2009.08.29 My Day

Well have had a very busy day so far. Went to my local veg shop and ended up buying all sorts of goodies to process.


I bought:

Corn on the cob [Frozen in the freezer]
Apples
Oranges [For Orange Wine. Orange Curd, saving the peel and home made mixed peel]
Lemons [Lemon Curd, Lemon Squash, Save the peel, Salted Preserved Lemons]
Grapefruit [Grapefruit Curd, Mixed Peel]
Cherries [Cherries in syrup (bottled) Cherry Brandy]
Victoria Plums [Plum Jelly, Chutney]
Black Plums [Plum Sauce]
Pears [Bottled in syrup, Spiced Pears]
Mini Pears (whole in syrup)
Tangerines [Curd, pomanders for Christmas]
Cooking Apples Chutney
Red Cabbage [Frozen in the freezer for use with pheasant and game)
Leeks [Frozen}
Raspberries [Raspberry Vinegar]
Strawberries [Strawberry Jam, part of summer compote for freezer for use at Christmas]
Blueberries [part of summer compote for freezer]
Peaches [Part of summer compote for freezer and and also 5 Spiced Peaches and Spiced Peaches]
Tomatoes [Chutney, Roasted with garlic and herbs for frozen passata]
Garlic to use as and when
Squash [Frezer]
Sweet Potato [Freezer]
Spring Onions in Colcannon for the freezer
Carrotts [Frozen]



I have processed the corn on the cob for the freezer. Some of the cobs were really large and I have split these in two. The smaller ones I have cut into three - to serve with things like rack of ribs where you only want a small portion. they are easy enough to prepare and just need blanching for a few minutes before draining and then packaging for the freezer. I want to get as many nice goodies as I can in the freezer for good eating during the winter months and at £1 for 3 cobs I didn't think that was too bad a price.



Then I have prepared red cabbage for the freezer as well I love its bright colour.

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Then the leeks I have cut these on the slant at an angle and you can mix them into home made stir fries or to use as a base for a sauce or gravy or to serve as a veg. I always portion these as I do any items in 2 portion bags (if I have more people over just take out as many extra bags as required).



I sort of made the most of it today as the people who own it are going on holiday for a fortnight and the shop will not be open in their absence.

I have started off the Raspberry Vinegar. This will be lovely over a goats cheese salad

First of all you crush the berries in a bowl with the back of a spoon. Then you add white wine vinegar. I then decant into a jar with a lid and leave for several days.



Isn't the colour vibrant.



I was given these carrots as a freebie by the shop. To all intents and purposes they looked gone off, but it was only the outer skin which was just dark I have scraped this off and have ended up with lots of flavoursome carrots for the freezer.





And I still have loads more to do including:-

These lovely black plums



And

These Victoria Plums



Still have lots to do and this is despite me making two trips to the hospital for the day. One of my uncles and Aunts was visiting yesterday and it was lovely to see them again.

Well upwards and onwards have to process all of this and then there are other jobs like the washing and ironing besides.

Cant stop must fly have no end to do still and I am determined the pantry is going to be packed to the gunnels.

Catch you all soon.

Comments

  1. My goodness, you certainly have been busy! You make me feel rather inadequate but I'm doing so much coming and going at present that I can't settle to do domestic things. This is very inspiring though so I might try and do a few bits this week before I go off again on Saturday.

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  2. Wow, that's a lot! You'll be so happy come mid-winter, eh? Just to let you know I did find some of those containers at Poundland and bought 2 packs - just the right size for single serving of a main dish or 2 servings of a side dish. Thanks so much for mentioning them :-)

    I hope things are well with your Mother, just take care of yourself too!

    All the best-

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  3. How do you freeze your cabbage and what do you use it in after it is frozen? I have a mother lode of cabbage this year and am at a quandry how I am going to use it all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Hazel welcome to my blog

    All I do with cabbage is trim off any outer leaves. Shred finely for tight packing or cut into wedges. Blanch shredded cabbage for 1 1/2 minutes or in steamer for 2 minutes. Wedges should be blanched for approximately 3 minutes or in steam 4 minutes.

    This is the first time I had done red cabbage and I would suggest adding lemon juice or wine vinegar to help keep the colour as red cabbage does leach the cciaolour very quickly. I also dunk in ice cold water to cool down then leave to drain afterwards then pack into containers or polythene bags.

    I hope that this helps

    Tri

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rowan

    nice to see you back - didn't mean to make you feel inadequate its just that with working full time a day off or days off is like gold dust and I tend to pack doing an awful lot of things into the time available to me. So you are gallivanting again - anywhere nice? Hope you enjoy yourself.

    Look forward to reading about it

    Take care

    Tricia

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Kadeeae

    Glad you found some of the containers if you get stuck and cannot get any let me know and I will see what I can do for you, but I have seen them in most pound shops. I had an interesting conversation with my brother this afternoon we were talking about dreams and ambitions and I told him my dream is very simple very practical if and when I can ever afford it would like a piece of land where I could grow my own and only venture into civilisation if and when I feel like it (excusing the internet). He laughed at first but then he saw where I was coming from, and agreed in part that it is something he had thought about - but he said he has Tesco's! I turned round and said at the minute - if you grow your own you are more self sufficent. I think he took my point. As i pointed out to him Nan and Pop our grandparents came through the second world war pretty well - and they were never hungry dehspite food restrictions as they had a smallholding. Its something that we all really need to address some way or the other.

    Take care

    I'll get of my soap box!

    Catch you soon.

    Tricia

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you so much, I will be giving this a try!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You are very welcome

    Hope it goes well.

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  9. Hi Tricia - I'm off to Siffolk to visit my son and his family for a few days, will be spending my birthday there - hoping for some decent weather!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Safe journey Rowan and have a fantastic birthday - it will be lovely for you to have the family around you.

    Have a really special time catch you when you are back

    Tricia

    xx

    ReplyDelete

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