Preserving Food

Connie's Kitchen

 {From the Archives of Connie's Letters, July 2007.}

Part One:

Dear Housewives,

Ya know, when Wild man got saved and we had 3 more children my life was so changed. . I had to figure out how to feed a houseful of 6 children and a husband. . 

One of the first things I did was to pray for a freezer and the Lord got me one at a garage sale. . It was one of those big beasts from the 60's and I loved it. . When it died and couldn't be fixed . . . oh getting rid of it was like getting rid of an old friend. . 

When we first got the freezer in the mid 80's Danny would do acrobats on the handle of the freezer and we would yell at him to stop it. Finally, the handle broke off. . Oh man I about croaked. . So we got one of those elastic car carrier straps and hooked it to the door and to the back of the freezer. . And that is how it stayed for many years. . But it worked well. . and we forgave Danny for being part monkey. . 

Anyway, I had a huge garden and froze many vegetables. . And then I would buy vegetables on the fly from the back of the store for cheap as they were outdated. . so I might get a box of broccoli for a buck or cauliflower or whatever. . I would can some things like pickles but I froze more things as it was easier if I was dealing with odds and ends of vegetables. . 

Now some veggies you have to bring to a boil first and then take them out and put them in bags to freeze. . Here are some of the veggies you have to bring to a boil first or it's called blanching. . Things like green beans. . Just clean the beans and take the ends off and cut them up and bring to a boil. Then turn the fire off and drain them and then sack them up for the freezer. . You would also blanch cauliflower and broccoli. . Stuff like carrots, and beets and other root vegetables I never canned or froze as they will last almost forever in the fridge it seems. . Sweet potatoes I would blanch. . . ok some vegetables you don't have to blanch and are so easy to freeze. . 

For tomatoes just wash them and cut them up and put them in a bag and freeze them. . you don't have to blanch them. Also peppers of any kind are great frozen. . Of course you would use these in cooking and for making winter soups and stews. . Grated zucchini can be easily frozen in bags to make breads during the fall and winter, or it could be used to put in soups and casseroles. . If I ran low on cucumbers when making pickles, I would use zucchini instead and pickle it right in with the cucumbers. . No one knew the difference. Zucchini is wonderful for many things. . I used it to make an apple pie once and it was great. . You just cut it up to look like apples and season it like apple pie and bake it and no one knows the difference . . 

If during the summer I have the family over and say all of the veggies aren't eaten on the vegetable plate, I just throw it all in a bag and put them in the freezer for winter soups. . If you want your hot peppers to stay really hot, then you would want to dry them instead of freezing them. . I would take my whole hot pepper plant out by the roots and hang it up in the house. . The peppers can dry on the bush that way and you don't have to string them up to dry.

Part Two:

When we used to sell baked goods at the Farmers Market, we met Barbara who had 11 children. . She gave me some good tips on freezing food for the winter. . She said she always made her jams and jellies in the fall. . She would freeze her grapes and berries, rhubarb and other fruits. . Then in the Fall when all the rest of her canning was done, she would thaw out the berries etc. and make jam. . 

Things like green beans and corn you have to can up or freeze right away or they will spoil. . and that can take up the whole summer. . Making pickles is something ya gotta do pretty quick or the produce will spoil. . But jams and jellies you can have fun with in the fall if you have the fruit right in the freezer. . And it's fun to make jams and put them in cute jars to give away during the holidays. . When I bought fruit on the fly, I sometimes got whole boxes of different varieties of grapes. . I would freeze these to make jelly and also grape juice in the Fall. . 

You can slice up apples and all kinds of fruits to store in the freezer for winter use. . I have a wild plum tree, and I just freeze these plums whole as they are small and have a pit in them. . I make plum butter in the Fall. . I just put the plums in a pan and cover them with water. . bring them to a boil and boil until they are just soft. . Then just mash them with a potato masher and then strain them of the seeds and skin. . And if you end up with 5 cups of pulp then put in equal amounts of sugar. . 5 cups. . or 2 cups or whatever equal amount. . Then just boil this and stir it until it is thick and you will have made plum butter. . Then just jar it up for your winter pantry. . You can make peach butters like this too. . If I got grapes from the store that had no seeds, I would often make grape pies. . Just slice each grape in half . . you don't have to take the skin off. . I think this has to be my favorite pie of all. . Usually the grapes are very sweet, so you don't have to use a lot of sugar. . 

Love Connie

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints."  It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.*