Fresh Foods Blog Hop #2 and How to Choose and Store Berries

Welcome to the Fresh Food Blog Hop!

If you're new here, Kristy and I are pleased to have you. If you've been before, welcome back! Today I'll also be sharing with a couple of ways to store and preserve fresh berries. As always, you can see my CSA goodies from the week by checking out my post from the previous Saturday.


Also, today is my little brother's birthday. I don't think he actually reads my blog, but just in case: Happy Birthday, Kris!

We all know that once they're picked they can go bad quickly. I've got a few ways to save you from the disappointment of fuzzy, greenish-bluish-white berries instead of the jewel-toned drops of deliciousness you were expecting

There are a couple of ways you can prolong the life of your fresh berries.

1. Storing the properly in the fridge
2. Freezing
3. Canning them whole
4. Canning them as something else (compote, jam, jelly, chutney)
5. Drying them (either whole or as fruit leather)

Since we're well into berry season, I'll talk first about how to choose a basket of berries at your local farmer's market, and then the first two methods this week. Next week I'll talk about canning and drying.

When you select berries in those little green bins, you want to choose containers that aren't stained. Stained container=mushy berries. Mushy berries=over-ripe and may begin to rot before you get to eat them. That is not good at all. If you do find a moldy berry when you're grabbing some for your breakfast, throw it away immediately. The mold spreads very quickly to other berries.

Once you've chosen your berries, you can store them in the fridge. Berries are best stored somewhere that air can circulate around them some recommend a colander for this.I find that if you're planning to use the berries within a day or two, the baskets they come in work just fine. Don't wash the berries before you store them. Wait until just before you're ready to use. I also came across this on Pinterest. I haven't tried it, but let me know if you have. I'm curious to see if it works.

If you don't think you're going to use up the berries quickly, freezing is a quick and easy option. Just place the berries in a single layer on a wax-paper lined baking sheet, making sure none are touching. Freeze until completely solid and then place in a freezer bag. You can use a straw to get as much air out as possible before freezing completely. These berries can be stored for winter, baked with, made into sorbet, or tossed into smoothies. You can even thaw them and put them into yogurt.

The Serious Business:

This blog hop is to encourage fresh food production, consumption, activism, and awareness.

Please feel free to link up any:

• CSA collections;
• Farmer's market treasures;
• Home grown/raised hauls;
• Recipes that feature fresh fruits and veggies that are seasonal to your area or feature local, sustainably farmed meats, eggs, and dairy;
• DIY projects and tutorials for: gardening, storing and/or preserving fresh foods, composting market scraps, raising chickens in your back yard, etc
• Tips for local eating such as: tips for CSA members, how to find out what’s in season, how to make the most of your local produce, how to raise chickens, etc

Please make sure anything you link up is something that is currently available in your area from a local farmer or things from Whole Foods with the giant “Local” sign on top (or similar).

Please do not link up:

• Any highly processed recipes or foods (i.e. white flour, white sugar),
• Recipes that don’t include any seasonal, local produce, meats, dairy, or eggs.
• Recipes that feature produce that isn’t available locally and in season (e.g. mangoes and avocados in the Northeast, fresh tomatoes in winter, etc)
• Giveaways,
• Etsy shops,
• Advertisements,
• Posts only about specific diets and not focused on growing or eating fresh food

We don’t want to become the link police, and we want everyone to be able to participate; however, if you are in blatant violation of these rules, we will delete your link.

You may link up to 3 posts in a given week that you haven't shared here before by using the linky tool at the bottom of this post.

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate or don't want to write a post specifically on something you'd like to share here, feel free to comment with any thoughts, ideas or suggestions. You can also participate via our flickr pool (link). Just send us an email @ freshfoodsbloghop (at) gmail (dot) com or request an invitation through the flickr group’s page. Deadlines for photo submissions is the Monday before the Wednesday post.

Feel free to click on any of the linked up posts and say hello (leave a comment) for your fellow fresh food communitarians!

Please include a simple text link back to this blog hop in the post(s) you link up or add a button:

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We want this blog hop to feature you as well as help each other come together to form a resource of good food ways for one another. In order to be featured on the weekly highlights, you must have a link back or button displayed in your post or on your blog. Again, we don’t want to be the “blog hop police”, but if you don’t link back we can’t feature you.

You can link up via Kristy's blog @ Gastronmonical Sovereignty, as well as find her on her facebook page, twitter account, or pinterest site.

You can find me here or follow me on Pinterest, If you have any questions about the blog hop in general, please email us at freshfoodsbloghop (at) gmail (dot) com.

Okay serious business over - let's have some fun! My highlights from last week (in no particular order) are:

1) Making the Most of Your CSA or Co-op from That Crunchy Twin Mom

This is a great rundown of techniques for storing veggies and fruits, regrowing things, and using up what you get.

2) How to Add Greens To Every Meal from Shockingly Delicious.

This was a great introduction to growing your own greens, like chard. Dorothy gives a lot of great advice for what to do when you're simply over-run with cooking greens. I love it!

3. Garbage Salad from A Little Nosh

This gives a rundown of how to use all of the leftovers that are hanging out at the bottom of your crisper right the day before your next CSA distribution!

Thanks to everyone who shared with us last week!

Now on to the hop!