Christmas in July!

Christmas may be 5 months away, but I have already started making my gifts for family and friends. I just hope that the 'gifts' make it that long! I have decided to make edible gifts from my garden. The first is cinnamon red hot pickles and the second is homemade apple butter.

***Before you think about making the cinnamon red hot pickles, I must warn you that your kitchen will smell like red hots and your utensils will be forever dyed a pink color! But OMG!!! They are so good! These make a great presentation as a Christmas gift. I will even be posting links to customizable, printable canning labels for gifting. Enjoy and leave comments to let everyone know how things turned out!

CINNAMON RED HOT PICKLES
7-11 large cucumbers 1 cup house lime
3 cups white vinegar 1 bottle red food coloring (1 oz.)
1 tablespoon alum 10 cups sugar
2-4 cinnamon sticks 2 packages red hot candy

1. Wash, peel, and seed cucumbers and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Soak cucumbers in 1 cup lime to 1 gallon water for 24 hours. (I have a bucket that I use for this. Be sure to label it PICKLES ONLY) Rinse pickles at least 3 times to remove lime. Soak in ice water for 3 hours.
3. Mix alum, red food coloring, 1 cup vinegar, and enough water to cover pickles. Simmer for 2 hours then drain pickles discarding liquid.
4. Bring to a boil...2 cups water, 2 cups vinegar, sugar, cinnamon sticks and red hot candy. Mix well making sure candy dissolves. (I strained the liquid to remove and pieces that didn't dissolve) Pour over pickles in bucket and let sit, covered for 24 hours.
5. After 24 hours strain juice into a pot and bring to a boil the turn off.
6. Pack pickles in sterilized jars. Add hot liquid to jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace and removing air bubbles with the handle of a wooden spoon. Put on new sterilized lid and ring.
Let jars sit for 24 hours without touching then store in cool, dark place.

***Homemade apple butter...yummy! I adore any kind of fruit butter, but there is just something about warm apple butter on warm homemade biscuits that makes my heart go pitter-patter! This recipe will make your home smell better than ANY scented candle ever could! Just a note...This recipe makes alot so, for my needs, I cut this recipe in half because my crock-pot is too small. Have fun and comment on your outcome!!!

HOMEMADE CROCK-POT APPLE BUTTER
2-50 oz jars unsweetened applesauce
3 lbs. granny smith apples
(i used green apples off my apple tree)
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups apple juice
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. allspice

1. Peel & cut apples into small chips. Place all ingredients in crock-pot and stir.
2. Cover and cook on low overnight (8-10 hours).
3. Remove cover, stir, taste. Add more spices if desired.
4. Continue cooking with lid off a few more hours, uncovered, until some of the liquid has gone and the butter has cooked down a bit.
5. Pour into jars and refrigerate or can properly. (just google canning instructions if you aren't sure)

That's it! In just a few summer days you can make Christmas gifts that your friends and family will actually like. And think, maybe your Christmas holidays won't be as hectic if you have these goodies stored away! Merry Christmas in July!