruit but go on the light side. You'll be cooking this to a thicker texture later so the less water to add the easier it gets.

I put the lid on, turned to high and let it sit for the second half of the game. Then I added another pile of apple chunks and mixed them in, turned it to low, and went to bed. This morning they are getting soft but not broken down enough so I left them a while longer.

When the apple butter has cooked enough that it rounds up on a spoon and is thick and golden brown, it's time to can up. I spoon the apple butter into hot jars, wipe the rims, fix the lid and ring and into the water bath for 10 minutes of processing. Besides being delicious, chemical free and homemade, they make delicious gifts !!

Now as for the pears...... I am having trouble finding interesting things to make from them. They are still nice and firm so I will of course do halves and slices, but I'd like to experiment beyond pear jam and pear butter. I found a chutney recipe that looks interesting. Found pickled pears but that sure didn't appeal to me much.  I'm just so thankful and excited to have generous and loving friends who share !!

So I relapsed, what's the big deal ??

I put it all away, jars in rubbermaid tubs marked according to size. Canners back in their boxes. Accessories stowed safely away. Jars of food lining the cabinet shelf just perfectly.

And then I remembered. I still have a pot of mushroom cooking liquid and a big bowl of stem trimmings. Oh no.....here we go again. Drag out the pressure canner. Drag out the pint jars. Here we go again.

Last night I spent a couple hours working on mushroom stock. I sauteed the stem ends with a couple cloves of smashed garlic and ohhhh maybe a quarter of an onion, sliced. Got them to cook down and brown nicely. Then I added a little additional water, some salt and pepper and let that simmer away til it was mushroomy and rich. I thought about adding other seasonings at this point but decided against it, since I don't know yet how we will use the stock or in what dish and I didn't want flavors that don't go well with the other ingredients. So I kept it very basic. I added the mushroom liquid from the canning marathon and brought it all to a boil while I heated jars and assembled my jar assembly line and readied the canner. 

Straining a huge pot of boiling liquid proved to be a logistical nightmare so I used a tiny strainer that fit right in the jar opening and a small Pyrex measuring glass to scoop the broth into the jars and strain at the same time. Worked like a charm ! I ended up with 8 pints of mushroom stock and virtually no waste except the discarded mushroom ends (most were too woody to use for eating).

Now the best part- all winter long we'll have this mushroomy secret hidden away in the cupboard. Stews,  soups, gravies - all can have an unexpected flavor boost !!! 

Unfortunately though, this will not be my only relapse. It makes me want to go buy bones. Chicken bones. Beef bones. Ugly vegetables. I want to make STOCK and literally stock the pantry with stock !!! I have fallen off the wagon folks, and I'm totally ok with that !!

Dinner guests ?? Why yes we do !!

I love Joe's Day Off. Why ?? You would think that on his day off the last thing he'd want to do is COOK but nope, my chef loves his home kitchen as much as his restaurant kitchen. We have all the fun toys and all the interesting ingredients. Fresh produce. Lots of different kinds of meat to choose from. Almost endless options.

At home though, he likes to cook the comfort food classics. Tator tot casserole. Chicken and noodles. Hot roast beef sandwiches. Just like childhood memories. Only kicked up Joe style.

Today he decided on a classic my mom used to make often when I was growing up but she never made it quite like this !! It was such a big occasion that not only did I let Joe use the precious Le Creuset but we also invited my sister and nephew, and our neighbor and his daughter for dinner.

Joe's Salisbury Steak

2 lb ground beef
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs (more if meat mixture seems too wet)
salt, pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/2 cup milk

Mix all ingredients for steaks in large bowl until well combined. Cover with plastic and let sit in fridge for 1 to 2 hours to soften breadcrumbs and meld flavors.

Shape into 8 patties. Place on foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until almost cooked thru (medium). Remove from onion and set aside.

Mushroom Sauce

small onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup sliced mushrooms (we used used home canned, if using fresh use about 1 1/2 cups)
salt and pepper
3/4 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup cola
2 cups mushroom stock*
2 1/2 tb high quality beef base
1/2 cup red wine
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
roux for thickening or cornstarch- whichever you prefer

In large pan or dutch oven heat 1-2 tb oil. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook an stir until softened and onion is translucent. Add crumbled bacon.

Pour red wine over and deglaze pan. Add coffee, cola and mushroom stock.

Bring to boiling and thicken sauce. When sauce is thickened, add baked steaks to pan, cover and simmer until meat is cooked through.

Served with mashed potatoes and whatever vegetable you like, and if you're really lucky, some homemade bread !!

Joe was kinda mad that I didn't let him garnish my plate all fancy but seriously- I wasn't waiting !! I wanted to dig in right away !! And our guests- it was a thumbs up all around.

*Mushroom Stock-  I canned 20 lbs of mushrooms over the last two days and had to hot pack them. The end result was a stockpot full of richly flavored mushroom stock. The Chef used some for this recipe and the rest will be canned tomorrow for future dinners. If you don't have mushroom stock use beef stock or beef broth and omit or greatly reduce the amount of beef base in the recipe.

Bread Making 2.0

After the bread failure last time I broke out the bread machine I decided it was time to set out and find the perfect bread recipe. I found a totally new recipe this time and it wasn't quite PERFECT but it was much much better than the last bread making experience.

I started my search online. I have a bread making cookbook SOMEWHERE in my Room of Doom in a box, but finding it would be just about impossible. So an online search was my only option. The website www.food.com had a great and simple recipe and I had every ingredient on hand, so that's what I went with.

