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12:25 pm
August 1, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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This is my paternal Grandmother's recipe. She was born in Roane County WV in 1897. Last time I made it, I put it in sterilized single serve wine bottles and sealed with paraffin just because it reminded me of the ketchup bottles she saved and used 
Water bath is the way to safely preserve this, however <grin>
Grandma Rader's Tomato Catsup
1 peck ripe tomatoes, cut up
4 large onions, chopped
6-10 fresh peach leaves, washed
1 cup vinegar
3 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. pickling spices (tied in cloth bag)
2 Tbsp. salt (or to taste)
1 Tbsp. cornstarch (dissolved in vinegar)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. turmeric
Cook tomatoes, onions, peach leaves until tomatoes are soft and juice runs free. Strain or sieve, return pulp to pot. Add vinegar, sugar, bag of spices, salt to tomato mixture. Cook until volume is reduced by 1/2. Add cornstarch, cayenne, and turmeric. Cook until thick.
Bottle and seal with wax.(Dede's Note: this is no longer an acceptable method to preserve – BWB 15 minutes!)
May need additional cornstarch to thicken.
Can add some hot peppers to cooking mixture to make a spicier catsup.
Approximate yield: 16 half pints
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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4:12 pm
August 1, 2009
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Pete
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Now I sure wish I remembered where I read it, but it was about a week ago – a caution when processing peaches to make sure that there are NO PEACH LEAVES that get into the peaches because they are poisonous! Absolutely nothing other than that, so it could just be in combination with the peaches themselves. Will take another look around to either confirm or disprove that idea.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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4:19 pm
August 1, 2009
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WV_Hills
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http://tinyurl.com/kloymt
North Carolina State University – in a list of poisonous plants found in NC -
Peaches: Poisonous Part includes wilted leaves, twigs (stems), seeds.
I'd leave the peach leaves out of the catsup. I'm curious how peach leaves ever came to be a part of a catsup recipe. What function would they perform?
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4:30 pm
August 1, 2009
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Pete
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And on page 4, MN Poison Control lists the peach plant as being mildly toxic, so able to be around children, but they recommend seeking medical help if children or animals ingest parts of any of the plants on that list.
http://www.mnpoison.org/mnpois…..eJan04.pdf
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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4:52 pm
August 1, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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| posts 3017 | |
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I don't know why it calls for peach leaves, but that's what was used. She passed when I was 16 and I wasn't canning anything but pickles at that age, so never had a chance to ask. When I asked my Dad he didn't know either, but remembered being the "leaf-getter" more than once. I have wondered if bay leaves (fewer though) might work. I believe the recipe came from HER mother, but have no way to confirm that. I have had to do some hunting to find peach leaves for this at times :)
Dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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8:48 pm
August 1, 2009
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WV_Hills
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wvhomecanner said:
I don't know why it calls for peach leaves, but that's what was used. She passed when I was 16 and I wasn't canning anything but pickles at that age, so never had a chance to ask. When I asked my Dad he didn't know either, but remembered being the “leaf-getter” more than once. I have wondered if bay leaves (fewer though) might work. I believe the recipe came from HER mother, but have no way to confirm that. I have had to do some hunting to find peach leaves for this at times 
Dede
Have you ever tried making it without the peach leaves to see what the difference would be? Texture? Taste? I can't imagine what it could add. I really could see if she were adding bay leaves — they look a teeny bit like peach leaves. Maybe that's what she meant to add. Bay leaves in a tomato based sauce (ketchup) would probably be very good. Ask your dad if he ever actually saw any peaches on those trees. 
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9:38 pm
August 1, 2009
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beeyourself
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I'd think you'd have to eat a lot of peach leaves for it to kill you.
I love the old recipes…tried and true for generations.
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10:31 pm
August 1, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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\\Have you ever tried making it without the peach leaves to see what the difference would be? Texture? Taste? I can't imagine what it could add. I really could see if she were adding bay leaves — they look a teeny bit like peach leaves. Maybe that's what she meant to add. Bay leaves in a tomato based sauce (ketchup) would probably be very good. Ask your dad if he ever actually saw any peaches on those trees. 
Can't, he's been gone since '94. Went young at 61. And I am sure he knew peach trees. And that was definitely what the recipe called for. I have her handwritten copy.
No, I have always made it the way it was written, because I love the taste and it tickles my "memory buds". Would not affect the texture – the leaves are discarded in the food strainer step, so the leaves are not consumed. I went hunting today after reading the posts here. Found many things made with peach leaves. Cordials, etc. I think we're safe.
Dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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10:33 pm
August 1, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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beeyourself said:
I'd think you'd have to eat a lot of peach leaves for it to kill you.
I love the old recipes…tried and true for generations.
Old recipes are great. Usually only need an update on the processing method/time.
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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11:13 pm
August 1, 2009
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Pete
| | WV | |
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It also looks like there are some "alternative" compounds out there using peach leaves for all sort of medicinal purposes! Evident'y there are all sorts of uses for it besides flavoring catsup.
Maybe the leaves of plants are also filled with pectin? If the peels and pits are, why not the leaves??
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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8:24 am
August 2, 2009
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CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
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wvhomecanner said:
\\Have you ever tried making it without the peach leaves to see what the difference would be? Texture? Taste? I can't imagine what it could add. I really could see if she were adding bay leaves — they look a teeny bit like peach leaves. Maybe that's what she meant to add. Bay leaves in a tomato based sauce (ketchup) would probably be very good. Ask your dad if he ever actually saw any peaches on those trees.
Can't, he's been gone since '94. Went young at 61. And I am sure he knew peach trees. And that was definitely what the recipe called for. I have her handwritten copy.
No, I have always made it the way it was written, because I love the taste and it tickles my “memory buds”. Would not affect the texture – the leaves are discarded in the food strainer step, so the leaves are not consumed. I went hunting today after reading the posts here. Found many things made with peach leaves. Cordials, etc. I think we're safe.
Dede
Peach Leaves
Who knew that peach leaves could be edible? Well maybe not edible, but useful in flavoring what you are about to eat. Someone, at some point found out that peach leaves impart a beautiful almond and floral flavor to whatever they might be steeped in. You can pick a few brand new tender peach leave to steep in milk for about five minutes and use that milk to make ice cream or a peach leaf custard.
Taken from: http://asonomagarden.wordpress…..could-eat/
So the flavoring must be what your grandma was after……and I think bay leaves would give it a much different tast.
After doing alot of searching, it sounds like you much ingest an enormous amounts, for this to have an adverse effect on you.
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“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold
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9:08 am
August 2, 2009
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Pete
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Maybe this is another of those "official" proclamation things where someone errs on the side of caution to set policy? Evidently there is some level of toxicity for at least some people. But that is true of many things we ingest regularly. (I have a friend who is gluten intolerant, but I'm not going to quit eating bread because of it!) 
Back to the original post – thanks for sharing it, and especially the story about the little wine bottles. That is precious. And brings back memories of the canning done in my childhood. That visual picture is just lovely.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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9:12 am
August 2, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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| posts 3017 | |
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Oh, Thanks! for the research – interesting and now makes more sense to me than before 
And that custard sounds really good, as did the cordials, etc. I found.
I think these maters sitting in my kitchen are gonna become catsup!
Dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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12:24 pm
August 3, 2009
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JeannieB
| | Columbia, South Carolina | |
| Superstar | posts 1453 | |
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I don't know anything about the leaves, but when I put up peaches, I boil the skins and seeds to extract juice for jelly, as Mama and Auntie always did. I make sure no stems are in the mix, they have a bitter taste. I had never heard they were toxic.
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