There were several questions from the last
post, so I thought I would answer them here
in case anyone else was wondering the same.
How do I freeze my broccoli?
After removing any leaves and woody stalk,
I soak the broccoli heads in a salt/water
brine {1 cup salt to 1 gallon water} for
about a half hour. This gets rid of any
insects or those unpleasant little green
worms. I then rinse the broccoli, and
cut the heads into smaller pieces.
I put them into a pot of boiling water
and scald for about 3 - 4 minutes,
then immediately immerse the broccoli in
some ice water to cool. It's now ready
to drain and pack into your freezer containers.
This year, I laid all the broccoli pieces out in
a single layer on baking sheets which I placed in
the freezer. As soon as the broccoi was frozen, I placed
it all in a very large freezer bag--later it
will be easy to just take out as much as I need.
I have also used my vacuum sealer in the past, and
that does do a better job preventing freezer
burn--I just didn't have the special bags on hand
this time.
Can you tell me how you freeze grated zucchini?
After washing the zucchinis {I leave the skin on}
and cutting off the ends, I grate it using
my food processor. Then I just put it in a freezer
container or bag and freeze--super easy.
This year, I vacuum sealed mine in glass pint
canning jars. I really like the idea of using
glass versus plastic, the jars were cheap from a
yard sale & are resusable, and the vacuum seal,
as I mentioned, will help prevent freezer burn.
Is it possible for you to share your recipe for
the refrigerator pickles?
I found the recipe here last year. This year I
did alter it--I omitted the pickling spice {as
I wanted more of a plain dill} and I tried
cutting the sugar amount in half {they were
too sweet for us}.
Do you just know how to freeze the zucchini and blueberries or do you recommend a source of info?
I couldn't do it without my Ball Blue Book!
I'm sure there are many resources online for
home canning and freezing, but I have used
this book forever, and I love having it handy
year after year to look up whatever I need.
Yesterday, I picked blackberries and blueberries.
My next 'preserving project' is to pull out
the dehydrator and dry some blueberries.
I tried it last year for the first time
and loved them--I'll be back with more on
that later...
{Picked the first tomato yesterday!}