Country White Bread

1 cup water, plus more
1 tb water (70-80 F)
1 large egg
4 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 1/4 cup bread flour, plus more
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast


I layered the ingredients in my bread machine as the manual says, flour in the middle, sugar, salt.
In a small bowl I beat the egg lightly and mixed in the oil and poured that on the side of the flour
mixture in the pan. Then I added the water all around and made a small indentation in the flour
and added the yeast.

Then setting my machine on the white bread cycle, I walked away and enjoyed some of the
beautiful sunny day on the patio.

Three hours later I had pretty nice little loaf of bread to go with dinner !!

Settling into fall

Tomorrow is the FIRST Football Sunday of 2012. It's also the Chef's day off. Which means COOKING. The canning marathon is pretty much done for the year. I may do a few more tomatoes if I come across some, I may not. I might try potatoes on a boring weekend day. I might not. But for the most part, I'm ready to put everything away for now and just enjoy some fall weather.

Soon the leaves with be changing, cool nights will keep us chilled, a first fire in the chiminea will happen, and before long those cold, windy, blustery wall days will whisk our leaves away and send the garden to it's demise. I won't be too heartbroken about that either. It's been a terrible year for gardening. The excessive heat and drought conditions made it nearly impossible to keep things alive. Thank God for the Amish farm up the highway with their pick-your-own produce or we might be in dire straights in the middle of the winter.

A drive around our lake today showed some very sad sights. The water level at the main boat dock is probably 5 feet lower than it should be. There are places you can walk across the lake without getting your shorts wet, it's become so shallow. We need not only rain but a pretty significant snowfall to bring the water level back to where it should be. The oppressive heat kept the fishing poor this year. Just hasn't been a very good summer this year.

So as we're winding down the summer and looking forward to fall, it's time to reflect on things we're thankful for. I have much to be thankful for. I have the most incredible, caring and generous children any mother could ask for. They have spouses and partners who are just more kids as far as I'm concerned- and just as loving and kind. I have 3 amazing grandchildren that are growing too fast !! I have a caring father and sister I can't imagine living without. My friends are the best friends any person could ask for. My job is amazing. My furkids are wonderful and so much a part of our family. I have a roof over my head and food in my cupboard. We have a military that keeps us safe from terrorism and protects our rights, with such personal sacrifice most people can't imagine. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, and I try to be thankful all year long and not just one day.

And with that, I'll say goodnight and God bless all of you and with you many years of happiness and prosperity and love.

The Baker and The Chef

Holy Hot Sauce, Batman !!

Things are going to get verrrrrry interesting around here this weekend. My foodie friend Paula, who makes some of the hottest pepper sauces on the planet, has graciously sent me some samples of her hottest sauces, one with ghost chili as the primary pepper and the other with Trinidad Scorpion chili as the main ingredient. I am going to put some serious thought into how to best use these to get the best flavor, most impact, and the best possible review, so stay tuned for that update !

Until then, I hope you'll enjoy the jalapeno salsa I've been making this summer. Last year I made a salsa that was awfully heavy on the vinegar and we didn't love it. Didn't hate it, just didn't LOVE it. So this year I searched and searched for something a little different, a little more like commercial salsa but with plenty of HEAT because we love our hot peppers around here. I found this recipe on the University of Wisconsin Extension website and it turned out PERFECT.

10 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

5 cups diced peppers (I used 4 cups diced jalapenos WITH seeds and 1 cup diced red bell pepper)

1 cup chopped onion

6 cloves garlic, mined

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 Tb salt

1 Tsp cumin

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (I used parsley)

Combine all ingredients in large saucepot, bring to boil. Boil gently for 10 minutes.

Ladle hot salsa into pint or half-pint jars with 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims, fix seals and rings. Process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

The Chef and I love this salsa so much we made a first batch and have already eaten 3 jars! I think this recipe is going to be a family favorite.

Church Cookbook Food and Memories

As I've gone through my canning adventures this year, I've tried to find some new things to make and not just stick with the same basics. I came across this recipe in a canning group that I belong to on Facebook and it reminds me so much of coleslaw my grandmother used to make. Unlike the creamy, mayonnaisey coleslaw many of us are used to, this one is a sweet and sour vinegar dressing. It kind of reminds me of Perfection Salad, which is something my grandmother made for every family occasion. I call these dishes "church cookbook food" and many of them I have great memories associated with.

Grandma's Vinegar Coleslaw

1 medium head cabbage, shredded
1 large carrot, shredded
1 green pepper, finely chopped
(or use 1/2 red, 1/2 green)
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tsp salt

I resisted the desire to break out the fancy slicing attachments for the Kitchenaid, opting instead for the trusty Wusthof and board for slicing cabbage.

Sprinkle salt over vegetables, allow to rest 1 hour.

Drain any water from vegetables

Syrup:
3 cups vinegar
3/4 cup water
6 cups sugar
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp mustard seed

Bring syrup ingredients to boil for one minute. remove from heat.

Pack vegetables in jars, cover with syrup. Wipe rims, adjust lids and rings. Process in BWB 15 minutes.

Like pickles, I think this is a recipe best left to mellow and mature for a few weeks before opening jars. Hopefully I can wait that long !! I can't wait to try a little of this slaw piled onto a pulled pork sandwich.

These old classic recipes are starting to make a comeback as more and more people get into canning and food preservation arts. I know alot of die-hards wouldn't even consider canning an old fashioned recipe that's no longer considered safe by Big Brother but for me......if Gramma fed her family, it's good enough for me.