What’s Going in My Freezer?

I have been very busy freezing whatever I can fresh from the Farmer’s Market for the winter. I seem to have a lot more freezer space than cupboard space, so I decided to forego the canning of the things I can freeze. Here’s just some of what I have so far:

Strawberries, Raspberries and Blueberries

Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries should be fresh, unwashed and checked over for damaged or generally yucky ones. Then they are spread in a single layer on a pan, placed in the freezer until frozen and then put into freezer bags. They can be used frozen or thawed, but need to be rinsed since you didn’t wash them before freezing. I like to keep a bag of blueberries in the freezer, take out a few in the evening, rinse them, put them in my cereal bowl and put the bowl in the fridge overnight. Fresh blueberries are all ready for my cereal in the morning. Or you can thaw them quickly by putting what you want into one of those handy little berry colanders and rinsing with running lukewarm water. Washed and thawed all in one!

ZUCCHINI

In a previous post I talked about how to freeze zucchini, either shredded or in chunks. I’ve got a whole winters worth of zucchini stored away!

Tomatoes

I’ve used what I grew in the garden, then bought lots more (about 30 lbs worth–I got a great deal!) at the Farmer’s Market. I now have many bags of whole cherry tomatoes (not blanched, treated like the berries), chopped and diced tomatoes, tomatoes crushed for sauce, and ready to go sauce. It was like a little factory in my kitchen! I’ll talk more about all that in a later post, but you can see how to generally prepare tomatoes for freezing here.

Green and Red Peppers

I didn’t have much luck with green peppers this year, but they looked great at the Farmer’s Market. I’ve been buying a few at a time for freezing. Like most other vegetables, you need to wash them, look and remove any blemished areas, blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes then plunge into ice water to stop any further cooking. I left mine in pretty big chunks so I can use them as needed for a recipe, but in the past I’ve frozen them diced or sliced. I freeze them in a layer on a pan in the freezer and then put into a freezer bag so they don’t freeze as one giant clump together in the bag.

And more…

I also have a few bags of diced and sliced spring onions. I’m thinking about freezing some corn if I can get some really fresh, otherwise it’s no better than the store bags. I bought a head of cabbage today to make some “freezer slaw” from a family recipe from a friend. Can’t wait to try that! So, what’s in your freezer this year?

Gladiolas from the Farmers Market

Gladiolas are one of my favorite flowers to have around the house. They are just so dramatic, colorful and cheerful. With so many colors to choose from, it’s usually hard to decide. If you’ve ever seen a field of gladiolas, it’s quite a sight!

My local farmers market has a wonderful local fresh flower vendor. While maybe a little more expensive than the grocery store florists, the flowers are always super fresh and last longer in the vase. They also give wonderful flower care advice. This is this week’s purchase and some of their advice.

The flower vendor always offers to make a fresh cut with a super sharp chopper — The flower vendor always offers to make a fresh cut with a super sharp guillotine type cutter

Buy the bunch that seems to have the most color peeping out from the buds. If there's color, it'll bloom. Closed up tight, it'll never bloom! — Buy the bunch that seems to have the most color peeping out from the buds. If there’s color, it’ll bloom. Closed up tight, it’ll never bloom!

Pinch off all the tips where the buds are closed up tight. No sense making the stem waste energy on bids that won;t bloom. — Pinch off all the tips where the buds are closed up tight. No sense making the stem waste energy on bids that won’t bloom.

Taking off the tips makes the bouquet look a lot neater.

Beautiful, stunning display. A few years ago, I finally invested in just the right sized vase to hold these flowers.

Farmer’s Market

We are lucky to have a fabulous Farmers Market to our town every Monday, June-October. The fruit and produce changes every week, so you never know what you might find. But, you are guaranteed that it will be super fresh and in season. It’s a great way to supplement the harvest from my own garden (which so far has yielded some lettuce, spinach, radish, and recently a cucumber and a squash). This year, they’ve added a couple of fresh bread vendors and some specialty items like olives and olive oil, tea, an old time knife sharpener, organic meat and more. In June, they had some of the best tasting Michigan strawberries that I’ve had in a long time. I bought a bunch and made some very tasty jam. I try to remember to go every week.

I find there are a lot of vegetables I don’t know what to do with, so I’ve started asking the vendors for their recommendations. Kohlrabi is one of those things (the big white turnip looking thing in the right hand corner). They were passing out samples last year of freshly sliced kohlrabi and it quickly became a favorite. Cut up on it’s own, or as a tasty crunchy item in a salad, it’s delicious. It’s season is short, and I can’t always find it in the grocery store. So that’s something I’ll be getting for sure the next couple of weeks. I’m looking for other ways to cook it, too. Any suggestions?

Hope you can find a farmer’s market nearby you.

Pattypan Squash

At the farmers market last week, there was a giant tub of pattypan squash at one of my favorite vendor’s tent. Usually I pass right by them, not having any idea what to do with those weird little things. But this time I decided to give them a try and bought a bunch of them (and some funny globe looking ones).

They sat in my fridge for about a week until I decided I’d better cook them. I looked up some recipes and oven roasting or grilling seemed to be the best option. I chose oven roasting and they were fabulous!! I will definitely be growing some next year!

My recipe for roasting pattypan squash:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off the tops and bottoms of pattypan squash, then quarter. In a microwave safe bowl, toss with some extra virgin olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the plastic wrap. To speed up the roasting time, I microwaved them for 3 minutes on high, or just until they were slightly soft. Uncover, and toss with a little more olive oil and seasoning. I seasoned mine with generous amounts of Penzys Spice’s Arizona Dreaming. Toss out onto a oven safe dish, cook for 20-30 minutes or until nice and roasted. It was a hit. I’ll try the same recipe next with those globe shaped squashes!

Tag: farmers market