Last night I think it got down to 40-some degrees outside!! Yikes! That means fall is just around the corner, and changes are afoot for Tummy Treasure.   Next week is back to school for us- but not only does Abigail go to third grade, but Zander starts preschool!!!! He’ll be going for a few hours three days a week, and I’m sooo not looking forward to my baby growing up.  However, that does mean some changes here for a while I think.  I’ve been so regular with my morning posting here that I feel it’s only feel to warn my readers that for a few weeks I’ll be playing around with when I do my postings.  Mornings are going to get busy, so please bear with me while I find a new groove that works well for me here.  In addition, we’re actually changing the night that Abigail has her dance classes.  She’s moving to Tuesday nights for the coming year (tonight being the first) so you can probably look for posts on Wednesday that feature soups or other crock-pot creations.

Speaking of changes.  One of the things that I’ve been trying to do with the garden this year is preserve every little bit that I can.  At first, I started doing it to be mindful of expense, every vegetable I freeze or pickle is one less that I need to buy down the road.  But this past weekend, even my husband got geeked up about my preserving when he saw all the pickles I’d made last week, and asked if there was anything I couldn’t put up in some form or another.   I took that as a challenge, and when I saw the package of baby carrots in the fridge, and found a recipe for Pickled Baby Carrots with Oregano and Peppers in that Small-Batch Preserving Book, I went right to work.

This recipe came together fast!  I used dried oregano, and all I really needed to do was chop my peppers and boil the liquid.  Obviously I needed to prepare my jars and equipment for canning, but overall, this was an incredibly easy recipe to put together.  I have no idea how it tastes though.  In my experience, pickles need at least two weeks for the flavors to come together, so I can’t speak completely about this recipe for now.  But what I can say is what a great idea!  I love that this is a recipe that uses packaged baby carrots- something that everyone buys now and then.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ll pick up a large bag for a get-together, only to have most of it go uneaten.  Then the carrots sit around and sometimes get used or eaten, but sometimes they get tossed too.  This is a perfect recipe to use those carrots up with! No more being wasteful of those baby carrots, and I LOVE that.  I love not being wasteful, and since I was just reading yesterday that leftover food was our country’s biggest waste item, this is especially important.

Pickled Baby Carrots with Oregano and Peppers

from “Small Batch Preserving”

3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried

2 Tablespoons chopped sweet red pepper

2 Tablespoons chopped green pepper

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

2 small cloves garlic

1 pound peeled baby carrots

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon pickling salt

1.  Combine oregano, peppers, and hot pepper flakes.  remove hot jars from canner and divide pepper mixture between them.  Add 1 clove garlic to each jar and fill each with half the carrots, leaving 1/2-inch head space. (There may be a few carrots left over.)

2. Meanwhile, combine vinegar, sugar, water and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

3. Pour hot liquid over carrots to within 1/2 inch of rim.  Process 15 minutes for pint jars.

Makes 2 pints.