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9 Ways to Preserve Pears, Plus Tips to Prevent Browning

August 29, 2018 By Laurie Neverman 14 Comments

Our neighbors have a beautiful pear tree that's over 50 years old, and each year they invite us to share in the harvest. Big tree = many, many pears, so over the years I've used many different ways to preserve pears. No matter how you store them – canning, freezing, drying, freeze drying or fermenting – their high sugar content makes them a naturally decadent dessert. In this post I'll cover both short term and long term storage options for pears, plus tips to prevent browning.

Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Oil Change and Filtering

August 25, 2018 By Laurie Neverman 7 Comments

Ever since I posted my Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Review, people have asked for more information about the freeze dryer oil change and filtering. It's a simple process, but not something that's required for other home food preservation methods. To show those who are curious exactly what's involved, my sons help me put together a couple quick videos. The first one covers the freeze dryer oil change, and the second covers how to make an inexpensive oil filter.

Harvest Right Freeze Dryer – Cost Analysis and Optimizing Load Size

June 23, 2018 By Guest 14 Comments

Exactly how does a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer work, and what's the most efficient way to freeze dry food at home? In this post, I share a review of how the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer works, breaking out the electricity use for each phase of the freeze drying cycle. Then we look at the electricity cost per load, and moisture content of different foods. I wrap up with my suggestions for optimizing load size in your Harvest Right Freeze Dryer.

How to Store Strawberries 12 Ways – Plus Tips to Keep Berries Fresh

June 2, 2018 By Laurie Neverman 19 Comments

How to Store Strawberries for Fresh Eating or Year Round Use

Perfectly ripe strawberries are yummy, but strawberries also top the “Dirty Dozen” list for highest amounts of pesticide residue. We're lucky enough to have an organic strawberry farm nearby that uses no pesticides, so when strawberry season comes around, we stock up! In this post, I'll share how to store strawberries 12 different ways, plus how to keep strawberries fresh. We cover freezing, dehydrating, homemade fruit leather, strawberry kombucha, freeze drying, strawberry jam (regular and low sugar), and strawberry wine and mead.

25+ Healthy Asparagus Recipes Plus 4 Ways to Store Asparagus

April 18, 2018 By Laurie Neverman 18 Comments

Spring asparagus is a wonderful blessing after a long winter. Those first tender stalks are absolutely delicious raw, straight out of the garden. If you have large home patch – or want to take advantage of the seasonal abundance in stores and farm markets – it's great to have an assortment of asparagus recipes on hand and to know how to preserve asparagus for later use. This post features over 25 healthy asparagus recipes, including soups, salads and main dishes, plus instructions on how to store asparagus and preserve it for later use. [Read more…] about 25+ Healthy Asparagus Recipes Plus 4 Ways to Store Asparagus