There's a vinegary smell in the air

A few weeks ago, I was at the Farmers Market and thinking about making beet pickles.  The people at the stand said if I came back 2 days later they would reserve for me either a 1/2 bushel or a full bushel of beets instead of buying several small bunches that day.

Assuming, (BTW, never assume.  It doesn't usually turn out.) that the beets would come with their tops on, I agreed to a 1/2 bushel of beets.  I gave them my name and my phone number.  No backing out now!!

Well, as it turns out, the beets came with their tops off.  Way more beets that way. 

If you have ever wondered what a 1/2 bushel of beets look like...here you go.

  

Yup.  A lot of beets.

 

 

I thought I was taking step by step pictures but I guess I didn't.  It probably wouldn't have been that interesting anyway.

 

 



I made a trip to the store and so did DH to get enough vinegar for the job.

Can you smell the beets, vinegar and spices? 

It's like a sauna in here!

So for future reference:  A 1/2 bushel of beets will make 14 pints and 5 quarts of pickles.  And take 3 trips to the store.  2 for vinegar and 1 for quart jars when you run out of pints.

They sure are pretty though...

And then maybe 2 weeks later, again at the Farmers Market, there are the last cucumbers of the season.  I've been trying to find a good Bread and Butter pickle in the store but haven't come across anything that is nearly as good as homemade.

I guess 2 weeks is long enough to have forgotten all the work involved and so I bought cucumbers, onions, green peppers.  And in the big box store right there, I got more pint jars.

Here we go again!

 

 

I was going to do step by step pictures again but didn't manage to this time either.  So here are the veggies sitting in salt for 3 hours.

 

 



And here is the finished product.  9 pints of Bread and Butter pickles.

Now we just have to wait a few weeks for them to get that good pickled flavor throughout.  They should be ready to start eating at Thanksgiving.

Yum!

Holupture update

Since I'm the only place on Google that has information about Holupture also spelled holupse (that spelling has more places to look for info), I decided to do an update since my last post about how to make it.



This year's holupture.  Wish I could share it with you!

I've learned a few things since I made it that Thanksgiving and it really made a difference in the taste.

One thing I learned is that consistency in size is quite important.  We have foreign workers from Moldova and we were invited to their house for an evening meal.  It was awesome.  So much food we couldn't even taste it all.  BUT.  They served holupture.  Yup.  It didn't really surprise me but they were very surprised that we knew what it was.  Anyway each piece of holupture was the same size.

Then I went to my own source of information on the subject.  DH.  He is the one whose family has this as a tradition and so he is the closest thing to a pro as I can get these days.

He told me that to cook it early and let it marinate in the sauerkraut for as long as possible is the best thing to do.

And so here is what was done.

2nd DDIL and I made the holupture on Saturday evening.  The recipe was the same as before but if the cabbage leaves were too big we cut them in halves or quarters to make the rolls more even in size.

We arranged them in my bigger crock pot and dumped 2 large jars of sauerkraut on top.  I started it out on high for a couple hours and before bed I turned it down to low. 

It cooked overnight until about 9 in the morning.  I tested the rice to make sure it was cooked through.

Since we live in ND and it's cold here, I put the crock pot in the garage to keep cold and not have to use up refrigerator space on the big crock.  I left the sauerkraut on top and didn't drain any liquid off.

The holupture stayed in the garage for 2 days and on Tuesday I removed the sauerkraut and put the crock pot back in the heating unit to warm it up for dinner.  

It was delicious.  DH said we could have even put another jar of sauerkraut on top.  He remembered his gramma's being stronger tasting but he said this was a very close second. 

And now I know how to make the holupture as tasty as possible.  Start early.  Let it sit and marinate for a couple days after cooking it and use lots of sauerkraut.

It was so good tasting and also heartwarming to have hit on the right combination to get the end result as close as possible to Gramma Lora Stein's recipe.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

The first pan in the oven today is the holupture. And what is that you say?? Why it is a family tradition in DH's family. One that I've learned to appreciate and love also. It is supposed to be cooked in a old fashioned Red Wing crock for hours and hours on low heat but I'm trying to bring the dish into our fast paced world. And so a 9X13 pan on slightly higher heat for a shorter time. I really hope it turns out.

The recipe comes from the same Gramma that knit these slippers. She was a strong force in our family and we miss her and all the other grammas in our lives, especially on days like this.

Ok. Now for the recipe.

You start out with a nice sized head of cabbage. Core it and then wilt the leaves in a big pot of hot water. Cut off the heavy stem that runs down the back of the cabbage leaf so they are easier to roll.

Mix together 1 cup uncooked rice, 1/2 cup finely diced ham or bacon, 3 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Put a spoonful of this in each cabbage leaf and fold over the edges on all sides to form a roll that the rice can't escape from.

