Kathy's Kitchen Product Review

Last night I was surprised with a large box, with twelve bottles of jars inside. Unpacking, there we're various products from a company named "Kathy's Kitchen". The company comes out of Virginia, IL, and are all homemade and hand packed into mason jars. To start let me give you a little back history on the company "Kathy's Kitchen".

Kathy's Kitchen is owned and managed by Daryl and Kathy Keylor in Virginia, IL. The tradition of enjoying fresh produce from the greenhouse and the gatherings of nature evolved from a enjoyable hobby to passion and eventually to the company. Old family and friendly recipes form the basis for the taste of "just like Grandmas" in every jar they make. Even down to the cute jar labels!

Kathy's ambition was to compete and enter her homemade preserved products, and in doing so, won dozens of ribbons and medals at the Illinois State Fair. The first blue ribbon was accomplished in the early 1960s using an old family recipe for pickled beets. The same recipe has won several times and is now used to create the ever famous Beet Pickles in Kathy 's Kitchen.

Artificial flavorings and preservatives, thickeners, extenders or syrups are not used in any of Kathy's recipes. Only real pure sugar is used, for the sweetness in her products. This gives all of Kathy's preserved products honest to good real flavors and taste!  Do you remember the last time you purchased a pickle where you could really see the spices? At Kathy's Kitchen, you get to see what you're eating, right through the jar, and real spices is what you will see.

With so many various products sent over, I split the preserved products between my daughter and my self, and a cook off event was born. My daughter was first up, and here was the delicious meals she made for the day for her family, with Kathy's Kitchen preserved products.

For breakfast she made her family her spin on Huevos rancheros , and incorporated the homemade Chow Chow, Kathy's Kitchen sent over. If you don't know what Chow Chow is, it is part slaw, part pickled relish. It can be a condiment, or a side dish. It can be paired with many foods, especially in Spanish dishes. Kathy's ingredients for her Chow Chow include: shredded fresh cabbage, thinly sliced fresh green tomatoes, green and red bell peppers and onions preserved in vinegar, sweetened with pure sugar and flavored with lots of spices. All natural, fresh ingredients! The dish was a big hit, and before my daughter used the Chow Chow, as with all the jars I gave her, she tasted it out of the jar first. She stated it paired perfectly for her spin on her breakfast recipe of Huevos rancheros. It was a little tangy, a little spicy, crunchy and all out delightful flavor.

For lunch, my daughter kept the Spanish theme going. She used the mildly hot salsa, with toasted chips, and also made Cuban stuffed chicken using the dill stackers inside with the other stuffing ingredients.

As for the mildly hot salsa from Kathy's Kitchen, the ingredients again we're all natural and fresh. The salsa is a medium heat, just right so that the teen's even enjoyed it. The heat in the mildly hot salsa came from jalapenos. This would be great as a dip, but can also be used as a topping for meat or fish. My daughter's kids we're totally blown away with the salsa, even thinking my daughter made it herself. However, she was honest, and told them about the products sent over by Kathy's Kitchen.

As for the Cuban stuffed chicken, my daughter used the dill stackers. This recipe is compared to a Cuban sandwich only using flatten chicken breast, stuffed, rolled and baked. The size of these pickles are huge, almost the size of the mason jar lid. So if your looking for a pickle to top your burger with, these will do it. The flavor was pure dill, all the way. Kathy creates these pickles in a delicate dill brine, using deli type cukes. The pickles are very flavorful and worked very well with the Cuban stuffed chicken. The size really let you get a dill pickle in every bite.

My daughter said, she might as well keep the Spanish theme going for dinner as well, and a fiesta she made for sure. As a starter she made a black bean salsa using Kathy's Kitchen pineapple salsa as a added ingredient. Then for the main course she made pulled pork with the zesty peach salsa, a bean salad with the asparagus poppers tossed in. And also as a side made a potato casserole with the Vidalia onion relish.

The pineapple salsa mixed with the rest of the ingredients for the black bean salsa was so yummy. The pineapple salsa from Kathy's Kitchen has crushed pineapple, diced tomatoes, onions, and a touch of jalapenos. It's a slightly sweet and spicy salsa, and you get a hint of garlic in the blend as well, so the recipe did not need to much added to it.

