Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Beauty in Simple Things . . .

As I took some raspberries out of the freezer to package them up today, I was struck by the beauty of the berries themselves.

As you can see, this tray full happened to be a mix of red and yellow raspberries which I think made it especially attractive. Just look at what beauty nature provides for us with only a bit of work on our part.

The berries sure are a nice, large size. Can you see the quarter I put in there for size comparison?

Here's something I'd like your input on. I'm planning on canning a bunch of frozen raspberries later on when I have the time. Can I do that? I've canned a lot of raspberries in my day, but I've always done it with fresh berries. Papa Pea loves canned ones . . . mostly because he thinks the juice tastes like wine! Plus, the canned raspberries (I do them in a light syrup) are wonderful over ice cream, pudding or yogurt so I really would like to use some frozen ones for canning. I'd appreciate you sharing any experience you've had canning raspberries that have been frozen first.

Now . . . I'm out to pick blueberries!

14 comments:

Erin said...

I've always done fresh like you, but I don't see why not! I've heard of people canning fruit that they still had to keep it longer as new berries were coming in - I'm assuming they meant previously frozen, so give it a try! The mixture is beautiful!

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

What makes you think that any fresh berries would last long enough to can ;) Especially ones that looked like that!

Sue said...

You can use frozen tomatoes and can them, so I don't see why you couldn't use frozen berries. Oh my, they DO look luscious!!!!!!!!!
Love the combo of the two colors.

Mama Pea said...

Erin - Okay, Master Canner, but if I make Raspberry Mush, you're getting several jars of it!

Jane - Seems I ate fresh berries for dinner tonight. Seems I might have eaten too many. Seems I have a wee bit of a tum-tum ache. (I just kept thinking of five months from now when I'll REALLY be craving fresh berreis!)

Sue - Okay, as long as you're standing behind me on this!

dr momi said...

This Master Canner says it's alright :-)

Erin said...

Hey I didn't say it wouldn't turn out mushy, but at least tasty LOL! Make some syrup! :)

Erin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mama Pea said...

dr. momi - Thank you for the go-ahead!!

Erin - Ooooh, they would make good syrup if mooshy! (I've made lots of jam that was repurposed as syrup!)

Amy Dingmann said...

Those berries look delightful, I love the two colors together. :) The ladies here are much more experienced with canning than me, so just listen to them. But if you DO end up making mush, I'll take several jars of it to put on my ice cream. :)

The Apple Pie Gal said...

They look like rays of sunshine!

I think you can-can them but they may be mushy. That's just my guess as I have never canned berries. But I don't see why it wouldn't work!

Experiement and let us know!! Go all "Jane" on us! hehehehe

judy said...

I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING I REALIZE--YELLOW RASPBERRIES---I LIKE THE COLOR COMBO----GOOD DECORATING IDEAS COME TO MIND!

Mama Pea said...

Mama Tea - Well, it seems that even if my frozen-to-canned raspberries don't turn out as they would if fresh canned, I'll be able to get rid of the smooshed ones! Good to know. ;o}

APG - Go all "Jane" on us? Those be some big (cowboy) boots to fill!

judy - Red and yellow look good to me, too!

Susan said...

Absolutamente. I end up doing most of mine from frozen because I don't have time to can in the summer. Perfect sense, right? But, true. Those are amazing berries, by the way! And just think -- no gardening this year!

Mama Pea said...

Susan - Yup, my "no gardening summer!" What I have realized is just how much work the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries are each year. And this is besides, of course, all the stuff usually in the biggest part of the garden . . . the vegetables!