I picked up my basket now what.....

Each Friday the Bountiful Baskets Facebook page reminds us to clean out our refrigerators. If you are like me you are terrible at this until something smells funky because you know someday you will need that half of whatever is living at the very back of your fridge. I have been getting better about making neat rows where everything has a home and is always put back, but who am I kidding with kids I don’t think that neatly  labeled refrigerator will be a reality anytime soon…..really who has time for that. So what I do on Friday evening to prepare for pick up is to try to very ruthlessly go through the refrigerator. I say I try because this is worse than sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for me so I will hit the high spots, basically the produce drawers and middle shelves where things go to be forgotten and create a big mess…no it is a big stinky furry mess if it gets forgotten in this zone. Random things find this zone home including the half eaten apple I pulled out this morning, those baggies of partially used onions where you know you will use that other half but then forget and get a new onion the next time you need a little onion. I am sharing this to let you know I am far from perfect and it is ok if you have this same phenomenon in your fridge.

 I am also fortunate enough to have a garage refrigerator where I am able to temporarily store any case items that I add to my basket. This is why I say prior to contributing for a case item you need to be certain you have a plan as to how you are going to use whatever it is because there is nothing worse than having 2 cases of peaches and nowhere to store them until you have time to can or freeze them. I had to learn this lesson the hard way and want to prevent anyone else from having to learn it the hard way as well. I did get my peaches canned and are enjoying them immensely but tripping over 2 cases of peaches for almost a week while life happened was not exactly fun for me.

This holiday weekend was super busy for me so I did have to use my garage refrigerator to store my basket in my tote until late Sunday evening when I was finally able to get some time to go through it, wash everything, have a little snack, and put it away. So here it is fresh out of my garage refrigerator after having been in there for a little over 24 hours. I thought I was going to have to chain the door shut so I would be able to share these pictures with you!




I know it is super exciting to see the produce all mixed up in the tote, but how about a shot out of the tote!

Here it is the contents all nice and arranged on my table: 4 ears of corn, 7 Hatch chilies, 3 green peppers, 2 zucchini, 1 head of romaine, 1 organic broccolette, 4 peaches (only until after I snapped this pic then it was 3), 3 Asian pears, 7 bananas, and 1 amazing smelling cantaloupe.

My Usual Plan of Attack!

Once the basket is picked up and brought home my family will pick through getting what they like best and digging in while I attempt to create some semblance of order where everything gets washed, sorted, and put away.  Washing produce is extremely important before it goes into the fridge if your family is anything like mine because once it’s in the fridge the kids....possibly a slightly older phone chatting flip flop wearing momma....will pick through and get a few grapes, blueberries, and maybe a slice of cheese and not think about washing the produce before popping it in their mouth. So while everything is hectic I begin filling up the sink with cold water and then add a splash of vinegar. If you are the measuring type which I was at one time too, this is 10 parts water to 1 part vinegar. If you have city water you can also splash a little vinegar into your dishwasher prior to running to help keep your glasses clear, but I digress.

 

Unless I have a specific plan to assemble salad jars at a later time everything including salad greens goes into a vinegar wash to make sure it is nice and clean; many people say this also extends the life of delicate items but I cannot speak to that as delicate fruits don’t last long in my house. I have a wire mesh colander where I put the small fruits and rotate them into the water wash. Sometimes I am in a hurry and leave some of the fruits in for just a few minutes, but if you can let them sit in the water a little longer then look at the film on the top of the water it is an eye opening experience to say the least. Also this will help any greens that the TX heat got to perk right backup……man now I know why the stores have those annoying misters that come on right as soon as I go to grab something.

I do like to let the produce dry a little prior to putting it in the fridge so I let it air dry on the counter or if I am in a huge hurry will shake the excess water off and call it a day. Both methods work extremely well and the road doesn’t matter if the end result is the same.

 

Because the peaches are so amazing I just couldn't help but immediately eat one....even before really soaking it...just a quick dunk and rinsed under running water. I will leave you with the amazing close up of all 4 of them together!

Once I have washed everything I know the kids….um or myself…can graze standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open and everything is mostly clean of all the things I imagine collect on produce as it travels from the fields and orchards to my kitchen.

Monday may be a holiday, but if you don't mind traveling into Fort Worth contributions open at noon and I know I will be traveling into Fort Worth bright and early Saturday morning!