The Beet Goes On

      Like anyone with a garden, the Fall for us is filled with harvesting and storing what we can from our garden for the long winter. It may sound silly but it makes me feel a little like Laura Ingles Wilder. I like that. I also generally end up getting super ambitious and driving the Hubby crazy, but I just get so excited and wrapped up in all of it that I can't help myself!

 

     Ok, so today was beets. I actually bought a "Bowl of Beets" from Snell Family Farm for $10 at Farmer's Market. There were 10 ENORMOUS beets in the bowl and a handful of medium sized beets and they were beautiful! I love beets. I roast them, pickle them, I ate a bowl full just after they were boiled for crying out loud.

 

     I am, however, the only one in the house who will enjoy them with such fervor. The others may indulge me by eating a few but I know that will be the extent of their commitment. So I only "cold pickled" two jars as opposed to actually canning a ton of them. I sliced the beets and placed them in jars. Then, to the jars I added 1/4 red wine and filled the jar the rest of the way with red wine vinegar (leaving roughly 1/2" of space). I added some fresh dill, minced garlic and raw sugar. I sealed them up and they are resting peacefully in the fridge as we speak. In a few weeks they will be divine and I will undoubtedly devour them.

 

     I saved out two for roasting with meals over the next few days as well. I've left them whole but if you wanted to you could peel and chop them and then store them for easy use later.

 

     Then we took the rest of them and set to work so that they could be frozen. The beets were tossed into boiling water (skins on)  for roughly 45 minutes to an hour. When done, a knife will easily puncture one. Then we took the skins off, which are removed easily at this point, and chopped them. We let them cool fully and packed them up into a few serving size containers. These will be pulled and prepared for family meals throughout the winter.  We also filled a 1 gallon sized freezer bag with them. This will be used for a large family gathering, probably Thanksgiving or Christmas.

 

 

     The project was easy and will give us some variety this winter while still giving us local freshness too. My standing chest freezer is growing fuller and happier by the day! Hooray!

 

Winter will be delicious.

 

Simple City Sam