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| the pantry is filling up~ tucked away unseen are several jars of salsa and curried zucchini pickles, along with this year's maple syrup and the remaining couple gallons of last year's honey |
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| easy and yummy: fermented carrots |
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| I saved the wild Maine blueberries to make a special, extra happy batch of jam |
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| another batch of dilly beans and some pickled beets |
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| jersey fresh tomatoes from our dear farmer friend ~ enough to make a double batch of salsa, a big caprese salad, and a half dozen jars of tomato sauce (our own tomatoes have done poorly this year but are hanging in there and we're picking a bit each day) |
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| salsa in the making |
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| okra from the farm I've worked at this summer~ our own was planted a bit late and is just now getting ready to fruit |
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| also, tomatoes and sunflowers. not a bad compensation for a bit of summer work |
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| more tomatoes from the farm :: several quarts of whole tomatoes, many many dried tomatoes, another batch of salsa, and coming soon several pints of roasted whole tomatoes |
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| more dilly beans and pickled okra |
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| homemade bhindi masala :: all produce (minus the ginger) from our backyard and the farm! |
our kitchen has been a busy place these days. a hot, sticky, sweaty, busy place. recently Mike put a small fan in there, on top of the fridge, and that makes a world of difference in keeping the kitchen feeling inhabitable during processing and canning. why it took several years of late summer canning for us to think of that, I do not know. I just know I'm glad we (he) finally did!
the pantry is filling up more than ever with different jams and pickled beans, okra and zucchini, salsa, sauce, tomatoes, honey and maple syrup. there are several bags each of kale and blueberries in the freezer. when we got back home from vacation I was worried our beans had had it, but after some coaxing and tending (and bean beetle annihilation) they have come back for an encore, and the bush beans are just getting going. and so, it looks like we will have plenty of dilly beans after all. my farm gig this summer has proven to be quite handy and I'm bringing home loads of tomatoes and okra (and flowers!) whenever I'm out there. our own tomatoes (though they do seem to be coming back a bit now) have done quite poorly this year, so we've been very thankful to still be able to put away so many tomatoes in so many ways. new this year to us are dried tomatoes and whole roasted, canned tomatoes. next on the list is the peppers. we'll make big batches of our roasted jalapeño and serrano hot sauce, and this year we'll pickle a bunch of peppers as well, inspired by Lisa and Steve. as for cucumbers, we're not big fans of processed cucumber pickles, fancying the crunchy refrigerator pickles instead, so most of our cukes went to refrigerator pickle land and jars of those are currently taking up quite a bit of room in the fridge. we've got a new crop of cucumbers on their way (they're finger sized right now) and maybe we'll process some of those as bread and butter pickles or something like that. if you've got a (not too too sweet) recipe you love for those, please do share. I'm also planning to grab a basket of peaches at the market this Saturday, because I need to get some more of Ashley's amazing peach-lavender butter on these pantry shelves- YUM!
I'd love to hear about some of your own favorite food preservation methods, recipes, etc. anyone using their dehydrator in interesting ways? I've only used mine for a few fruits and tomatoes, but would love to hear other ideas.
Your pantry looks good, so much goodness. We have been putting food by like crazy...dilly beans, dilly snow peas, gingery pickled beets, jams of all kinds on the pantry shelves. In the basement sauerkraut, lacto fermented pickles, and lacto ferments beans. And in the freezer blueberries, strawberries ,raspberries, peaches, beans, corn, kale, pesto, roasted tomatoes, and zucchini. We have also dehydrated kale and beet greens to add to soups, stews and smoothies this winter. The tomatoes are just starting to roll in here, so much more to be put by with those, and I will pick up a half bushel of peaches on the weekend to can and make jam with. I think I have to give that peach lavender jam a try :)
ReplyDeleteHopefully more greens added to the freezer and dehydrated over the next few weeks as well.
Happy preserving!
