Welcome, foodie friends. On a day when you sent lots more answers than questions, the good questioner G.P. (so initialed because she always serves a Gracious Plenty) took over. "What's missing in your kitchen?" we asked, and she answered with two things: "oatmeal cranberry cookies and cooked tomato recipes for my son-in-law who can no longer eat fresh tomatoes." Can you help? And here's a reminder, too, that we continue to search for a no-cook refrigerated cake.
PEACHES
To hold fast to the tasty blessings of summer as we head into this colorful, spicy season, canning is bound to be one of the best ways. Thank you, Mary Sterling of Calhoun, Georgia, for sharing an envelope full of canning recipes - beginning with the requested pickled peaches. Ms. Sterling sent two peachy recipes, so when you are in a peach-pickling mood, compare the two and see what looks better to you. (Or take a little from both and make your own concoction.)
Peach Pickles
For peach prep:
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 gallon cold water
For pickling:
6 pounds peeled peaches (firm ripe ones are perfect for canning)
3 pounds sugar
1 pint vinegar
1 pint water
1 tablespoon ginger
2 tablespoons whole cloves, crushed
4 sticks cinnamon or 4 ounces
Mix together 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 gallon water. Set aside.
Peel peaches, following directions given for canning peaches. Immediately drop peaches into salt/vinegar/water solution to prevent discoloration.
In a large pot, mix sugar, 1 pint vinegar and 1 pint water; add spices (tied in a cheesecloth bag); bring to a boil. Drop peaches into boiling syrup, and cook about 1 minute, until they are tender and can be pierced with a toothpick. Remove from heat. Pack into jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids. Process in boiling-water bath for 20 minutes.
- From "So Easy To Can," University of Georgia
Pickled Peaches
6 3/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups white vinegar (labeled 5% acidity)
4 (2 1/2 inch) cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground ginger
6 pounds firm-ripe peaches, peeled and pitted and halved
Combine sugar and vinegar in a 6- to 8-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil for 5 minutes. Tie spices in spice bag or cheesecloth. Add spice bag and peaches to syrup. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes or until peaches are cooked but not too soft, stirring peaches gently to cook all sides. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 12 to 18 hours, stirring peaches 2 or 3 times.
Bring peaches to a boil. Remove from heat, and remove spices. Skim off foam, if necessary. Immediately fill hot pint or quart jars with mixture, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Carefully run a nonmetallic utensil down inside of jars to remove trapped air bubbles. Wipe jar tops and threads clean. Place hot lids on jars, and screw bands on firmly.
Process in boiling-water canner 25 minutes for quarts or 20 minutes for pints.
Yield: approximately 2 quarts or 4 to 5 pints.
- From "Kerr Kitchen Cookbook"
KITCHEN FAVES
Herein continues our Best of the Best in our Home Kitchens.
Mrs. Nicholas Aspen favors her food processor, her mini processor and her microplane grater. In addition to her frequent use of food processor, mini and microplane grater, "I love my very small (2 ounces, I believe) Tupperware cups from way back. Not sure if they even make them anymore. I have had at least three sets of eight in the past. I have a plastic bag in the refrigerator freezer door with about eight of them in the bag. Lemon zest and juice, orange zest and juice, pesto sometimes, fresh thyme leaves, garlic butter from the rolls from a take-home Provino's dinner, leftover uncooked wild rice, etc."
Oh, and there's another Best in this family's kitchen. Nicholas Aspen himself is said to prefer "an Oxo peeler, as he is always peeling cucumbers."
We want to continue this feature and hope you will add your Bests, if you haven't already. Forgive the middlewoman (that's me) for taking a few of your lines to add my own kitchen bests: the thick walnut top for our island, designed by our friend and craftsman Jeremiah Fox. It has seasoned beautifully for nine years. As to utensils, there is nothing like a serrated knife - Cutco or otherwise.
LEGACY COOKING
The animated conversation about pesto has a new conversation thread: what a parent learns from a child about cooking. To wit: Martha Parker was visiting her daughter, Jill, in Tucson, "and I want to share her best pesto dish, which is also my favorite food she makes. Jill is a great cook and can feed a crowd on demand. She learned the joy of cooking and serving homemade food from me, but not much method.
"What she does with pesto (which she can make instantly - and with no specific recipe - almost year-round in Arizona) is serve it mixed with pasta (either spaghetti, fettuccine or linguine). She tops it with fresh chopped tomatoes, and then adds grated Parmesan cheese. It is very simple and simply delicious. I keep pesto in the freezer so I can have this any time. In the winter, I use canned tomatoes because I don't care for the tomatoes you get in the grocery. The amounts of each of the ingredients depend on the cook, on how much of each you would like."
There you have it: The mother trains the daughter that cooking for others is joy, and then the daughter takes the inspiration and makes it her own, cooks it her way. And now, Martha learns from Jill as Jill learned from Martha.
OF INTEREST
This is our new occasional entry in Fare Exchange, your comments about recipes from this column that you have tried. Betty Domal is sticking with her affinity to all things corn. She gave five stars to the Corn Casserole from Sandra Oliver, printed Aug. 21 (Aug. 20 online). "I made the casserole that uses Green Giant shoe peg corn and whipping cream again yesterday for a potluck today. I doubled the recipe for a 9- by 13-inch dish, cooked per recipe, then warmed it up more this morning. It was delicious, and it's so easy to make. This is becoming my favorite corn recipe."
And you are becoming - for well over 40 years - our favorite Fare Exchange company.
So I say thanks.
Jane HenegarTO REACH US
Fare Exchange is a longtime meeting place for people who love to cook and love to eat. We welcome both your recipes and your requests. Be sure to include precise instructions for every recipe you send.
Mailing address: Jane Henegar, 913 Mount Olive Road, Lookout Mountain, GA 30750
Email: chattfare@gmail.com