Some to eat, some to store

Derek's weekly post talks about the changing of the seasons and late summer is the time when I tend to work the most on "storing" food for the winter months ahead. I don't do a lot of canning - pickles, tomato sauce and sometimes relish, dilly beans and a hot pepper spread are my main canned goods. However I do prep and freeze things for enjoyment later. If you have ideas on how you enjoyed your harvest, please send to me at lindadansbury@comcast.net.

Tomatillos, hot pepper, garlic - made a large batch (from a couple of weeks of U-pick) of Tomatillo Sauce and froze it in the size batches needed to make complete recipes later.

Edamame - cooked as explained in prior emails. I took half of my U-pick and drained them well, placed on cookie sheet and froze, then when frozen I placed in plastic bag. The other half I shelled while watching Olympic event and used the same method for freezing - this helps expedite prep for dishes that use shelled edamame.

Eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic - made a large batch of Caponata 1 and 2. I really love this dish because it is so flexible: it can be eaten at room temperature as a topping for bruschetta, a pizza topping, as a side dish, added to pasta - if you add white beans or some type of meat, it is a complete meal. Caponata freezes very well, so I do so in containers that are enough for a meal.

Cherry and heirloom tomatoes, garlic, basil - Uncooked Tomato Sauce over pasta.

Snap Beans, scallions, garlic, tomatoes, edamame - made a delicious stir fry using our ground pork from Ledemete Grass.

Tomatoes, garlic, basil - made bruschetta and Caprese Salad a few times as we do every year when the tomatoes are at their peak.