Have you ever had a homemade pickle? The tangy flavor, the cool crunch, it's so much better than the preservative laden stuff you can find at the store. And making your own pickles is actually surprisingly easy! This recipe is spicy and sweet and the perfect treat.
3 pounds cucumbers
1/2 cup pickling salt
6 cups water
2 cups sliced onions
3 cups vinegar
3 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
4 cloves
10 tablespoons garlic, minced
24 dried cayenne peppers
1/2 tsp lavender salt
Directions, place cucumbers, salt, water, and onions together and soak for 2 hours. Drain and set aside. Combine other ingredients and bring to boil. Once boiled, add back your cucumbers and onions. Bottle and age for 3 weeks before eating.
I tried a new dish this week that was a lot of fun, Asian Meatball Soup. It has the warm comfort of a soup that is perfect for this time of year, but it had all the tangy savory flavors you would find in your favorite dishes from Asia. It was wonderful.
Ingredients:
1 pound lean pork or beef
2 green onions, minced
2 tbs grated ginger
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fish sauce
6 cups chicken broth
6 ounces rice noodles, cooked
1 tablespoon cilantro
2 tbs chopped peanuts
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients (except for the broth, noodles, and cilantro) into meat balls. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Bring broth to a boil, add noodles and meatballs. Serve into bowls and top with cilantro and chopped peanuts.
We hope you enjoy this super simple and delicious soup.
Bon Apetitie!
Have a wonderful weekend!
I don't know why, but I always feel like adding oatmeal and nuts to my cookies makes them feel more like autumn. These chewy oatmeal cookies are the perfect sweet treat on a fall afternoon.
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups brown sugar1 cup butter, softened1 tsp vanilla1 egg
2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon lavender salt
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon lavender salt
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 tsp ground flax
Directions: Mix together ingredients in order listed. Bake for 10 minutes until slightly golden.
Then go out into the nice fall weather and jump around in a pile of leaves just for the heck of it. Happy Fall!
Here is what the trees in our apple orchard are looking like. These will make for perfect caramel apples on halloween. The rest will be used for bobbing for apples, or will be pressed into the most delicious apple cider. The ones that fall onto the ground before we get to them? We feed them to the neighborhood horses.
Speaking of horses, anyone willing to watch our lane tonight and keep their eyes open for the headless horseman? Happy Halloween!
This lentil soup has been a go to fall and winter recipe for us for years. It's easy enough to make on a weeknight, makes plenty of leftovers, and is satisfying without being bad for you or unhealthy. Plus it's affordable and perfect for fall! It's a real winner winner not chicken dinner.
4 strips of bacon
3 medium carrots
1 yellow onion
1 1/2 cup dry lentils
2 tsp dried Tyme
Salt/pepper
2 cans chicken broth
1/2 cup water
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Chop your bacon into lentil sized peices. In a heavy soup pan crisp your bacon on medium heat. (Non crisp peices will be gross in the soup later, so be patient). Then chop your onion and carrots into lentil sized peices and add them into the pot. Cook until onions are clear. Add salt and pepper. Then add minced garlic and tomato paste and cook for another minute. Then add your lentils, cans of stock, Tyme, and salt and pepper again.
Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 45 minutes. If you cook out all the stock you can add 1/2 cup of water later on. Add your vinegar at the end. Salt and pepper again as needed. You can top with Parmesan shavings if you want, but it really doesn't need it. Enjoy!
Hope this soup makes all your cozy autumn dreams come true. Enjoy!