Jelly, Jam, Preserves or Something Else?

Here's a handy guide for the different texture options you can make with most fruits:

Jelly usually does not contain pieces of fruit, as it is made by cooking fruit juice, sugar, pectin, and lemon juice.

Jam is made from crushed or cut up fruit, sugar, and sometimes lemon juice or pectin.  Jam doesn’t typically contain chunks of  fruit and can be pureed when making it.  

Preserves are made by cooking fruit and sugar together.  Preserves tend to have bigger chunks of fruit.  

Conserves are also sometimes called whole fruit jam.  It’s made by stewing fruit and sugar.  You can also add raisins or nuts.

Marmalade is like jelly, but it has flesh and peel of fruits in the jelly.  It’s usually citrus based.

Chutney is a relish of Indian origin made with fruit and/or vegetables. Chutneys often consist of chopped fruit or vegetables, vinegar, spices, and sugar.  

Fruit butter is fruit pure or pulp, sugar, lemon juice, and spices, cooked slowly to a smooth, butter-like consistency.  Whole pieces of fruit (such as apples) are put through a sieve or blended.

Useful Strawberry Facts

I found these facts at What's Cooking America.

Fresh Strawberries:

1 basket = 1 pint strawberries = 7 cups whole berries = 2 1/4 cups sliced (1/4-inch thick) strawberries = 1 2/3 cups pureed strawberries. Basket of strawberries refers to the market package. 1 tray or flat of strawberries = 12 baskets or pints.

1 quart whole strawberries = 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds strawberries = 7 cups whole strawberries = 4 cups sliced (1/4-inch thick) strawberries = 4 to 5 servings.

1 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries are needed for one 9-inch pie.

1 pint = 1/4 pound whole strawberries = 12 large strawberries = 24 medium strawberries = 36 small strawberries = 2 to 2 1/2 cups sliced (1/4-inch thick slices) strawberries = 1 1 /4 cups pureed strawberries.

1 cup whole strawberries = 4 ounces strawberries = 1/2 cup strawberry puree.

12 pounds or 8 quarts of fresh strawberries = approximately 13 pints of frozen berries.

Frozen Strawberries:

20-ounce bag frozen whole strawberries = 4 cups whole strawberries = 2 1/2 cup sliced strawberries = 2 1/4 cups pureed strawberries.

10-ounce package frozen sliced sweetened strawberries =
1 1/4 cups strawberries in syrup.

Making Tomato Sauce from Tomato Paste

Making Tomato Sauce from Tomato Paste

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
4 teaspoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In large skillet, saute garlic in oil until golden. Add tomato paste, sugar, oregano, basil, water, cheese and wine. Season with salt and pepper and simmer 10 minutes over medium-low heat.

Dry Beans Conversion Chart

I needed 96 oz of canned beans for a dish I am making, but I wanted to make it from scratch. This chart helped me convert the recipe.

One 15-ounce can of beans = one and one-half cups cooked beans, drained

One pound dry beans = six cups cooked beans, drained.

One pound dry beans = two cups dry beans.

One cup dry beans = three cups cooked beans, drained.

How to Prepare Chicken Feet

My friend, MotherofBlessings raises chickens for meat and eggs, and also allows me to purchase some and she raises them for me. She blesses us so much! When butchering time comes, we come out and help with all of them.

This year, we used a different approach to the butchering and just skinned and pieced the birds. It was quicker since we didn't have to scald or pluck the birds, or mess with gutting them. However, since they weren't scalded, we had to prepare the feet at home. I took pictures, so you could learn how to prepare feet for using in broth. They really are the secret ingredient for a truly mineral-rich broth!

Here's my plate of feet before processing:


First you need to scald the feet in boiling water. Boiling water loosens the outer layer of scaly skin.


Next, remove the feet and let them cool just a bit. I only scalded two at a time, since they need to be hot for the next step.

Rub the foot and leg briskly with your thumb and forefinger. The thick yellow layer should peel off very easily. Also, remove the sheaths that cover the claws. You didn't know the Lord made removable covers for chicken toes, did you? Everything that touched the ground while the chicken walked comes off and you are left with a sparkling clean foot. The white thing on my ring finger is a toenail sheath.


Repeat till you have a plate of clean, ready-to-use feet. Some people clip off the toes with a sharp knife to allow more gelatin to escape. This is optional. I get a great, solid broth without that step.

Freezing Hamburger

When I buy meat, I buy it in bulk packages, usually between six and seven pounds each. I weigh it on my handy kitchen scale (you do have a handy kitchen scale, don't you?) and divide it into 1 1/2 pounds portions. I usually cook one portion up right then, and freeze the remaining ones.

I put them into gallon sized freezer bags and press them flat, making sure the corners are filled. Easy as pie! I lay them in the freezer flat. When I need to thaw one, I place them in the sink and run a bit of hot water. They are thawed in just ten minutes or so!

