Missing the Fresh Produce

This summer, I spent almost every Saturday at Janoski's with my Auntie.  She loves going there and is a wonderful cook! She grew up on a farm and knows so much about how to pick produce -- it amazes me.  The fresh selection of fruits and vegetables, especially at the peak of the season is incredible! They grow everything from apples and peaches to zucchini and peppers! At first, I kept it simple buying only items that I was familiar with such as tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and summer squash.  But after a while my curiosity of all the other produce grew.  I started buying things outside of my comfort zone -- eggplant, spaghetti squash, butternut squash and hot peppers.

I looked up recipes and got to work! I learn how to make multiple dishes for each item.  My favorites are eggplant parmesan, roasted butternut squash, and spaghetti squash with roasted red peppers and onions.  In the future, I'll do photo blogs of each of those with the recipes that I use.

After a few small trips I started to think to myself, other than canning, is there a way that I can save these fruits and veggies into the winter?

My first adventure was a peck of peaches.  For around $7.00 I got a lot of peaches!  I wish that I could remember off hand how many, but there was at least 30.  They were some of the sweetest peaches that I have ever tasted.  One of the items I made was a Peach Brandy Cobbler.  It was good, however the fresh peach brandy sauce was completely unnecessary and I did not like the consistency.  Therefore, I won't share the recipe -- BUT I do promise that next summer I will find a better cobbler recipe. :) 

Peach Brandy Cobbler

Now making a cobbler and keeping a few to eat fresh left me with a  lot extra.  I starting thinking about canning and discussed it with my Auntie.  In her wisdom, she looked at me and say "Why bother canning when you have a freezer?"  So I went on a mission! Core and slicing away! In about two hours I finished packaging individual servings of peaches and placing them in the freezer.  I found out the I love frozen peaches as a sweet snack instead of ice cream and I ended up buying another peck before summer ended. 

A peck of peaches

My next two adventures were a bushel of peppers (38 for about $9) and a basket of hot peppers (22 for $4)!  I made Rachel Ray's Chicken Fajita Tortilla Soup with the adaptation of cutting the stock in half to make it more like a stew.  Then I went to town! Coring, chopping and slicing then par-freezing and packaging them up in different sizes for soup, sauce, stir-fry veggies and more!  I love being able to go in the freezer, take out some peppers and know that they do not have any preservatives and that they were frozen at the peak of their freshness! 

A basket of fresh hot peppers

I am hoping to get one or two more trips in before the season is finally over.  Most of the peppers have been picked, but there are plenty of apples, pumpkins, and squash in our future!


Until we eat again,
Amateur Chef Cheryl