sweet summertime
I hate that phone commercial that has the ad w/facebook with the girl who can't sing singing. So annoying.
Anyway!
One of the things I've become interested in, but not so much that I've actually put into practice is...canning and freezing! Oh WOW I'm so old. Actually, my grandmother has a whole back wall of stuff canned (um, probably a lot of it should be thrown out) and I keep meaning to learn the art from her. Maybe one week before summer is over I can make a special trip down to the compound to learn how to can stuff. (and sew!)
The main reason we don't can right now is that I don't have the space for it, hopefully when we move I can start canning stuff that is in season to use the rest of the year. I have, however, ventured into strawberry jam for the freezer, and although I don't think it thickened quite as much as it should have, we have already eaten 3 (small) jars of it with the other 2 given away to family. Then, this past week, we picked a gallon of blueberries..blueberries are a fruit that I do enjoy in baked goods and mixed with some plain yogurt, but not something I tend to eat by itself. So I froze 12 cups of blueberries (most recipes call for 2 cups, so I froze them in 2 cup portions) and I used the rest for blueberry muffins. I'd like to go pick some more before the season is over, as well as blackberries and possibly raspberries, and I'd like to use that batch of blueberries to freeze more baked goods and make blueberry jam.
We're really trying to shift what goes into our mouth to local, in season foods. Don't get me wrong-we still eat a lot of boxed foods (mostly because they are cheaper, and because let's just say my husband is a picky eater) but with our membership in our co-op and doing things like going berry picking and purchasing produce at the grocery store that I know is in season, I feel like we are feasting this summer!
Anyway!
One of the things I've become interested in, but not so much that I've actually put into practice is...canning and freezing! Oh WOW I'm so old. Actually, my grandmother has a whole back wall of stuff canned (um, probably a lot of it should be thrown out) and I keep meaning to learn the art from her. Maybe one week before summer is over I can make a special trip down to the compound to learn how to can stuff. (and sew!)
The main reason we don't can right now is that I don't have the space for it, hopefully when we move I can start canning stuff that is in season to use the rest of the year. I have, however, ventured into strawberry jam for the freezer, and although I don't think it thickened quite as much as it should have, we have already eaten 3 (small) jars of it with the other 2 given away to family. Then, this past week, we picked a gallon of blueberries..blueberries are a fruit that I do enjoy in baked goods and mixed with some plain yogurt, but not something I tend to eat by itself. So I froze 12 cups of blueberries (most recipes call for 2 cups, so I froze them in 2 cup portions) and I used the rest for blueberry muffins. I'd like to go pick some more before the season is over, as well as blackberries and possibly raspberries, and I'd like to use that batch of blueberries to freeze more baked goods and make blueberry jam.
We're really trying to shift what goes into our mouth to local, in season foods. Don't get me wrong-we still eat a lot of boxed foods (mostly because they are cheaper, and because let's just say my husband is a picky eater) but with our membership in our co-op and doing things like going berry picking and purchasing produce at the grocery store that I know is in season, I feel like we are feasting this summer!