Here's one of my favorites...super easy spiced sweets!

http://garden.org/blogs/entry/...

Oh yummy! Making my mouth water. I really want to make refridgerator pickles thus year. I have plenty of cucumbers, I just haven't bought the pickeling ingrediants.

The dill pickles I made up just 10 days ago are already flavored enough to suit me. They're supposed to sit in the brine for like eight weeks, but ours almost never make it that long unless I can them. Then, they're out of sight, and out of mind.

I didn't have enough garlic cloves on hand when I made them, so today while I was adding some I had a little taste.

When I was down in North Eastern Texas visiting a few years back, I ate at a Catfish King, and they had some green tomato relish there that was good. I bought a jar. I really would like a good recipe for that if anyone has one. It would be a way to use up the end of season green tomatoes.

I've made it; in fact I still have some jars left. I'll locate the recipe...if I used one. I can't recall if I did at the moment.

I also pickle the small green tomatoes whole. Since they're not ripe and soft they hold their texture pretty well.

That would be great!

Okay. The relish I made basically the same way as I did the sweet pickles.

This is just a rough idea of measurements to go by, you may need to add more liquid depending on your tastes. You can either reserve up to a cup of the first strained liquid to add back, or just add a bit more vinegar if it's too thick for you.

Coarsely chop-
6 cups green tomatoes
2 cups sweet peppers
2 cups onions

Strain and transfer to a large pot.

Add-Two Tablespoons pickling salt, cover with water, and let sit for about an hour.

Strain again and transfer back to rinsed pot.

Add-

Two cups sugar
One and a 1/2 cups white vinegar
One Tablespoon celery seeds
One Tablespoon dry mustard or mustard seeds, (seeds are best for this one).

Heat to boil and simmer over low heat 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Can as usual, except that I like to add a splash of lime juice before I add the lids. About a teaspoon per pint will do. Lemon juice works fine as a substitute, if necessary.
You can leave out the soaking step if you wish and just add a pinch of salt before you add the lids, as well; I just like to soak anything that's pickled!

Thanks loads, I will give this a try later in the fall.

Me, too most likely. Our tomatoes aren't ripening very quickly...just a few at a time. That's not so bad, however, because really all we need them for this year is fresh eating...as long as they keep it going at steady pace.

I have been reading lately about the importance of pre-biotics to our health--and also that the preserves that we used to make that were probiotic are seldom made any more.

sauerkraut was one of those.

Here is a Korean version: kim chi. (Good for your tummy!)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/s...

I still make sauerkraut in the crock on occation. This is not one of the years I'm doing it though, usually make it every few years, and make enough to last a while. If you look at the picture below, on the lower left side is my crock for making kraut. It serves as a table for most of the months until I need it for kraut. LOL I have another bigger crock, but haven's tused it for kraut.

I like that table.

I've never made sauerkraut. For some reason I can't get past the *let it sit out* part.

I just buy the canned saukerkraut and then cook it down in my crockpot. Easy and tasty.

Well, the fermentation process takes about 12 days, and it includes enough salt to keep it safe. years ago they used to cover it with a plate and weight it down with a rock that they had washed to keep the cabbage under the juice. Then there was always a layer on top that was spoiled and had to be discarded. My mother came up with the idea of putting a large plastic bag on top of the kraut and filling the bag with 5 or 6 inches of water. The weight of the water kept the cabbage under the juice, and the water made a nice seal around the edges, thus no waste. After the 12 days or so, then I can it in quart jars. Some I mix with caraway seeds and a bit of sugar, making a Bavarian type of Kraut Others I can with a sprig of fresh dill. Nothing like a good ole dinner of pork roast, sauerkraut and bread dumplings!!!

See, that's what I'm worried about...the spoiled parts.

I've read that pasteurization kills the probiotics so I'd love to make my own, but I'd be concerned that I'd unknowingly eat something I shouldn't.

Chelle, If you have some of the spoiled parts on the top, you will not want to eat it, after you scrape that off, you'll come to nice white kraut, it will smell good and taste good.

Thanks, Tom. I guess I'd just have to try it once and see if I can tell what's what. I still have a tough time with the thought that good food can be used out of the same mix as spoiled food marinated in...I'd think (the spoilage), would permeate all of it. The biggest thing for me is how do I know that I've done it properly enough for it to be completely safe to eat?

The only spoilage you get is that which can get air. If you make an air tight seal using the plastic bag I mentioned above, you don't get much spoilage at all. Then If you cook it you don't have to worry at all, I eat it right out of the crock at times, just like our ancesters did before canning was available. I think cooking it distroys the benefits from the fermentation process maybe? Not sure, anyway, I don't make it for the health benefits, only make it because I enjoy it a lot. If you ferment wine, you get a funky skum on the top of that and it doesn't seem to bother the rest of the wine as I think the alcohol kills the bacteria or something. I'm not an expert on this topic, but I've been eating this stuff since I was a kid, and it hasn't hurt me. My grandmother used to eat it strait out of the crock a lot, and she lived to be in her 90's.

Thanks again, Tom.
All of this information is really helping me to understand more about fermentation. Perhaps even enough to get me fired-up to attempt preparing my very own sauerkraut.