Food waste from gardens gong to pantries

[sweetana3]

Love this topic. Learned a lot. I did not know that garlic could be frozen but I should have looked before wasting it.

[iris lilies]

Love this topic. Learned a lot. I did not know that garlic could be frozen but I should have looked before wasting it.

I have had a recent problem with garlic, and it is this: After finally getting a garlic press (went many years without one) I find that it smashes the cloves (well, doh!) but those smashed cloves dont last as long in the fridge. I like to prepare garlic ahead of time, taking 2 heads at a time, clean them, store them.

So, the garlic press isnt fitting my needs, but maybe I will have to stop preparing garlic in advance.

[SteveinMN]

So, the garlic press isnt fitting my needs, but maybe I will have to stop preparing garlic in advance.

IME pre-prepared garlic is always a disappointment, especially the stuff that's already minced and packaged in water or oil. Then again, I'm picky about garlic. I like to buy it in bulk at the farmer's market or our food co-op, which sells locally-grown garlic in varieties from sweet to hot.

Freezing is easy: separate dry cloves, place them on a cookie sheet, and put the cookie sheet in the freezer for maybe 45 minutes. Then just toss 'em in a jar or a zipper bag and take them out as you need them. They take very little time to thaw. I've kept garlic long enough to get me from harvest to harvest without a noticeable degradation of quality in cooked foods. Of course, having been frozen, they're not quite as firm for grating (and maybe for pressing; I never press garlic and just use my knife skills instead). But that little you lose is more than made up for in freshness.

[Teacher Terry]

When I made spaghetti sauce for a fundraiser of 100 people a few years ago we had leftovers and I hated to throw it away. It had already been frozen. So I gave it to a soup kitchen that was run by a church. My son was sure they wouldn't take it but they did.