harvest – a time of plenty …

A great bounty.  An abundance of tasty flavors and bright colors.

Even though our survival is not dependent upon what we can set aside … it is nice to have food in the freezer prepared with my own hands. 

Tomato sauce used as a base for soup, chili or pasta meals.

Apple sauce – not something that I ever thrilled about … I would rather eat apples fresh but these apples are small and tart.  Meant for baking.  So a lot of work and slightly more than one quart is made.  Not really worth the effort in the general scheme of things but my daughter will pack it in her lunch.  She will know that despite all of her moaning and groaning she is loved and so I process little tiny apples.

I stay up late slicing tomatoes and apples … letting them cook slowly over night in the slow cookers.  Thank heavens for slow cookers, I have many … three I used one night two full of tomatoes and one of apples.  I will transfer things to the freezer after labeling and dating carefully so that there are no mysterious containers of unknown gunk.

I do acknowledge that freezers may not be the best way to preserve the harvest; however, for a person who barely has enough time to turn on a slow cooker, it will do.

Come December it will seem miraculous when we can take out the applesauce for lunches and tomato base for soups … it will be like a fresh taste of autumn.