Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The Fall Pantry Update

 Well, folks, I was asked if I could give a final pantry recap on what I have put up for winter, so I shall now try to list it here.  I must warn that I might miss a few things.  There's a lot *laugh*.

I have spent, foraged, gleaned, bartered, gone to war to get every little bit out of my garden.  I have canned, dehydrated, blanched and frozen, even when I had no energy to do any of it.

And so my friends, here's the final results.

This is peace.  This is security.  This is a sense of accomplishment.  This is pride.  This, is, by far, a blessing as this will feed my family.  I'll show pictures of the freezer (I couldn't get a good enough angle to get the fridge freezer to turn out right in pictures, though) and the pantry, but I'm concentrating on things that I put up myself :).


In the Freezers:
  • Cabbage, sliced into sections, blanched and frozen 
  • Freezer slaw, made from outer leaves of cabbage
  • Corn, cut off ears, blanched and frozen
  • Zucchini, grated, portioned into bags for zucchini bread
  • Watermelon berries (foraged)
  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries (foraged and gleaned from mother-in-law's)
  • Peas, blanched and frozen (lots from garden)
  • Carrots, sliced, blanched and frozen (from garden)
  • Squash, cubed, blanched and frozen
  • High bush cranberries (foraged)
  • Turnips
  • Rose Hip fruit leather (foraged rose hips to make, put into freezer for long-term storage)
  • Potatoes, baked and/or par boiled and turned into hash browns and put into bags for soups and other applications
  • Swiss Chard, blanched and frozen (from garden)
  • Spinach, blanched and frozen (from garden)
  • Chinese Cabbages, various, blanched and frozen (from garden)
  • Cantaloupe


Home Canned:

Pie Fillings:
  • Triple Berry Pie Filling
  • Cherry Pie Filling
  • Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling
  • Apple Pie Filling

Syrups:
  • Pancake Syrup
  • Rose Hip Syrup
  • Golden Syrup


Jams/Jellies:
  • Raspberry Jam
  • Strawberry Jam
  • Cherry Jam
  • Strawberry Preserves 
  • Orange Marmalade

Sauces:
  • Apple Sauce
  • Cranberry Sauce
  • Taco Sauce
  • BBQ Sauce
Fruits in Syrup:
  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Peaches
  • Grapes
  • Rhubarb
  • Cherries

Veggies/Pickles/Relish
  • Dilly Beans
  • Rat Tailed Radish Pickles (various types)
  • Red Cabbage Slaw
  • Rat Tailed Radish Relish

Condiments:
  • German Mustard
  • Yellow Mustard
  • Honey Mustard
Drinks:
  • Lemonade Concentrate
  • Peach Pie Moonshine
  • Mulled Apple Cider (not there yet, but is going to get put up hopefully this weekend)

 Dehydrated:
  • Cabbage
  • Cantaloupe 
  • Peppers
  • Rose Hip Fruit Leather (in freezer right now as seen above)
  • Sage
  • Rosemary
  • Thyme
  • Chives
  • Bunching Onions
  • Chocolate Mint
And I also braided and hung garlic as well.

Whew.  Even writing all of that made me tired.  How about you?  How has your food preservation gone so far this year?  I'm thinking I'm pretty much done with mine (after this I'm just planning on some shelf stable foods and some refrigerator storage apples and such).

11 comments:

  1. Wow, what an amazing accomplishment, Erika! Well done!!!! I knew it was a lot of food that you were able to preserve, but I had no idea it was that much. Sounds like your family will be eating really well this winter.

    I'm still preserving things as it was so hot this summer I just froze berries/fruit to make jam later. I anticipate canning will be going well into fall for me. So far I have blanched and froze green/waxed beans, corn, and broccoli. I will be watching for carrots to go on sale for cheap this fall, so I can blanch and freeze them as well. I have frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, mango, pineapple and some currents to use for making jam or other things like smoothies or fruit leather. So far I have canned pineapple chunks, peach slices, peach jam and peach/mango jam. I will most definitely buy apples this fall (we buy a bushel or two of "C-grade" apples from a roadside stand), which will be made into applesauce for canning, plus apple crisp and apple pies for the freezer. I'm hoping to buy some pears as well for canning.

    We still have pumpkin puree, butternut squash cubes, shredded zucchini and chopped rhubarb in the freezer from previous years that need using up. I wouldn't be surprised that I make more pumpkin puree, though, as we always seem to end up with one or two every year. Over and above that, I will see what cheap deals I find or produce I receive for free that add to our pantry/freezer!

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  2. No wonder that you have tendonitis! You are really a worker.

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  3. WOOHOO!!!!! YOU ROCK! Wow! I am so very impressed with all you have done. This has been a rough summer but you have excelled! I have read your post about three times and even used the magnification on the pictures (I am too nosy) to admire everything. My day has been made. Now, sit down and rest. You have earned it. Let the winter snow come and the winds blow, your family will be well fed no matter what happens. It is such a good feeling to know they are safe.
    Jeannie

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    1. Fabulous accomplishment, Erika! You've worked above and beyond, and it shows. Congratulations! I hope you get a chance now to rest & heal your arm.

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  5. Just amazing!! Your family is so lucky to have you!!! You have done a great job getting all of that prepared for the winter.

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  6. Wow. It's amazing what a determined woman can do. lol. You should be super proud of yourself. You took little and made much. My hat is off to you!
    Take care.

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  7. You have done a great job in spite of all the difficulties you have had. It is such a wonderful feeling to just stand back and look at all your labors. Awesome job!

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  8. Pretty amazing supplies of food for someone who gets so little sleep. Your winter is long, will all that food last? Cheryl

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  9. You did a great job, even with your lower than normal grocery budget. It's always a good felling to preserve your own grown food.
    As for me, so far I caned : cherries, grapes, tomato sauce, peaches, strawberry jam.
    I also freeze green beans and pesto from my garden, green peppers and some hot peppers.
    I dehydrated celery and basil, and made a year's worth of hatch green chili sauce.
    I still hope to can or freeze apple sauce, Apple pie filling, dry some mushrooms and onions. I don't use them all the time, but sometimes happens that we are out of onions and I don't like do run to the store for only one thing.
    And I forgot to mention all the blackberries I pick for free ( they grow wild here ) and few bags of blueberries, fermented pickles ( some from my garden ) and sauerkraut.


    It's funny how when you start writing down adds up to be quite a lot of food preserved, I did lived with that feeling that I did not get done to much this year.

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  10. Great job. I just started canning this year. One of my New Year Goals. You are a great resource for us newbies. Thanks

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