Pickled Hot Dogs and Banana Peppers

Since I can remember hot peppers have been a staple around my parents house and now mine. The reason why is a simple one, my dad loves them. He will eat anything that involves hot pepper, hot sauces, or any form of hot spices period and has the collect to prove it. With that being said, it isn't surprising that a third of my garden is devoted to peppers, everything from sweet Bell peppers to very hot Habanero peppers and everything in between. The only problem with that is that it leads to having an abundant amount of peppers which leaves me trying to figure out what I can do with them. After taking up canning last year, I figured what better way to start preserving some of the banana peppers than making some Pickled Hot Dogs and Banana Peppers.

This recipe will yield 4 Pints jars, but can be adapted 

to yield other quantities.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups White Vinegar 
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 2 Cups Water 
• 1/2 Tbsp Alum 
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Pickling Spice
• 4 Cloves of Garlic / 1 per Jar (Optional)
• Hot/Sweet Banana Peppers
• 16 Regular Length Hot Dogs

There are a few steps when making these:

Cold Packing the Jars:

1. Have your clean jars in front of you as you begin to cut up the hot dogs and peppers. I prefer to half the hot dogs and place two halves on the bottom of the jar first. Then I proceed to thinly slice the peppers into rings and then layer them. Then continue alternating the hot dogs and peppers until there is a generous inch of head space left in the jar.

Making the pickling brine:

1. Combine the White Vinegar, Water, Alum, Pickling Spice and Sugar into a medium to large sauce pan and bring to a boil allowing the sugar to dissolve.

Combining and "Bathing" the jars:

1. Add pickling brine to the cold packed jars, still leaving 1/2 to 3/4 inch of head space.
2. Clean rim of jar with a rag to remove any liquid or debris.
3. Apply lid and rings and place in "hot bath" for 15 minutes. 
4. Remove and place in a cool dry area to cool down.

Enjoy!!

Trail Cam Tuesday - August 9, 2011

I was out of town this weekend and have yet to check my trail cams from this past week. With that being said I'm going to keep it short and sweet. This is going to  be one for all of you Rackoholics, these are from the same set as last week's bonus picture.

Not the best picture, but it displays his rack beautiful.

It's amazing the difference a year or two can make.

Couldn't leave the odd ball out, the one on the right has been nicknamed, Curly.

Trail Cam Saturday? - 8/6/2011

I had mentioned on Tuesday that I would do a catch up post on all the pictures that were taken over the last few weeks. This idea would have worked if the deer didn't get shy, really while we were at the beach the day time temperature was in the mid 90's and even reached into the 100's a few times. Although we mainly got pictures of bears and does, I'll give you a few interesting shots of a doe and fawns and sower with cub. Since everyone loves to see big racks this time of year, I'll throw in a bonus picture from another property that Jay frequently hunts.

Yes, it was that hot!

Mom, wait!

Not sure how I feel about cubs and sow running up the tree my tree stand is in.

Which one would you pick?

Stuffed Zucchini

Side view after it had been cut.

This idea started while I was still at the beach, I was reading an issue of Grit magazine when I came an article on what to do when you have to many or to big of zucchini. The one that stood out the most was the Stuffed Zucchini. After returning home and seeing I had quite a few large zucchini this recipe was a no-brainer! It turned out better than I had expected with the zucchini being very tender and the stuffing had prefect favoring to match it.

Ingredients: 

• 1 zucchini, 12 to 18 inches
• 1⁄2 to 1 pound ground beef or meatloaf mix (equal amounts beef, pork and veal)
• 1 can (14 to 16 ounces) corn, drained, or 1 box (16 ounces) frozen corn, thawed and drained, or leftovers (any amount) from corn on the cob
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 3 to 4 eggs
• 1 box stuffing mix
• Black pepper or crushed red pepper to taste
• Grated or sliced mozzarella cheese

**When I made this, the said amount of ingredients made enough stuffing to stuff four halves of 14 inch zucchini, so do some experimenting to find out how much it'll make for you.**

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-by-13-inch baking dish; set aside.
2. Wash zucchini and place on cutting board. Cut off each end and slice zucchini in half lengthwise. Use tablespoon or serving spoon to scoop out seeds and make a hollow in each half. Place, hollow side up, in prepared dish.
3. In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except cheese. Spoon into zucchini hollows. Add water around zucchini to 1-inch depth.
4. Cover dish with foil, and bake for 1 to 2 hours, or until zucchini is tender.
5. Remove foil, and top each zucchini hollow with cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Trail Cam Tuesday - August 2, 2011

This being my first post since being back in West Virginia, what would be more fitting than making it a TCT. As I am still trying to get adjusted to being back from vacation and not having a job for the first time since I was in my early teens or some might look at it as I should be preparing to head back to college, I am going to do a brief post today. I will do a second TCT post this week once I collect and view all the pictures from the past two weeks, but for now I'm going to leave you with a few candid pictures.

I hope everyone enjoyed last week's edition and introduction of FMM Flickr. There will be many more pictures  added to it this week as well as all the extras from my adventures from this point forward. The pictures can be found here or on a soon-to-be icon on the right side bar.

Sit back, relax, and we'll make you a star trophy. 

A little up close and personal for me.

What looks to be a promising buck.

I might not have gotten my spring gobbler, but there's still a fall season waiting for me.