Wednesday 11 January 2012

Freezer 3D Puzzle

In the process of trying to cram as many Christmas leftovers in to the freezer as possible I realised that I had to empty everything & start repacking from scratch.


I do try to label everything but there is still that horrible moment when I'm examining an item desperately wracking my brain as to what it is & when I froze it & what am I going to use it for?

Despite that, I still like freezing things. As well as the usual frozen items & my limoncello & copious amounts of fruit & vegetables frozen during gluts, I also freeze;

  • Lemon rind, orange rind, lime rind
  • chopped herbs (basil chopped & frozen with olive oil in ice cube trays)
  • egg whites in ice cube trays (1 egg white per cube)
  • whipped cream (in handy sized dollops)
  • breadcrumbs
  • crumble topping/scone mix (I always make too much & then end up freezing it)
  • milk
  • grated ginger, frozen in teaspoon sized dollops
  • chilli
  • garlic & herb dough for pizza making (I always make twice as much as I need)
  • small pots of white sauce/cheese sauce (Mr TH dislikes both but I'll often crave it)
  • pesto in an ice cube tray so that I can use a teaspoon at a time
  • pure wool clothing (kills moth eggs & a full freezer is more efficient & I'm still entertained by the expression on Mr TH's face when he first realised that I froze my woollies)
  • Christmas mincemeat (I made far too much as usual)
  • brandy butter in teaspoon sized dollops
  • leftover fruit juice frozen in lolly molds
  • dregs of wine in ice cube trays (to use in cooking)
  • butter cut into thirds (I'm the only one who eats it)
  • grated cheese (I never seem to be able to finish a whole piece so end up grating & freezing it)
  • quinces drained from the quince brandy & damsons from the damson gin (to be used in cooking/sauces for ice cream)
  • a well sewn & sealed wheat bag for when a cold pack is needed (I stopped using the 'bag of peas' when I ended up with a trouser leg full of frozen peas after I broke a toe- it's a long & sorry tale of woe!)

Is there anything else I could be freezing?

19 comments:

lizzie said...

I freeze coins of fresh ginger as I never use it up fast enough. I also (dont laugh) freeze butter papers for lining cake pans. I always have half a dozen when I come to make a cake. I freeze all my gardens seeds at the end of the summer too.

lizzie said...

Oh, and pizza dough !

litlove said...

I really think you have it covered! Marilyn Monroe used to keep her underwear in the fridge during heatwaves, so they could join the woolies (I wish I could have seen Mr TH's face too! I can imagine it...). My own freezer is hugely unimaginatively stocked with yorkshire puddings and ice cream (and extra chilli con carne, since I seem unable to make the right amount!). I will take a few tips from you here - basil in olive oil particularly.

Angela said...

Do not bother to freeze candles - the British Candlemakers Association say that the idea that frozen candles burn longer is a myth.
My daughter has a 'charnel box' on which she puts bones, until she has enough to cook down for a stock.
In the unlikely event of space in your freezer, you can always fill it with teabags. They can go straight from freezer to pot!
Garments damaged with bits of chewing gum should go into the freezer overnight, it will flake off happily next day.

cold thoughts, warm wishes!

Down by the sea said...

I have frozen lemon curd in the deep freeze as with it containing eggs it doesn't have a long shelf life. I have also frozen homemade elderflower juice.

I will take away your idea of a frozen wheat bag as the bag of peas on a swelling never works very well!

Mrs. Micawber said...

Many of the above, including homemade stock like Sue. I like the ginger idea, as even the small pieces I buy don't always get used up in time. Crumble topping - YES! (Sometimes I eat it by the spoonful straight from the freezer.) I freeze basil by itself in a freezer bag - just stuff it in all summer and crumble it in the bag later on. Also parsley. In the spring and summer when we have a glut of rhubarb or berries, I freeze them individually (spread out on a baking sheet) then put them into freezer bags as well. Also do this with the really good sausages we get from a butcher a few towns over. And of course extra homemade bread and rolls, and cookies.

