Fruit for the winter.

[hippywife]

I think I might be able to stop putting up berries now. I have several jars of blueberry and strawberry preserves, probably 16 or so (I gave a lot away to friends.) Also have a couple of bags full (well one is half full now) of individually frozen blueberries and several containers of sugared frozen strawberries and I just did the same with 4 quarts of blackberries (I had to sugar those. They were huge and lovely looking but had very little flavor to them raw. Stupid hybrids!) Tons of cranberries still in there from November.

I figure if we're going to keep trying eat as healthy as possible, that's gonna mean lots of good fruit (even if it is sugared a little.) I tried to keep everything as local as possible but the strawberries are organic so they came from CA, until my own bear fruit next year and, of course, the cranberries aren't either. of course. Felt like I had to buy the strawberries because they were on sale for $2.99 a pound one week, and then $2 a pound the following week. Even tho I know better, I was weak and couldn't walk past that price.

Has anyone ever frozen muskmelon or watermelon before? I'll have check to see if it can be done or if it really takes a flash freezing method like the big agribusiness greedy ass bastids have.

I really don't want to live without fruit. It makes up such a huge portion of our diet now.

Anyone else making hay, as it were, to prepare for winter?

[grasswire]

1. the local blueberries are fabulous this year

Tomorrow I'm buying eight more pounds to freeze at the sale price of $4.99 for four pounds. We've been eating a lot of them already this week. Local strawberries are in, but I'd have to go to the Farmer's Market for them and they've screwed up the bus route this year so it would be a mile uphill walk to get there and it's just too warm this weekend for that. If I can find local strawberries anywhere else I'll get some. They are running $2.99 per pint which is very high around here. We had a lot of wonderful cherries last week. Oh, and nectarines and peaches are coming in locally so we'll binge on those, too. If I can find boysenberries or marionberries I'll freeze some, but the blackberries I had last year were just too seedy. I did not like them.

In the winter when I just crave, crave summer fruit those frozen things sure are terrific. Thanks for the nudge.

[mtnester]

2. I think too much water for freezing

I have never seen frozen watermelon in any grocery store....nor can I recall seeing cantelope or muskmelon...

PH considerations as well for canning, you would have to make a puree and mix with grape juice or other. However, can you freeze watermelon JUICE? I think you can

How about watermelon jelly?

On edit - off we go to pick more black raspberries and check on the blackberries...shudder...mosquitoes.

[hippywife]

3. I have seen them commercially.

I've seen a mix of frozen melon balls in the freezer section before. I think it was just muskmelon and honeydew, though. That's why I was wondering if maybe they can only be done IQF.

[mtnester]

5. I wish I could freeze watermelon, they seem to be particularly sweet

this year.

[shugah]

4. how did you do the blueberries?

i've got blueberries up to my ears! after doing some strawberry preserves, i thought, "hey, this is easy enough!" so i got a bunch of local blueberries... and i find that every recipe for blueberry preserves calls for tons of sugar - some are more sugar than berry. is that really necessary?

i have not frozen melons before - except chunks of watermelon overnight because it makes such a nice frozen treat on a hot summer day.

[hippywife]

6. I had a lot of blueberries, too.

I had a flat and then I bought two more quarts. I'd buy more if my freezer was bigger. LOL

I took two quarts, washed and picked though them. Then spread them out in a single layer on cookie sheets and stuck them in the freezer for a few hours. Once they were frozen solid, I put them in large ziplock bags in the freezer. They're perfectly individually frozen for baking.

Another two quarts I cooked with some sugar for sauce to stir into yogurt and spoon over ice cream. Lots of both get consumed around here so those didn't last long.

The rest of the flat I used to make low-sugar preserves with the no sugar needed pectin. You can use as much as three cups of sugar per batch, which is half the normal amount. I use the maximum three cups and it is good. The low-sugar variety, while still really very delicious, just doesn't seem to have as much of that "sparkle" on the tongue at first, but then you get used to it and it's fine. I also didn't crush my berries so each batch made 4-5 pints rather than 6.

[noamnety]

7. My only experiment with frozen watermelon was a disaster.

When my kid was little we tried a goofy dessert for her birthday party. Empty out a watermelon, salt and drain the rind, fill with softened raspberry sherbet with chocolate chips mixed in. (looks like the melon with seeds) Refreeze.

I did all that, it looked festive. The rind, however, froze into a solid chunk of ice, and I couldn't slice it into neat little slices like the pictures showed. I couldn't even hold onto it to scoop out the sherbet as a last resort, it was freezing cold and slippery and very round. I would have needed a circular saw to get through it.

I do have containers of frozen currants and cherries from the garden stashed away in the freezer. Today I'll be adding gooseberries to the pile. I like freezing them and adding them to breads throughout the year.

[hippywife]

8. What a disaster!

Changes one's concept of kitchen appliances, no? Sorry that was such a flop. I wouldn't have even thought of the rind getting that hard, either.

:hi:

[Kali]

9. My mom used to make a frozen melon ball salad/desert for dinner parties

so it can be done, as a kid I didn't like them, and I still don't like green melon anyway but I would say freeze a few bites and then try them next day to see.

[hippywife]

10. I kind of shot that idea this morning.

I went out to a pick your own place and spent a couple of hours picking blackberries. They are so beautiful and delicious! I ended up with seven pounds. LOL A couple of trays are in the freezer and I'm going to make preserves outta the rest. I had to take a couple of two liter bottles we freeze water in for cooler ice for camping trips out to make room. It'll be worth it come winter.

Also got a dozen large ears of corn to cook, chill, de-cob (is that a word? LOL) and freeze.

[Kali]

11. heh. I know I would rather have the berries!

[hippywife]

12. I'm just determined

that we will get through a winter with plenty of local bounty. I was just thinking a little bit ago, I feel like the ants in that grasshopper and ant fable. :rofl: