Neighbor Bill brought me another large container of pickling cucumbers. He said if I didn't want them he was going to throw them away. I took them. Then thought "what am I going to do with these"? I don't have room for more in the refrigerator. I don't want to store them in the basement like I have before, and I sure didn't want to can them.
So....like any modern person, I went to Google and asked about freezing pickles. Guess what? Pickles freeze well. Who knew? Not me. A game changer.
I stopped canning several years ago. I freeze instead. Now I can ferment pickles and put them in the freezer. I decided to try something different, putting the cukes in bowls with the accoutrements, cover with brine and let them ferment in the bowls. I have squash we don't like, the flavorless one. I sliced one up and put in in a jar with brine. I'll see if I like it and if I do I'll do that with the rest. I needed to do this right away because, as we know, I am the reigning queen of procrastination.
Bill told me they aren't doing anything with their tomatoes this year. What they don't eat he's bringing to me. I think I will be overflowing with tomatoes. He brought three today. Along with some beans.
12 comments:
There's hardly anything you can't freeze, and you don't have to faff around blanching unless you really like doing it. I've frozen practically everything, including zucchini I use later in zucchini bread. Eggs, too, broken into a container, labeled with the number because you'll never know otherwise
I don't like pickles so I'm thankful I don't have a neighbor who shows up with them. You could probably give them away too. We have a neighborhood group on facebook and people will take anything.
Wow! I still have a lot of tomatoes from my very awesome garden two years ago that I canned. I canned, froze, and dehydrated tomatoes along with green beans and corn then.
This year I will have quite a bit less, but that is okay.
My freezers are still fairly well stocked.
Can't wait to see what you do with tomatoes!
Yes, Boud, I don't blanch either. Waste of time. I've put zucchini in the freezer. A friend who raises ducks told me about freezing eggs, I had no idea. I freeze basil by running it through the food processor with olive oil and freezing in ice cube trays. Works a charm!
I like pickles, Pixie. I really like fermented pickles. If I see my son I'll give him some.
Val, I make a lot of roasted tomatoes to freeze. I also just put them on a tray in the freezer and then bag them when they are hard. Skin comes right off a frozen tomato. I've also been know to throw them in the food processor and freeze. It depends on how much I end up with.
I have one jar of roasted tomatoes left from last year.
You are on a roll. The pickles look great and you are going to be set for a long time! We are not getting enough tomatoes to start making sauce yet, but will end up with about 75 freezer bags. It's the way to go.
Lori, that's a lot of sauce! I cannot even imagine. My tomatoes grown in pots don't produce like they did when I had a garden. Bill more than supplements them. Also the man who works for my hay guy always gives me tomatoes. They are good guys.
Roasted tomatoes...do you season them before baking? Curious! Sounds like an awesome way to freeze them!
Val, I use salt and sometimes I roast garlic with the tomatoes.
Freezing whatever you can is a lot easier. I grate zucchini, then freeze in 3 cup lots, thaw when I am in a baking mood, drain off the liquid, and loaves and muffins can use it up quite quickly. Those pickles look great.
Thanks Nancy! Grated zucchini is a great idea. I have a lot of it. :)
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