Abundance, Freezing Sugar Snap Peas

Freezing vegetables is a great way to save that abundant crop for a mid-winter treat.  It’s so easy too!

First, trim the rough ends off your peas.  Sort the peas as you work, leaving out undesirable peas.  I shell the peas from the pods if they seem a bit too tough to eat, pod and all.

This is a job best done on a porch swing with family, but today I was almost alone…

He really wanted to help!  I’m not sure how many times I had to get that squirt down off the table!

Finally, I bribed him to quit climbing in exchange for playing with peas.

Finally done, here’s where the wash cloth comes in handy.  Super easy clean-up.  Send those end pieces to the compost pile!

To blanch the peas, you need to be set up and ready.  You need a pot with a strainer basket.  Fill the pot with water and get it boiling rapidly.  The big bowl is for cooling the peas after their 2 minute hot-tub bath.  It’s very important to have this ready to go before you blanch the peas.  The milk jugs are “redneck ice.”  I rinse them out very well and fill them with water.  They go in the empty spaces in my big freezer to increase efficiency and to provide ice for projects like this.

After the peas are blanched, sink them into this icy cold water for a quick cool down.  If you are finished with the boiling water, I suggest taking it outside and pouring it on those pesky weeds coming up in the driveway.  Anything to get that extra heat out of the house during the summertime.

Pack the blanched and cooled peas into tightly sealing containers for the freezer.  These are spiffy freezer containers I picked up at the end of the season for very little money.  Old, food safe plastic containers work just as well, just label them so you know what’s in them and don’t get confused by the cottage cheese label!

Put the yummy food in your freezer and save it for the winter.  It’ll be a little taste of summer for your family to cherish while there is snow on the ground.