Plum Jam

2kg plums washed & stoned.
2 cups water
7 cups sugar.

Bring to boil fruit & water & cook until fruit is soft.
Add sugar & stir until it is dissolved.
Boil steadily for about 30 minutes or until the jam sets. I use a saucer with a bit of water & then plop a teaspoon of jam in to test, wait till it cools & then run a clean finger through the jam. IF the channel made by the finger remains open & the jam wrinkles it will be ready to bottle. If the chnnel runs together you need to keep cooking for a bit longer. The cooking time does depend on type of plums so the test system is best to use rather than time.
Pour into hot sterlized jars, seal while hot so you get the pong seal sound

Sundried tomatoes in herb olive oil

Dry your tomatoes - I use a sunbeam dehydrator
Pack dried tomatoes in sterilised jars with peeled garlic & sprigs of fresh rosemary. Fill jar with olive oil - resist eating them for at least 2 weeks so the flavours blend.

Roasted tomato Concentrate.

Place in oven roasting dish tomatoes cut in half it's ok if they overlap.
Add fresh herbs eg basil, thyme, oregano it doesn't mater which herb but just don't be stingy.
Add about 4-5 fat cloves of garlic.
Good ground of fresh pepper
Drizzle over olive oil.
Bake for a few hours on low heat - warning your house will smell YUMMY!


Once roasted push tomatoes & herbs through a sieve. (I used the tomato pulp to bake lamb chops in for dinner - added a yummy flavour to chops & then the chooks got the pulp.)
Pour roasted tomato juice into ice cube trays & freeze. Use in any dishes where tomato concentrate is needed.

Crab Apple Jelly

Brent & james have been gathering from the side of the road again. BEAM!

Remove stems, cut into quarters - leave on skin & included the core. - Just cover with water - not too much.

Cook up until Apples are soft, stirring a few times..

Drain into muslin - an old clean tea towel will do the trick.
You need to let the juice drip out - preferably overnight. Do not be tempted to squeeze the bag as this will make your jelly go cloudy.

Brent came to my rescue with a tool makers clamp

Brent set it up to drip for me

Discard pulp - the chooks really enjoyed it!

Measure the liquid add 3/4 cup sugar for every 1 cup of juice.

Bring to the boil & boil rapidly for about 10 minutes - until mixture sets

Pour into hot sterile jars

Drying Zuchinni's

Cut zucchinis thinly then top with garlic salt & place in dehydrator.
I do not have processed garlic salt so just pressed some garlic into salt & sprinkled that over the top.
They are quite morrish!

Preserving olives

Brent & James Picked our olives when changing colour from green to black.

Placed olives in a jar and covered with water and 1 1/2 Tablespoons rock salt.

Change the water daily for 10 to 12 days, rinsing off any scum that may appear.

Sample daily until bitter taste goes away

Next step is to prepare a brine solution.

Brine solution : 1 Tablespoon rock salt per jar.
Rinse olives and eat a few
Place into sterilized jars or clean containers and water top of the olives
Add 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
add 1 dried chili sliced
Lemon rind & some lemon juice 1 small lemon

Be sparing with any flavorings you may wish to add.....making sure you have washed the herbs first.
Sprigs of thyme; rosemary; oregano; garlic clove; small dried chilli; mustard seeds; coriander seeds; zest of lemon peel.

Seal with 5 ml olive oil (this also gives the olives a nice taste as you are fishing them out to taste)

Keep in a cool place and leave for 4 to 6 weeks, testing as you wish


Yes our very first jar of olives from our olive grove. We were told to remove all the olives the first year of growing, but we couldn't. - They taste real nice & seem to be going down by the day.

This post was taken from old blog - July 20th 2007 We all thought they tasted real good last night!

Mrs Ross Lemon Squash

Juice & rind of 3 lemons.
1 Ibs sugar
1 oz epsom salts
1 oz tartaric acid
1/2 oz citric acid
2 pints boiling water.

Add water to all ingredients. Stir well until sugar has disolved
Cool. Then strain.
Bottle & keep in fridge.
Use 1 part lemon squash to 5 parts water.

Makes a lot of bottles

Welcome

Leanne's Back to Basics Blog was kick started by watching Jamie Oliver's Ministry of food.

I will take on his Pass it on challenge & via blogging will pass on what works for me in cooking for a family of four including cooking with severe food allergies, preserving, budgeting, menu planning, packed lunches, stockpiling, buying in bulk, vegetable gardening, raising our own chickens, raising our own sheep, keeping a home and living within your means.

I am going to try to blog basics as if the readers have limited knowledge - as Jamie says - passing it on.

Love Leanne