pickling

  

 A recent rainy day presented the perfect opportunity to finally do some pickling. I’m growing Boston Pickling cukes this year, just for this reason, and they have been producing pretty well. I’ve been stalling on this project for a while. Being my first official foray into canning of any sort, I admit I felt a tiny bit intimidated. The worst that could happen though, is I would lose a few pounds of cucumbers. So!

 

 I followed the garlic dill pickles recipe from Marisa McClellan’s site, Food In Jars. This is a quick pickle (she recommends letting them sit 2-4 days before eating), so you won’t have to wait for weeks to try them. The only modification I made was I added 1/2 tsp coriander seed to each jar. I also followed her guide for salt substitution, and used the sea salt I had on hand in place of pickling salt.

 These were pretty simple to put together, just as I was assured they would be. The hardest part was just waiting for the water to boil to sterilize my jars, and then again for the water bath.  I realized halfway through sterilization, that I shouldn’t be using the canning pot on a glass cook top (indicated on the pot, and in part, because the base of the pot is not flat), so we moved outside onto a propane camp stove for the water bath. The water bath process can be skipped if one wants to keep their pickles in the fridge, but I’d rather have the fridge space.

 I waited about 36 hours to pop open the first jar. And yes, this is a great pickle! Classic dill pickle flavor, with quite a kick of heat. If you like it spicy, I think Marisa hit it just right (I think my 1/4 teaspoons were overflowing a little). If spicy is not so much your thing, you may want to tone it down on the chili flakes. I noticed that as soon as I finished making these, I felt excited about sharing them. I especially can’t wait to give some to my pickle loving sister.

I can see how people get really into canning. It’s a fun process, and the results are so satisfying. I am already looking forward to more. Next up? Maybe some tomato jam.

dehydrated kale smoothies

well friends, still not much in the way of spring updates here in minneapolis. currently we are being barraged with more and more snow...but i'll stop with the depressing weather reports already! in fact, i did discover some perennials trying their hardest to peek out from under the bits of remaining snow and their thick winter blanket of leaf mulch. so far i've spotted some borage, french sorrel, garlic chives, tulips, and just the teeniest bit of rhubarb showing their defiance against this cruel joke of a spring we're having.

but onward, right? this is essentially a post that i never got around to writing and sharing here last summer, so i'm revisiting it now. i'm talking about dehydrated kale. while natalie's post of her first harvest of greens left my mouth watering, i know i'm months away from that bounty here (i haven't even started my kale seeds yet! for shame!) so i'm savoring my dehydrated kale from last season.

maybe some of you, even those kale enthusiasts out there (of which i'm sure there are many) are thinking dehydrated kale? i thought the same thing until last summer when i was drowning in my abundant kale harvest and was looking for some other ways to preserve it all in addition to the standard blanching and freezing that i've always done. i was chatting with the master gardeners at my local farmers market (a wonderful resource that i'd highly recommend seeking out for any and all gardening questions if you have them in your area) and one of them suggested dehydrating. i could easily rehydrate later to put in soups, stews, smoothies and more. which is exactly what i've been doing all winter long.

first, a few tips on dehydrating kale.

• cut out the stems since they hold much more moisture than the leaves and it will not dehydrate evenly if you try to do it all together (you can compost the stems, or i used them in vegetable juices!).
• once you've removed the stems, chop the leaves into small pieces, but don't worry about the pieces being too big; you can crumble them into smaller flakes once they're dehydrated.
• i used a dehydrator (set at 125 degrees for about 9 hours) but you could also use your oven on a very low temp if you don't have one (sorry, i don't have experience dehydrating in an oven, but i'm sure you can find tips on this on the internet)
• once the leaves are fully dehydrated, crumble them into whatever size flakes you want (you could even grind them into a powder!) and store in a glass jar or other container until you're ready to use them.

