I did a lot of cooking yesterday with the things I’d picked up from the farm on Wednesday. I oven dried the basil by laying it out in a single layer on a baking sheet and putting it in the oven at 200 F for a few hours with the door open. We left to go run some errands so then I turned the oven off and closed the door. When we got  home the basil was dried nicely. I crumbled it into a storage jar.

Next up I made some refrigerator pickles. Grandma used to keep refrigerator pickles going all summer. These are vaguely similar. Combine 2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 cup white vinegar and 1 cup water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add sprigs of dill, pinch of crushed red pepper and sliced cucumbers. I also added the last of my green onions from last weeks farm share and the little carrots from this week. Grandma would just sliced more cucumbers into the brine as needed but I’m not really sure how long the brine lasts before it needs replacing.

I also made some wonderful tomato chutney.

Tomato Chutney
1 head of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, shredded
1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
3 pounds tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 hot chili, thinly sliced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Combine all ingredients except raisins and almonds in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook at a hard simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until about the consistency of honey. Stir more often as time goes on and the mixture thickens. After the mixture has thickened, add raisins and almonds and cook a further 5 minutes. Transfer to clean jars and store refrigerated indefinitely.