It seems silly
to make just one portion of soup so I make a batch of eight portions and freeze
seven. It’s the same with stews and
casseroles, vegetable side dishes and puddings.
I’m quite good
with labelling and I stock check my freezer every few weeks, but there’s such a
lot in there. And at this time of year it
feels that not one more thing can go in there.
The door barely closes. Bags are wedged into corners.
And yet,
beneath the chaos, there is something rather wonderful going on. I am saving autumn. Jack pulled up the tomato plants for me and I
have roasted the tomatoes and pureed them before freezing (that takes least
space) but there must be a couple of dozen small boxes in there. Those single portions of stewed fruit seem
too many to count but there won’t be too many to be eaten.
There is
something deeply satisfying about it. Autumn
may be the season of things dying back, but my freezer is quietly saying, Not
so fast.
Soon my
hibernaculum time will be here. I know I
will have very little energy in the depths of winter. Those portions of tomato puree will be made
into pasta sauces or delicious soup with very little effort.
The freezer may
be chaotic, overstuffed and occasionally mysterious, but it is also my little
time capsule. Autumn is putting the
garden to bed but I am making sure its bounty won’t be wasted.
How's your freezer looking?
It's a great feeling to know you have plenty of food.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely. When I was a little girl my mother used to have rows of Kilner jars: I just have a full freezer
DeleteYour freezer sounds exactly like mine, and for all the same reasons. How is my freezer looking you ask ... like a very badly planned out game of Tetris at the moment. :-)
ReplyDeleteYup - without walls my pile wouldn't pile - if you see what I mean!
ReplyDeleteMines a bit chaotic... I make a list every so often!
ReplyDeleteThe loading of the freezer is very chaotic at this time of the year. Ususally it's batch cooked meals at the top, then veggies, then fruit, then meat and fisg and anythng else at the bottom. At the moment everything is everywhere.
DeleteYour freezer looks very nicely organized with all the little containers on the top shelf. And I like how you've what looks like drawers under the top shelf. I just have shelves in my freezer and one open bin at the bottom. I usually try to keep meat in the bin but everything else is poked wherever it will fit! At least right now. Once it cools enough to make jam and chutney, the bags of frozen peaches and blueberries will come out and there will be some room in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteOrganised is what it isn't! Yes, they are drawers and they are hiding a multitude of sins.
DeleteIt's very satisfying to know that inside that cold space there is a realm of good things to eat!
ReplyDeleteLovely, isn't it.
DeleteI do the same thing for the two of us here. Why make two servings when six servings will see us through many a meal.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Anything to make life easier!
DeleteI have a freezer below the refrigerator part. It's a big drawer. I keep a list of the meats I buy and freeze and the leftovers that I put in there for another meal. This year I have frozen basil, tomatoes, and peppers to extend summer like you.
ReplyDelete