Preserving Summer Produce, Part 1

Yikes, has my life been a little bit hectic! Summer has hit and I feel like I'm going non-stop. We took a short trip to Las Vegas last weekend to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. But before I left, I had to save all of the CSA produce that I hadn't been able to eat from that week...

So here's a couple of quick tips for two totally separate items: garlic and watermelon. I don't recommend them being used together. But, if you have any brilliant ideas for how they could, let me know.

Storing Fresh Garlic
My mom showed me years ago that if you have a bunch of fresh garlic, you can store it in the fridge if you peel it, put it in a jar, and cover it with white wine. It keeps for weeks, even months, just like that. And you can use it when you need it - it won't mold or lose its flavor. I got three big heads of garlic in my box this week, and there was no way that I'd have been able to use it in time.

Before I started canning, I never had mason jars in the house, but since I have, I use extra jars for all sorts of things. They come in handy more often that I had ever thought! You can find them at hardware stores, like OSH or Ace Hardware.

Got Leftover Watermelon??

I did. A whole half a watermelon. I'm amazed at how many servings you can get out of one of these things. I bought it for a BBQ, had 10 people over, and I still had more than half left.

My nephew used to love watermelon juice when he was little. I'm sure he still enjoys it. Thinking of him, I decided to blend it up into juice, store it in the freezer, and then I'd have it on hand for a refreshing summer drink in the future.

With this one half melon, I got two pints of juice by simply cutting it up, throwing it in the blender and letting 'er rip.

Here's to watermelon mojitos, watermelon margaritas, sparkling watermelon juice spritzers, and all the other watermelon drinks that are to come! (We'll see how far two pints of juice goes.)

There's more to come on preserving produce, so stay tuned. :)