And the canning continues...

The autumn air is crisp, the only bright colors outside are the turning leave, and inside the battle to process all those pounds of apples continue. 

Thankfully the coolness of the garage is keeping the apples crisp and I bought a stockpile of mason jars. 

I cracked open a jar of the Ginger Apple Chutney for dinner one night to make sure it was worth making more.  The Mrs grilled up pork chops and I roasted sweet potatoes, butternut squash and onion from our CSA farm share (what is a CSA? click the link).  Once grilled we slathered some chutney onto the chops and it was delicious!  Definitely worth making a whole lot more. 

Since the first batch of chutney made 2 pint jars and I still had a whole lot of apples to get through - I decided to make 2 double batches (using 2 large non-reactive pots).

 

 

 

 

8 delicious jars of Ginger Apple Chutney

I had also promised The Mrs an apple pie, but I felt like something a little different.  At the suggestion of a co-worker I tried an Apple Pie with Gingerbread Crust.  Now usually ginger bread says Christmas to me more than Fall, but I will admit it, I already have Christmas on the brain.  I think it's all the years of making handmade Christmas presents and vending at the MECA Holiday Sale that I start thinking Christmas by September.  It takes time to make all the holiday-themed items I sell around Christmas. 

So Gingerbread Apple Pie is would be!

I used this recipe by Amy Bronee at Family Feedbag.  I very recently discovered her blog and can't wait to try out more of her recipes. 

 

 Since The Mrs and I have started house hunting I've packed up all the odds and ends that I almost never use - so my cookie cutters are somewhere in storage. So instead of the cute gingerbread men topped pie from the recipe, I did a usual top crust.  

I also ended up using a massive pie plate and should have double the crust recipe, but the pie was all but topped when I realized this so my top crust was on the thin side and a little more crunchy than I would have liked once baked.  Now I know for next time and yes - there will be a next time.  This pie will definitely be an addition to Thanksgiving this year. 

While I was spending all this time in the kitchen I found a bunch of salad turnips and watermelon radishes hiding in the back of the veggie drawer on the brink of going bad.  I hate wasting food - especially somethings as delicious as watermelon radishes - so I tossed them in a sanitized mason jar and made them into quick refrigerator pickles. 

I used a basic Refrigerator Pickled Radishes recipe (I forget where I originally found it).

So here's what I did:

 

 6 watermelon radishes and 7 salad turnips (which equalled about 2 heaping cups) - sliced very thin

1 small red onion (or 2 shallots) - cut into eighths 

1/2c. white vinegar

1/2c. red wine vinegar

1c sugar

1tsp salt

Place the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small pot and heat over medium-low heat stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Add the radishes and the shallots.  Heat until the vinegar just begins to boil, and then remove from heat.  

Pack into a sterilized quart jar and refrigerate.  Allow the radishes to cure one week before serving.  

*It is important to keep them refrigerated.  Since these pickles are not processed they would go bad at room temp.

After sitting in the refrigerator for a week they were delicious! And I love the pink color from the red wine vinegar.

 All in all it was a very productive week.  I have also been working on a sewing project for the Children's Museum and Theater of Maine. But more on that later...

Until next time.