At Home My Way

  Banana Pepper Hot Sauce  (Using Home Grown Peppers) Recipes at the Top; Chit-Chat at the Bottom PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE 6-7 large Banana Peppers (at the yellow / ripe stage)  1 Jalapeno Pepper (or your favorite "hot" pepper) 2-4 cloves of fresh garlic,  sliced 1 cup white vinegar ½ cup bottled or filtered water,  as needed 2 tsp sugar (I will cut this down to 1 teaspoon next time since we prefer less sweet) 1 tsp salt (no iodine - so I used canning salt) ¼ tsp black pepper 1 tsp ground mustard seed 1 tsp celery seed (I made a double batch of the brine to make sure that I had enough.) Instructions: Sterilize a quart (glass-canning) jar and lid/ring (I used my dishwasher). Cut the   banana peppers  and   jalapenos   into  slices, removing the tops and the seeds. A few seeds are fine.  Place the pepper slices and garlic pieces in the jar.  (I always use gloves for handling any peppers.) Bringing the   water, vinegar, and ...

  Frozen ChocoNana Pops Recipes at the Top; Chit Chat at the bottom ( REMINDER :  The bananas need to freeze overnight before dipping the next day so allow time for that when making these frozen dipped banana pops). Ingredients: 3 Whole bananas - ripeness of your choice  Popsicle sticks (I bought mine at Walmart for less than $1.) 1 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet but you can use dark chocolate or milk chocolate chips if preferred.) 4 teaspoons coconut oil (Shortening like Crisco will also work but isn't as good for you.  You can even get a little coconut oil from Dollar Tree) Optional: Sprinkles, coconut, crushed nuts (toppings of your choice) Directions: Peel and cut bananas in two or three sections.  Each banana pop should be about 3-4 inches long. Place popsicle sticks inside each banana section so that you can hold the banana on the stick. Freeze bananas with sticks on a plate - overnight.  They need to freeze solid before dipping.  (I plac...

I planted garlic for the first time this past fall in my mid Missouri, zone 6B garden.  I planted in October and harvested mid/end of June, just in time to get my bush beans planted! Making garlic powder was super easy! It smells and tastes sooo good!  We love some garlic at our house and for sure will be planting twice as many bulbs this fall.  Turning garlic into garlic powder was pretty effortless although I did have to purchase a dehydrator and coffee (spice) grinder.   This is how I grew garlic and turned garlic bulbs into garlic powder AT HOME MY WAY. Garlic Bulbs to Garlic Powder Supplies needed: Garlic bulbs (I used about 20 large bulbs and got about one pint of garlic powder.) Food processor Dehydrator (I got a good deal on mine from a "return/ overstock" store.) Coffee (spice) grinder ( This is the one I bought .)  (I like that the cup is removable.) A few glass canning jars Optional:  Jar Vacuum sealer  (I got THIS ONE from Amazon.)...

Success! My 2025 garden was started in October, 2024 and since I have already harvested garlic scapes and lots of lettuce, its time for another update! I planted seeds for both Boro (purchased from High Mowing Seeds ) and Detroit Red (purchased locally) beets.  I have no idea which are which.  I kept planting because none came up - and then a bunch came up.  This year, thinning and a long cool spring made all of the difference.  These beets are sugar sweet and smooth.  Their huge size did not affect their texture.  I have been baking them wrapped in foil like a baked potato, then trimming, slipping off the peels and slicing them.  I have more out there including some Golden Beets. I just need time to get them canned.  A favorite recipe for our family for using the "juice" from cooked beets when making canned or pickled beets is my Raspberry "B" Jelly (beet jelly), recipe found HERE . Music Garlic, purchased from Baker Creek   Onions, purchas...

  Recipes at the Top:  Chit-Chat at the bottom. Strawberry Freezer Jam (Super Easy - Beginner Recipe) (Printable-one page recipe) 2 cups fresh (not frozen) strawberries (I bought a quart.) 4 cups white granulated sugar 3/4 cup water 1 package Surejell Fruit Pectin (I have not tried other brands.  I prefer Surejell for fruit jams.) 6+ half pint canning jars plus lids/rings (or plastic containers will work fine).  (I like to have extra clean just in case I have extra from leaving extra headspace.   (This is the recipe from the Surejell packet except now they don't provide paper instructions in the box and you have to go online for it at Kraft Foods.  Bah!  Just give me back the paper instructions!) Instructions: Wash/sterilize glass jars and lids/rings (or wash plastic containers, if using plastic) (I used my dishwasher and just ran them through a normal cycle.) Wash berries well.  (I did a double wash because mine were pretty sandy.)  Rem...