Garden goodness: Preserving it all

My apologies for the delay in getting a new post up, friends.  It has just been busy around here.  Mark and I were able to get away for a few days last week, just the two of us, which I am so thankful for. We stayed at a bed & breakfast, took long walks together, watched the Olymics, watched a movie, read our books, prayed together, ate great food, and rested well.  It was delightful.

Prior to that I did a lot of dehydrating.  Lots of apples.  And then I made some applesauce:


Have I ever shown you one of my favorite things?  THIS is my making-applesauce friend:

You just slice the apples (removing the core, but leaving the peel on), boil the apples in a bit of water for a few minutes until they're soft, and then dump them into this sieve thing, and use that wooden mallet to shove them down and to the sides, add cinnamon and sugar to taste and you get applesauce. 

I also made some jam and did some canning:



 

Our garden is growing lots of green beans right now.  I wasn't up to canning beans, so I used this method again to pickle some vegetables to keep in the fridge. This year I did carrots, green beans, onions, cucumbers and peppers (the carrots and green beans were the only thing from our garden.)  

We're also getting tons of these delicious Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes, which I've dried and frozen whole and eaten fresh.  But my VERY FAVORITE way to eat them this summer is to roast them.  Slice them (or any other tomato from your garden) in half and put them on a cookie sheet (on parchment paper or silpat).  Peel some garlic cloves, slice them, and throw those in there, too.  Then add some fresh herbs.  Basil or thyme is what I have, so that's what I've done.  Then drizzle a bit of olive oil on the top of it all, sprinkle some salt, and roast in the oven for about an hour (at 250 or 300 degrees).  This makes them all mushy and yummy, like a paste.

If you have a baguette or some crusty bread or crackers or anything like that?  Grab that, spread on some goat cheese, and then dollop some of your yummy roasted tomatoes on the top of that and you will be SO HAPPY.  Yum.


Later this week I will get back to my Evaluating our School Year homeschool series.  Which feels weird since I'm actually beyond that, now, and am in full-on planning mode already for next year, but I will press on.  ;)

Oh!  You may notice some changes here on the blog- with design and layout.  I'm working on changing it but it will be wonky until it's all settled.  Bear with me. 

Love to you all,
~Stacy

9 comments:

  1. Love it! The tomatoes and goat cheese sounds delicious. Where did you get all the apples? Are you in a place where it is Apple season already? Looking forward to the rest of your school posts ... And your plans for the new year. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IrieMomma~
      My brother-in-law has an apple tree, and we take them from anyone who offers them (friends, neighbors). Yes! We live in the Northwest, and early apple varieties are already done! Thanks for commenting and appreciating my school posts. I often think of you while I'm writing them, because I know you like the details! :)

      Delete
  2. Hey ♥ so glad you could get away and that it was a lovely time! You all have been close in my thoughts and prayers - will not stop lifting you up.

    Great post (makes me hungry here in the middle of the night - lol). That sieve thing is called a "ricer" from where I'm from. Not a clue in this world what the the tech name might be, but just the picture of it makes me smile and brings back so many memories of working with miles of apples and pumpkins with my mom and grandmothers and their friends. So sweet! Love & hugs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so sweet, Quinne. Thank you. Thank you for your prayers.

      I LOVE knowing it's called a ricer! Thank you! No one in my extended family seemed to know what it was called! I'm so glad to know it!

      Blessings to you and yours, sweet friend.

      Delete
  3. Look at all that canned goodness! I didn't get a single thing canned this year, but I had a lot on my plate with moving back home. I have yet to try anything with rhubarb.

    I see that you got your blog template uploaded and working :) Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well. I think you're entitled to a year off. We were completely out of jam and have had fruit coming out our ears, so I had to do *something* with it all. ~smile~

      Argggh. Blog template. I am TRYING. I need to figure out what to do with the header. I just threw the strawberry photo up there until I can figure it out, but time for doing such things is rare. I have a great idea in my MIND of what I'd like, but no technical ability of how to make that appear. ;)

      Love to you!

      Delete
  4. Stacy, I am trying to figure out how to leave comments. Will you let me know if you got this? Sherena

    ReplyDelete
  5. I want to come eat roasted tomatoes and goat cheese and bread with you!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting! I love hearing from you, and I will do
my best to reply back to you in the comment section.