It's the thought that counts... here's a thought.

Honestly, I've been debating about where to blog this, because while this blog is for recipes, it's very health-oriented and these two recipes I'm about to share have nothing to do with health... hahahaha. They are, in fact, a little bit sinful in their yumminess. They really aren't for every day, but they are for special meals on special days. They also make fantastic gifts, and this too is what this blog post is about. (I'm going a little bit Martha Stewart-esque today.) I'll link to my creative blog. ;o)

In these challenging economic times, the coming holidays can be as much about stress as about joy, with the expectation many of us have built up around gift-giving. Let's face it, most of us really don't need more stuff. So I give consumables. These are yummies that my gift recipients can feel good about receiving, and even better about enjoying. Once they've been received and enjoyed, they don't have to be stashed in a cupboard like an overbundance of knickknackery or a shirt that's too small and kind of weird-lookin' anyway. Of course, this idea can be accomplished with anything from store-bought fancy cookies, or a basket of goodies, to homemade yums. This past summer I made giant jars of my homemade dills for the dill pickle lovers on my list. That will be accompanied by some jams, jellies and/or some baked goods. For the diabetic on my list, I've lined up some locally-made sugar-free, dark chocolate wafers, which I'll package with some of my own no-sugar-added spread. (Recipes here: http://wshomehealth.blogspot.com/2011/05/no-sugar-added-spreads.html
So, with this in mind, I am sharing these two recipes and some ideas for presenting them.

The first is a perennial favourite: Bread n' Butter pickles. (Yes, these are better than the store-bought ones.) You just need:
3 good size or 4 moderate size English cucumbers
1 large red pepper
1 medium green pepper
1 package of pearl onions
1/2 cup coarse pickling salt
4 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
2 tsps. turmeric
2 tsps. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed

Peel the onions. TIP: soak them in ice water for a few minutes, slice off the root end, and rub with your thumb. The peel should come off easily.) Wash the peppers and cukes ~ DO NOT PEEL CUKES. Open and de-seed the peppers, slice the ends off the cukes, and discard. Chop the peppers into pieces about 1/2 to 3/4 inch square pieces. Slice the cukes and the onions thinly. Then alternate them into a large colander (place colander inside large bowl), sprinkling each layer with some of the coarse salt, leaving enough to sprinkle over the top after all the veges are in the colander.

Now, you can leave this sit overnight and finish the next morning, or you can put two trays of ice cubes over the veges, cover, and leave it three hours while you get your jars and lids, etc. ready.
(Preparations for preserving are here: http://quillingartandmore.blogspot.com/p/preparations-for-preserving.html )

Rinse the veges thoroughly, and while they are draining some more, place the sugar, vinegar and spices into a large preserving kettle (very large saucepan). Bring this to a boil. Add the drained veges carefully and return to a full boil. Pack into hot, sterilized jars, covering veges with hot syrup.

TIP: Ladle out the veges without the syrup, or much of it, first, to make sure your jars are fairly full of veges. Then bring the syrup to a fresh boil and ladle it over the veges, leaving the 1/4 inch head space from the rim. Wipe and lid.)

This recipe yields about 5 - 6 pints of B & B pickles. Yum!

***

Now this other recipe is a family heirloom, but I'm going to share it anyway. It's different and delish and makes a great gift. You just need a fair sized pie pumpkin, along with:
1 tsp. whole cloves
2-3 inches of cinnamon stick
4 cups white vinegar
4 lbs sugar

Cut the pumpkin up into about 3/4" cubes, trimming away seed goo and peel ~ discard. Set pumpkin aside in a large bowl. In a preserving kettle or very large saucepan, stir together sugar and vinegar. Place spices into a cheesecloth bag. (Cut a large square of cheesecloth, place spices in middle, tie it into a bag with white cotton thread, cut away excess cheesecloth from the top. This is your spice bag.) Bring syrup to a boil, stirring frequently, with spice bag in it. Simmer, covered, for five minutes. Add pieces of pumpkin... carefully. (Hot syrup burns.)Cover and cook pumpkin in the syrup until it's tender. (Test carefully with a fork.) Using the same fill technique as the pickles, ladle pumpkin, then boiling syrup into sterilized jars and lid.


The recipe makes about 6 1-cup jars of Spiced Pickled Pumpkin.Yummy, fun gift.








Use some wrapping paper ends tied over the top with ribbon, some fabric remnants if you sew, or even a brown paper bag, smooshed up, then flattened out and decorated.. yes, with pumpkin seeds if you like, and tied with jute string for that rustic look.

TIP: don't try to cut a perfect circle if you don't have a pattern. Just cut a square of paper/fabric, place it over the top and trim the way you like it. Hold the cover on with a small elastic before trying to tie ribbon/string attractively. It's easier.

Hope this post at least gives you some ideas! :)