Dill Pickles

About 10-12 cucumbers depending on the size
3 cups white vinegar
12 cups water
2/3 cup canning salt
About 4 cloves of garlic per jar, cut in half
fresh dill stalks
1 jalapeño sliced (I made 2 jars spicy for Bloody Mary’s)
10 large Mason Jars

Wash cucumbers thoroughly and cut into spears. Make sure jars are sterilized; I do that in the dishwasher. Put about three dill weed springs and two garlic cloves halves in bottom of each jar. Pack each jar with cucumbers. Place two dill weed sprigs and two more halves of garlic on top of the cucumbers. Meanwhile heat water, vinegar and salt over high heat until salt is dissolved. Pour into jars, seal with lid.
Place jars in a large pot of water, let simmer for 10 minutes, remove, let cool. I place my pickles in my extra fridge so they are crisp and cold when ready to eat. These will be ready in just a couple days!

Ever since watching Aunt Bee on the Andy Griffith show enter a pickle making contest, I have always wanted to try my hand at pickle making. This was my first year making pickles, I grew the cucumbers, this is my 2nd batch this year, the first batch turned out great, they are already gone! I have tweaked it a bit and added jalapenos to a couple jars for Bloody’s during the Bears game! To be honest the whole canning thing freaks me out a bit so if you are not sure the jars are sealed, refrigerate them. That’s what I did and I think that is what made them so crunchy, enjoy!

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Chicken Cacciatore

Well, it was a success, one of my boys said this was the best thing he ever tasted! I must admit, it was really good and all the ingredients I had at home(I take great pride in that)! In culinary school we had practicals where all the ingredients were under a black box and we had to "create". To this day, I love this challenge and when the kids ask what's for dinner I excitedly tell them, "black box cooking", groans... Last night though was a different story. Traditionally, chicken cacciatore calls for mushrooms, however I did not have any and the reason is no one in my family likes mushrooms (except me) but I did have some beautiful little fingerlings that I used as a substitute. Also, I used egg noodles but I think pappardelle pasta would be perfect. I added the parsley at the end to give it a little color. I don't think this dish needs more then about 4 1/2 hours but mine cooked 8 since I was gone most of the day, so just leave it in the crock pot if you are gone. Another suggestion, I buy Bell and Evans boneless, skinless chicken thighs at Sunset, they are a really good quality chicken, if you can't find boneless, no worries, the bones will add flavor to the sauce. Incidentally, for those of you that have commented on my journey, I had no pasta or cheese, just wine! Enjoy~


6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 green pepper julienne
½ cup diced inions
3 garlic cloves minced
1 ½ cups of fingerling potatoes; quartered
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
½ cup of white wine
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tsp. oregano

1 lb. pappardelle pasta or wide egg noodles
Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian flat leaf parsley

In a sauté pan add about 11/2 Tbls. olive oil, add chicken and brown (will not be cooked all the way). Add remaining ingredients to your crock pot except pasta, parmesan and parsley, stir well and add chicken. Cook in crock pot until the chicken is fork tender about 4 ½ hours, remove rosemary twigs and add parsley, spoon over cooked pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serves 4.

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