Food Storage & Preservation

Putting a Dent in the Mountain

August 14, 2012

So, what do you do when you come home from vacation to over 30 pounds of produce waiting for you in the garden?  You figure out how to preserve it as quickly as possible and you spend the entirety of your last day of vacation putting a dent in the mountain and brainstorming as many zucchini and squash recipes as possible to complete over the next several days.

Here’s what was canned yesterday:

  • 5 pints of whole heirloom tomatoes
  • 7 pints of corn
  • 3 half pint of tomato paste
  • 2 half pints of tomato basil jam
  • 7 quarts of pinto beans (not grown in the garden, but still processed along with the madness)

Here’s what has been frozen:

  • 6 ears of corn (+4 in the fridge)

And here’s what’s been planned:

  • Mini, dehydrated zucchini and tomato “pizzas”
  • Zucchini Bread
  • Pickled Zucchini

Today marks the beginning of the fall semester at work, which means staff training for the After School program I manage.  Tomorrow will bring a few more hours of training and then the very exciting first day back at school for our public schools.  The first bit back is always so wonderful…so many little ones…so much excitement and nerves and new-ness!!!

But back to the mountain of produce, because despite my last paragraph, I just keep thinking about next weekend and all the work that has to be done in the garden and in the kitchen.  So, I’d love to hear any ideas or recipes you might have for squash and zucchini.  I’d also love to see if any of you have a favorite tomato sauce recipe you’re willing to share!  I’d really like to try a few new things since there’s so much of everything coming in 🙂  I thank you in advance!

Hope you’re having a wonderful day, whatever you’re doing!

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9 Comments on “Putting a Dent in the Mountain”

  1. Quite the harvest! Alot of work, but just think about all that garden yumminess you’ll be enjoying when it’s snowing outside. I suspect we’re all busy putting up preserves right now, since the blogosphere seems to be pretty quiet nowadays.

    1. Absolutely! I can’t wait to crack open some garden fresh delicious-ness in the cold snowy days of winter. Well…I guess I can wait, but it is exciting! I know what you mean about the blogospere being quiet…I cannot keep up with anything…my posts, everyone elses posts…ugh. Ah well…soon enough the garden will be quiet and I’ll be longing for busier days 😉

  2. Oh you don’t want to waste any of your beautiful homegrown produce, sounds like a crazy time at the moment but just think how much you will enjoy your preserves in the middle of winter.!!!!
    I had a bumper crop of zucchini earlier in the year and made my first ever batch of pickles, (even friends said they were good)and a great Indian spiced relish with pumpkin and zucchini,the recipe is on my blog if you want. Happy preserving !!!!

    1. Oh yes…I am so looking forward to bringing food out of the pantry instead of purchasing it at the store! It’s such a wonderful (albeit exhausting) process! I will look for your recipe…it sounds absolutely divine!

  3. We are very, very much feeling what you’re feeling. Our mantra of late is, “where there’s a will there’s a way!”

    We found a very good, easy and accessible recipe for summer squash. It’s not a recipe really. It’s just a thing.

    Cut tomato circles.
    Cut squash circles. (If you want, cut eggplant circles too!)
    Place tomato circles in cake pan first.
    Place squash circles on top of tomato circles (I don’t know where to add the eggplant circles, but I’m betting they’ll be fine wherever they lay.)
    brush on oil
    grate on as much Parmesan cheese as your taste buds desire.
    bake at 400 until done.
    Enjoy hot and fresh. Enjoy cold and quick!

    1. Oh yum! Thank you for sharing your recipe “thing”! It sounds simple and wonderful…just like I like my recipes! 😉

  4. Very nice explained, this is what i like! Thanks for sharing.

  5. We’re afraid to leave the house for very long, knowing that the summer squash will take over! I’ve been collecting recipes for the glut of summer squash here, my favorite being the ones that start with require 2 to 3 pounds of ’em:
    http://pinterest.com/seacoasteatlocl/summer-squash-recipes/
    My favorite way to preserve them is to make Jim Lahey’s Zucchini Pizza — I make big batches of it this time year and freeze. If you have the space, it’s wonderfully convenient to toast it back up and have with tomato soup mid-winter.

    1. Oh my…your collection of recipes on pinterest is absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing it!!! Everything looks so incredibly delicious!

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