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Last-chance herbs I hope to get picked–and dehydrated–before the first hard freeze.
Most of the time when I’m talking about the Ball Blue Book and preserving, I’m talking about canning, but there’s a lot more to the world of preserving than that. There’s fermenting, freezing, pickling, and dehydrating, too. I’ve done a lot of dehydrating ever since I got a dehydrator. (A dehydrator is the most awesome thing in the world!) I freeze quite a bit, too, but I’ve barely dipped my hand into pickling. I love pickles now and then, but I’m not a huge pickle fan. However, you can pickle more than pickles (cucumbers, I mean). You can pickle many vegetables, including garlic. You can even pickle tomatoes and all sorts of fruits! I haven’t tried fermenting, either. (Unless you count making yeast bread.) The most common thing people ferment is kraut, though when I think about fermenting, I think of fruit. I’ve seen recipes for rum pots with fruit all over the place and I’m so tempted…. I’m also having a hankering to pickle garlic now. (Anyone out there ever pickled garlic? Was it good?? What did you do with it?)
There’s always something new to try with preserving!
(Making cheese, by the way, is another form of preserving. It’s preserving milk!)
It’s a Ball Blue Book Project day! Today’s Ball Blue Book is sponsored by Susan–you can visit her at Farmgirl Fare.
For a chance to win: Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want it. You can just put (BBB) at the end of your comment or otherwise note that you want to be in the draw. One winner will be drawn by random comment number to receive a Ball Blue Book. Eligible entry cut-off is midnight Eastern (U.S.) time tonight (October 26). This post will be updated with the winner by 9 a.m. Eastern (U.S.) time tomorrow (October 27). Return to this post to claim your book if your name is drawn (or check the BBB Winners List).
Find out more about the Ball Blue Book Project and become a sponsor.
UPDATE 10/27/10: The winning comment number, drawn by random.org, is #121, Jen. Email me at CITRgiveaways(at)yahoo.com with your full name and address for shipping!
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on October 26, 2010
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Please enter me in the BBB drawing too. Thanks!
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BBB pretty please.
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BBB Me Please
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BBB also please.
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I found out most dehydrated fruits (which I am very fond of) contain sulfur, which seriously aggravates my asthma. I’m not sure yet if the sulfur is a natural by-product of dehydration, or if it is something that is added during the commercial dehydration process. More research is needed on my part, obviously! But if it is possible to dehydrate without the sulfur, I’m all for it.
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Please enter me in the BBB, please.
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Please enter me in the BBB please.
Evelyn J.
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Would luv to have a copy of the BBB.
I’ve used pickled garlic in a pasta saute dish with onion, pickled garlic, tomatoes, shrimp.
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Suzanne I love photos of your animals, but second to those ~ photos of your jams and jellies! BBB
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Oh, BBB please.
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have a good day everyone!
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I’d love a chance to win the BBB, so consider me entered!
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And does anyone have an Excalibur dehydrator? I’m thinking of getting one…I use the round dryer with trays and it’s OK, but I need to delve into drying more..and need opinions.
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I would love a BBB BTW. Thank you!
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Sal
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My family loves pickles and we’re frequent canners as well. We can our own tomato sauce from the left over tomatoes and peaches too. Applesauce and corn cut off the cob are what we frequently freeze in bags too. There’s nothing like Jersey corn warmed up in the middle of the winter!
Oh, and “(BBB)”
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It’s very easy, very quick and low maintenance (like dehydrating!). It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite preservation methods. The only complaint is the amount of salt involved but if you use leftover whey from yogurt or cheesemaking, you can cut way down on the salt because the bacteria gets a head start. Great stuff. You should absolutely try more! Feel free to drop me an email if you want book recommendations or recipes.
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BBB, please!
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We also pickle onions, green tomatoes and green beans, in addition to the traditional cucumbers.
My dehydrator is running flat out these days, making apple rings and grape leather. Canning’s all done – the final project was 600 pounds of applesauce – but I’ve still got plenty to do.
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“Space Book” page. Whatever.
BBB,please.
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please enter me for the BBB giveaway, too!
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IowaCowGirl: Get the Excalibur. You won’t be sorry.
I would love to have a BBB!
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Enter me for the BBB, please.
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But, here’s why I would like a new Ball Blue Book: About 6 years ago, our nephews (from the Charleston area) were at WVU living in “The Man House,” an old Victorian in the South Park neighborhood. They found a 1943 edition of the BBB, complete with recipes adapted for the scarity of sugar and instructions on how to can without zinc lids! It’s a fascinating glimpse into the war years. I’d like the opportunity to peak into the current edition, learn the differences, and maybe gain the courage to move beyond small amounts of preserving and on to full-fledged canning.
Thanks for your time, and thanks for your blog.
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Suzanne–recently I was watching of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer, I beleive he was in rural parts of Russia, and he was sampling many pickled food among them was whole pickled tomatoes. I thoght of you. We forget that in many parts of the world there is no electic for refrigeraton or freezers, so pickling all foods is the only way to preserve it. I am so happy to see so many of your young followers (most all of them are young to me) taking control of their familes food supply. If I were young again, I would do the same. It is so nice that they have a place to find out how to do so many things from someone who lives it daily, not just writes about it.
Thank you.