Menu Planning Ideas

I'd like to share today about one of my very simplest, but favorite-est meal planning strategies. I created a form for my Home Management Binder that makes planning much more simple. I sat with my recipe box and a notebook and wrote down every meal that I make with hamburger as the main ingredient. Then chicken, then fish, then vegetarian, then bean and rice, etc. I typed it all up nice and added extra lines for new meals we liked.

Now I have a great tool for those times I need to make a meal plan with just what's on hand. It also greatly assists my tired brain when I haven't planned (bad, Momma, bad!) and it's nearing meal time. "I do have a package of chicken thighs. What can I make with it?"

We rarely end up ordering pizza due to lack of a planned meal anymore.

How To Brew Kombucha Without A SCOBY

images from Photobucket

Many people are interested in brewing kombucha, but have a hard time finding a source for a scoby (mother, mushroom...they are the same thing). Here's how to do it without spending a fortune!
Buy a 12 oz bottle of prepared Kombucha tea from a health food store.
Prepare the sweet black tea as follows: Boil just less than a gallon of water, pour into a gallon size jar, add 2 cups white sugar (do not use anything like honey, or succanat, etc), add four Lipton black tea bags.
Steep tea fifteen minutes. Remove tea bags and discard.
Let tea cool to room temperature.
Pour in the entire bottle of kombucha.
Cover with a clean, thin cloth and secure with a rubber band. Let culture undisturbed about 2 weeks. Then you should have a mother on top and the tea should be ready to strain and enjoy!
Keep back 2 cups of the tea to add to your next gallon of sweet tea, along with the mother, of course. The next brew only needs to be 7-10 days long.
You will grow a new mother with each batch.
These are directions for basic kombucha. Once you learn how to do the basic, you can get creative! Lots of folks use flavored tea to switch things up or add fruits to the finished product to flavor it.
*ETA:  Most store-bought kombucha is now pasteurized. Pasteurized kombucha will NOT grow a culture, or give you the benefits of raw kombucha. It is inferior by far. 

Basic Electrolyte Drink

I read this on a forum I am part of:

Basic Electrolyte Drink

4 oz water (half cup)
1 tsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar
pinch of Celtic salt

Combine and use when ill or dehydrated.

Another use for Flax

Did you know that you can use flax as an egg substitute? Just replace 1 egg in a recipe with 3 Tbsp ground flax seed and 3 Tbsp water. I do this in almost every multi-egg recipe I have!

Three tablespoons of ground flax (without the water) also replaces 1 Tbsp of oil.

Please do grind your flax fresh, as it rapidly goes rancid. Just throw it in your blender for a few seconds and whir!

Smelly Hands?

If you've been handling onions, garlic, or other smelly things, your hands can pick up the odor and keep reminding you of the fact for hours! What can you do about it?

If you have a stainless steel spoon, you can rub your hands all over it, under running water, and that will remove the smell.

You can also wet your hands with water, then get a palmful of baking soda or salt. Add enough water to make a paste, and rub your hands together like your washing them. The baking soda or salt will absorb the odor and exfoliate a bit, too!

I have heard that rinsing your hands with lemon juice after cutting garlic will remove the odor, but I haven't tried that one.

How to Store Garlic

I've been very disappointed with the freshness of the garlic I've been buying. It seems to be sprouting in a matter of days! So I researched garlic and how to store it and found out this:

Never store the garlic in the fridge, as it causes quick sprouting and a bitter taste.

To store garlic longterm, divide the heads into cloves, leave the paper on, and freeze in a sealed baggie. Take out as needed! What could be easier than that? I bought a BIG bag of garlic at Costco this weekend and will be prepping it for the freezer today!

Frozen garlic is easily peeled, crushed and minced for cooking. Thawed garlic will not substitute for fresh, as is has a different texture after being frozen.

A Sinkful of Help!

Here's one of my very simplest, but most helpful tips. Before you start cooking, draw a half a sinkful of hot, soapy water. As you use something, wash it and lay it on a clean, dry towel. You'll be surprised at how few dishes you have to do at the end of the job! Also, you can easily wash your hands between steps.

Bacon-the easy way

My IRL friend MotherofBlessings gave me this tip yesterday: to easily use a slice or two of bacon in a recipe, prepare ahead of time! Take a pound of bacon and a long strip of plastic wrap. Lay a piece of bacon down, wrap it a time or two, then lay another slice on top of it. Repeat until the entire package is individually wrapped. Now wrap that in foil and freeze. You can easily get just a few pieces when a recipe calls for it!

I always save my bacon grease. Collect the rendered fat in a glass jar and store it in your fridge. Bacon drippings add so much flavor to foods, especially country gravy and refried beans. Also, a teaspoon of drippings along with a tablespoon of crumbles makes green beans incredible!