Canning Like a Grandma!

I think that I had more fun yesterday than I have in a long, long time. Before I went to work last night, I spent several hours heating my kitchen to about 85 degrees and "putting up" veggies for the long, harsh winters that we get here. Ok, so that was a little extreme, but I really did get to do some preserving, which was incredibly fulfilling.

Squash I chopped about fifteen squash into half-moon shapes and froze them in a one gallon freezer bag. I'll be able to thaw them out, and use them in soups, stews, casseroles, or anything else I can think of. I've frozen squash before and discovered that they really aren't of a consistency to eat by themselves. They get a little slimy. Gross, I know, but they cook up just fine if they're in something else. I've got a couple really great crockpot and stew ideas, so I'm not worried about it at all. I'm getting several squash each day, so I have no doubt that I'll be doing this some more. I also have plans to make a squash relish that I found a canning recipe for, so I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Green Bell Peppers I cored, sliced and blanched about ten peppers and filled a one gallon freezer bag with these guys. I have absolutely no idea how they'll taste, but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to figure something out. Worse case scenario, I can cook them in some stir fry, beef stew, anything. I've got at least another fifty little peppers coming up on my plants, so I have a pretty good feeling I'll be getting even more.

Tomatoes Salsa, baby, salsa! I found a great Rick Bayless (my hero, in case you didn't know) recipe for Roasted Tomato and Jalapeno Salsa that can be made in huge batches. I didn't have a whole lot of confidence going it, but man it turned out great. I mean, incredible. It took about three or four pounds of tomatoes, five jalapenos (also from the garden), one onion, some garlic, salt, vinegar, and cilantro. Roasted them all in the oven, blended together in stages, mixed in a huge metal bowl, and voila! Magnificent! It made over a gallon! Rick recommended freezing it over canning because of the low amount of vinegar in the recipe, so I froze a one gallon bag of it. Since I still had more left over, I filled one pint jar and took the rest to a vegetarian friend at work. This was pretty time consuming, but man it was worth it. It tastes amazing, and I can't wait to bust it out in the middle of winter and relive the awesomeness. Yes, that's a word.

I plan on beginning the great pickle canning fest in the next couple days, so I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. I've got about twenty cukes ready to go, a new canning pot that holds eight jars at a time, and twelve jars to fill. I may work on it tomorrow, we'll just have to see.

There's a ton of really fresh, local produce at farmer's markets around the country right now, so go and get some! It's cheap, and if I save it, anyone can.

I've been listening to the new Jack Johnson album and an older Ugly Casanova album. Really good standing up and sweating music. Enjoy your weekend and go outside!