Orange pineapple raspberrie spread

What a wonderful day it was spent in the kitchen, making a simple recipe in preparation for our canning class. One of the easier recipes calls for the use of concentrate and i decided to jazz it up a little by adding a few raspberries. Well, it turned out wonderful and the flavor is marvelous. I usually never like to make a spread or jelly as they are so bland to me. But, never say never...
  Had a wonderful time today with my friend Megan,CoOperative extension agent.  She is so excited about the series of canning classes we are preparing for. The dates will enable the lucky participants to take their wonderful canned items to enter the Agriculture Fair. There will be a series of three classes and loads of information as well as hands on experience.
  Really looking forward to sharing and best of all involving others that have a passion for canning and preserving foods.
  Well gotta run, remember our youth and until next time..Remember..What " Can " you do..
 

Mrs. Picky's Tarts

First of all let me tell ya..i love being in the kitchen..and i love to cook. Well in making my MmmMarmalades and Chutney i do spend a lot of time reviewing recipes and making new recipes using my products.
  While i was in the grocery store looking for a specific type of flour, i passed by the pop tarts. i could not help myself to read the ingredients and it sort of made me stand still for a long while. Kellogg's I'm not saying anything wrong about your company ..but really..where is the proper nutrition and why so many ingredients.
  Well now i was on another tear..making another version. So i set out once again and gathered my supplies then headed home to do some experimenting.
  I will admit i have a passion for making recipes that sort of instill more simplicity and boost natural flavors. When i think back about how my business started and the whole support local, it really makes me upset that the whole country is supporting large corporations that do not have a clue who you are. This whole aspect really sort of shocks me, especially when we are giving out samples at shows. I cannot tell you the number of times folks read my nametag and exclaim..why you are Mrs. Picky..of course..folks cannot believe that i am there representing my company. I do have friends and family that help pass out samples, but..if you love what you do, who better than to pass out samples.
  Well i went to work perfecting the tart recipes and was so thrilled with the results. First of all i know what is in my MmmMarmalades and using these as fillings is sort of added value. The pastry crust not only looks wonderful but is a delight in the flavor and is not bulked out with preservatives or fillers.
  It seems that one thing always leads to another and for this i am very grateful. I'm grateful for folks that read labels, folks that come up to me at shows and share recipe ideas, our youth for giving honest opinions, older folks for sharing their wisdom and most of all, large corporations for keeping the challenge alive of driving me to make their products just a little more simplier.
  Remember until next time What " Can" you do..

Mrs. Picky's tarts..Wheelie good Tarts..  

Zesty Orange Marmalade

What a wonderful day we had at the County Cooperative extension office. A few months back when i had the pleasure of taking the ServSafe course with the Cooperative extension office i also met the instructor Megan Ray. Well, let me tell ya she is a wonderful instructor and a joy to work with. The CoOperative extension office offers lots of wonderful classes and ties in the Farmers, Consumers and Agriculture folks to enrich our community.
  I love to can and so Megan and i set up a date to get together and cook and can. Megan is preparing to offer a series of classes on canning and the proper usage of either a hot water bath or pressure canner for proper application.
  Well, I took all my tools and we worked on a great batch of Orange Marmalade. My good friend Susie Davis came over and helped with the cutting and constant stirring of the pot. We first started with peeling, dicing the peel and cooking to make a wonderful Zest. Megan filled the jars with a little water and put them in the oven to sterilize them, she also put all of the rings and lids in boiling water to sterilize them as well. We all cut oranges while the Zest was cooking and talked about future plans for our county and built one great wish list.
  The Zest was drained and the water saved, we call it the reserve water, to put back into the Marmalade as it was cooking since it is full of natural Pectin. Well we ended up with about 16 cups of beautiful cut up oranges in the large cooking pot. We then added the Zest, reserve liquid plus a little more to make up about 10 cups of total liquid. I personally like to add a little French Vanilla to make the Marmalade taste a little Dreamy, also i like to put in a few maraschino cherries to add more color. The jars remain in the oven while the cooking process is being completed and just prior to filling removed from the oven. The Marmalade takes about thirty minutes of a rolling boil to cook and when this is at the last stages you have to skim off some of the foam.
  While the Marmalade is cooking i like to set a little bit of marmalade on a plate and place in the freezer to check the set of the gel. Alright i'll admit i also like to taste it along the way and eat any of the leftover oranges.
  As everything was cooking and the sweet aroma filled the air we also got the bonus of all of the ladies that work in the building to stop by. I love this part of cooking, the conversation and aroma leads to great ideas and future plans.

