Preserving Kale (and any other greens)

I really,really want to like Kale.My midwife tells me that she finally found a way that her boys will eat Kale! They are asking for seconds! She blanches it first, sautees it in olive oil, and then adds toasted sesame or sunflower seeds and seasoning.They love it.Since Kale is like one of the very best vegetables there is for you I am determined to get it into our diet.I have about 20 plants so hope to get several gallons in the freezer this year!

Wash Kale............

Fold in half and cut off stems.

This is the Kale with all of the stem removed.

Blanch is boiling water for 2 minutes then immediately dunk in cold water.I just have my strainer right in my sink and either spray it with cold water for a few minutes or have my sink full of water and put it right into the water.Either way works.You just want it to be cooled right away to stop the cooking process.After cooling,roll the greens up in a towel or something absorbant.(I used a diaper! lol) SQUEEZE to remove water!

The last step is to spread the greens onto a cookie sheet and freeze.When frozen you can pack into your freezer bag! Beware that a huge bag of greens will shrivel up to practically nothing! lol

Time to make butter!

When I was getting ready to make butter the other day I thought....You know,I ought to take pictures for those who have never had the chance to make butter! :) So here you go! The first one is the cream in the churn (3 quarts).I get that much from about 3 gallons which is what we are getting every day currently.Not for long though as we have another cow getting ready to freshen any day!

Here the butter is done and still sitting in the buttermilk.

Buttermilk is drained her and the butter squeezed together....

Next I add water and squeeze,squeeze the butter to get all the buttermilk out....

Drain the water and squeeze as much out with your hands as possible and you are done!