Wednesday 3 August 2016

Preparing for Winter.



Haddock's is once again over producing, and it's a race against the clock to preserve everything.

I have started off with Ratatouille; a mixture of Tomatoes, Peppers, Aubergines and Courgettes. Probably the most useful of all my preserves.

For the moment I am freezing. Small 400gm bags are slowly filling any available space. When there is no more room I will start to bottle.

Above shows both stages; the gathering, and the finished jar. The jar above is my final one from 2015, and was just Tomato and Courgette (TG).

I shall be busy again all day, and probably tomorrow too.



27 comments:

  1. Everything looks wonderful !
    Will you be making the Pub Onions I think you called them again this year. They sounded so tasty.

    cheers, parsnip and thehamish

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    Replies
    1. Sorry Parsnip, you must be thinking of someone else. I've never heard of Pub Onions; but they sound good.

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    2. On reflection, maybe you were thinking of my Pickled Onions; in which case I will certainly be making them, but a little later towards winter.

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  2. What a lovely way to keep busy. Oh, and since you liked it: Naytheless.

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    Replies
    1. Not enough hours in the day, Cranky. Naytheless, I manage.

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    2. Better than too many hours in the day. Naytheless, I concede.

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  3. I see you have replaced the Opinel with some pruners. I am visibly shocked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The stems of the Aubergines can be tough little buggers; I shall try to be more consistent in future.

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    2. I have been beside myself with despair because its position has been usurped.

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    3. I really can't apologise enough. A sinful oversight on my behalf.

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  4. That's just what I am doing at the moment - I find all the chopping and slicing quite therapeutic, and it is always great in winter to use all those lovely summer veg from the freezer.

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    Replies
    1. I enjoy the whole process, especially the eating in winter.

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  5. This time of year is so busy with the harvests coming in, but it is such a nice feeling to see the freezer and pantry filling with produce for the winter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, but not so good to know that Autumn is creeping ever closer.

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  6. It's hard to keep up with it all and I just hate throwing stuff on the compost.

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    Replies
    1. Why not bottle it, and take it back to Bath for the winter? Nothing on our compost yet; my courgettes have been a failure and it was usually them that got thrown away.

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  7. Our freezer has just decided... when the weather is really hot... that it will hang up its plug and die!!
    It was around twelve years old...
    The new one is on its way and until then, we daren't open the freezer door!!
    It is only the veg freezer, fortunately, so everything in there can be cooked up and refrozen... or eaten... fortunately, two more mouths arrive on Friday!!

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    Replies
    1. Nightmare. I keep quite a lot of meat in ours so every time we have a power cut I panic!

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  8. Although not quite as wonderful as having a garden like Haddocks, being able to visit the Union Square farmers market today and see its full summer splendor was pretty darn good. I bought lots of veg, and my first 2016 peaches. Some of my favorite summer farmstands get set up for this time of the year, although other stands show up with something to offer all through the year.

    (Also bought some Marmite this afternoon.)

    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a journalist friend who regularly visited the Union Square Farmers Market.... he loved it. I hope you like the Marmite, let me know.

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    2. This was not my first jar of Marmite. I do like it when it's available in the kitchen. And then, when the jar is emptied, I give Marmite a bit of a rest, sometimes for years, before I think of restocking. The same is true for other foods.

      Best wishes.

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  9. Funny. We have 1.5 acres of which approx .3 is blackberries. So there are pies and jam, of course, but now also rumtopf (sugar, spices, fruit and rum) and creme de mure, which you will already know. Any other uses for said fruit appreciated - I suppose we could just flat-out freeze them as well..

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