  Well it was ready, we started to fill the jars and uh oh...ran out of jars..Well Megan made a mad dash to the store and saved the day. We ended up with 28 jars of beautiful Orange Marmalade and future plans to meet next week to put together a four week course on canning. So i will leave for now on this note..Remember..What " Can" you do..

Cooking entertainment

 Usually when i'm in the kitchen canning i have a little music in the background to sort of drown out my hollerings from either getting burned, or a recipe turning out perfect. O.K. i will admit i do a lot of dancing in the kitchen, don't ask me where that comes from..some days it's the twist..poor attempts at clogging..disco days..line dancing from the sink to the stove..singing holding the spatula as a mic..can can..the list is endless. I guess you could say i always have been able to entertain myself. Growing up as a single child until i was thirteen left me a lot of time to perfect my never lonely attitude. Then as i got older it felt very good to go out to eat by myself, cook by myself, and read for hours on end all by myself. Then i met my husband..he loved to go out to eat, sit beside me on the couch and both of us silently reading our own books, sharing recipes in the kitchen, and best of all dancing in the kitchen.
  Cooking, eating and sharing should always be a happy occassion, if it is not.. then my view is this.. What planet are you from..
  Don't get me wrong, we both have our separate worlds and hobbies too. Most of the time while i'm in the kitchen cooking, singing and dancing, he is down at the barn tinkering on something.
  My passion of sharing traditional recipes keeps me dancing,and singing all of the time.Of course i will never be able to read all of the wonderful cookbooks that are available in my lifetime so i am trying to focus on canning books. And you know what they say..if you chase too many rabbits at one time..you will end up not catching any..

  So here's to being happy, self entertainment, shared dancing, spreading the word and remember..What " Can " you do..

North Carolina biscuits

Well this is day four of being iced in and thank the lord it's starting to thaw. I think i have cooked everything in the house. When i was little, Grandma Cora could whip up a batch of drop biscuits quicker than a jackrabbit crossing the hard road. Well i watched her many times and could never quite get the hang of it. Oh she did have a rolling pin, but she preferred drop biscuits. I would always ask, how you know how much lard to cut in, well it's all in how it feels. Well let me tell ya, i bet i have made a zillion batches of biscuits. Fourty five years later and i'm finally getting the feel for it. I'm glad i never did give up , cause let me tell ya, I make a mean biscuit. Here's a picture and in my experimenting i have found that if you add a little MmmMarmalade in the mix, makes it better yet. Remember our youth and Remember..What " Can " you do..

My love of 'Pig" biscuits

Ahhh for the love of Biscuits...I'm not too keen on those store bought in a can, my Southern roots come into play and I cannot resist to make my own. And I'm not talking about some scrawny little thing you can pull apart by hand. I'm talking about one of my " Pig " biscuits, so big that you need a knife to slice it apart. That's right plenty of surface area to slather on Marmalade, butter, or one that will gladly hold a fried egg covered in cheese. I'll tell ya another favorite, biscuits that fill the bowl and then covered with gravy. Or how about this, fancy up your biscuit recipe by adding a few more simple ingredients to make a  " Pig "Coffee Cake. Also, "Pig " biscuits can be topped with a little tomato sauce, scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese to make an omelet with them. " Pig" sliders is a delicious combination of simply placing a thin slice of ham, little mustard and parmesan cheese in the middle of your biscuit." Pig " Pinwheels are fun to make and a great way to enjoy ground up sausage, simply when you roll out your dough, cut into thin strips, cover with cooked sausage , and roll up, bake and serve hot. Ohhh how about " Pig " Poppers..take the dough and add a little cheese,rosemary,red peppers, grated orange peel and spoon drop them onto your baking pan, cook till golden brown. I could probably write all day about all of the uses of my " Pig " biscuits. So, you can enjoy ...   " Pig " biscuits with every meal, guess i'll go back into the kitchen cause i'm fixin to make a " Pig " pot pie..Remember..What " Can " you do..

What is a Shared Use Kitchen..