and now...for the delicious smoothie! you could pretty much just add a handful of these flakes to whatever your favorite smoothie recipe is (you can really barely taste the kale so don't worry about messing with the flavor), but here's what i did. one other quick note: we don't buy a lot of juice in our house, so i usually just use whatever i have on hand. in this case, it was a mixed berry, but really orange, apple, or even mango would be delicious too!

banana blueberry kale smoothie
makes two 1.5 cup smoothies

1 ripe banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen peaches
1/4 cup dehydrated kale flakes
1 cup mixed berry juice
1/2 cup oat milk (or whatever nondairy/dairy milk you have on hand. plain yogurt would work too)

put all ingredients in a blender and go to town! enjoy your smoothie and dream of summer.

ps: i HATE plastic and would normally not be using these straws, but someone gifted us a big bag of them, so we work our way through them slowly. once they're gone, i'd really like to get a couple of these.

preserving cherry tomatoes

i have been fortunate to find myself overrun with cherry tomatoes this year. i planted three varieties: sungold, matt's wild, and yellow pear. i also received one peacevine plant from our csa farm. between multiple plants of each of those varieties, we've had quite the bounty this year and no matter how delicious these babies are to just pop in our mouths each trip through the kitchen, we couldn't keep up.

not wanting to let them go the way of the composter, i decided to slow roast and freeze them last week. you can also freeze cherry (or full-sized) tomatoes whole and raw, but i decided to go the slow roasting route. i just halved them and spread them on a baking sheet. i drizzled the tomatoes with olive oil, salt, thyme, and oregano (you can use any seasonings you like). i cooked them at 300 degrees for 2 hours. once cooked, they cooled pretty quickly and i packed them into jars. i didn't measure how many i had to begin with, but i ended up with 3 half-pint jars for the freezer. i know these will come in handy to throw in soups, stews, lasagnas, sauces, or more over the winter. keep in mind, you can do the same with full sized tomatoes.

i got this idea from this post from food in jars. marisa has some other great ideas there for preserving small tomatoes.

how have you been preserving your harvest these days?

drying herbs

 

since we seem to be on a bit of an herb theme here, i thought i'd share a few thoughts about drying herbs. when summer is high and the herbs are exploding, i can never keep up. so i dry them, for the colder months when i'm dreaming of fresh herbs on everything from scrambled eggs to salad dressings to cool ice water.

 

before you dry your herbs, be sure to rinse them or brush them off to remove any dirt or tiny critters. i dry my herbs in two main ways. the first is in hanging bunches. this works for things that get tall, like lemon balm, peppermint, and oregano (which is what is pictured here). i tie them up with twine and tape them to the door frame. hooks also work well. just make sure there is enough air flowing around them so that they can dry completely.

 

for smaller herbs, rose petals, lavender, chamomile, red clover (pictured here), i use an old window screen on my dining room table. ideally, i should probably prop this up on something to increase air circulation, but it still works.

once everything is dry, i crumble up the big leaves and store everything in jars for later use. i shared my favorite herbal tea recipe here a few years ago (it's still my standby, and is delicious iced as well). i also use my dried herbs to make infused oils, my favorite shampoo, bath soaks, and obviously for cooking as well. what are your favorite herbs to dry?

home preserving workshop

this week i am preparing for a home preserving & canning workshop that i will teach this saturday in northwest arkansas. ozark folkways is an incredible little place that focuses on most skills forgotten in this age of consumerism & quick fixes. i cannot wait to get all of the students together for a morning of preserving apple butter.

the photo above shows my kitchen table in its current state- little scribbles of to do lists & ideas for the big day. i finally perfected my recipe & i am looking forward to sharing it. i hope to make the kitchen a cozy little space for working, jamming & canning. the students will take home a jar of their own jam & a bag filled with supplies for decorating their jars for the holidays. (i wish you all, each & everyone of you, could be there).

i also plan to pass out a packet of information on my favorite blogs, books & publications.

