Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

This has been the craziest day with blogger.  It would let me post a new post as usual.  Just finally got into dashboard and looks like it could be a go.  Day late but I guess better than nothing.  I started uploading pictures last night and it was so slow I went to bed and left it loading.

Have been a bit busy this week with the harvest starting to come in with a little more produce.  Also with my personal goal of low cost eating with high end results.  This week 16-20 raw shrimp was on sale for $5.99 a pound which is $3 less than the regular price so got 4 pounds.  I repackage then into individual portions by wrapping them in waxed paper so the tails won't  pierce the bag.

 Then vacuum seal them and back into the freezer.  No worry about freezer burn.

 Smoked paprika peppers headed for the dehydrator.  Have ground them yet but they sure smell good.

Ground beef was also on sale this week for $2.49 a pound which is over a $1 off regular price so I spent quite a bit of time making burgers, repackaging in meal size portions and also make 2 batches of meatballs.  All are now nicely vacuum sealed and in the freezer.  Actually bought over 18 pounds.

 Then I did something that wasn't so wise.  I bought a big bag of corn to freeze.  There were 50 ears in the bag.  Haven't done corn in a long time and have decided it wasn't worth the time and cost as I could have bought frozen or canned corn cheaper.

 First had to get out the big guns to blanch the corn.

 Then the set up for cutting it all off the cob.

 All for this 13 pints plus we ate 10 ears fresh.

 5 more quarts of dill pickles

 2 quarts of tomatoes

 3 quarts of crock deli dills.  I did buy the cucumber to make these since my small picklers didn't germinate.

All in all it was a good week.

Harvest Monday 08/27/12

Another fairly busy week in the garden.  Still not a lot ready but things are straggling in.

 7 oz

 5# 14 oz

 2# 14 oz

 1 3/4 oz

 2# 12 oz.  Have pulled some of the pepper plants as there is no sign of more buds.

Mung Beans the first picking.  Don't think they are going to amount to too much.

 3# 5 oz

 This one grew in a pot on the deck and they only one it produced

 5# 9 oz

 More volunteer potatoes.  These put me over 15 pounds of volunteer potatoes

 The first bunch of celery picked.  1# 9 oz

First ripe paprika peppers 4 oz.

I discovered this week that one of the pepper plants in the aero garden has 2 peppers on it so should have fresh peppers this winter.

I love this time of year but not my house.  Baskets of produce sitting around waiting to be processed.  Canning jars, canning kettles and dehydrator.  They won't find their home until probably October.

Don't forget to check out our host Daphne's Dandelions and see what others have harvested this week.

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard 08/23/12

Things are looking up a little this week.  Starting to get a little put up.

 One of my favorite tools this time of year.  Steam Canner.  It replaces the old hot water bath canner.  It only requires 6-8 cups of water and the timing is the same as a hot water bath.  No more lifting heavy canners full of water.

 5 1/2 quarts of dill pickles

 4 pints of tomatoes

 Twice baked potatoes.  I had purchased 50 pounds of russet potatoes a few months back and decided I really need to use the up a little faster before they decided to go soft.  These were froze on a cookie sheet and then vacuum bagged in meal size portions.

 The first batch of sauerkraut.

 7 pints gone to the basement to ferment.  They will be processed in 6 to 8 weeks.

Celery leaves drying from the first bunch of celery picked from the garden.

Be sure to visit our host The Gardener of Eden  and see what others are squirreling away for the up coming winter.

Monday's Harvest 08/20/12

Fall has arrived in the mountains with night time lows in the 40's to low 50's.  Highs during the day mid 70's.  However the garden is starting to produce a little but with these low temperatures it is going to be a slow go.

The cucumbers are coming into their own now with picking almost every other day.  Total 8lbs. 9 oz.

2 more oz. of celery.

The beets are a bit disappointing.  I also pulled before I should have.  These would have continued to grow I am sure.  3lbs 7 oz.

The peppers continue to grow at the plots but no new blossoms.  3 lbs 8 oz.

Basil is starting to wind down.  Total 2 lbs 10 oz.

Still picking from the patio tomatoes 4 lbs 9 oz and will pick more today.

Dug more volunteer potatoes 9 lbs 14 oz.

Zucchini a big disappointment.  My one and only.  11 oz.  I know anyone can grow zucchini.  LOL

Broccoli is so-so.  9 oz.

Volunteer dill.  I never plant it.  I have one garden that reseeds every year.

I think the mung beans are going to be a big disappointment.  They have set lots of beans but the plants appear to be dieing now and the beans are no where near ready to pick.

Don't forget to stop by our host Daphne's Dandelions   and see what others around the globe are harvesting.

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard 8/16/12

Well another Thursday and not much going in the freezer or cupboards from the garden yet.  Did get a loin of Canadian Bacon cured and smoked this week for DB's breakfasts so that spot in the freezer is filled for a little while.

 My 2 measly pints of beets.  I got in a hurry and pulled the beets prematurely.  We did also have enough for dinner one night.

 Green peppers ready for the freezer.  They are 3 layers deep.

More broccoli added to the resealable vacuum bag that gives us a gallon bag so far but the heads are small.  Hopefully there will be a lot of side shoots this fall.

Not much doing on meal side this week.  Don't do a lot of cooking in the summer.  Just basic meat, potatoes and vegetables.

Still waiting for the so called meat prices to drop which is suppose to be happening soon and see what else we can find to get in the freezer for winter.

Did have salt potatoes one night which I can only make with the little new potatoes so they are a treat this time of year.

Be sure to visit our host The Gardener of Eden  and see what others are filling their freezers and cupboards with.

Harvest Monday 08/13/12

Patio tomatoes are starting to really do their thing this past week.  Just hope they hold out until the ones in the garden start getting ready.  Looks like I will be giving a few away as I don't have enough to start canning and no way I can eat them all myself.

Total 5 pounds of Bush Beefsteak

2 pounds 14 oz of King of the North green peppers.  Still not producing anymore blossoms.

First 3 cucumbers  Marketmore 76

Broccoli head plus a couple of side shoots. 5 /4 oz.

Cleaned the onions that came from the sets. 8pounds 12 oz.

Had a few cauliflower seedlings sitting around so planted them where the onions were and also put in some pickler cucumbers.  Not sure what I will get out of them.

Be sure to visit our host Daphne's Dandelions and see what others harvested this week.