What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)

[Shelby]

Had to do something about the squash.  It was overtaking the kitchen.  Gave some to friends and the in laws.  Well...I should say we left it hanging on their mailboxes in bags.  Who knows if they want it or not 🤣.  Then I got the dehydrator out and I'm drying some to vac pack and use over the winter.  Today I'll make a batch of spag. sauce.   I always think I'm making headway until I pick the garden and come in the house with more than I used up the day before lol.

 

[TicTac]

@Shelby - with your glut, you should try for some zucchini chips!  Bet they would be good....

 

I did your (or Jaymes's) squash recipe the other night, kids dubbed it 'healthy mac n cheese'!

 

 

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, TicTac said:

@Shelby - with your glut, you should try for some zucchini chips!  Bet they would be good....

 

I did your (or Jaymes's) squash recipe the other night, kids dubbed it 'healthy mac n cheese'!

 

 

I'm so glad they liked it!!  I've made it at least 3 times this summer.  

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

dont you have a compost heap ?

[Darienne]

31 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I'm so glad they liked it!!  I've made it at least 3 times this summer.  

Could you please point me to Jaymes squash recipe?  Tried to look it up and got nothing useful.  Thanks, Shelby.

[Shelby]

28 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Could you please point me to Jaymes squash recipe?  Tried to look it up and got nothing useful.  Thanks, Shelby.

Sure  

[lemniscate]

8 hours ago, Shelby said:

Sure  

 

I made this today after reading the older post.  Thank you @Jaymes and @Shelby for the catalyst to run out and get some squash and cook this wonderful dish.  It went well with chicken thighs and legs sauteed in ghee and pasta salad.  It is a keeper for sure.

[Shelby]

19 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

 

I made this today after reading the older post.  Thank you @Jaymes and @Shelby for the catalyst to run out and get some squash and cook this wonderful dish.  It went well with chicken thighs and legs sauteed in ghee and pasta salad.  It is a keeper for sure.

I am super devastated that you had to buy squash lol.  I'd gladly give you 20 or 30.  But so glad you liked it!  I've done it with all different types of cheese (not blue cheese) and have loved it every time.

[lemniscate]

6 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I am super devastated that you had to buy squash lol.  I'd gladly give you 20 or 30.  But so glad you liked it!  I've done it with all different types of cheese (not blue cheese) and have loved it every time.

But remember, I have the same situation with lemons every year, prolific tree.  

[Shelby]

6 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

But remember, I have the same situation with lemons every year, prolific tree.  

Ohhhh yeah!  Sigh I paid 69 cents a lemon last time.  I use quite a bit of citrus with cooking and Ronnie likes limes and or lemons in his water and evening cocktail.

[shain]

Cauliflower torshi.

 

 

[TicTac]

More info @shain!  Looks great.  Love pickled veg.

 

I made Jaymes's squash recipe after @Shelby helped me out.  Took her advice and omitted the sugar (would have most likely done that anyways, fresh veg is sweet enough!) - really nice dish.  I can see truffles making their way into it on a special occasion!

 

 

[shain]

3 hours ago, TicTac said:

More info @shain!  Looks great.  Love pickled veg.

 

 

Simple vinegar pickles of lightly cooked vegetables with various spices - chili, garlic, lemon slices, cumin, anise, turmeric, paprika, etc.

[TicTac]

18 hours ago, shain said:

 

Simple vinegar pickles of lightly cooked vegetables with various spices - chili, garlic, lemon slices, cumin, anise, turmeric, paprika, etc.

 

Pickles are an art form, nothing simple there! 😛

 

What ratio do you use of vinegar to water?  Any sugar?  I love middle eastern pickles, the spices are far more interesting than the typical 'dill pickle' we see in NA!

 

 

[shain]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

 

Pickles are an art form, nothing simple there! 😛

 

What ratio do you use of vinegar to water?  Any sugar?  I love middle eastern pickles, the spices are far more interesting than the typical 'dill pickle' we see in NA!

 

 

 

2:3 ratio of vinegar to water. Just a little sugar. 

