I love you a bushel and a peck

I bought a peck of peaches about 10 days ago. There are 2 left. They were really good.
To further cement my place as the queen of freezer jam I made peach preserves and peach/strawberry jam. I cannot wait to taste a little bit of summer in the cold of winter (and I mean cold, it gets down to 40 here in SC during January). Don't be jealous cause its been 105 for the past 3 months with 80% humidity.

Upcoming crafty pursuits:
the quilt - to be perfectly honest, it won't be the first quilt I've made - the first one I made was a t-shirt quilt for Eric back in college. (it's not rectangle at all)
actually canning - I mean using the processing in boiling water method. For some reason this totally scares me.

Icebox Pickles...yum!

You wanna know how good these pickles are? This is the second time I've made a double batch this summer. We're talking 8 quarts of pickles people! (no, I am not craving pickles but I sure do love them). Best part - no processing, they pickle in the fridge, er... icebox.

Without further ado:

Slightly Sweet Dill Icebox Pickles
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2lbs med pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4 in slices or spears
1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped, stems included
1 Tbs yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp whole white peppercorns
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs coarse kosher salt (I find it best to cut it back to 2 Tbs)
2 tsp dill seeds

Divide sliced onion between two 1-quart wide-mouth glass jars (I like 4x 1 pint wide-mouth better). Pack slices horizontally or spears vertically. Top each jar with dill.

Crush peppercorns and mustard seeds together. Place crushed spices in medium saucepan. Add vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and dill seeds. Bring mixture to boil over med-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours. Cover tightly with lids. Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep refrigerated.

recipe from epicurious

Food Porn - Take II

Again, if you are hungry, avert your eyes. Not suitable for those with empty stomachs.
Our very first figs! We have about 300 on the tree just waiting to ripen. What do I do with all these figs? Have any great recipes?

Freezer Jam

One of my favorite things about summer is putting away some of the bounty for the cold, dreary months of winter.

Freezer Jam is super easy and holds a special place in my heart because my great aunt Mary used to make it. All you need is about 4 lbs of fruit (you can even use frozen), sugar and pectin. My preference is the Ball brand Freezer Jam Pectin.
There's no boiling, no muss, no fuss. Just mix and put it in the jars. You can eat it right away or store it in the freezer. So, go make some freezer jam from your summer bounty.