Storing up

It is usually about this time of year that I start freaking out when I think about the coming winter months and the lack of fresh, local, tasty food that we are enjoying right now.

There is just something so comforting about putting away food from our own garden into our own jars and saving it for later.  I am making more of an effort this year to preserve what I can.

Last weekend I put a dent in the ridiculous amount of cucumbers piling up around here.  I made pickles using this recipe (I added a little red pepper to mine and used the dill growing on my deck).  There are mixed reviews on whether or not to process them in a water bath or not.  Some say that it makes the pickle mushy.  I chickened out and put the jars into the canner anyway...I have to wait two months to see how they turned out!! 

 

I also made some apricot jam with the apricots that my friend picked for me from her in-law's orchard.  This was super easy.  No peeling or chopping!  I just split open the apricots with my hands, pulled out the pits and dropped them into the food processor.  I pulsed them until they were somewhere between roughly chopped and pureed.  Then I mixed them with the pectin (low sugar recipe this time) and cooked it like usual.  I think it would make a great Christmas gift along with some homemade whole wheat pancake mix. It looks so pretty...I might make some more. 

 

On our trip over to the beach we stopped at the berry farm in Olympia and scored some blueberries.  I bought two flats and brought them home to freeze (just wash, drain, and put them in gallon size baggies).  We use them in muffins, smoothies, pancakes, pies, crisps, etc. I did this last year and we had eaten all of them by November! I ended up with 5 gallon sized bags.  I am rationing already :)

Still waiting for tomatoes, green beans, green peppers, and squash!!