Garlic, lemon slices, dried chili, cumin seeds, a smaller amount of turmeric, paprika, allspice, sumac and just a hint of cinnamon.

I had extra liquid, so I also made a small jar of kohlrabi and fresh chilies.

[kayb]

Canned two pints of tomatoes, one pint of tomato juice, and six half-pints of roasted garlic-basil-tomato sauce, and that catches me up with my glut of tomatoes. Also added a couple pints of green beans to take care of an overload I picked up at the farmers' market. I think the rest of the Romas, which continue produce much more prolifically than any of my other tomatoes, will go into attempts at paste. I've never tried it, but looking at recipes, it seems simple enough.

 

All in one canner together. I've learned when I have a small batch of something that would normally be pressure canned, like green beans, I can add a tsp of lemon juice to each jar. Rinse them off when you open them, and you never know it was there.

 

[Shelby]

I've been using my pressure canner a lot.  In fact, I've gotten along with it so well, I'm thinking of doing the tomatoes in there....(always have had problems with siphoning with tomatoes for some reason).  Did a lot of online research on pressure canning yellow squash.  Learned that until 1988 the Ball Canning guide (water bath) included a recipe for squash.  Found a lot of blogs etc. of folks pressure canning squash with no problems so I thought what the hell.  Seemed to hold it's structure nicely.  I'll use it in squash casseroles this winter (if it doesn't kill us lol).

 

[Shelby]

More corn broth in the freezer

 

 

[rotuts]

are those air rocked in the Vac'd bags ?

 

do you ever ' concentrate '  the stock / broth by using it again

 

rather than water , for the next batch ?   then it becomes 2 x  , etc

 

and no need to ' boot down '     that saves space in the freezer , and you take out what you need

 

Fz , and reseal that same bag for the next Dose.

[Shelby]

36 minutes ago, rotuts said:

are those air rocked in the Vac'd bags

Yes   What did I ever do without the Vacmaster?????

 

No I've never concentrated it....should try that next year.

[heidih]

4 minutes ago, Shelby said:

No I've never concentrated it....should try that next year.

 

My issue with concentrating it, as with vegetable stocks in general, is the loss of "brightness. 

[heidih]

On 7/18/2020 at 6:33 AM, Shelby said:

Had to do something about the squash.  It was overtaking the kitchen.  Gave some to friends and the in laws.  Well...I should say we left it hanging on their mailboxes in bags.  Who knows if they want it or not 🤣.  Then I got the dehydrator out and I'm drying some to vac pack and use over the winter.  Today I'll make a batch of spag. sauce.   I always think I'm making headway until I pick the garden and come in the house with more than I used up the day before lol.

 

 

I knew this reminded me of a member's image of drying eggplant and peppers. Hot in Kansas right? (scroll down to the image)  https://forums.egullet.org/topic/96590-eg-foodblog-sazji-istanbul-glutfests/?do=findComment&comment=1324652

 

[kayb]

Well, my kitchen looks like a crime scene -- it's tomato-canning time! I bought two boxes of "canning tomatoes" at the farmers' market yesterday; 10 bucks a box, mix of varieties, some little, some huge, some split, some with bad spots in them. Blanched and peeled them, diced them roughly and let them drain in a colander a bit, and I've got two dutch ovens full simmering away, plus about a half-gallon of tomato juice. This may call for a Bloody Mary tonight.

 

I'm guessing I'll have 12 pints or so. Photos to come, once I get the crime scene cleaned up and the 'maters in jars.

[Smithy]

7 minutes ago, kayb said:

...once I get the crime scene cleaned up and the 'maters in jars.

 

Oh c'mon now. You know most of us would also love the crime scene photos! 

[kayb]

My Jimmy Buffett t-shirt may never be the same.

 

13 pints of tomatoes, two quarts and a pint of tomato juice, and enough juice left over to make a good-sized Bloody Mary with.

 

Second canner-full is still going. Here's the first:

 

 

(The big Mason jars in the background along the left wall serve as canisters.)

 

 

Arms aren't long enough to do justice to the spattered shirt without cutting off my head, and that just felt weird. The rest of the crime scene is cleaned up, except for the sink-full of pots, colanders and strainers.