freeze! (put 'em up!)

as i mentioned, in an earlier post, the beans seem to have found their happy spot and are really producing right now.  this morning i picked a nearly-bursting, gallon bag of beans.  those, along with the gallon-and-a-half already in the fridge got me thinking it was probably time to start putting up a stash for winter.  aischa, generously and thoughtfully, has given us use of a vacuum sealer she had which she sent down the bay area mariposa pipeline (BAMP) to us via gabriel (who spent a couple days with us this week)---how timely.  

there are a couple of ideas on how one should prepare beans for freezing.  one involves blanching the beans in boiling water and then cooling in ice water before bagging and freezing.  the other, which just involves placing the fresh beans in a plastic bag and removing as much air as possible before sealing and freezing, is much less labor intensive and makes more sense to me, especially since i now have a vacuum sealer at hand.  this afternoon i gave it a try---i think i love this thing.

the process was fast and easy.  i sealed 6 roughly-quart-sized bags of beans---a good size for a meal.  the bagging plastic comes in rolls so you can cut it to any size you need.

i tucked the sealed bags into the freezer and made myself a snack...

salty, garlic beans cooked in butter and olive oil

with your hands is how it's done

and we've still got some in the refrigerator.

and some squash

thanks for sending the sealer, aischa.  and thanks for the visit, gabe---so nice to see you.