Calico Kate said...

Am going to take some of those good ideas and perhaps increase my freezer range.
I always, but always, have bread and milk in the freezer, bread because we take so long getting through a loaf that it has usually gone stale or mouldy by the time we get to the end of it. Doesn't matter if it's a whole loaf, a sliced loaf or a home made loaf! If needed I slice it up and then freeze. Milk I can't do without out! I can cope with pretty much anything thrown at me as long as there is milk in the fridge -or can be got out of the freezer- (& I can wash may hair! My only two criteria!) I also freeze teacakes and crumpets of muffins again homemade or shop bought. And I often bulk bake so there is usually cake in there - very useful for unexpected guests of for going out visiting etc.
Could have done with a wheat bag after the paint tin on the foot moment!
CKx

lizzie said...

Also small pots of Cooks Illustrated all-purpose gravy to have with roast dinners. Sorry to comment so much but I get so excited by this stuff !

Julie said...

Crickey - I'm amazed there's room for your woolies (love the marilyn underwear story!). I've unfortunately never had a big freezer so have to be very disciplined about what I put into it - one thing I find really useful is old soft brown yucky bananas. I break them into thirds or quarters and store them in a freezer bag. Just get out as many as you need a little while before using them for baking or smoothies (and actually for smoothies I use them almost fully frozen). And I'm with Mrs Micawber on the crumble topping straight from freezer - yummy! Juliex

Annie Cholewa said...

I'm another with only a smallish freezer, and one whole drawer - with apologies to the squeamish - is filled with raw minced lamb's hearts and raw minced tripe for the whippets. I'm lucky though in that I can shop daily at the village farm shop/butchers and have a large family, so there's never much in the way of left-overs or much need to freeze stuff so that it will keep. With such a small freezer most batch cooking is a no no, but I do keep rolls of frozen cookie dough - make four times what you'll use and split the remainder into three 'sausages' ... thaw, cut cookie 'slices' while still really cold and pop into the oven to bake. I also freeze the bilberries we pick up on the hills each year in pie size batches. Oh, and I have a box of frozen flower heads in their for plant dyeing

noknittedknickers said...

I freeze ginger whole as I find it grates well from frozen. I've also heard that if you vacuum out the air from pillows and freeze them overnight it kills all known germs dead. Worth it just to see Mr. TH's face, I think.

The Coffee Lady said...

I just whack the whole lump of ginger in and then get it out, grate a bit off, and throw it back in. Delia said it was fine; and it is.

Emily said...

Frozen rind? Frozen herbs in olive oil? Pure genius!
Happy new year to you
Emily x

Anonymous said...

Since I have a tiny freezer, I haven't had the scope to develop any ideas such as freezing woollies!

periwinkle said...

I never knew you could freeze most of what's on your list ... wow

Kate Moore said...

How do you even think ahead to do all these things? I am suitably impressed and reckon you must have the most enormous freezer.

Thrifty Household said...

We have a fridge freezer, with only 3 freezer drawers but it's crammed to bursting!

Cheryl@Gingerbread Crafts said...

We have a big chest freezer, affectionly known as the Coffin out in the garage. Also play the guessing game as to what the frozen item is and why it was put in there.

I've been known to put pillows and bedding in to kill dustmites, stuffed toys too - "umm why is there a stuffed bunny in the freezer?" Kitchen trash as well - if it's going to make the bin smell before pick up day it gets frozen until the day before. Yes it is often forgotten and then becomes part of the guessing game.

Silk is easier to iron if put into the freezer damp. "umm why do you have clothes in here?"

Make big blocks of ice in old icecream containers to help keep it ful and efficent. They come in handy on hot days in a tray in front of a fan.

Thrifty Household said...

Cheryl, I have serious freezer-envy! (I only have 3 freezer drawers in a fridge/freezer)

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