Blanching the morning away; Hair we go

"You must give to get, You must sow the seed, before you can reap the harvest."
                                                                                                                                  -  Scott Reed

And there is more on the way.

AUBURN — When the blanching process was first explained to me, my thoughts turned to cryogenics and all those poor souls entombed in canisters like bags of frozen broccoli in an ice box.

Talk about freezer burn!

I didn't consider blanching vegetables for the winter until I extended the width of our garden this season. I was counting on a larger harvest, which seems to be coming to fruition. In the last few weeks, I have harvested nearly two dozen of summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers, and the vegetables keep on coming in spite of the persistent forces of Mother Nature. 

We just can't get enough of the green stuff that grows in my pristine soil.

Blanching vegetables is not a difficult process. You simply plunge fresh-picked vegetables into steaming water for several minutes, remove them and plunge them into ice water for another several minutes. The shocked vegetables are dried and packed into a freezer bag. Before you shove the bag in a freezer, the air must be sucked out of the bag with a straw to vacuum seal the contents.

This method of preserving vegetables keeps the stuff fresh for months.

A couple of mornings ago, Terri researched the art of blanching on the Net. She really did her homework because I was not in the "know" even though I am a master gardener.

She persuaded me to give it a try even though I wasn't sure if I had the patience to spend a morning freezing vegetables. But my stack of zucchini and summer squash was piling up on the kitchen counter, and I wasn't about to let it rot. I put too much time into a garden to watch my vegetables go bad.

We set up kind of a conveyor belt and agreed to work together. We got into a groove and completed the task in an hour.

I did all the cutting — because I am really good with a sharp knife — in the kitchen, off course. I sliced and diced nearly two dozen summer squash and zucchini in minutes without cutting off a finger.

The large steaming pot was in place and another pan of ice water was on stand-by

We lowered a pile of summer squash into the boiling pot and stared at the clock for three minutes.

Now I knew how Mission Control felt when the Apollo astronauts returned to earth after each mission. It was our first time out blanching and we were a bit apprehensive. 

We quickly scooped up the hot vegetables and dropped them in the freezing water and waited another five minutes.

Terri got the freezer bags ready after the vegetables cooled. She held each bag open and I tossed them inside, but before they were sealed, I stuck a straw in the bag and used my mighty lungs to suck out the air.

By the time we finished we had four huge freezer bags loaded with vegetables.

And the harvest will continue until October - weather permitting — of course.

Hair we go

Gimme head with hair
Long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming,
Streaming, flaxen, waxen

- Hair, the musical

Whenever Terri announces she is getting a haircut, I usually don't get that excited. To me, getting a haircut is like brushing my teeth.

I do it because I don't like long hair. Some men can get away with long hair. I look ridiculous. And I am not a big fan of facial hair. Clean cut always works for me. It makes my hair more bouncy and manageable.

I know I would have never made it as a hippy. 

Over the years, Terri has tried many hairdos, and although I am biased, I never saw her with a bad haircut.

So when Terri returned from the haircutters, I had my usual comments ready when she presented herself.

"Well, what do you think," said Terri, just outside the door.

When I looked through the screen, I didn't move. My eyes snapped wide open and a devilish grin slowly appeared.


Her new-look was stunning.  The usual comments wouldn't work here.


"Oh wow," I said! "You look great."


The truth was she didn't look great. She looked unbelievable in her new do.


And my devilish grin still hasn't gone away.