Two weeks ago, I spent the day canning, drying, and freezing summer goodness. I made Norma's rose petal jam (only two jars left; I gave away the rest and got raves about it), dried Roma tomatoes ever so slowly then froze them (faux sun-dried tomatoes! Yum!), and spent hours chopping veggies by hand for this relish. The relish has all been given away or consumed, but I have been gathering produce to make more.
Last summer, I didn't have a kitchen and missed out on putting up food for winter. This summer I've been freezing a lot of goodies (blueberries, cherries, strawb jam, tomatoes), and I'm hoping to go crazy with canning tomatoes. Oh, yeah, I bought 5 lbs. of peaches so I could make this delicious sounding (and looking) recipe. I think next year we might buy a chest freezer, in part so Neal can buy locally raised meat in bulk, but in part so I can freeze even more veggies. I fantasize all the time about living like Barbara Kingsolver did. I'm a long way away from realizing that fantasy, but it sure is fun to strive. Anyway, is there anything better than summer tomatoes in February?
Are you doing any preserving? I'd love to hear about what you're stocking your shelves and freezers with!
I haven’t done any preserving yet but I do usually make grape jelly when my FIL’s concord grapes ripen.
Wow. This relish looks amazing. Did you see my pickle recipe? It is also really great and fast (in case you have cucumbers growing out your ears).
Blog-by reading…
I grew a garden this year – my first ever! I’ve pickled cherry tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes and made a killer salsa. I’ve also pickled and canned green beans from the local farmers market. AND I’ve got a couple dozen tomatoes in the fridge waiting to be turned into stewed tomatoes with onion/garlic/green peppers. Yum!