"preserving" news and stories

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?

Goodbye summer -- today is the first day of fall. The warm air is is being pushed out by harsher, cold winds, and fresh produce is starting to become a little harder to come by.

As wonderful as it would be to freeze our veggies and fruit in time and eat them at our leisure, the best we have is freezing and canning. Freezing isn't the most ideal option, so that leaves canning -- the way to store and preserve vegetables and fruits for those long, dark, and cold winter nights. The above video is part of a series that details the basics of home canning -- all you need to rush out to your local produce stand or farm and buy up the last tasty bushels of summer to preserve for the months ahead.

It's a really simple process, and once you do it, you'll wonder why you haven't before.

• Leslie Cole admits to a multi-year ambition to can summer produce for winter. This year she's giving up the canning plan for more accessible freezing.
  
• Once of the nice things about canning is that it gives you the opportunity to make things that aren't readily accessible at the store. Try Seckel or Forelle Pears Poached With Madeira and Bay Leaves, Italian Cherry Mostarda and Spicy Green Tomato Jam.
• Chefs and home cooks are swooning over agave nectar. it also makes an excellent sweetener for jam. Here's the recipe for the Agave Berry Jam.
  
• When it comes to canning, make sure that you use the proper safety methods. If you don't, the results could be deadly.
• As you prep your berries for freezing, think about sweetening some so that they're ready to go for pies and sauces.
• Preserve those leafy greens and fresh herbs by turning them into pastes and pestos.

Last weekend, my friend Angie handed me two plastic bags that were bursting with fresh herbs from her garden. This Saturday, after lunch at my cousin Amy's, she led me outside with scissors and a bag and asked that I "please take all the basil you can carry!" I am currently awash in an embarrassment of fresh herbs.

Last night, as I was rearranging the fridge to make room for the remains of the chicken I had roasted for dinner, I came across these multiple bags of herbs, seemingly undiminished despite active use and thought to myself that I better find a way to preserve them soon or I was going to have to add them to the composter (I now have a indoor composter in my living room, more on that later).

As I was reading through my feed reader this afternoon, I came across this tip on The Kitchn and realized that it was the answer to my herbal abundance. Emma recommends chopping herbs and then freezing them into cubes in an ice tray. Each well gets half filled chopped herbs and then is topped off with stock, wine or water. When they're frozen, she pops them out of the tray and stores them in a plastic zippered bag for future use. Much like how people are always recommending freezing stock into ice cube trays, only with more of verdant kick. I'm looking forward to saving some of the thyme Angie gave me for the fall.

Source

When I talked to my mom yesterday, she had just finished picking the last of the tomatoes off the plants in the backyard. The weather in Portland has made the seasonal shift from Summer to Fall (unlike here in Philly where it is still gorgeous and warm, with only a hint of autumnal crispness) and so it was time to get any remaining produce out of the garden and transformed into states that store well. She made a huge batch of tomato sauce which got frozen in quart sized ziploc bags.

However, she's still got mountains of tomatoes and is in the market for some additional ways to use them. I think that there might be others of you who are in the same predicament. If so, you could turn some of your bounty into a batch of tomato paste like they did over at the Apartment Farm. If you don't have a food mill, don't let that stop you from making this recipe. You can use a fine mesh sieve and a rubber spatula instead. Another option comes from Nicole at Farm to Philly, who transformed the sea of red covering her outdoor table into two pints of homemade catsup. I'm especially tempted by this recipe, as I hate the fact that most ketchup includes a (not so) healthy does of corn syrup.