KD(and its not kraft dinner!)

So it's Sunday night.  I'm sitting at my computer searching for recipes.

I love to cook.  I am always trying out new recipes on my family and friends.

Back in the spring, when the chives started to flower, I found a blog.  I am quickly becoming a regular visitor there.  I was searching online for a way to use up the chive blossoms.  They are so pretty, and I knew they were edible, but other than adding them to salads, I wasn't sure what could be done with them.  

I discovered they could be added to vinegar to create something beautiful as well as delicious! 

chive blossom vinegar with and without the blossoms!

Then the zucchini wouldn't stop growing!  We were surrounded by gigantic zucchini plants that were producing about 3 - 4 zucchini a day!  So i decided to try my hand at canning.  Again I perused the world wide web in search of a recipe for Zucchini Relish.  

Behold!  My very first true waterbath canning concoction! Zucchini relish!

made from the abundance of zucchini in my garden!

I began to notice that the basil I had planted was looking a little worse for wear.  Not really sure how to harvest this lovely smelling herb, I once again headed for my laptop.  I learned how to pick the leaves so that more will grow, and it will fill out not up!  So we have been eating tomato and basil salads, and I even added some basil and garlic to a jar of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and will use this with pasta, or as a dip for Italian bread.

it smells delicious!

Thursday night I decided to do some more canning.  Last Christmas, at a house party, I tried a new to me pickle.  Dilly Beans.  Basically pickled green beans!  They were awesome, and i was determined to try my had at making them.  Searching for a recipe was easy.  There are hundreds of them online!
The one i settled on seemed straight forward enough.  And so I once again headed into the kitchen.  With a little chopping and dicing, some boiling and pouring, I created my soon to be famous Dilly Beans!!

these will be added to my next Caesar!

And so yesterday my husband and I went to our local Farmers Market. It is an incredible place to visit on a Saturday morning!  Local produce of every imaginable kind to be had at very reasonable prices!  I love going in the fall!  We picked up a few things.  Some pears, carrots, a giant sweet potato, and a really big onion!  There are all sorts of vendors at the market.  You can buy meats, and of course veggies and fruits.  You can get a cute food bowl for your pet, blankets, and of course preserves.  I noticed a lady selling her homemade wares, and found out that they were all her grandmother's recipes.  She had jars of pickled asparagus, dill pickles, relishes of all sorts, including corn relish.  Hmmmm, i remember my grandma enjoying corn relish.  Perhaps I would try my hand at that.  And so i searched through my old cook books, books I've inherited.  I found a recipe that I figured I could make.  Since I still had some jars left, I figured I would pick up what I didn't have on hand (namely corn), and get up bright and early on Sunday and make another relish!

corn relish - gonna taste great on my veal hot dogs from the market!

The batches that I've made have all been fairly small.  3 jars of Zucchini Relish, 3 of Dilly Beans, and 3 of Corn Relish.  The Chive Blossom Vinegar made about 8 jars.   They were all really simple to make, and can be done at any time of year, with the exception of the vinegar.  You don't have to grow the produce.  In fact the Corn Relish was actually made with frozen corn!  The onions, and peppers were purchased.  You can buy green beans and zucchini pretty much all year long at the grocery store.  If I run out I can always buy the ingredients and make some more!

My next canning adventure will include Chili Sauce and a Salsa!  

I've fallen in love with canning!  <3 <3 

(the zucchini relish and the corn relish do have a small amount of sugar in them, but i don't think it would work out to more that 3gr/tbsp.  i will have to enter all the ingred. into eatracker.ca and get the actual calculations which i will post at a later date.)