here are just a few sources i dig:
- putting by
- put 'em up!
- canning for a new generation
- the latest issue of natural home & garden

i must ask- please do share any tips, blogs, books, publications that you find helpful in preserving & canning. i'd love to add them to my growing list of resources! thank you!

weekend plans

our fall schedule is a busy one.

it has been days since i have had time to take a picture in the garden.
and today it was pouring buckets which didn't allow for much of a photo post today.

i did however manage to clean and de-clutter the pantry this week
to make room for some canned goods in the works such as applesauce and tomatoes.

i found an old crock at the thrift today and we plan on making some sauerkraut
this weekend from the cabbage that we have begun to get in our CSA share.

a pot of farm beets and carrots have been chopped up to make borscht.

and loads of swiss chard is waiting to be frozen.

speaking of canning and preserving have you seen this great site?

what are your garden/pantry/kitchen plans for the weekend?

Freezing

 

According to the calendar, today is the last day of summer. Sigh. And today I finished the last of our garden strawberries that we had frozen from early in the season. Sigh again. They were so good. We used them mostly in smoothies and today I blended strawberries with some of our frozen peaches, a bit of vanilla greek yogurt, frozen banana, a dash of milk, about three ice cubes, and a splash of lemon juice for jazziness. Yum.

I think freezing is so easy. Last year we had a surplus of tomatoes and decided to freeze them for use in spaghetti sauce, chili, etc. If you've never tried freezing, simply wash the whole fruit well and remove any mushy spots. Then lay them out to dry on a towel. Once dry, spread the fruit onto a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. When they are frozen through, you can store them in containers or gallon zip top bags. We didn't even bother to remove the skins prior to freezing. I find it just as easy to remove the skins when I am ready to cook with them. All you have to do is dunk the whole frozen tomatoes into hot water for about a minute then off slide the skins.

Do you freeze some of your garden produce?

speaking of pickles

after amy's post about pickled peppers on friday, i've been thinking i'd share with you some of my favorite pickle recipes.  let me just start by saying that i love pickles.  seriously love.  give me a jar of sour pickles and i'm set.  in my few years of making pickles, i've mostly stuck with cucumbers, with a slight [and delicious] foray into dilly green beans last year.

my stand-by recipe is for spicy polish dill pickles.  these are the perfect sour dill pickles with the added bonus of a nice spicy kick.  i discovered this recipe a couple of years ago and have adapted it a bit.

spicy polish dills
[adapted from that's my home]

3 1/2 lbs small to medium cucumbers, sliced in quarters [the long way] will make approximately 5 pint jars.  i prefer wide mouth for pickles so the jars are easy to pack.

while you are sterilizing your jars, make the brine.  for 3 1/2 lbs cucumbers, heat up 3 cups water, 1 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup canning/pickling salt.  heat until just before boiling [so it's bubbling around the edges]

once the jars are sterilized, pack each jar with:
1 grape leaf [this is key to keeping your pickles crunchy]
1 fresh dill head
1 whole jalapeno pepper
1 whole garlic clove
1/4-1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
cucumber slices

pour hot brine over packed jars, leaving 1/2" headspace at the top of the jars.  put on lids and bands and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

 

since i had so many cucumbers this year, [after making 3 batches of these pickles] i wanted to try something new.  last week, i made 2 new pickle recipes.  the first was these quick refrigerator pickles.  i'd always avoided refrigerator pickles, thinking they wouldn't be sour enough for me.  i put these together on friday [almost 36 hours ago] and tried one today.  while not as sour as i prefer, they are quite tasty, and definitely not sweet.  i think they'll only get better with time.  [side note: that jar in the top is the only thing i could find to weigh down the cucumbers that would fit within the opening of this half gallon jar.  looks weird, but it works!]

 

the third batch of pickles i'm currently experimenting with this year are these kosher dills.  i started these on friday evening as well and haven't tried any yet.  i'm going to put them in the fridge tonight and see how they progress.

so, any other favorite pickle recipes out there we should be trying?

