I used to freeze alot and like you I would forget I had it, so now I can more and only can what I rally like or will use. There are so many great recipes out there, but unless your going to use it, it's not worth the hassle. I'm just actually learning to pressure can and have the All American Pressure Canner, so I kinda feel Like I should be using it.

I know exactly how you feel. I, like you, use to do it all, and now do none - except for a couple of secret recipes that get made only when more is needed every few years.

I too no longer make jam or jelly. And I freeze much less because of the way I manage the garden; I generally have some fresh food direct from the garden into January (Savoy cabbages).

I am just starting to can. I have a huge chest freezer but want to be able to store stuff without electricity, it seems as if weather/hurricane issues (I'm on the Gulf coast) lead to electricity failure from time to time and several times through the years I have lost a freezer full of food. Plus I think some homemade recipes, like pickles, are better than what one can buy in the store.

I do prefer some things frozen like green beans, though, I just don't like canned ones.

I bought a Perfect Pickler gadget at the farm and feed store and started learning about fermenting. I still have some jars in a second fridge that I need to use up but my favorite has been their recipe for salsa starter which is mostly hot and sweet peppers. It is wonderful by itself to add to my breakfast eggs. When I added fresh tomatoes to make salsa for company, I got a lot of compliments. We have pizza almost every sunday and my husband preferred one recipe over another so I'll bw can more of that this year.

Last year I really splurged and bought a dehydrator. I think it takes experimenting to see what you like the best and how it changes what you cook. I dehydrated some apples because I had some King Arthur recipes that call for dried apples. Well, it turned out they make tasty snacks so this year I'll have to dehydrate some for snacks and some in smaller pieces for baking. When baked, the apples re-hydrate and have a great flavor. Tomatoes were a big revelations so I'm growing more paste types this year. The dried were good but I also partially dried some for the freezer. They are a great addition to a lot of recipes. The small varieties of paste tomatoes work well for this because I just halve and scrape out seeds. The larger sizes just recquire more slicing. Leeks dried extremely well and are so good to toss into recipes. Dried hot peppers were saved in a jar and I grind what I need in a mortar when I cook.

I froze sliced peppers and I'm happy I did. They are always handy for grilled sausage sandwiches.

Vietnamese pickled carrots and radish are great for sandwiches. I love banh mi sandwiches and right now I have cilantro that self seeded. These are a refrigerator pickle.

I have been tempted to get a pressure canner because a friend says they have lots of soups in winter but I find it a lot easier just to freeze a veggie blend to use later. I will continue to can tomatoes since we have American chop suey fairly often. The other dehydrator trick was to partially dehydrate tomatoes and then turn into paste in the blender. I think it's an easier way of making tomato paste. I freeze in snack bags that I put into a freezer bags so they are nicely organized.

Guess I'm too old and set in my ways. I have always canned most foods the way I learned many decades ago, in their basic form - plain tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato sauce, plain corn, plain beans and peas, plain squash, plain potatoes, plain meats, plain kraut, etc. so no fancy recipes. I firmly believe doing so keeps the whole process easier and faster and even safer. Plus I then have all the ingredients I need to make up something fancy in Jan and Feb.

Do have a few exceptions - Annie's Salsa, Shirley's Vegetable Juice Cocktail, Pulled Pork, Venison Stew, Rotel-type tomatoes and peppers, pie fillings, and some pickles.

Wife likes to do a bit of experimenting with her jams and preserves so will try a new recipe now and then but we pretty much stick to our favorites.

We do more dehydrating now than we used to - all the onions and herbs, carrots, and some tomatoes, plus some fruit roll-ups for the grandkids.

Dave

Dave, which recipe do you use for the rotel-type tomatoes? How close does it come to the commercial variety in taste?

I'm still learning and trying new things but there are definitely things I wouldn't can again and did in the first place because I thought I would use them. I'm going to stick to plain tomatoes, stewed tomatoes (which I love and can't keep on the shelf), green beans, deer meat, Annie's salsa, pickled beets, pickled onions, various jams, kraut, relish, and a few pickles. I like my corn frozen and prefer refrigerator pickles. I like apples and peaches dehydrated, plus canned sauce. I dehydrated various odd things last year and they are still in my freezer. I also forget they were there. My few attempts at canned tomato sauce didn't turn out that great for all the work involved. I may have over-cooked it before processing but I have no desire to try it again when I can blender a can of toms for the sauce. I've already harvested my garlic and it is curing now. Plan to keep some for fresh and roast the rest with olive oil and freeze in cubes. It is very handy that way! I may try to dehydrate some kale chips, I have lots of kale and can't seem to use it up quickly enough. I still want to try some new things, though!

I think experimenting is good because how else will we discover new favorites. I freeze a curried cherry tomato ketchup that is easy to make and uses up a lot of cherry tomatoes. To me, it tastes more like chili sauce and I like it occasionally for a sandwich topping or on scrambled eggs and is a terrific sauce for shrimp.

I actually do more preserving now than I used to... Because now I can.

I have space and can run a chest freezer, so I make lots of stocks- turkey, smoked pork and ham, chicken, corn, and sometimes beef stocks.

way more canning. Most of the jams and jellies go to friends or to feed the Orioles, lol. Lots of tomato stuff, and a huge array of pickled goods.

And dehydrating... Went from just some herbs when I lived in the city to a dedicated shelf each in the cooking pantry and the storage pantry of dehydrated stuff.

I stopped canning all the fancy tomato sauces and now just can roasted crushed toms. That way, I have the flexibility to use those crushed tomatoes in anyway that I want. Some things like sauerkraut I only make every other year, as we don't eat that much of it, same with pickles & relish.

I always can Annie's Salsa, as the guys who do tree work on our property LOVE it and I give them cases of it every year. :-) I do experiment with jams & sauces just to see what may be the "next best thing". I give away jams/jellies at Christmas along with homemade cookies, so I tell myself that's my excuse. :-)

Used to freeze green beans, but now I love the canned ones better, so I always make a lot of those every year. Always can my own stock, but it never lasts very long. :-)

I actually feel I need to step outside my comfort zone and try some other things like meat & other veggies.

I have a dehydrator, but use it primarily for beef jerky.

gardengriz, I think you should try dehydrating some tomatoes. If you only dehydrate them part way, they still need to go in the freezer (I think) but are a wonderful addition to different dishes. The flavor is different. I dried just one onion for all the recipes that call for onion powder. Leeks worked well, too. I'll do apples again. I even tried drying tomato skins to make a powder to add to soups and casseroles but it was too much work for what I got. I think "zucchini chips" were the only failure. Too salty.

Defrost, I've done tomatoes and they are lovely. I specifically love to make my Dried Herbed Tomatoes (click link to go to my blog and see). They are wonderful in pasta dishes, casseroles, and pizza!

thanks, gardengriz. They look delicious. I love the flavor of balsamic vinegar.