Prickly Pear Juice and Jelly

Living in the desert means that it’s difficult to grow berries and other fruit. However, prickly pear cactus plants grow abundantly!

Last week I went to a demo to learn how to use the fruit of this cactus. They are tricky because of the fine stickers that will stick in your fingers. So, you should pick them with tongs and never handle them. First, you put the prickly pear into a pot and add water – just enough to get them cooking. You don’t want to dilute them too much. Then, cook until soft, about 15 minutes. 

Mash with a potato masher to get all the juice out.

Strain the juice through layers of cheesecloth.

On it’s own, the juice is pretty bland and not sweet. You can add  a cup of it to a pitcher of lemonade for a gorgeous fuchsia colored drink. The juice also makes a yummy jelly with 2 1/2 cups juice, 3 cups sugar, and 1 package of pectin.

     

I bottled this batch as juice and used the self seal bottling method – pour hot liquid into the bottle, cover quickly with lid, tighten, and turn over. The hot liquid inside will seal the top.

 

Mangos

I bought a 5 kilo box of mangoes from Mexico (there were about nine mangos in the box) for $5.50. We love mangos for smoothies, mango salsa, and just about anything! Now, thanks to this lovely freezing method, we can have them all winter in our smoothies.

First, cut up the mangos and put them on a wax paper lined baking sheet in the freezer.

Once they are completely frozen, take them off the baking sheet and put them into a freezer bag.

 

Result: delicious frozen mangos for half the price!

Elderberry Grape Jelly

I designed my backyard to be as edible as possible. The border along the back fence includes lavender, currants, gooseberries, elderberries, and raspberries.

Every August the elderberry bushes bend with the weight of the dark purple berries. This year I was late in harvesting, but still filled several bowls with the clusters of small elderberries.

My grapevines covered the fence but when I looked under the leaves, my harvest was not as large as in previous years. Could it have been the cold spring? I did get enough juice for the elderberry jelly and made raisins with the sweet green Himrod grapes.

To juice the grapes and elderberries I use a steam juicer - so easy. I spent some time removing the fruit from the stems by sliding a fork down the stem, easily popping off the berries and grapes. I juiced each kind of fruit separately, then following the directions from the low sugar pectin I made jelly! I used the proportions for grape jelly and did about 3/4 elderberry juice and 1/4 grape juice. I like the mix better than straight elderberry jelly, but have made that in the past and it's good too! The extra grape juice went into quart jars for special occasions. 

The finished product - Elderberry Grape Jelly 2010!

It's in the Bag!

The Deseret News featured an article about new approaches to food storage today. The best suggestion was creating whole meals in bags that can be grabbed quickly:

Food Storage: It's in the Bag! by Trent and Michelle Snow (Cedar Fort Press, $14.99), came off the press last spring. The core of the plan is homemade meal kits, complete with cooking directions and water, each stored in 8-by-5-by 10-inch plastic gift bags. Michelle Snow is finishing a doctorate in public health and has taught at Weber State and the University of Utah. 

When Hurricane Katrina hit, she saw the situation from her public-health perspective. "I realized that bulk food storage didn't help," she said. "People didn't have food or water they could transport to the Superdome with them. They were hungry and thirsty, and chaos broke out." 

"I realized I needed to come up with a plan that would have the meat already cooked, in the event that my freezer goes out. It had to be transportable, and have potable water. It needed to feed my family. and be ready in 10 or 20 minutes. And, if necessary, it could be eaten without being heated."

For instance, the Spicy Jamaican Chicken and Rice includes a bottle of water, 1 cup of rice in a resealable bag, a can of chicken meat, a can of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes and a resealable bag of seasonings.

Check out the whole article here.