Saving Berries for Good

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Jan 27th 2009 @ 4:01PM

Last summer, I socked away a gallon-sized zip top bag full of handpicked blackberries in my freezer's ice bin (that side of the kitchen isn't plumbed, so we can't hook up the ice maker). Those berries have been there since August, a visual reminder that it was once summer and that warm weather really does exist.

Just about every summer, I manage to squirrel away at least one bag of fruit for winter use, be it peaches, blueberries or blackberries. However, every year, I waste an awful lot of mental energy trying to find the exact right time to actually use my frozen bounty. I finally broke down this weekend, using my berries to make a big, bubbly cobbler with a biscuit-y topping.

I'm curious, does anyone else struggle with using the foodstuffs they've frozen or preserved?

Filed Under: Real Kitchens
Tags: blackberry cobbler, BlackberryCobbler, preserving, real kitchens, summer fruit, SummerFruit

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-27-2009 @5:12PM Liz said... I often store ripe bananas that would otherwise go to waste in my freezer in the hopes of using them later in banana pancakes, muffins, bread, or anything else I can think of. Unfortunately, I can never find just the right recipe, as I like to try new things in the kitchen. Besides, who knows how long it'll be before I have enough frozen bananas again, so I feel I better use them for something memorable.
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1-27-2009 @6:07PM octovus said... Very much with blackberries. I wait until the dead of winter when I'm really craving it. Other things, you can buy in decent amounts year round in gigantic supermarkets, though the taste is of course not the same as local. And this year, I don't have any frozen blackberries - I moved in September, making it impossible to keep the whole summer's worth of freezer items...had to pick and choose :-(
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1-28-2009 @9:38AM David Millar said... I mainly struggle because there are so many things I want to try making, and so little spread so thin. For instance, I actually won't be able to buy groceries for another month because I'm so broke right now. I'd love nothing more than a handful of even the worst, back of the freezer, century old, bargain store frozen berries just to make a cobbler of my own.
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1-28-2009 @12:22PM Russ said... Any fruit a bit past its prime goes into my freezer, to later become smoothies. Blend frozen banana with any combination of frozen berries or stone fruits, plus juice and vanilla ice cream (optional) and you've got dessert with all your fruit servings for the day.
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2-06-2009 @3:08PM ghanima said... I've squirreled away a freezer bag full of Ontario strawberries for each of the previous two consecutive winters, and have ended up using them about mid-spring in unforgivably mundane foods (like strawberry-rhubarb pies for my father or a cobbler). After that, I resolved to eat as many fresh as I can and create jam with the rest. Now, I have 11 jars of jam to use up!
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