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Hi Reader,

We got back from our vacation at the lake (the menu worked great, btw!) to find the garden BURSTING with ripe tomatoes and a TON of green beans.

There is a good harvest of both onions (it's been a really good year for them - some are SO huge!) and peppers, so I'll be making the first batches of salsa this weekend for sure. 😀

I'll be freezing beans and making pesto to freeze as well. And I'm in the mood for zucchini bread - should it be the classic version or the honey sweetened chocolate loaf? 🧐

When the garden is really producing like this and I need to take care of things fast, I use simple freezing methods for preserving. I'll even freeze tomatoes whole to process later into sauce if I can't deal with them, which actually cuts the cooking down time in half when I pour off the liquid after defrosting!

So I thought I'd share a few of my go-tos if you are dealing with harvests from your garden, friends, or farmers markets, too:

Easy Freezer Preservation

​Freeze Green Beans without Blanching!​ I've tried all the ways, and this results in the best texture for frozen beans, in our opinion! A perennial blog favorite. ​

​How to Freeze Corn: 3 Ways​ Do you have to blanch corn? No, but you may want to have cooked corn frozen for quick, easy meal additions!

​How to Freeze Berries​ Strawberries are featured, but the same process works for any berry. Right now I need to freeze the blackberries that are ripening.

​Freezer Preserving Category​ Check out my whole category for freezing everything from pesto to a spoon-worthy roasted tomato sauce! ​

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My Freezing Book

In case you missed it a few weeks ago, you can get even more recipes, tips, and how-tos for my favorite preserving method: freezing!

I've put all my easy tips (no, you don't have to blanch everything) into this cookbook about Freezing Produce The Easy Way!

There are two choices:

1. ​The Digital Version: an immediate download to use on your phone, tablet, or computer (or print out your favorites!).
2. ​Coil-Bound, Printed Version: this will be printed on demand and shipped to your home in a few weeks.

From The Blog

​Easy Kale Quinoa Salad with Lemon & Parmesan​ Up the protein with quinoa in this refreshing kale salad dressed with lemon garlic vinaigrette. ​ GET RECIPE HERE! ​

Archives: 36 Quick Handmade Gift Ideas​ Get some wonderful ideas for the holidays - with enough time to plan and actually make them! You'll find food, crafts, home, family & bath gift ideas many will love. ​ SEE THEM HERE! ​

A Few More Things

With preserving on the mind: while I shared my favorite freezer methods, I do like to water bath can, especially salsas and chutneys. So I thought I'd mention again that when I finally realized they make flat-bottom stainless steel canners with GLASS lids (game changer!), my canning life got a lot better! Gone was the rocking, rusting old enamel pot that couldn't be used on glass top. Now I can safely use it on any top AND easily monitor the boil without lifting the lid! It's the little things. 😊

I've been loving this tinted SPF moisturizer that I use all summer! It's lightweight, adds just enough coverage without being heavy or cakey, and helps ensure that I don't burn on my nose and cheeks like I used to before I started using SPF moisturizer. It's one generic tint, which seems like it wouldn't work, but my fair skinned daughter tried in and it gave her good coverage too, just like my medium skin color (might not work for dark skin, though).

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Enjoy the week!

Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

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