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Old mother hubbard

Posted at 4:27 PM on August 14, 2008 by Sareen Dunleavy Keenan (1 Comments)

We were worried toward the end of winter. All of our cupboards were bare. The fruit cellar that is typically filled with wine and beer on one side and canned goods on the other was practically empty.

I am happy to say that even in the midst of all that is changing at the Keenan house - we are doing some cellar restocking. We went on a long beer journey that resulted in some stock for the left side of the cellar. Not to leave things unbalanced, Brendan has been canning a ton. I would love to say "we" have been canning, but let's get real here.

This week:
-10 pounds of pickling cukes have found their way into the brine for their three weeks of fermentation (advice?).
-2 lbs of raspberries got turned into syrup and preserved
-5 lbs of green beans are being pickled with mustard and dill
-6 quarts of spaghetti sauce was made and canned

Seriously, If you make yourself one meal of something, you can certainly do 10 meals. It saves a lot of the grief and questioning over "what am I going to do with all those tomatoes???" Just like I say every year, 25 prolific tomato plants might be a tich to many... but we seem to get it all taken care of.

The only challenge seems to come when people show up at our house with ripe or post ripe fruit saying "I just know you can put this to good use right?!" We have become foster parents to many a wayward piece of produce. Instead of stressing out, I have discovered that this is what freezers were made for. Thanks everyone, I am sure your zucchinis will be a delight midwinter. And thanks to Brendan for making sure that I always have a place to turn for fantastic spaghetti, salsa and pickled goodies.

Comments (1)

This is only the beginning... I will hit the farmers market this weekend looking for anything yummy worth preserving.
Brendan

Posted by Brendan | August 15, 2008 11:53 PM