Blanching and Freezing Beans: Yes, I Can!

According to my Twitter friend City Slipper, blanching is easy. I just need a colander and a big
stockpot for boiling water. But wait - my colanders are too big, or my stockpots are too small!



Okay, the steamer basket fits. I can do this.

Step one: bring water to a boil. Lower beans into water. Bring water back to a boil, and boil for three minutes. I can do that. Yes, if you're wondering, those are indeed Daisy' Famous Green Bay Packer beans.

After the three minutes, put the beans in ice water for three minutes to cool.

Remove from ice water, and then dry. I had all three steps going at once in my tiny kitchen. Packer beans boiling, green beans cooling, and yellow wax beans drying.

Since the drying step takes the longest, I eventually had all the beans spread out on the counter at once. I froze them in quart-size Ziploc vaccuum bags. Some time in December or January, we'll have really good beans, better than anything on the grocery store shelves.

The best part of cooking these will be knowing they were grown locally. About a third of this batch grew in my garden; the rest came from the farmers' market. It took a little research and a little time, but this action was worth it.

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