I had a chance to get 3 free, but very ugly and somewhat wilted, stalks of celery last evening. When we were feeding the college-age group, I noticed a tote sitting there in the place where they occasionally leave these kinds of things for people to take. I did not have high hopes, as that bin had clearly been there for a while and it’s been hot. But, I put that celery in water when I got home and it perked up a little bit. I trimmed it mercilessly and ended up with several little baggies full. I froze those for soups.
I picked 16 pounds of strawberries on Monday, at a farm. I made strawberry jam, strawberry-rhubarb jam, and froze a few. We ate up the rest. I watched the Waltons on my Kindle while I made all 22 assorted-sized jars of jam, figuring it was a fitting show for jam-making:)
I picked all my rhubarb. I used some for jam, froze some, and have some cooked down with sugar in the fridge. I used a little of the sauce in some zucchini bread I made.
Glad you were able to rescue the celery. It’s so handy to grab a bag and throw it in soup in the winter. Awesome on the strawberries! I made some jam 2 or 3 weeks ago. Wish I had bought more strawberries, but got what I felt was in the budget at the time. It’s ok though, I actually still have a bag I found in the freezer from couple years ago, that I’ve been adding to smoothies and they’re fine. Hope your week has been less hectic.
It’s next week that will be less hectic:). But, this week, I’m checking off projects right and left, so that feels good to me! I got as many strawberries as I could as well, but would like a few more packages of frozen ones for smoothies. I think the bushes I have will give me a few here and a few there, so I’ll freeze those little by little.
Nice job on the celery. I love having baggies of pre-washed and cut celery to grab from my freezer. And since I’m just cooking for me it means no waste and ‘lost’ veggies in my refrigerator.
Need to ask a favor – can you please repost your recipe for those zucchini/squash dill pickles? Or give a link? I can’t find the recipe with actual measurements for the brine. My yellow squash are just starting to come in and I want to be ready – I planted 3 yellow squash and 2 zucchinis…what was I thinking??? I’ll be swimming in them soon.
Thanks,SJ from Vancouver BC
SJ,
I put the original post about the zucchini chips up in the featured area. So, if you scroll through the featured ones, it will show up. HOWEVER, the exact measurements are not on there, I notice. I did put the name of the library book, and the page number where I found the recipe. I know I photocopied the recipe, but cannot find it at the moment. Now that I can’t find my copy, I will be ordering that book in from the library and can be more exact when it comes, but for now, here’s what I remember.
I sprinkled salt on the squash chips and let it sit for several hours. Water comes out of the zucchini, and I drained it off. Then, I put dill seeds (1/2-1 tsp), mustard seeds (1/4-1/4 tsp), red pepper flakes (1/4 tsp), garlic (1-2 pieces) , and a dill head in each little jar. Those are guesses, but I think pretty close to what I did. I did make some different jar sizes, and put more or less of the spices in the different sizes of jars. I made a vinegar/water solution and poured it over, than canned for 10 minutes in a hot water bath canner. On page 50 of my Ball Blue Book, a recipe for Hamburger Dills says to salt the cucumbers, then make a brine of 4-1/2 cups water and 4 cups vinegar and use that. So, that would work, and be safe. I’m pretty sure it was close to what I did last summer. I hope this helps a little!
Also, S.J., I used a product called pickle crisp–just a tiny bit in each jar.
Thanks so much. i remember making them and loving them last summer but wasn’t sure of the recipe. Funny though because I made a sweet pickle with it rather then the dill. I never seem to be able to use any recipe just as it is. So i just omitted the dill seed and added sugar to the brine and that worked. But I couldnt remember the proportions for the brine.
Have a great weekend and happy father’s day to Jeff. BTW, I hope he’s off the plateau. I took off about 60# when I got sober and remember many weeks strung together when the scale didn’t move. But fortunately I did go down a pant size so that helped during that time.
I change a lot of recipes, too:)
I am so excited because the scale has finally started to move again for Rob. He is being so strict, basically not eating because 1000 calories doesn’t allow for much, but it’s working, at least for this week! Now, as long as it keeps moving, and he doesn’t plateau again, he’s back on his way. I’m going to post a picture soon. He’s absolutely swimming in his old clothes, but Mr. Save-the-Money doesn’t want to buy new ones yet, so it’s getting quite comical at times.
Ooops, meant Rob. Glad he broke through the plateau.
I found the Pickled Pantry book at the library. Great cookbook!
So glad you found it!