Place cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pan. Arrange the cabbage rolls on top. Add another layer of cabbage leaves and top everything with 2 large jars of sauerkraut. Add enough water to cover the rolls and bake for several hours at 325 degrees.

The first holiday that a newcomer to the family was at, was the test to see how well they would fit in... They were given the holupture test. First to see if they would taste it at all and then to see if they would like it. I think I passed the test all those many years ago. I both tasted and liked the holupture! And now I'm cooking it for my family.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Trip to Dairy Queen!

DH has been wanting to take the grandkids to Dairy Queen for awhile now. This past Sunday turned out to be the day.

It was a last minute thing but worked out wonderfully. The kids were bathed and clean...they live on a farm and tend to be just a bit grubby (just like our boys when we were living there). And they were hungry.

1st DS moved all 3 carseats from his pickup to our car. Everyone got strapped in and away we went.

They ate like they hadn't seen food for awhile. 1st DGD had a cheeseburger and fries. DGS had a hot dog and applesauce. 2nd DGD had a grilled cheese and a banana. And, of course, afterwords they had Ice Cream! The older 2 had cones with sprinkles and the little one had a plain cone. I asked 1st DGD what the sprinkles tasted like and she said "A rainbow!".

They giggled and were excited and we all had a great time with memories made...

Gee, I love those kids!

A little knitting and a little cooking

The Iceling Cardigan should have been done by now but, you know, summer interfered. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

The next thing happening with it, is the buttonhole row. I've done sweaters before but I can't remember doing a one row buttonhole so this will be a new experience. Hopefully a good one!

Yesterday I did a bit of cooking. It was the annual Test Plot Tour for our seed plant. Only it rained. So we did the whole thing at the plant instead of in the field.

The AgriPro Wheat representative did a powerpoint presentation and afterwords I fed everyone. Well, I didn't feed them personally I just cooked and served the food. ;) There were about 30 people there and that was a good turnout considering the weather.

We brought 2 grills out to the plant and 3rd DS and I cooked hamburgers and brats while the talk was going on. I had quite a smoke smudge going. I can't grill without a nice fire flareup happening! We did 48 brats and 35 hamburgers.

I had bought 10# of potato salad and made a big crockpot of calico beans. There was an assortment of condiments and these "zero" calorie little puppies...

They look pretty sad all alone on the big pan but they still are tasty. Rice Krispie bars with a caramel layer topped with fudge frosting. They went like hotcakes!

Wandering mind

On Thursday I was on a clear liquid diet to prep for a colonoscopy. I never realized how much random, mindless eating I do during the course of a day. There were so many triggers that made me go to the cupboard or the fridge for something to munch on. I finally had to go play the piano to break the urge. And that is something I could do more often to keep from eating. And a big plus to that would be that I'd get back to playing piano.

My dad had colon cancer. He was totally cured because he noticed the symptoms and took quick action. And now because he had it, I & my siblings need to have a colonoscopy every 5 years. The prep is much worse than the actual procedure. I sleep through the procedure. The gallon of golytely is another thing. The assisting nurse at the procedure called it swamp water. I can't think of a more appropriate way of describing it. But please, please, please, if you need to do a colonoscopy, do it. Don't put it off. Just do it.

Our weather is edging towards winter. The leaves are all gone. It is in the 20s overnight and the sloughs are starting to getting a thin layer of ice around the edges. I'd take this weather for the rest of the winter but I know that won't happen. Snow will come. And stay. Eventually.

And now just a couple shots of the kitties, lounging around in the upstairs hallway:






































Happy Weekend Everyone!

Odds & Ends

So here is as far as I am on DGS's Christmas sweater. That's the back. It is done now and then some. I was knitting along and knitting along and first it was stuck at 5 1/2" then it was stuck at 6" and now it appears that I have shot right past the 6 1/2" that I was aiming for & am at 7". Uff. Well, I think I'll remeasure but no matter what, call it good. If it is a bit long, that's okay, he'll be growing this winter. Don'tcha love the stripes it's making? I think it looks exceptional but I'm not crazy about the way it seems to want to stretch. It's James C. Brett, Marble. DK weight.

I ordered 3 skeins of Georgia Rose from Peace Fleece yesterday morning. I hope it arrives in time for posting on the 6th for the BlizzKAL on Ravelry. We will be knitting hats and I don't have anything else that I want to use as much as that Peace Fleece. I'm crossing my fingers that I comes as quickly as my last order. That came in just 2 days. Super service!

We had a funeral at church today and so we did the lunch yet again. Just cake & coffee this time though. Much easier than the usual full meal. There were 6 of us ladies there to handle it. It worked out since it wasn't a large funeral.

I need to start supper. I have a roast beef but it's to late to get it done in time so I'm thinking pork chops and maybe some leftover sweet potatoes and cranberries. Sounds good to me but I don't know if DH will be thrilled. Oh well, sometimes that how it goes....

It is starting to snow and it turned quite cold today.