This year I have three things I didn’t last year, which opens up some options for me!:
A food processor (which will equal much easier salsa making)
A cherry pitter (so I can do anything cherry)
A food mill (to get out seeds, skins, whatever! Yay!)
But what I want to know – what are your favorite things to do with summer produce? I can’t do it all… I would love suggestions. 🙂
In approximate order of when they’ll be ripe:
Strawberries: Dried, Freezer Jam (my favorite type of pectin – it’s lower sugar and the jam is more like eating strawberries than jelly), Strawberry pie filling, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling
Raspberries: Dried (a bit seedy, but very pretty), Freezer Jam, Syrup, Cooked/Canned Jam
Cherries: Cherry Preserves, Cherry Butter, Cherry pie filling (I bought a cherry pitter this winter and i know where I can get cheap u-pick pie cherries!)
Blueberries: Dried (I don’t do anything about the skins and they’re still great), Blueberry Pie Filling, Frozen whole (2 cups per bag, no special instructions)
Blackberries: Freezer Jam, Frozen whole (2 cups per bag, no special instructions), syrup, Cooked/Canned Jam
Plums: Dried (I cut in half, pit and place on dehydrator… we have an Italian Plum tree), Jam, Frozen in chunks (I cut in half, and then into fourths and freeze in 4 cup portions because that’s what my plum pie recipe uses)
Pears: Sauce, Dried, Canned in pieces, pear butter
Apples: Sauce, Dried, apple butter, Apple pie filling, Cider
Peaches: Canned Peaches in pieces, Dried Peaches (I like it in little strips), Peach Jam, Peach Pie Filling, Peach Butter
Apricots: Apricot preserves
Tomatoes: Chopped tomatoes (I omit the peeling), spaghetti sauce, salsa, Ketchup
I would like to know if anybody has favorite recipes for any of these… these are only half tried by me and half brand new recipes for me. I’d welcome tried and true recipe links… spaghetti sauce or ketchup recipes for instance?