For the pulled pork, my daughter cooked this in her crock-pot, and incorporated the zesty peach salsa from Kathy's Kitchen right at the end. She was blown away at how much flavor the zesty peach salsa added to the shredded pork. The zesty peach salsa has a slight touch of habanera peppers, but however it did not have enough that your tongue was on fire. My daughter said it was a hit with everyone in her family. Kathy's Kitchen zesty peach salsa would make a great topping for a baked fish as well. The recipe ideas with these products so far are endless. Right through the jar, the ingredients invite you in.

For a side dish my daughter made a bean salad and tossed in the asparagus poppers. Kathy use's asparagus that comes from her own garden to make this product. Each asparagus is about 1 inch, so it was great to add to the salad. It's made again with all natural ingredients such as white vinegar, pure sugar, and a touch of garlic, with whole spices, all of which you can see. You can eat it right out of the jar as well, or just use it as a stand alone side dish. However you choice, it is fantastic. The asparagus is still slightly crunchy, did not get over soft from being in a liquid. Also you can use these asparagus poppers as a snack.

Also as a side dish, my daughter made a potato casserole using the Vidalia onion relish. Now on their own Vidalia onions are know to be sweet, but mixed with the cheese, and other ingredients of the casserole, it was a match made in heaven. The Vidalia's Kathy's Kitchen use's come from Georgia, right to her kitchen. Then Kathy's Kitchen combines them with vinegar, pure sugar, whole spices and a little touch of red bell peppers. For Kathy's Kitchen, this is one of her number one award winning products. And when you taste it you will see why. This relish is very versatile and can be used for so many recipes. Anything you are making that calls for onions, this Vidalia onion relish would be a great substitute.

Well!, while my daughter was busy at her home, using these wonderful gems from Kathy's Kitchen. I was home making my own meals for the day.

For my families breakfast I made muffin sandwiches with cheese, eggs and sausage. To use as a condiment for the breakfast sandwiches I used Kathy's Kitchen jalapeno relish. To start this preserve product Kathy's Kitchen use's fresh jalapenos that have the stems removed, and are diced, and placed into the jar with vinegar, pure sugar, and whole spices. The relish has a sweet and hot taste to it, but because there are seeds, it can be a little hot on the palate later after biting into it. But over all it went great with the sandwich, and I could see using it in many dip recipes as well.

For my dinner, I made a appetizer with chips and Kathy's Kitchen cherry salsa along with some homemade guacamole. I have had many salsa's but never a cherry one. And Kathy's Kitchen makes hers with what else, real cherries. The salsa is a beautiful color, and has the taste of the cherries in every bite. And with the salt from the chips, it was a great match. Sweet and salty. There is a touch of almond that is used in the salsa but I think most of the flavor comes from the cherries.

For the main dish I made two chicken dishes. One baked chicken with the garlic salsa as a glaze, and some wings with the "wow" sriracha chili salsa.

For the baked chicken right before it was done I used the garlic salsa and nothing else for the chicken glaze. There is enough ingredients in the jar that you really don't need much else. There is garlic, and traditional salsa in the jar so you really have everything you need for a recipe. Also this garlic salsa would go great as a dip.

My kids wanted some wings, so I also made a small batch for them, using the "wow" sriracha chilisauce, they can handle it! The heat from the sriracha is nothing to overpowering, its hot but tolerable. After the wings we're done I coated them with Kathy's Kitchen "wow" sriracha chili sauce, and that's it. I must admit, I was very delighted how they turned out. The color, the taste, PERFECT! You got tangy and sweet, with a kick, out of every bite.

As a side dish I made rice and black beans and as the dressing used Kathy's Kitchen jalapeno mustard. To make this Kathy's Kitchen takes ground yellow mustard seeds and combines them with vinegar, and other ground spices, with lots of diced fresh jalapenos. The mustard is very hot, but using it lightly I was able to coat my rice and bean side dish so that it was not overpowering with uneatable heat. The jalapeno mustard really decorated my dish with great flavor. I can see using this as a glaze for ham, or even a dipping sauce. Also it makes a great condiment for burgers or hot dogs.

What ever product you buy from Kathy's Kitchen, you will be getting preserved fresh ingredients in every jar. We loved them all, and I know you will to!

For more information, visitKathy's Kitchen, and grab some of her wonderful creations, your taste buds will thank you.

www.kathyskitchenstore.com

Disclaimer: Momzdailyscoops has personally reviewed the product listed above. Momzdailyscoops has not received any monetary compensation for her review. Momzdailyscoops did receive a free product to try out so Momzdailyscoops could evaluate and use it for her review. Momzdailyscoops thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.