As my food ventures grow so does the need for a test kitchen, a place also, where others can build their food businesses. I have always been one that loves to share and have the gift of gab that has opened many doors for me. In the beginning of my food business so many ideas and secrets of the trade were unavailable and kept at bay. I guess a lot of other food companies kept info thinking it was part of their success. Well, i never looked at things that way. Sometimes being the new kid on the block was lonely, so i made a change to that. Every time i would go to a marketing meeting or festival i made it a point to be the first to talk with the newcomers. Networking and enjoying the ability to answer any question i could. Any questions that were not answered i made sure i got back with them and sometimes introduced them to someone who could help.Well this is what i believe, we are all gifted with a special talent or gift and a lot of times networking unlocks these talents. If you do not ask, do not shout out, how is anyone going to know what your hurdle is. Oh trust me i do listen a lot too, especially to the older folks that have so much to share. And their is nothing better than having a child taste sample your products as they never hold back, does my heart good to hear them holler, that is soooo good.
  So in my travels i have visited two different shared use kitchens. A shared use kitchen is a commercial incubator kitchen designed to foster food business entrepreneurs, create new food businesses, grow existing food businesses and provide workforce development resulting in new jobs and new economic development. The kitchen has space for rent for food processing, food packaging,or food testing. One of the best features is there are seminars on every aspect that will help you from start to finish. The kitchen facility has three distinct processing areas, seperate dry storage and walk in coolers and freezer as well as seperate wash areas.
  As i toured the other two kitchens a lot of things came to my mind that i will do differently here.
  Downscale the equipment as everyone is a little leary of large equipment and no intimidation factor is a key to success.
  Participate with each individual till they are at ease with making their products.
  Having a little store area where others may come in and buy products locally made.
  Have a farmers market out front to showcase fresh produce, support local farmers and then have the ability to take their products and make value added such as leftover strawberries to make Strawberry jam.
  Offer classes to enhance recipes and teach proper canning techniques.
  Utilize our retired individuals to not only teach but share traditional recipes.
  Work with Cooperative Extension and have everyone Serv Safe certified.
  Coordinate festivals and events to showcase products.
  Have each business certified with the Health dept. and properly licensed as a small business.
  Start up about five food trucks to serve the area and serve as a commissarie.

  And a few more wonderful ideas that i will share later, i found the building by asking and sharing with others, it will never be under my name as i have met an individual who has the resources and knowledge and it truley needs to be a community effort.
  While i was at The manufacturing makes it real tour, and i was expressing my dreams for Harnett County, a wonderful gentleman handed me his business card..the rest will be history that i will continue to blog about..until then..Remember What " Can " you do..
 
 

Certified Green

The last few days i have been working on gathering supplies to take with me on Tuesday for the first canning class. My equipment is very simple and so are my recipes. I have found that it sort of shocks folks when they try my Marmalades or Chutney. They cannot believe that the whole secret to wonderful flavor is perfecting the spices and simplicity of all of the ingredients. This all came to me because we did not have the money to make things fancy. Spices were sort of a premium and were always last on the shopping list if at all. So we sort of had to work with all natural and no preservatives to make all of our recipes.
  We were " Green" and did not even know it. My husband introduced me to spices after we got married and he always takes me to the store. We have spent many a wonderful hour together either in the grocery store or cooking together in the kitchen.  I'm glad that with his Northern background and my Southern roots we have sort of met in the middle.
  Well when my business was brought to the attention of the Sustainable Sandhills Green Program, I was very excited to meet with them.
  After a wonderful afternoon of talking and filling out a questionair, she looked at me and said..you know what every question you answered makes your company qualified to be Certified Green..Little did i know that being without due to being poor..doing with what you have..cleaning with vinegar because it was cheaper..waiting to take the trash to the dumpster till it was full..not using so many lights, lightbulbs were expensive..routing deliveries, gas is so expensive..all in all made for a Green situation. so i guess i have been green my whole life and was considered Green when Green was always just a way of life..

What is in an approach..

