Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bushels Of Uses For Seasonal Bounty

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the abundance of delicious, fresh fruit. Your neighbors are begging you to take it off their hands. It's on sale at every grocery store, and available at local farm stands. The only question is, how to use it all up before it spoils!

Stone fruits, such as peaches, plums and nectarines have a myriad of uses. They can be grilled, tossed into salads, blended in smoothies, cooked into jam, sliced up and made into a topping for ice cream or crepes, baked into pies or cobblers, canned, frozen or dried for later use, or made into wine or liqueurs.

Melons, such as cantaloupe, watermelon or honeydew, can be scooped out with a melon baller, and frozen for later. The texture will be slightly less firm, but it will still taste great. They are terrific in salads and in chicken entrees. They can be dried and eaten later, or frozen into sorbets. They can be juiced. Watermelon rind can be made into pickles.

No matter how you eat them now, or preserve them for later, summer fruits are a delicious way to add important nutrients to your diet. Please share your own ideas for using the fruits of the season!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love free fruit and dreaming up fun ways to use it. You can grill it and use it for marinades too!

Preeti @ heart and mind said...

Betsy,

I love this, I like freezing extra veggies and fruits but I want to learn how to do home canning so I can preserve the summer bounty.

I am using many ideas from this site this month as I am doing no spend month. Good tips as always.

Betsy Bargain said...

Anon,

I like the marinade idea. I will have to try that one!

Zengirl,

I'm glad you could find some ideas here to help with your no spend challenge. I have been following your progress with interest!