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 Putting Away for Winter: Freezing Foods
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Carrie W
Farmgirl Legend/Chapter Guru

437 Posts


Saratoga Springs New York
USA
437 Posts

Posted - Jul 17 2021 :  1:21:06 PM  Show Profile
I don’t freeze as much produce these days as I did when my 5 children were home and I had a huge chest freezer in the basement, but I still like to see the bags of goodies in my freezer so I do still put some things in there for later. Berries are the very easiest because they only require washing thoroughly. I have had very good luck with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and wild blackberries. I have also frozen apple pie filling by simply peeling and slicing apples then covering them with the pre-blended dry ingredients (sugar, flour or cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon). The trick here is to really distribute the dry ingredients all over the apple slices before freezing, pour the apples into a Ziplock bag (enough for one pie, only) and then get as much air out of the bag as possible. I really prefer to can pie filling, but this is a quick and easy method if you have a basket of apples that need to be preserved. The thawed filling can be poured into a crust, covered and baked as usual, but in less time as the apples will have softened some. I have also frozen carrots, green beans, peas, summer and zucchini squash. These veggies must be blanched before freezing, and the timing is crucial. Not enough blanching means tough veggies later, and too much blanching means soggy veggies. The absolute easiest way to freeze zucchini is to cut it and remove the seed portion, then grate or chop the raw flesh. This can be frozen in bags with enough in each bag to satisfy the desired recipe, like zucchini bread, etc. For space saving, lay each firmly sealed bag on its side and flatten it out. Then stack the bags on top of each other in an area of the freezer where you can get to them easily.
Finally, did you know you can freeze eggs?? I had hens and we always ended up with more eggs than we could eat or give away, so I learned that they could be frozen for recipes by cracking them into a bowl and giving them a quick whisk. Then, you can measure the egg into ice cube trays so that each “cube” would be the equivalent of one egg. Once frozen, they can be popped out of the tray and put in a freezer bag for easy access later. The cubes will need to be allowed to thaw so plan ahead for your recipes. I also froze eggs in clean yogurt cups. I then marked on the lid the number of eggs in each cup so that I could pull them out later and add to recipes that required multiple eggs, like large batches of waffles or for a quiche.


Farmgirl Sisterhood #147
2009 Farmgirl of the Year

Not your average Girl ;-)

Tis better to weep at joy than to joy at weeping--Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Carrie W
Farmgirl Legend/Chapter Guru

437 Posts


Saratoga Springs New York
USA
437 Posts

Posted - Jul 17 2021 :  1:22:31 PM  Show Profile
Putting Away for Winter: Canning
I love to can foods! Everything from jellies to pie filling to soups…I think it is the most satisfying part of growing my own food when I can see the gleaming jars of goodies in my pantry!
Unfortunately, I no longer have a pressure canner but I still make jams and can use hot water bath method to preserve fruits and higher acid foods. I still have my mom’s old Ball Canning Book which is my total go-to for canning.




I have used these methods for canning carrots, tomatoes, beef stew, green beans, apple pie filling, squash and spaghetti sauce. I have also made cucumber pickles and dilly beans but for some reason I have not had a batch that turned out as good as my mother’s used to. I have always enjoyed gifting my homemade goodies, especially jam, to my family, friends, and neighbors along with some homemade bread or biscuits!






Farmgirl Sisterhood #147
2009 Farmgirl of the Year

Not your average Girl ;-)

Tis better to weep at joy than to joy at weeping--Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Edited by - Carrie W on Jul 17 2021 1:24:58 PM
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MaryJanesNiece
True Blue Farmgirl

6625 Posts

Krista
Utah
USA
6625 Posts

Posted - Jul 19 2021 :  1:13:39 PM  Show Profile
Carrie, you have been super busy! I have only frozen zucchini before and mine definitely turned out soggy! Lol. But I ended up using them in some stir fry so it worked out. They still tasted good! I will have to ask my neighbor if she knows about freezing eggs. She says she gets so many, so this may help. I am hoping to do some canning tomorrow with my mom. I am out of jam that she made for me so we are planning to make some more.

Krista
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl

6488 Posts

Winnie
Gainesville Fl
USA
6488 Posts

Posted - Jul 21 2021 :  09:54:13 AM  Show Profile
Carrie, you canning efforts look beautiful and you sure will be enjoying these foods when the long cold winter arrives. I agree with you that the jars look so beautiful lined up on the shelves. Your other preserving methods sound interesting and I have never done anything like this either. Maybe you can give us a report on how pleased you are with a quick note here when you try them this winter. I am curious to know what your take in on these various methods.

Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015
FGOTM- October 2018
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