I haven’t had much experience putting either of these away, so I did a little internet research.  It seems as if the quickest and easiest way to save these veggies for later use is freezing them raw.  What could be simpler than that?

I grated the zucchini and placed it in freezer bags in two cup portions since most of my normal recipes call for about this much grated zucchini.  So far, I’ve frozen 20 cups!

With the onions, I sliced some and chopped some.  I didn’t worry about measuring since frozen onions come apart with a quick tap on the counter.  One website said to place the onions on cookie sheets and freeze before bagging, but I didn’t have time to fool with that. 

Both of these will need to be used in cooked recipes since they won’t hold their original texture.  For the zucchini, the directions said to add any liquid in the bag (after thawing) to the recipe since it will be the juices that are normally in the zucchini.

Mahayla and Caleb grew carrots this year.  They were able to can 10 quarts – and I only had to supervise!  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished jars.

Looks like green bean canning will be next on the list!  Anybody have a really good idea for saving summer squash?  I have attempted to parboil and freeze, but it turned out way to mushy to use, even in cooked dishes.

I got lots of great advice on doing applesauce the easier way next year.  Any advice for an easier way to harvest these little boogers?  (I used a hammer on a large rock to crack the shell – which flew everywhere.  Then used a nut tool to painstakingly get the meat out.)

At this point, I told my son to scatter the rest of the walnuts out for the squirrels!  My husband told him to bag them up just in case I change my mind.  Me, change my mind? 

Then came a great big bag of free apples.  I certainly couldn’t turn away a great big free bag of apples.  And, hey, why not add one more staple to the pantry shelf while trying my hand at a new canning skill – applesauce??

According to the canning recipe, I had just the 21 pounds of apples needed to make a canner load of seven quarts.  That big ol’ bag didn’t seem like it would be too hard to cut, core and slice, UNTIL an hour and a half later when I was finishing the last few.  Cooking the slices until soft didn’t seem like it would take a long time, UNTIL 45 minutes later when I was still stirring the 12 quart cooking pot full of sliced apples.  And sending the apples through the food mill didn’t seem like a daunting task, UNTIL I nearly pulled a muscle trying to get a teaspoon of sauce to come out.

After pulling out the blender (plan B) and finally having a sauce resembling what I buy in the store, I was excited to know that I was almost there.  Applesauce, here we come.  Only 2 hours and 45 had passed!  (insert eyes rolling)

Would you like to see the fruit of all my afternoon labors?

Yep, four quarts.  Only FOUR quarts!  In all, including the canning process, I spent almost FOUR hours canning FOUR quarts of applesauce!   I’m considering this a lesson learned.  I imagine I’ll appreciate the 99 cent cans of applesauce I buy from Save-A-Lot a lot more, too. 

We took a trip last week to the local orchard to stock up on peaches and apples that had been graded out.  (They’re much cheaper that way!)  Again, freezing is easy.  Wash, peel, cut in slices, sprinkle a little sugar over the peaches or dip apples in water with a little lemon juice, place in ziptop bags and freeze.

All of these things can be used in a recipe just as you would use them if they were fresh.  They aren’t great, however, for thawing and eating plain.

I promised a couple of ladies that I would share recipes throughout the year using things I’ve canned or frozen.  Here’s a fried corn dish we had at supper last week.

Ingredients

• fresh or frozen corn cut off the cob
• fresh or frozen green pepper, chopped
• fresh yellow squash, chopped
• fresh or frozen onion, chopped
• butter

Melt butter in a frying pan.  Saute all veggies until crisp-tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Yummy!

A sinkful of fresh tomatoes in our house turns into about eleven quarts of diced tomatoes!

And here’s a new recipe I concocted to use up the canned tomatoes.  I had a quart that didn’t seal, plus some corn and peppers that needed to be used.  I didn’t have any ground beef, but I did have some shredded chicken in the freezer.  So I made a *yummy*….

Chicken Chili

• 1 quart diced tomatoes and juice
• 1-2 green peppers, diced
• a cob or two of fresh corn cut off the cob (or a can, drained)
• a can of beans -any type- with juice (I used great northern)
• shredded chicken, about 2 cups
• about 1/2 cup of chili mix
• extra water to suit your taste

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  As you can see, the recipe isn’t a science, but it sure is yummy!

Now for the serious stuff…..Where are your Charlotte Mason planning and organizing posts???  I know, I know, they’re coming.  I see many of you are procrastinators like me, huh??

We’re not looking for huge, in-depth posts (unless you want.)  Just a simple post about something you have planned or organized to enhance CM-style learning.

• Have you made an artist study plan for the year?
• Have you put together a nature study area?
• Have you decided on a living book list for the semester?
• Have you made a plan for specific handicrafts?
• Have you organized any areas of your schoolroom?

Okay, you get the idea.  Now, go write!  )

Oh, and submit your posts here.

Or possibly shucking, washing, parboiling, cutting off the cob and freezing 150 ears of corn today?

A quick disclaimer:  If you’re hoping for dill pickles like you buy at the grocery, this isn’t the recipe.  I have yet to find a recipe that makes them taste like store-bought.  On the other hand, everything in the store seems to have Polysorbate-80 as an ingredient.  I have no idea if that’s what makes the taste difference or not, but I prefer plain old sugar.  Anywho, these pickles are delicious, but have a little different twang to them.  I wanted to be sure you knew!

Oh, and it DOES make a difference to cut off the blossom end.  Your pickles will be much firmer.  Again, these aren’t going to be quite as crisp as Vlasic pickles, but done correctly, they shouldn’t be limp either.  And, cut the cucumbers up as you like – slices, spears, wholes.  These were cut into slices because they were a tad bigger than the typical 3-5″ pickling cucumbers.  Plus, the jar holds more this way and jars are expensive!

Okay, on to the recipe….

Quick Fresh-Pack Dill Pickles

• 18 lbs of 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
• 2 gals water
• 1¼ cups canning or pickling salt
• 1½ qts vinegar (5 percent)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 quarts water
• 2 tbsp whole mixed pickling spice
• 5 tbsp whole mustard seed (2 tsp per quart jar)
• 21 heads of fresh dill (3 heads per quart jar)
  or 7 tbsp dill seed (1 tbsp per quart jar)

Yield: 7 quarts

Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Procedure: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom end and discard, but leave ¼-inch of stem attached. Dissolve ¾ cup salt in 2 gals water. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 12 hours. Drain. Combine vinegar, ½ cup salt, sugar and 2 quarts water. Add mixed pickling spices tied in a clean white cloth. Heat to boiling. Fill jars with cucumbers. Add 2 tsp mustard seed and 1 tbsp dill per quart. Cover with boiling pickling solution, leaving ½-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in Table 1 or use the low- temperature pasteurization treatment. For more information see “Low-Temperature Pasteurization Treatment” .

Reviewed June 2006.

Let’s see, the kids played a relay carrying containers of water on their heads, a sponge and bucket relay, and competed in a water obstacle course.  They had to try to keep water in their cups while jumping rope ten times, and they had a water balloon launching contest.  They also had a frozen t-shirt contest, trying to be the first to thaw and put on a wet t-shirt that had been folded and frozen solid.  And apparently, it doesn’t matter where the water is, kids will jump in and have fun (see the cow watering container below.  It was clean!)  Here are a few pictures from the day.

And look!  My friend, MonkeyX4, brought me a whole box of cucumbers since we haven’t been having any luck with them this year.  I was able to can 14 quarts of dill pickles this morning!  Thank you, D!!

One busy  pressure canner…..

Here and there over a  little more than a week, and we have over 80 beautiful quarts of beans put away.

And, apparently, we’re still counting.  So, any of my friends who live close by are welcome to come by “Westward’s Freebie Bean Pickin’ Garden”.  Take all you want as long as YOU do the picking!