Posted on 09/09/2023 5:09:42 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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So impressed with everyone’s preserving activities. (And gardening, too.) I hope next year to have better luck with our garden...I do have a bunch of tomatoes (caged, so critters could not eat them)...think I will make salsa and freeze dry. You all inspire me!
Even hubby liked it, the king of tomato bacon sandwiches. We had done on scrambled eggs.
I like to clean peppers completely, chop small, saute just a minute or so in olive oil, and put in Ziplocs and freeze. I make sure they are all coated and any air is squeezed out. After freezing you can take out as much as you want.
My hauling water days are long gone. We have a well and water by hand.
I freeze mine too, except that I slice mine into rings and then lay them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet or pan to freeze. I use rings more than anything else, but if I need diced, it’s easier on my hands to dice frozen slices.
I’m having a bumper year of hot peppers. I cannot explain it. The plants are huge, covered with fruit, and still flowering.
I have so many jalapenos this year that I’ll be able to freeze AND can.
Yay - got my propane tank at Tractor Supply. It was on sale, $10 off, which paid for 2/3 of the propane fill up.
Stopped at Aldi’s and got some things I needed (garlic, sugar, red/orange/yellow peppers), etc.
I am doing the tomato relish first since the tomatoes can spoil. The jalapeno peppers are in vinegar & the figs & blackberries are frozen.
There is a green tomato chutney recipe I would love to make, but I don’t think I will have enough green tomatoes if I make 2 batches of the relish, which is what will be best for gifting (it’s no-sugar & several of the relatives try not to eat sugar as do I). The chutney only makes 3 pints - I love curries and chutney goes great with curry or on ham, etc. but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Let the chopping begin ...... :-)
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Green Tomato Relish Recipe (Can or Freeze)
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/recipe-no-sugar-green-tomato-relish-can-freeze/
From the link:
We use homemade green tomato relish on all kinds of meals, not just burgers (or beans). It’s great as a salsa style dip with veggie chips, as a topping for most meats (especially pork), and as an extra addition to vegetable dishes. It even tastes good with eggs!
No Sugar Relish
It might be hard to believe that a relish recipe with no sugar tastes so good, but I wasn’t going to sacrifice quality or add refined sugar to this recipe. Thankfully there’s no compromises here; the apple and bell peppers add sweetness without no sugar for a delicious relish that our whole family loves.
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Green Tomato Chutney
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/green_tomato_chutney/
From link:
This green tomato chutney is one way to make excellent use of end of season tomatoes! You can store it in the fridge, or can it for later. Here are just a few delicious ideas for using this chutney:
Serve alongside baked chicken or pork chops
Use it as a relish for hot dogs
Serve as a lovely side for crab cakes
Top a cracker with the relish and a little cream cheese for an appetizer
We have a well
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You are also blessed to have a good well. My well is so-so. I can run the water table down below the submersible if I pump for more than an hour so I’m very judicious on water when it comes to the well. It recovers quite fast but I grew up in Western aired lands where the farm well was viewed as one of the most important life-sustaining assets. In draughts, the water table will also go down so if it goes below the pump you are in trouble. I just wish it would start raining and that is why I hope one of the hurricanes will come along and break the drought’s grip.
I like to clean peppers completely, chop small, saute just a minute or so in olive oil, and put in Ziplocs and freeze. I make sure they are all coated and any air is squeezed out. After freezing you can take out as much as you want.
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Peppers have produced well for me in my dry weather. I’m going to follow your suggestion on freezing. A trick I saw on a YouTube video was where a lady closed the zip lock up just to the point where she had inserted a plastic straw at the end of the closure. She then sucked the air out using the straw, quickly pulled the straw out, and finished sealing the zip lock. She could actually shrink the plastic bag around the food with this trick.
I can vouch for the fact that shark-fin squash keep very well as-is. I still have some from my 2020 harvest, just sitting in a storage bin in the basement.
I just came across some canned beets and pickles that are at least 3 years old (long story). What should I do?
Home canned, or grocery-store canned in aluminum cans?
If home canned, if there is no visible mold that you can see and they’re still sealed properly - open one up and taste. If it tastes fine, and smells like it should then it should be fine to eat.
If it’s grocery-store bought/canned, if there are no bulges in the can or on the lids, those too should be fine.
If you’re nervous about it, open everything up and add it to your compost pile.
Thats a nice tip on the straw. I use a foodsaver vacuum sealer for most veggies, but for peppers and basil which are covered with oil, it is easy to get the air out of the bag. There is also no chance of freezer burn with a coating of olive oil.
We had 90 degrees yestday and the day before in Baltimore, then HAILSTONES against the windows last evening. Now it's not raining, but there has been rolling thunder on and off and near darkness at 4:00 pm.
As they say, “if you don't like the weather in Baltimore, wait fifteen minutes.” (It'll be doing something else.)
Mom & I got an invite this morning for a birthday cookout for a great-niece at one of the family farms. The day before is the first day of Fall (yay!) so I hope the humidity will be gone. The backyard has beautiful big shade trees - wonderful place to share a meal & talk.
What to bring? I have been cutting the flowers off my sweet basil so I should still have some by then for a favorite recipe: Ina Garten’s Fresh Corn Salad. It is super easy & can be served room temperature or cold, perfect as a ‘take along’ dish.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fresh-corn-salad-recipe-1914351
If you don’t have fresh corn, frozen corn (cooked & cooled) works just fine.
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Big line of T-storms dumped .6 inches of rain this afternoon. No outdoor canning, but the chopping is done: 8 lbs of green tomatoes, 4 lbs of onions, 3 lbs of red bell peppers & 24 garlic cloves. I will chop the 2 lbs of apples while the pot of everything else heats up - don’t want them turning.
I picked every green tomato in the garden & if I use green cherry tomatoes, I can get up to the 2.5 lbs I need for the chutney recipe.
You’re on a roll!
I got two apple pies made and baked and into the freezer. I tried juicing some apples in my steamer/juicer but the apples I used (Haralson & Liberty) are too soft an apple, so they all went to mush.
The mule is happy that my experiment failed! :)
Rain for us tomorrow.
Nice veggies!
Ina Garten’s recipes are always winners!
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