Anyhow, I was uncertain what I would do with my garden cucumbers until I found a recipe for refrigerator pickles a few weeks ago.  No canning is required!  I made one batch of them and wow.  They are so good.  You can make them with cucumbers, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, onions, peppers and probably so much more.  They are easy, they are cheap and my kiddos love them.

Jaden and I harvested 4 cucumbers today and decided to make more pickles.  Let me know if you try them yourself!

Refrigerator Pickles

1.5 c. distilled white vinegar OR apple cider vinegar

1/2 – 1.5 c. sugar, depending on how sweet you like your pickles.

1 T. pickling salt OR kosher salt  (do not use regular table salt)

Sliced cucumbers (&/or combination of other veggies listed above)

1/8 t. mustard seed

1/8 t. celery seed

dash or two of turmeric

Heat the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan on the stove over medium high until the sugar dissolves, approx. 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, slice the veggies and fill a quart sized canning jar with them.  Add the spices to the jar.  When the liquid mixture is ready, pour it over the top of the veggies.  You can add more vinegar to the top if needed.  Put lid on the jar and set out on counter until cooled a bit.  Place jar in refrigerator for 5 days.  Now you can eat your yummy, crunchy pickles.

These pickles are supposed to keep for several months in the fridge and I’ve read that you can reheat the liquid mixture and reuse it to make another batch.  Anyone tried this?

I’ve finally discovered a recipe that our whole family loves.    It doesn’t require any kneading (don’t worry, I still use my kitchenaid at least twice per week!), it’s super easy, super cheap and super versatile.  I can make it into a simple rustic loaf, rolls, or into a sandwich loaf (which is the recipe below and our family’s favorite).   I can make it with a small amount of yeast (only 1/4 t. per loaf) or I can use a sourdough starter instead.   It’s so easy that the boys can make it.  And trust me when I tell you that it’s so delicious!

The basic recipe is simply called, No Knead Bread, adapted by Jim Lahey.  It appeared in an article in the NY Times several years ago.  This is the recipe that I use, but I adapt it to include whole wheat flour and usually make it into a loaf form instead, which requires less baking time.   I usually double the recipe to make 2 loaves at once.

Anna’s No Knead Sandwich Bread

Ingredients:

2 c. freshly ground whole wheat flour

1 c. unbleached white flour

1 t. salt

1/4 t. yeast  (or 1/4 c. sourdough starter)

1.5 c. filtered water

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the water and stir well.  It will be very, very sticky.

Cover with saran wrap and set out of the way in a warm place in your kitchen for about 12 hours.  If you’ll be ready to bake within the next couple of hours, continue on to the next step.  Otherwise, you can stir the dough, re-cover it and leave it for up to another 12 hours.  (This is what I usually do because it works well with my schedule.  I mix up the dough in the morning, stir it before bed and then proceed with the following steps the next morning.  That way, we’ll have fresh bread for lunch.  Plus, the longer that the dough sets out, the more of a sourdough taste you’ll end up with and that is what we prefer.)

Now, sprinkle a lot of flour over a clean surface – I use a thin plastic cutting board from Ikea.   You can also use parchment paper, or even your kitchen counter.  The dough will be super sticky, so make sure you use plenty of flour on the surface.  Once it slowly plops out of the bowl, scrape the left-over dough out.  Then, sprinkle flour on top of the dough and pat it down with your hands.  Next, fold the dough from the left and right sides to the middle, and then fold again from the top and bottom to the middle.  Flip the loaf into a well greased loaf pan, seam side down.  Cover again with saran wrap and let it rise for 1-2 hours.

About 15 minutes before baking, preheat the over to 450 degrees.  Grease a knife and cut a slash in the top of the loaf – I usually forget this step and the bread still turns out fine!  Once the oven is ready, uncover the bread and place it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.   When the bread is done, immediately take it out of the pan and leave it out to cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before cutting.

And that is our new favorite bread!  I’ve made it plain, with chocolate chips, with cinnamon and raisins, with herbs and cheese, with seeds… and it’s so good every single time.  You can use the same steps in the recipe to make rolls, or you can follow the original recipe to make a terrific rustic loaf instead.

I hope you like the recipe – let me know what you think of it!

In line with that, I found this campaign online that I wanted to share with you.  Can you even imagine how much healthier our children would be if they had daily access to real food in our school’s cafeterias???   Food that wasn’t laden with artificial chemicals and preservatives.  Food without corn syrup, corn fillers, msg.   And food with colors other than brown.   Maybe one day this will be a reality for the US.  I certainly hope and pray that it will be some day.

“Organic. It’s Worth It In Schools.”

Want to join JCnaturals in helping schools access and offer students more organic food? The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is calling on teachers, parents, students, educators and others to join the “Organic. It’s Worth It In Schools.” initiative and vote for their favorite school to win an organic garden complete with seeds, soil and expert gardening support; or a fully stocked vending machine, featuring items like milk, fruit, cheese, yogurt and organic snacks.

Through May 1, 2010, when you visit www.OrganicItsWorthIt.org you can “vote” for a school by signing up for an electronic newsletter featuring organic tips, recipes, news and more. Your school must receive a minimum 1,000 votes (or newsletter sign-ups) to win. Full details on rules and regulations are available athttp://www.organicitsworthit.org/join/current-campaigns.