It is officially Fall here in Idaho, and I have been canning or prepping the garden harvest for weeks now.
Whole plum tomatoes for recipes later.
Shredding the squash, freezing it on baking trays and then vacuum sealing for winter meals.
Roasting poblano chilies, deseeding, slicing and packing in garlic flavored olive oil.
Taking the cherry tomatoes, cutting them in half, deseeding what I can. Then tossing in a minimum of olive oil and sprinkling my garden herb salt to dehydrate overnight.
Pickling lemon cucumbers with red bell pepper, red onion, a garlic clove and ¼ teaspoon of cumin seed and rice vinegar.
Next weekend I will cut back the herb garden to make a large batch of that garden herb salt that has become one of my favorite gifts.
I bought 30 pounds of the beautiful dark inside and outside plums from Waterwheel Gardens, and will spend the next few nights, 10 pounds at a time making my savory plum sauce and canning that. By savory I mean I add raw cane sugar – only a cup to the ten pounds – and a packed ¼ cup of fresh thyme. Oh, and a cup of red wine! A few rounds in a Cuisinart and the sauce is ready to be processed for canning. I really am going to have to figure out that recipe in a smaller scale for a meal. After the holidays I will un-can most of the sauce and make a plum chipotle barbecue sauce and re-can in 12 oz jelly jars. They will make the best pop by gifts for my friends and clients.
I am so weary of canning the tomatoes that with what I have, I froze to do something with later. Savory Tomato Jam it is!
That brings me to this post. I am plum out of ideas to write from staying up late in the kitchen. So, I am sharing a few recipes to inspire you to grow a garden next Spring!
Bon Appetit!
Laurie B's Blog© 
Leave a Reply