My ventures have included making a quality product, getting it bottled, and then the marketing from my warehouse to store shelf. I have attended many marketing seminars hosted by the NC Dept. of Agriculture and have taken a lot of notes. But...there is nothing like hands on experience. Long gone are the days of friendly buyers and just presenting your products. Meetings must be scheduled and professional presentation packs given within a fifteen minute little show. The meeting must only be scheduled in what ever month they are taking that product for consideration. Really bothers me that a lot of the local aspect with friendly handshakes and help is like a secret hidden treasure. Maybe i should not say bothers me..it actually makes me more determined to get their attention. But..that is just a small hurdle. the paperwork is a nightmare. Then there comes the glorious day of actually getting to set your product on the shelves.
  Entering the store and asking for the manager is easy enough, then it's on..why we don't have any room for your products..but i have received permission to place my products on the shelves..locking of eyes..eternity of silence..well then let's look at the shelves..see they are full..locking of eyes..I gently exclaim looks to me as tho a few of the products are collecting dust..oh..look at these expiration dates..now the store employees are called over..and as they pull the dusty products off the shelf..I'm placing mine in their place..now look how nice that looks..
  A few of the classes that i have been asked to speak at i asked about this scenario and how would they have responded..most of them would have left..
  Really makes me wonder about the word..Approach..
  A...Attitude
  P..Passion..
  P..Persistence
  R..Resistance
  O..Outlook
  A..Aspiring
  C..Committed
  H..Honesty
  Stand firm for what you believe in..and Remember..What " Can " you do..

Condiments or Recipes

I was sitting here thinkin what is my favorite; recipe's or condiments. Well that is a very difficult subject for me to ponder on.
  First off you need a tried and true recipe to make a great condiment.
  Second  you need a tried and true condiment to sometimes make a recipe.
  Hmmmm...how about this..give a cook a condiment to share in a recipe..
  Oh i know..make a delicious recipe for your condiment needs bottling..
  uh oh..your condiments are showing..
  Please recipe me with your condiments..
  Don't condiment me..
  Just recipe me and we will remain friends..
  Knock Knock..who's there..condiment..condiment who..condiment the stupid door open..

  Here's a picture of me and the kids enjoying our winning Blue ribbon that the group received from the State fair.
  Rmember our youth..and remember..What " Can " you do..

Canning and Kitchen Tools

I feel that one of the great bonuses in cooking is being able to buy and use really cool gadgets. Don't get me wrong there is a part of me that loves the simple, because, that is a big part of teaching others.. is to keep things simple. So many gadgets as well as recipes are way out there and just the instructions alone will make you cringe and back off.
  A few tools of my passion include a handy little thermometer, a jar lifter, a timer, and the best of all is a slicer. My first slicer is a beauty she is small, compact and adjustable, perfect for teaching with or just to use everyday. My next purchase was a really fancy one that was bought at a culinary store and the truth be told i hate it, it is a pain to clean, I feel like the blades are going to cut my fingers off and the sad part is it was very expensive.
  As i was writing about my finds the other day while i was out pickin, i told of the wonderful vintage slicer that i obtained and was cleaning up for futuere use.
  Let me tell ya, this thing is a jewel, and i love the color, turquoise, so today I'm posting a picture of my three slicers and sort of basking in the delight of such a find.

  Call me what you may for loving traditional kitchen tools but always remember..What " Can" you do..

American Pickers..don't worry about North Carolina

Hey you two guys, that drive that fancy van..don't worry about coming to North Carolina.
  As I travel buying ingredients for my food products or going to events to showcase my products, my eyes are always open to yard pickins. I admit i have it bad for digging thru stuff on the side of the road or scouring the local Antique shops for something that i just might have to have.
  Yesterday was a bonus day, as i went by the jewelry shop as i always do to admire them gold coins, something that i have wanted for a long time, i decided to stop by the local thrift store.
  Rummaging around upstairs i heard this gentleman show up, in quite a tizzy, exclaiming really loud, I'm tired of cleaning out this old house in town, ya'll come by and get what you want..well that is a picker's dream.
  Out the door and down around the corner, and it was on, OMG the kitchen is full of vintage kitchenware and appliances..
  Take what you want..well let me tell ya..at this point i was running loads of much loved stuff to the van.
   In one of my trips my phone rang, it was my brother, whatcha doin..
  Oh just pickin a little today, well he exclaimed what time you gonna be home..after four..I got something for ya if you want to buy it..bring it over I'll take a look.
  Well i kept pickin and could not wait to use these wonderful kitchen tools and give them life again.

