What can you do with a vat of cider vinegar?

Bottle it up and give it as Christmas gifts along with a few recipes tied with ribbon. I have a great fall red cabbage recipe with cider vinegar and bleu cheese if you want it. Also include a classic vinaigrette.

It’s great for your hair and skin. Putting a tablespoon or two in water and sipping on that is also very healthy.

Take a nice cider vinegar bath? I hear they’re lovely.

You can add raspberries to it and let the flavor meld for a bit. Next put it in glass bottles decorated with ribbon and give them out as gifts for Christmas.

Or do any of the 44 things listed here

@Facade How is it good for your skin? Do you splash it in the tub?

@oratio Adding it to your drinks helps remove toxins in your skin. I also use it as a toner (shake it up, put it on a cotton ball, and swipe it across clean skin). Make sure to avoid your eyes.

Also, this site has a number of recipes that use cider vinegar:

“Cider vinegar adds a mildly tangy fruitiness to chili and apple cider vinegar pork, cider roasted vegetables, bacon jam, vegan blueberry muffins, easy pickled carrots, and Moroccan-style chicken and lentils.”

I like to add a touch of raspberry vinegar to my apple pies. I would imagine a good-tasting cider vinegar would be nice, also.

And then there is a huge list of recipes that use vinegar as an ingredient here

And per Wikipedia:

* Vinegar pot pie – is a North American dessert made with a vinegar to one’s taste. (there is a recipe at http://www.heritagerecipes.com/pie-recipes/vinegar-pie.htm )

* Pickling – any vinegar can be used to pickle foods.

* Substitute for fresh lemon juice – cider vinegar can usually be substituted for fresh lemon juice in recipes and obtain a pleasing effect although it lacks the vitamin C.

* Saucing roast lamb – pouring cider vinegar over the meat when roasting lamb, especially when combined with honey or when sliced onions have been added to the roasting pan, produces a sauce.

* Sweetened vinegar is used in the dish of Pork Knuckles and Ginger Stew which is made among Chinese people of Cantonese backgrounds to celebrate the arrival of a new child.

* Flavoring – used in the Southern U.S. to flavor collard greens, green beans, or cabbage to taste.”

We like to put a good-tasting vinegar on spinach.

Bacon Jam? Oh, my! I had no idea…

”Bacon jam tastes like the love child of pulled pork and pate!”

I use a lot of cider vinegar and would love getting some as gift. I make the dressing for broccoli salad all the time, and the dressing is mayonnaise, sugar and cider vinegar. You could also make up batches of various meat marinades that use cider vinegar and give that as gifts to all your foodie friends.

@Darwin, Bacon Jam…oh my! Adding ingredients to the list for this week!

Bacon Jam? My, my, I need to get out more…

Today’s list
1. Pay bills Find Bacon Jam
2. Shop for friend’s birthday gift Eat bacon jam
3. Go to bed Eat more bacon jam

@peedub Have you been looking at my revised To Do list for the week after reading about Bacon Jam, a culinary delight I somehow have missed so far in life.

@Darwin Yum, have you made it?

Make pickles! I go through tons of cider vinegar in the fall, making pickled onions, marinated mushrooms, and my grandma’s fabulous bread and butter pickles. I’d be happy to pass on the recipes if you’re interested! Pickles are also an excellent gift, so even if you don’t eat a lot of them yourself, you can make a bunch and give them to your friends and family!

oh yum, @sdeutsch. I haven’t made marinated mushrooms in years. Thanks for reminding me!

Okay, found my recipes. Here we go:

Grandma’s Bread & Butter Pickles & Onions

4 quarts sliced, unpeeled medium cucumbers
6 medium white onions, sliced (6 cups)
3 cloves garlic, peeled
⅓ c. pickling salt
5 c. sugar
3 c. cider vinegar
1½ tsp. turmeric
1½ tsp. celery seed
2 tbsp. mustard seed

Combine all veggies with salt in large pot. Cover with cracked ice, mix thoroughly, and let stand 3 hours. Drain well, and remove garlic. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot canning jars (pints or quarts) to ½ inch from top. Cap, and process 5 minutes in boiling water. Makes 8 pints or 4 quarts. If you don’t want to deal with the whole canning process, you can make smaller batches and just keep them in the fridge – they’ll keep for months without canning, as long as they’re cold!

Marinated Mushrooms

1 lb. small white mushrooms
¾ c. water
¾ c. cider vinegar
½ tbsp. pickling spice
2½ tbsp. olive oil
¼ tsp. dried basil
¼ tsp. dried oregano
pinch of thyme
1 clove garlic, slivered
salt and pepper to taste

Put mushrooms in large pot with water and vinegar. Add pickling spices in a cheesecloth bag or tea ball. Cover pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and leave pot covered for 1–2 hours. Drain mushrooms, pat dry with paper towels, and toss with remaining ingredients. Set aside for several hours before serving. This makes about one quart jar full, and they’ll keep in the fridge for months as well – but they’re so good, they probably won’t last that long!

@Marina I admit to peeking. I particularly liked #4 on the list, ‘Send Peedub shoebox-sized container of special bacon jam’

@sdeutsch – yum! Thank you! :)

@Marina – My days of making pig-fat laden goodies are long over, but I have made something like it back when I was young and immortal.

Now, however, I eat chicken breast cooked with olive oil and simply dream of bacon jam.

@Darwin I hear that. Wouldn’t bacon Jam be good on a nice chicken breast, though?

Sigh… yes, it would. Forbidden fruit…

Another thoughtful response is to contact a farmer who breeds cattle. Cider vinegar was well known to the early settlers in America, especially in Vermont where it was used for its many healing properties and promoting good health in humans and animals. It has been scientifically proven that to add apple cider vinegar to cattle feed every day actually increases the production of milk. The cider makes cattle more contented and happy!

Bottle it and sell it a a product of the New Jersey wine industry.