Making Applesauce

A friend gave me some apples from her trees, so I decided to make applesauce.  It took awhile to get them all peeled and sliced to fill up my big stockpot. 

 Here is a pic as they are cooking down...

Here is the applesauce when it was finished.  I added some cinnamon and some organic sugar to taste because the apples were a little on the tart side.

I usually can my applesauce, but I decided to freeze this batch because I didn't have a huge amount.  I plan on getting more apples later to make more sauce and pies for my freezer.  I'll be glad when all my apple trees kick it in gear and start giving me some apples!

The same friend also gave me a few peaches from her tree and they were so good.  They were little white peaches with great flavor.  The kids couldn't stop eating them, but I did manage to get another double batch of peach jam made.  Yay!

I love preserving food for the rest of the year.  I hope to someday have a root cellar and pantry stocked full with our garden's bounty.

Onions Galore!

This years onion harvest was great.  We have a TON of onions...what to do with them all...

 Clean them up and store them for winter.

 Onions braided and hanging in the kitchen.

Onions waiting to be used in everyday cooking.  I have been chopping some up to freeze, we've pickled a few, and have given away some too.  I think maybe next year I'll be planting less of these.  A girl can only use so many onions!

Random Food Photos

August is busy here as we have started back to school, plus we are canning and preserving all we can from the garden.  We have been making pickles and pickled onions (as we have a TON of onions this year).  Today we are working on pickle relish.  Tomorrow it will be peach preserves and frozen peach slices for pies and smoothies!   

 Here is a picture of Bread and Butter Pickles (they look yellow because the cucs are a yellow variety).  Also, red onions in red wine vinegar. 

 Rosemary harvested from the garden.  I washed it, made sure it was dry, then put it in a freezer bag and put it in the freezer.  This tastes more like fresh than dried.

 Another batch of green beans are starting to produce.  Love succession planting! 

 A cantalope from the garden.  This is the biggest we have been able to grow, and it came out of the Square Foot Garden.  It was soooo good.  Way better than anything from the store!

A view of the inside.  I'm going to try saving the seeds from it this year to plant next spring.  Should be interesting...I'll keep you posted.

Tomatoes and Corn!

The garden is cranking out tomatoes and corn right now, and we have been working on preserving all that we can. 

 Fabulous, fresh tomatoes out of the garden, waiting to be made into salsa.

 Salsa out of the canner...it turned out spicy this time, with some of our jalapenos added.  We like it though.

 Also, canning plain tomatoes for chili and stew this winter.  The orange and red tomatoes look so pretty together in the jars.

 We have been blanching corn on the cob.

 Let it cool on cookie sheets or clean kitchen towels.

Cut off the cob and put into quart freezer bags.  I have done 42 bags and am offically done with corn!  It was a lot of work, but I am happy to know that we don't have to buy corn for the rest of the year!  This should be enough to last til next summer's harvest. 

Fresh Food From The Garden

This has been a good week in the garden!  Our tomatoes are FINALLY starting to ripen.  This was the harvest from yesterday.  Some were promptly made into fresh salsa that was divine.  I could eat it everyday!

  We also harvested some cucumbers (both green and yellow) and some onions and made a fresh cucumber salad.  So fresh and crisp tasting!

Today I went out to get some heads of cabbage and more onions.  We made a slaw with cabbage (mostly green with a little red), carrots, and sweet onions.  Then we made a vinegar and oil type dressing for it and froze it for a fresh taste of summer later this winter.  I've never tried freezing it before, but the More With Less Cookbook says you can with good results, so we are trying it.

We learned a new tip today from my MIL and it works so slick...I love it!  When you want to make coleslaw, cut up your cabbage into chunks and throw in your blender.  Cover with water, put that lid on tight and chop for a few seconds.  Drain all in a colander then mix with dressing.  SO much better than grating with my box grater or by hand with a knife.  We also did this with the onions and carrots and in worked like a charm.  Highly recommended!

 Here's the cabbage in the blender

Here is all the cabbage, carrot, and onion chopped and mixed together.

Summer is the best eating all year!  Now, if that sweet corn would just hurry up!

Putting Up The Harvest (Plus a Pesto Recipe)

Today I've been working in the kitchen, putting some summertime up for the winter.  First thing this morning I went out to harvest basil.  It tastes best to harvest herbs in the morning when it's cooler, the flavors in the oils are best before the heat of the day hits...although we are having a heatwave and I think it was 80 degrees already when I went out...better than 100, though!   

I made a fabulous Basil Pesto that I then froze to use later.  Gotta use up all that fresh basil while the gettin's good.  I used little jelly jars to freeze it in.  I'll use these for pizza or pasta this winter, for a fresh taste of summer!  You can also freeze in ice cube trays if you need smaller amounts.  Just pop them out and put in a ziploc when they are completely froze.

 Basil Pesto with Sunflower Seeds

2 1/2 cups basil,washed and dried
5 cloves garlic
1/2 c parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (unsalted, but roasted)
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt (use less if seeds are salted)

In a blender or food processor, mix garlic, sunflower seeds, and parmesan cheese.  Add basil leaves and chop them up.  Slowly add olive oil until well combined.  Add salt and blend.  If you want to freeze, add a little oil on surface of pesto...helps to keep it fresher longer.  You can also mix your types of basil.  I'm going to use regular and lemon basil together in my next batch.

I also blanched a big batch of green beans to freeze.  I boiled them for 3 minutes, then rinsed them in cold water to cool them down.  Then all you do is bag them up in quart ziplocs and stick them in the freezer.  I ended up with almost 5 quarts.  I will hopefully be putting up more of these later.  I'm also waiting for my sweet corn to be ready to blanch and freeze a bunch of that as well. 

I had to throw a picture in of my sunflowers I picked this morning.  They are starting to bloom and look great.  I am happy with this variety from Johnny's Seeds...so pretty!