Canning, Freezing and Drying Fruits and Veggies

I've been busy canning, freezing and drying fruits and veggies since I last posted.

Bobbie brought me tomatoes when she visited. I dried 4 trays of tomato slices, and made 6 - 1 1/2-pints of Zesty Tomatoes to put in the freezer. These are like Ro-tel or diced tomatoes with green chilies.

I bought a dozen ears of sweet corn and cut it off the cob for packages in freezer. I saved the corn cobs to make into Corncob Jelly. I will post the recipe later.

I have a batch of Crisp Sweet Pickles that will be canned tomorrow.

Dad and Mae have continued to keep me supplied in Blackberries. I've put several 1 cup packages of whole berries in the freezer. I have juiced some of the berries and put that in pint containers to make jelly as we need it. I had blackberry juice left from last year and I made 5 pints of Blackberry Jelly yesterday.

I had Concord Grape juice left from last year and I made 5 pints of Concord Grape Jelly this morning. Soon it will be time to pick Concord Grapes at Bobbie's. Of course, we have to share with Lucy. I never in my life seen a dog that will pick grapes from the vine and eat them.

I dried 4 trays of zucchini slices. I love to use them as chips and dip in Ranch Dressing. I grated some of the zucchini for the freezer in 1 cup packages. I will use these for breads, muffins, and soups.

I do hope this weekend to get some Bartlett pears to can and dry. I'll also check the farmer's market for bargains on fruits and veggies. Last time I was at the farmer's market I found a huge bag of green peppers for $2..............they are now all dried and waiting to be added to my recipes.

That's all for today.