I've only fermented carrots so far (well, aside from sauerkraut and kimchi) but may give beans a try. I'd love to hear about your recipe for the gingery beets- that sounds delicious! oh pesto- I forgot about pesto. I still need to pop all of mine out of the ice cube trays because several times I've gone to reach for ice for my iced coffee and it's pesto I'm grabbing at! (that, I think, would NOT be a winning combination). how do you store your dehydrated greens? I am picturing them like kale chips....
Deletethat peach lavender jam is soooooo good! when I make it I use Pomona's pectin and cut the sugar in half or even more.
happy late summer days to you, Kim!
Nice work! I have not done much preserving this year - some pickles (we like ours sweet), lots of jam (mulberry, blueberry, blackberry, and combinations). I really need to can some peaches, as we all love canned peaches for dessert all winter. I do much more preserving in September when the apples come in and I make many many quarts of applesauce (and cider). I am planning to dehydrate apple rings too this year. I will also freeze some greens once it gets a bit cooler, since that is what I crave all winter. I've done nothing with tomatoes this year because we've eaten fresh nearly all of what we've grown. And, I don't really feel like canning them this year (or making sauce etc).
ReplyDeleteyou know, I loved canned peaches too but have never made any myself! if I get that basket of peaches I'll have to make some- yumyumyum. I LOVE dehydrating apples- though they never last very long around here. I'd love to chat apples with you.... both of our usual apple picking options aren't looking so hot this year- I'd love to get in on some of the Sugar Hollow area apples if there are lots to be had.
Deletealso- I picked up some Mountain Meadows soap this weekend at the market and I LOVE it. also couldn't resist the Bali one. such goodness.
Glad you liked the soaps! We have some apples this year, but not a lot. I'm going to check our other orchard today to see what is there - it is mostly Romes and Staymens, slightly later maturing apples. I'll let you know.
DeleteSo much goodness! I want to come oggle at your kitchen. Okra I am swimming in okra right now. I just made bhindi masala the other night and it was so yummy. I like to roast mine and pickle it as well. I actually made mine into fridge pickles. My beans are doing terribly this year. I think i will rip them out and start fresh in September when it's cooler. All the blossoms are dropping due to the excessive heat.
ReplyDeleteoh to be swimming in okra! hopefully our own will start fruiting soon and keep going for a bit- I suppose it all depends on whether or not it stays warm enough for them. next time I bring some home from the farm I intend to make a giant batch of bhindi masala, I love it so much!
Deletegood luck with your september round of plantings!
Now that is an impressive pantry, looks and sounds amazing. My garden has not been as good as in previous years and not as much put away as yet. I would love to know how you do your carrots.
ReplyDeletethank you! every year there are surprises in the garden, aren't there? good and not so good ones....
Deletehere's a link to the simple recipe I follow for fermenting the carrots (I've yet to try other veggies)
http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/how-to-ferment-vegetables/
Oh my! You've been busy! Is that "annie's salsa" recipe? Thats just what it looks like when I make it too. I'm not allowed to can until I finish what jars we still have - though most of it is jam. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteIt's Heather Bruggeman's recipe~ yum! sounds like you have one you like, but if you're interested you can search for it on her blog, Beauty that Moves.
Deletewell now one cannot live on jam alone...... and who is making these silly canning rules anyway? ;)
well, you've been a busy little bee :) it all sounds amazing! i have a bunch of peaches on my hands right now... have been freezing them... but that peach lavender butter sounds AMAZING!! i have never had okra, but my grandmother is from the south and i remember her talking about it when i was young. we have a massive plum crop this year, and i really need some creative ways to use them. i was thinking about looking for a plum butter (?) recipe, and i thought i could dehydrate some.
ReplyDeleteI'm also planning to infuse some whiskey with peaches...... got the idea from Meryl over at My Bit of Earth. yum. what a tasty fall treat THAT will be!
Deleteyum, plums! I hear people around here talking about plum jam, but I've never made it. prunes are yummy, too!
have fun!