It's summer in Ukraine which means lots of fresh fruits and veggies!! It's such a relief because there were many disappointing things about the fruits and veggies in the wintertime. It's nice to have your pick of the freshly grown produce now, sometimes grown just outside of Kharkov!Since moving here, we've noticed there are many things we think and do differently from Ukrainians. For example, we buy fruit (sometimes frozen) all year round. They wouldn't dream of doing that. In fact, when it comes to almost anything, if it's not made in Kharkov, they turn their nose up at it. I bought lids for the jars I'll be using to can tomatoes and the lady who was selling them said, "These are good... these are bad." When we asked what the difference was between them she s
imply said (pointing to the good ones) "These were made in Kharkov" and (pointing to the "bad" ones), "These were made in Poltava" (another city in Ukraine). And the list of differences between our cultures just goes on and on.One thing they do here that I've tried doing this year is freezing produce to have in the winter. You see, they may not buy produce from Poland or anywhere else outside of Kharkov, but they've also thought to plan ahead and can or freeze in the summer. So, in following their example, I have been berry shopping and have myself a little stash of berries for the winter months ahead. Berries are also really cheap right no
w, which is so wonderful! I flash froze each of them individually, then stuck them in my freezer bags (compliments of Legacy's care packages, thank you!) to store in the freezer.The season for cherries and raspberries are just about over here, so I'm glad we were able to get them when we did. I'm very proud of my little stash of raspberries, blueberries and cherries!
On a side note: David and I are leaving today to go on holiday in Italy! We are very excited to get away for a little bit and have fun seeing the sights of Italy. We'll be traveling around 7 different cities with our friends from New Zealand, Dan and Tarryn Pratt, in just 12 days. So, keep us in your prayers as we travel and as soon as we get back I'll post some pictures from our adventures!
3 comments:
It is so uplifting to pull out just a few summer berries in the middle of winter. I have been freezing my favorite summer fruit - peaches. I'm glad Legacy is able to send some of the comforts of home.
I love Ukrainian produce in the summer. Just a question of making it last. I saw a lady at the market a couple weeks ago buying like 10 or 20 kilos of blueberries and wondered either what size of freezer she has, or how many cans of jam that would yield.
By the way, your post title sounds familiar; now where have I seen that? ;-)
I'm jealous that you have so many produce options that we don't - blueberries, cherries, raspberries, peppers, etc. - plus canning supplies (for some reason, Peruvians have no clue about canning). But I can find freezer bags, so if I find random goodies, I throw those bad boys in the freezer, too. Too bad we can't swap somehow...
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