Thursday, July 22, 2010

your questions

There were several questions from the last
post, so I thought I would answer them here
in case anyone else was wondering the same.

How do I freeze my broccoli?
After removing any leaves and woody stalk,
I soak the broccoli heads in a salt/water
brine {1 cup salt to 1 gallon water} for
about a half hour.  This gets rid of any
insects or those unpleasant little green
worms.  I then rinse the broccoli, and
cut the heads into smaller pieces.
I put them into a pot of boiling water
and scald for about 3 - 4 minutes,
then immediately immerse the broccoli in
some ice water to cool.  It's now ready
to drain and pack into your freezer containers.
This year, I laid all the broccoli pieces out in
a single layer on baking sheets which I placed in
the freezer.  As soon as the broccoi was frozen, I placed
it all in a very large freezer bag--later it
will be easy to just take out as much as I need.
I have also used my vacuum sealer in the past, and
that does do a better job preventing freezer
burn--I just didn't have the special bags on hand
this time.
Can you tell me how you freeze grated zucchini?
After washing the zucchinis {I leave the skin on}
and cutting off the ends, I grate it using
my food processor.  Then I just put it in a freezer
container or bag and freeze--super easy.
This year, I vacuum sealed mine in glass pint
canning jars.  I really like the idea of using
glass versus plastic, the jars were cheap from a
yard sale & are resusable, and the vacuum seal,
as I mentioned, will help prevent freezer burn.
Is it possible for you to share your recipe for
the refrigerator pickles?
I found the recipe here last year.  This year I
did alter it--I omitted the pickling spice {as
I wanted more of a plain dill} and I tried
cutting the sugar amount in half {they were
too sweet for us}.

Do you just know how to freeze the zucchini and blueberries or do you recommend a source of info?
I couldn't do it without my Ball Blue Book!
I'm sure there are many resources online for
home canning and freezing, but I have used
this book forever, and I love having it handy
year after year to look up whatever I need.

Yesterday, I picked blackberries and blueberries.
My next 'preserving project' is to pull out
the dehydrator and dry some blueberries.
I tried it last year for the first time
and loved them--I'll be back with more on
that later...
{Picked the first tomato yesterday!}

12 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your post today - thanks!

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  2. Thanks for all the info!

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  3. I have a recipe for refrigerator pickles that came from a Country Living magazine. I posted the recipe on my blog if anyone is interested. It has become a family favorite. http://orcharddrivewest.blogspot.com/2010/06/refrigerator-pickles.html

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  4. Many thanks for the answered questions, I will be prepared for my bucket loads of broccoli in a few weeks....I did stagger my planting this year though, so that may help a little....
    thanks again, Suzanne....Australia

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  5. My husband is the grower and canner in our home, and I will certainly give him your blog address to read...thank you for sharing the information concerning freezing the brocolli, I have always made a mess of it!

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  6. Thanks for all the tips, now here's a new one, have you ever used a pressure canner?

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  7. Enjoyed the info about the broccoli.Never thought of freezing it.This year we dried blueberries and strawberries. I put them in my granola along with dried banana chips (also a first time)pretty darn tasty.Your tomato looks great.

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  8. Thank you so much!! You answered my questions and I really appreciate it. Our Farmer's Market is tomorrow and I'll be getting corn for sure. I'm in Indiana and it is really delicious right now. I'm going to get zuchini and freeze it. Also broccoli if it's still growing. They pick the day before or the morning of the market and the food has so much more vitality -- even than organic food. I'd love to have it all year round. Thanks, again for the great info.

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  9. I have not been blueberry picking yet this year! I need to go and do that! Thank you for your kind comment! Have a great night!

    Mama Hen

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  10. Deb, I just found your site and LOVE IT! Although I'm new at blogging, I'll be back!!

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  11. Thanks for the info! I just might make some refrigerator pickles this weekend!

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  12. I dried blueberries for the first time this yr and Im not sure I like them. Some came out hard, some were ok, some were perfect. So Ill be looking to see how you do it.

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Thank you for taking time to leave a comment--I love reading each and every one! I will try to answer any questions you have in the comment section. Due to the amount of spam, I am sadly no longer able to accept Anonymous comments....Kindly, Deb

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