Bits and Bobs

This week, I'm focused on making the most of every last bit of my summer harvest. With an abundance of capsicums and peppers on hand, freezing them is the best way to ensure they’re available for future meals. Jane’s blog on preserving peppers is coming soon, but I take a simple shortcut—once cut into the desired sizes, I pat them dry with paper towel, pop them straight into zip-lock bags, and place them in the freezer.

My Heritage ‘Fanny Adams’ apple tree produced a lovely crop, but a few fruits remained uneaten. Rather than letting them go to waste, I’ve preserved them for my lunchtime smoothies. It couldn’t be easier—just core, chop, and freeze in zip lock bags. When it’s smoothie time, I grab what I need. I’ve done the same with apricots, peaches, nectarines, and those store-bought bananas that always seem to ripen faster than expected. I planted a banana tree, which surprisingly has grown in my temperate weather and looks beautiful, but to date no fruit has been produced.

Thanks to this simple prep, I have a stash of frozen fruit ready to brighten my smoothies all winter long.

The roast chicken carcass from Easter Sunday is finding new life as a rich, homemade stock—the foundation for a comforting pot of chicken and vegetable soup.

Into the pot, I’ve added the carcass, onions, spring onions and celery tops, carrot peelings, dried herbs, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, garlic, and black peppercorns. These vegetable peelings and off-cuts I place in freezer bags throughout summer as I am making other meals in preparation for stock making in Autumn and Winter. This collection of flavors will simmer for a few hours, then be strained and turned into a nourishing soup later in the week for free-range consumption over the long weekend. If I am not home for the day I complete this process in my slow cooker and return home to a beautiful sotck ready to strain.

This stock can be preserved in jars, but must be pressure preserved, not water bathed, as the pH is too high and it will turn rancid and dangerous to consume.

The final leftover that needs to be dealt with is a scrumptious Nutella Cheese Cake I made for Easter Sunday Lunch. This recipe is from Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats and was absolutely beautiful. I have allocated myself to undertake this arduous task and savoured every moment.

The things I do for my family!

My photo does not look as good as Nagi's, but it tasted fantastic.

My next preserving project is to tackle my abundantly laden Granny Smith apple tree. I will start picking these today and take you through my process of preserving these for winter desserts, apple sauce, and snacks.