Honeyed Bread-and-Butter Pickles

1 pound cucumbers

1/2 medium onion (around 1/3 pound)

5 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1 teaspoon celery seeds

2 cups cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 cinnamon stick

Slice cucumbers into 1/4 inch rounds. Thinly slice onion into half-circles. Put the customers and onions in a medium bowl and sprinkle with 4 teaspoons salt. Cover with later of ice cubes and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. 

Pick out any unmelted ice, drain well, and rinse under cold running water. Toss with celery seeds. Priest a quart jar in canning pot with boiling water.

Combine the vinegar, water, honey, mustard powder, cinnamon stick, and remaining 1 tsp salt in a medium pot. Bring to a boil. 

Pack the cucumbers and onions into quart jar. Ladle the hot vinegar mixture into the jar, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Unless processing/pasteurizing, wait until jar has chilled to room temperature, then put in fridge. Wait at least 1 day, and ideally 3 days to allow flavor to develop before eating.

Applesauce Spice Coffee Cake

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup Granny Smith applesauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 9 inch square cake pan.

Combine flour, brown sugar, spices, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Add applesauce, vegetable oil, and water until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes. Let chill on site rack at least 15 minutes before serving.

Blackberry Yogurt Popsicles

Note: I really liked these, but Ryan didn't and the girls thought they were fine the first night, but didn't want more.

2 cups blackberries

2 Tbsp honey

1/2 lemon

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt

Put the blackberries in a blender and squeeze the juice from the half lemon over it (preserve peel). Blend until liquefied. Strain though a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Add honey to strained juice.

Place lemon peel, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring, then lower heart to simmer for 5 minutes. Strain peel and chill syrup until cold to the touch.

Whisk yogurt and chilled syrup together.

Alternate pouring a little yogurt mixture and a little berry mixture into the popsicle molds until you reach 1/4 inch from the top. Use a skewer to swirl the layers together. Freeze until solid, 3-4 hours.

Blackberry Lemonade

1 cup blackberries

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar

3 cups water

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Put blackberries and 1 Tbsp sugar in blender. Blend until liquefied. Strain through fine mesh strainer to remove seeds.

Combine water and sugar in pitcher. Whisk to dissolve sugar. Add lemon juice and blackberry juice. Whisk to combine. Chill until ready to serve.

Blackberry Barbecue Sauce

1 lb blackberries

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 chipotles in adobo, minced

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp liquid smoke

Cook blackberries and smoked paprika in a small saucepan over medium heat until blackberries start to release their juices, 5 minutes.

In a large saucepan/dutch oven heat the vegetable oil over medium-low heat. As garlic and cook until golden, then add onion and cook until starting to brown, 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until glossy, 2 minutes. Add the blackberries and the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

Transfer to blender and puree until smooth. Strain though fine-mesh strainer. Discard the solids.

Transfer to 1 pint and one 1/2 pint jar. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Watermelon Syrup

Note: This was a failure. Cooked watermelon tastes like squash, and squash syrup and fruit leather was not what I was going for. I poured it all down the sink.

1/2 large watermelon

1 1/2 cups sugar

Scoop red part of watermelon into a blender, in batches of needed. Blend until liquefied. Drain in fine mesh strainer. Preserve pulp in strainer for fruit leather. 

Measure juice. Add 1/4 cup sugar for every cup of juice. I ended up with 6 cups juice.

Add juice and sugar to medium sauce pan. Cook until juice is reduced and registers 220°F on cast thermometer.

Pour into 3 half pint jars. Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes.

Seedless Blackberry-Raspberry Jam

Pulp from making blackberry and raspberry syrup

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Process pulp through food mill with smallest holes to remove the seeds. With two batches of syrup, I ended up with two cups of de-seeded pulp.

Add de-seeded pulp, sugar, and lemon juice to medium sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until gels on a chilled plate (note: this takes less time than a typical jam/jelly because most of the water has already been removed).

Pour into 1 pint and 1 half pint jar. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

Blackberry Jam

4 lbs blackberries

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 Tablespoons lemon juice, from one lemon

Add all ingredients to large saucepan/dutch oven. Mash blackberries with potato masher while heating over medium heat until broken down to desired size. Add half of the juiced lemon skin, for extra natural pectin.

Continue to cook until juice dabbed on chilled plate begins to gel.

Transfer to 3 pint jars. Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes.

Raspberry/Blackberry Syrup

3 lbs berries

1 cup sugar

3 Tbsp lemon juice

Cook berries in large pot for 5 minutes, mashing with potato masher, to release juices. Stain in fine mesh strainer for at least 10 minutes.

Pour juice, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Adjust heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook until heated to 220-225°F. This takes about an hour.

Pour hot syrup into 2 half pint jars. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.