Tomatoes

This has not been the best year for tomatoes. In fact, most of our tomatoes (with the exception of Cherokee Purple) have experienced some serious cracking due to a dry July followed by heavy rains. We've also been contending with septoria leaf spot, watching as it crawls up the base of our plants. After reading up on septoria, I think we are partially to blame. We often plant our tomatoes a little closer together than is ideal, due to lack of space and our desire to plant many varieties. Have any of you been dealing with this fungus? It is quite common.

Still, the tomatoes are coming in (finally!) and I have my eye on a few ways to preserve them for winter eating:

Tomato Jam Food in Jars

DIY sun-dried tomatoes Todd Porter and Diane Cu

Salsa Rojo Local Kitchen

Do you have any favorite recipes for preserving tomatoes?

freezing greens

swiss chard has been the biggest success in the garden this year. i started my chard from seed in the early spring months at our old home in missouri. i planted them in my spring garden & then dug them up & re-planted them in pots. after traveling across state lines & surviving 115 degree summers, i'd say my swiss chard plants are troopers.

we are still harvesting basket fulls of chard for our summer dinners, but the chard just seems to keep growing. for that reason, i decided it was necessary to preserve some of our chard for later. i always pinch myself in the grocery store, wishing i had saved some of my greens, when purchasing kale, swiss chard & spinach during the winter months.

after some research & experimenting, i found that blanching & freezing greens (swiss chard, collards, kale, spinach, etc.) is the easiest & quickest way to preserve your harvest:

1. gather your greens.

2. wash your greens.

3. cut off & remove stems & other blemishes from leaves.

4. bring large pot (3/4 full of water) to a full boil. submerge greens into pot & keep in pot for three minutes.

5. once those greens have been in the pot for three minutes, drain & add to a large bowl full of ice water for three minutes.

6. drain & add to plastic freezer bag. remove air from bag (tip: use a straw & suck out air). make sure to label bag with name of greens & date.

7. place in freezer for later use!

happy freezing, friends!

planning for the changing season

hello! it feels so good to be back.
thank you to all of the wonderful guests last week! i really enjoyed it.


the month of august is so special in so many ways. days are growing cooler, summer is savored, fall is nearing & the harvest is plentiful. in our home, august also comes with many long days of preserving, freezing, working outside & preparing for the changing season. here's a little peek at our list:

home & garden list
- peach jam
- pickles
- watermelon rind preserves
-freeze tomatoes
-build chicken coop
-plan for fall garden

to manage it all, we make lists. lots of lists. we also (try to) keep things organized so as to not miss a date or forget to do something before it is too late.

for our fall garden, we keep a large chalkboard in our living room to remind us daily of what needs to be accomplished. we write down dates for transplanting or directly seeding & a map of where those seeds or starts need to be planted in the garden.

i also keep a journal of successes & failures from the season to keep, along with ideas to try next year. this is a place to keep favorite preserving recipes, too. this helps to keep me sane & not make the same mistake each year.

finally, it is equally important to be realistic about what can be accomplished on any given day in the garden. if those tomatoes are nearing their end & you do not have time to make some sauce for canning, make room for them in your dinner that night. don't worry, there are still tomatoes ripening on the vine for your winter canning.

preserving the harvest

over the last couple of months i have spent hours in the kitchen preserving the harvests of our garden & surrounding farms. freezing pesto, pickling vegetables, making jam & canning tomatoes are among the many tasks on my to do list during the summer months. i particularly enjoy the act of preserving food; i feel a strong connection to the generations before me when i save food for the winter months.

above are several jars of herbed seasoned tomatoes made last night. my recipe came from ball's complete book of home preserving, by far the most helpful source i have found. do you have any sources for home preserving that are particularly helpful (& delicious)? i would really love to hear about your adventures in home preserving.