Canned pineapple, saving the juice

Around the holidays, I find canned pineapple on sale at several stores in my area. I try to pick up a few cans at this time. On Black Friday, my girls and I made a stop at the local drug store, where we found 20-oz cans for 99 cents. I may find a better price,  as we get closer to Christmas. At the very least, I should be able to find about this same price, perhaps with a limit. So, I can get more, if I want. Knowing this, on Friday, I limited my purchase to 10 cans.

As I open each can, I strain off the liquid, and save this in a glass jar in the fridge, to use later. Canned pineapple juice can be used in sweet and sour dishes, as part of a teriyaki marinade for meat, or, my favorite, as a beverage. I make orange-pineapple juice, combining the salvaged pineapple liquid with orange juice. I get a kick out of the knowledge that my family thinks this is one of those "festive" treats that I provide for Christmas and New Year's morning. When what I'm really doing is salvaging something that others might just throw away.

Pineapple juice can be stored in the refrigerator in a glass jar for up to 7 days. If I don't think we'll use it within 7 days, then I freeze it. Stored in the freezer, canned pineapple juice will be at it's best for drinking, if used within about 2 months, but I've used it in marinades 6 to 9 months after putting it into the freezer, with no issues other than some frost in the container.

Nothing wasted!

Making sweetened, condensed milk

I was making a half-batch of 7-layer Dream Bars, on Saturday afternoon. One of the ingredients is sweetened, condensed milk. I have never bought that stuff. It just seems oddly expensive for what it is, a cup and a half of milk, cooked with a little sugar, with some butter added. In the store, this concoction sells for $1.50 to $2.00. I just can't bring myself to spend that much for about 50 cents of ingredients. (Your costs may differ from mine.)

When I've needed this product for baking recipes, I've always made my own. There are two common methods for making sweetened condensed milk. One uses powdered milk, and the other (which I make) uses liquid milk. Neither method is complicated. The powdered milk method takes minutes to make. The liquid milk method takes a little over an hour of intermittent attention.

Among the merits of making your own sweetened, condensed milk is the ability to make this with any type of milk, including soy or almond, and just the amount that a recipe may need.

7-layer Dream Bars are yummy, but rich and not super cheap, so I usually just make a half-batch. In addition, making my own SCM, for a half-batch bars, is super handy. Buying a can would give me twice as much as I need.

I wanted to pass on this recipe during the holiday baking season. So, here it is.

Homemade sweetened, condensed milk

1  1/2 cup of whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together milk and sugar. Bring to a simmer over MED. Reduce heat to low and very gently simmer for about 1 to 1  1/2 hours, or until it has reduced by half. Stir every 5-10 minutes, to prevent scorching.

After 1 hour, begin measuring, every 10 minutes. Pour the milk/sugar into the measuring cup that was used to measure the milk at the beginning of this recipe. When the concoction has reduced to just over 1 cup, stir in the butter and vanilla.

If the milk and sugar are over-reduced by measurement, add water to the correct level. The final amount should be about 1  1/4 cups of liquid.

Allow to cool before using in recipes.

That's it. Nothing special. Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks.