Freezing Asparagus

Last month I froze about 10 1/2 pounds of asparagus. I figured I'd do a quick post about it for future reference. I know this is rather simple, but I thought it might be useful at some point. Most veggies need to be blanched, but they vary in the length of time you should do so. This was the first time I'd frozen any asparagus. I don't know why I've never done it before. Especially when there is a farm stand down the road from us that sells home-grown sustainable asparagus for only $1 per pound. So I figured I'd try it this year. I know I'll definitely be freezing it in years to come, with the 25 crowns of asparagus I planted this year. I've read that each crown will produce at least 1/2 to 3/4 pound of asparagus... that's a lot of asparagus!

Freezing Asparagus

Wash the asparagus thoroughly and sort the spears into sizes by thickness. Break off woody ends. You may cut them into pieces or leave the spears whole. I cut mine into about 2-inch pieces.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl or in your sink with cold water and ice. Sometimes I'll just run cold water over the veggies in my over-the-sink strainer. Both ways seem to work equally well for me.

You will want to blanch your asparagus in batches depending on the thickness of the spears. Blanch small spears for 2 minutes, medium spears for 3 minutes, and large spears for 4 minutes. Once the time is up in the boiling water blanch, scoop out the asparagus and plunge them into your ice water bath to stop the cooking.

Drain the asparagus and place into a clean kitchen towel. Wrap up the towel to soak up most of the water. You can then either put the asparagus into freezer containers or freezer bags, or flash freeze on a cookie sheet. Once asparagus is flash-frozen, you can package into freezer containers or bags. Leave no head space. This is what I do with most of my veggies. That way the veggies are individually frozen and I can package them into gallon-size freezer bags. Then I can just remove what I need from the bag when I need it. I used to use smaller bags and freeze in serving sizes, but I've found using the big bags lends a much more organized freezer.

Garlic Scape Pesto

I've picked up a couple bunches of garlic scapes at one of the farmers markets that I go to and knew I wanted to make pesto with some of them. A few days after I bought the first bunch, Kat at A Good Appetite posted a recipe for garlic scape pesto - how perfect is that! So I made up a batch of it today - yum! This stuff is GOOD!! I brushed some of it on the chicken I grilled for our dinner tonight and then I froze the rest of it in cubes. This will be awesome to have on hand to put on chicken and lamb.


Garlic Scape Pesto

2 c garlic scapes, flower removed & green stems chopped
2/3 c slivered almonds (I used walnuts)
1 1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c grated Parmesan
1 t salt
pepper

Put the scapes & nuts into a food processor & pulse until as smooth as you can get it. With the food processor running drizzle in the olive oil (It'll seem like a lot) & process until smooth. Stir or process in the cheese (I processed it in to get it more incorporated.) Stir in salt & pepper. Store in the fridge for one week or freeze.

About 3 cups.

Veggies, Veggies, Everywhere!

And strawberries, too! I've been hitting up the farmers markets again this week. On Wednesday, I stopped by the Allen Street market in Lansing on my way home from work. It was a crummy day with all the rain we were getting, but there was still a great turnout at the market. I picked up some local organic pure maple syrup, a bag of organic spinach, a bunch of organic rainbow swiss chard, a bunch of organic garlic scapes, a bunch of organic broccoli raab, and a bunch of organic green onions. The spinach has already been dehydrated, the chard has been blanched and frozen, the scapes I'll be using to make pesto at some point this weekend, the broccoli raab we'll be having with one of our meals on Sunday, and the green onions will be used in random dishes and I'll be dehydrating some of them, too - I think I'm going to use them to make my own garlic salt.

Then on Thursday, I stopped into the Lansing City Market on my lunch break. I had intended to just run in quick to pick up some Moo-Ville whole milk, but they were out of whole milk. But I noticed they had butter for sale, which I hadn't seen before. I spent some time talking to the Moo-Ville Lady and found out they've just started producing their own butter - hormone-free, antibiotic-free, all-natural... their products could be considered organic if they applied to be certified. I was excited when she said it was only $3/pound!! I've been searching for a good and affordable source for organic butter and I've finally found it! Yeah! After my Moo-Ville butter find, I spent some time chatting with a local farmer - Jane Bush (who I'd bought my maple syrup from the day before). I ended up buying a flat of organic strawberries and another bag of organic spinach. I have to say that these strawberries are the best we've had yet! I've already run through most of them - making 9 half-pints of strawberry jam, freezing a quart, drying another couple quarts. We're keeping one quart to eat fresh and then I think I might try making some strawberry fruit leather with the last quart... we'll just have to see how much time I have tomorrow or Sunday. The spinach I'll be using for salads. I also picked up a pint of organic fava beans and a bunch of kale from one of the organic CSAs with a stand at the city market. We'll have the fava beans as a side dish to one of our meals next week and the kale has been made into kale chips.

Preserving the Harvest

For the last month or more, I've been working on a list of preservation efforts I'd love to accomplish at some point this year. Most of which are using things I am actually growing in my garden, or things I'm hoping to pick up at one of my local farmers markets this summer. I think my list is pretty ambitious, but it'll be awesome if I can actually accomplish all of this. And I'm sure I'll switch some things up as time goes on, especially once I look through all of my canning books again, but here's my list so far with things crossed off that I've already completed.

DEHYDRATING:

• Strawberries (RAW: 2 qts sliced, 2 qts halved; DRY: 2 pint jars)
• Cherries (RAW: 6 qts whole; DRY: 3 pint jars)
• Blueberries
• Grapes (RAW: 1 pound; DRY: 1 half-pint jar )
• Spinach (RAW: 4 pounds; DRY: 1 pint jar)
• Zucchini (RAW: 3 medium yellow; DRY: 3/4 pint jar)
• Celery
• Garlic
• Yellow/White Onions
• Red Onions
• Green Onions (RAW: 2 bunches; DRY: 3/4 pint jar)
• Carrots
• Oregano
• Dill (RAW: 3 bunches; DRY: 1 half-pint jar)
• Parsley
• Basil
• Chives (DRY: half of a half-pint jar)
• Sage
  

CANNING:

Condiments

• Giada’s Balsamic BBQ Sauce (3 half-pints)
• Ketchup
• Mustards – Dijon, Beer
• Dill Pickles
• Salad Dressings

Soups

• Cream Soups – Celery, Broccoli, Chicken
• Giada’s Tomato Soup

Stocks

• Beef
• Veggie

Veggies

• Beans – Cannellini, Pinto, Black, Chili/Ranch-style
• Creamed Corn
• Corn Salsa
• Cut Green Beans
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Stewed Tomatoes
• Tomato Sauce
• Enchilada Sauce

Fruit

• Strawberry Syrup (7 half-pints)
• Strawberry Jam (9 half-pints)
• Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves (7 half-pints)
• Black Forest Jam (14 half-pints)
• Cherry Pie Filling (6 pints, 1 half-pint)
• Sliced Peaches
• Peach Butter
• Pear Sauce
• Sliced Pears
• Applesauce
• Apple Butter

Other Sweet Things

• Butterscotch Sauce
• Caramel Sauce
• Hot Fudge Sauce

FREEZING:

• Strawberries (5 quarts)
• Sweet Cherries (4 quarts)
• Tart Cherries
• Blueberries (1 gallon bag)
• Pesto – Spinach, Basil, Parsley, Basil-Arugula (2 trays), Garlic Scape (2 trays)
• Spinach (3 pounds)
• Snow Peas (2 quarts, 2 pints... about 3/4 of a gallon-size bag)
• Sugar Snap Peas (missed them)
• Chard (2 pounds)
• Pac Choi
• Broccoli (11 heads... 2 1-gallon size bags and 1 quart size bag)
• Zucchini (1 gallon bag of yellow slices, 1 gallon bag of yellow chunks)
• Beans (2 1/2 1-gallon bags)
• Corn (9 ears de-cobbed = 1/2 1-gallon bag)
• Cauliflower
• Peppers
• Cabbage
• Parsley, chopped with a little water in cubes (1 tray)
  

Farmers Markets Galore!

This past week I have been able to hit up another farmers' market and, even though I hadn't planned it, got a good start on my preservation efforts for this summer's harvest season. As I've said before, I am trying to make/grow/buy locally as much as I can this year. It is my goal to do enough preservation and buying of meat and grain/flour straight from the farm that all I will need to buy this winter are milk, eggs, sugar, and a few other things along these lines.

I hit up a local Lansing market on Wednesday - the Allen Street Market - held in one of the neighborhoods right near where I work. I went there a few times last year and have always loved going there and look forward to making more visits there every week or two throughout the summer. I picked up a half-flat of strawberries, 2 quarts of snow peas, 2 huge bunches of spinach, and a large bunch of garlic scapes. We're getting a lot of our own snow peas from our garden, but we've been eating them raw (Carson loves them just like Kevin and I do!) and I want to freeze a good amount of them for stir fries, too. I rarely see them at farmers markets and have been told by my local farmers that its b/c they all eat them raw before they can leave the farm. So I was very excited to pick up 2 whole quarts of them! I blanched and froze the entire quantity. The spinach has received the same treatment - blanched and frozen - to supplement the spinach that I'd frozen from our garden. The strawberries have been made into strawberry syrup (post to come). And I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with the garlic scapes yet, but they keep for up to two months in the fridge, so I have time to deal with those. I'll probably add them to dishes as I would scallions mostly.

Tomorrow I'll be hitting up the Swartz Creek farmers' market before we head out to my cousins' church for their annual FIESTA festival. I'm excited to see what our market will have tomorrow!

Kabocha Squash

Tonight I made up a batch of kabocha squash baby food for Carson. I just cut the squash into quarters and put it in the steamer for about 20-25 minutes. The squash scooped out of the rind very easily - probably the easiest time I've ever had scooping the squash out. I ran it through my food mill with the medium blades, added some water to get the right consistency, and voila! Baby food! I kept out a small container for using this week, then froze the rest. I ended up with 24 cubes to freeze... so veggies for about 12 different meals for Carson. Not bad considering the squash itself cost me 50 cents! Which equates to about 4 cents per serving (which I think is about half of a store-bought container of the 2nd foods). So I paid roughly 16 cents for the same amount that I'd normally pay $1.29 for on sale... saving $1.13 per package! Actually, even more savings than that since I didn't figure in the portion I kept out to eat fresh this week... probably about 3 more servings there. What a steal!

Sweet Potatoes for Carson

So I finally am going to cut back on buying commercially produced baby food. I've been buying Gerber Organic foods for Carson since he's started eating solids and have just been too lazy to try my hand at making some homemade baby food for him. Well last night I finally decided to give it a try. I peeled a sweet potato, cut it into cubes (about 1-inch size), and threw it in the steamer for 15-20 minutes or so. I didn't keep track of time, just kept an eye on the look and then tested it with a fork. Once it was cooked, I ran it through the food mill with my finest blades and added a little water to the pureed potatoes. We'll see how it goes over with Carson today. I kept it a little thicker than he's used to since he's old enough now to try out some thicker foods. So he may not like it too much at first, but he'll get used to it pretty quickly, I think.

Making a good portion of Carson's food will be a huge money-saver! One sweet potato produced quite a bit of puree. I'm going to do up another two sweet potatoes tonight and freeze them in cubes. Then I'll do up some butternut squash from our garden and some kabocha squash from the farmer's market. I'm also going to use some of the blueberries I froze this summer to make him some blueberry puree. Tonight or tomorrow I'll be doing up some pear sauce for him and canning it, too. So we should be on a good roll here with food for Carson. And soon enough, he'll be able to eat more and more of what we're eating, so that will be even easier.

Again, I have a picture, but its not on the computer yet, so I'll update later on in the week.