Something I Learned

I have a confession to make.  All the lovely cabbage I grew last summer?  I forgot about some of it.  When I first harvested it, some became cabbage rolls for dinner and for the freezer.  Some became slaw for dinner and I tried my hand at freezer slaw too (and then promptly forgot I made it, so it has now been in the freezer about 4 months. . .). Some I made into sauerkraut.  Some DH gave away to friends who didn't have their own beautiful homegrown organic cabbage.  But the rest I left in the garage and forgot about.

Being that we are now in the most frigid part of winter, that cabbage left in the garage has frozen.  Which DH was none too happy about, let me tell you.  To be honest, when he jogged my memory about those garage cabbages, I was rather mad at myself for wasting them by not bringing them to the cellar or otherwise eating or preserving them before they froze.

But wait!  I had a thought!  The cabbage I had made into freezer slaw had not been blanched (as is the common treatment of veggies) before going into the freezer.  Maybe all was not lost!

So I Googled it.  And I found several sources that said frozen cabbage could still be used.  Phew!  Guilt trip cancelled!

Just in case that was unreliable information (cuz you know you can't believe everything you read on the internet), I tried using some frozen cabbage in a recipe that called for fresh, chopped cabbage (which was then cooked with sausage, potatoes, onion and carrots, yum!).  I did not thaw the cabbage first, just brought it into the house, rinsed it in tepid water, peeled back the first few wilted leaves, and chopped the rest.

It worked!!  Yahoo!  I left the remaining four frozen cabbages in the garage.  I'll get to them later this winter.  Until then, they are perfectly fine right where they are.