  When i got home it was no time and there they pulled up..OMG it is beautiful..roll it into the gameroom..
  Tomorrow or later on today i will post a picture of my kitchen finds after i get them all cleaned up..until then..Remember What " Can " you do..

Momma Cora's Seafood Sauce

Eased on out of the kitchen to my big ole chair after a wonderful day of cooking in the kitchen. I must say the Seafood Sauce turned out to be a lovely addition to my condiments in the frigidaire.
  Growing up in florida, running thru the orange groves, pickin oranges and spitting seeds was just another day to us. When i was very young we would always go fishing at the coast and take our pan and a few oranges for supplies. Cooking on the beach was either done with the fish wrapped in foil with a few orange slices for flavor, or sometimes we would fry fish and have orange infused hushpuppies on the side.
  We did do a lot of camping and back when it was legal to harvest clams we would boil up a big pot and eat them clams with a nice orange and butter dipping sauce. Long gone are the days of fires on the beach or throwing orange peels into the fire to repel the mosquitos. The memories are still kept alive by the canning process and sharing of traditional recipes with all natural products.

  I do miss the days of Elvis stopping by Momma Cora's house when he was in town, you see he dearly loved her Marmalade on his peanut butter sandwiches. In keeping a tradition alive here's a photo of him visiting up here in North Carolina.
   Well until tomorrow..Remember..What " Can " you do..

Marmalades and Sauces

Yesterday was a wonderful day, to that matter any day spent in the kitchen is a wonderful day. Canning was heavily on my mind and the oranges were piled high in the sink.

  One of my favorite parts of making any Marmalade is making the " Zest". Zest is the peel of the citrus, finely chopped and then cooked, drained, and placed back into the Marmalade. I always try to drain my cooked " Zest" and save the reserve liquid to put back into the Marmalade as I'm cooking because it is loaded with natural pectin. The best method i have found is to use a food processor for the chopping as it makes nice uniform pieces that cook very evenly. Here's a picture of my " Zest".
  Well as things happen in the kitchen more things seem to develop and next thing i know time is flying by. As i was working on my Marmalade, thumbing thru the cookbook a piece of paper fell out. Now this is my grandmothers cookbook, Momma Cora...well as i was reading this it was lingering in my mind, my goodness i can't remember her making this..Momma Cora's Seafood Sauce. Well it called for a nice citrus base and what the heck i'm up to my elbows with oranges, might as well make this too.
  WOW is one of the words that sort of fell out of my mouth as i tasted this wonderful new product, now not only have i recreated her famous " Sunshine in a jar" Marmalade, I have made a wonderful Seafood sauce. Another day's topic will be the uses of citrus based Seafood Sauce.
  A little more about " Zest", i have noticed a lot of folks saying..well why do you call that peach MmmMarmalade , Zesty Peach Cocktail MmmMarmalade, because it has lots of " Zest ", not only in the wonderful blend of peaches, pineapples,and maraschino cherries but also the much needed requirement for Marmalade which is " Zest".
  When i'm finishing up in the kitchen and if i have a little " Zest " left over , I like to put it into a saucepan, add a cup of brown sugar, a little of the reserve liquid and boil it. Next i lay it out evenly on a shallow pan, let the liquid drain, and then bake it for about 30 minutes at 250, it makes wonderful " Zesty Candy" which is great to spoon on buttered toast or eat right out of the pan.
  Until tomorrow, remember What " Can" you do..

New MmmMarmalade recipes..Marmalade with MmmM..

I should of never looked at that boiling water canner sitting in my pantry. We have been snowed in and i either cook, or clean, well organizing the pantry is a whole day job. First off i have to get the floor picked up in order to place the ladder step stool into place as you see i am vertically challenged. And there it was..looking at me with those lovely gadgets inside awaiting to be picked up. Well, so much for cleaning the pantry..the boiling water canner is now on the stove.
  A short journey to the store and i was back into the kitchen with Marmalade on the brain. As i was writing the other day about Momma Cora it hit me..Sunshine.. on the face that is thru the window as i typed away at the computer.
  Reminiscing about growing up and always running thru the orange grove, down the beaten path, to her trailer house to see what she had cooked that day. I always picked oranges along the way and took her a few to share.

  Sunshine in a jar...
  Well I'm back in the kitchen now and making a little more Marmalade..until tomorrow..Remember..What " Can " you do..