Blanching Beans for Freezing

Last night I learned how to blanch beans on my own (I have done it in the past with my dear mother, however, that was several years ago!). There was never the opportunity to do so during our time in Ketchikan. I tried to grow green beans in enthusiastic naivety during our first summer there (Summer '05). I dutifully planted them in the half-barrel planters out on our back deck, tended to them carefully, and was rewarded only with small green plants (VERY small!). Bummer. Here in sunny, warm Colorado, however, it has been quite the different story, and I was almost thankful for the recent hail because I was having such a hard time keeping up with prolific plants! I am thankful for the amount we did get, though, and will be thankful if the plants put out any more, as well. So- how to blanch beans! Of course, there is already a big bag full (or bucket, or bowl, or whatever the means of transport is used to get the beans from the garden to the kitchen). By the way, I read that beans have the best flavor when picked in the cool of the morning. Funny- I've never noticed a difference. Apparently I'm no bean connoisseur. First they must be cleaned- washed of dirt, dead leaves, old blossoms, etc. They they are snapped- first the ends and then into a couple of bite-sized pieces. I attempted cutting a few into French beans, but soon decided that the effort was too much for the result, and I rather prefer the appearance of snapped beans. Once they are all cleaned and snapped, they must be boiled in water for a couple of minutes (two to three)- until they just start to slightly change color (they kind of get brighter), but remain crisp with good flavor. This stops the enzymes in them from continuing to work, thus changing flavor and texture while frozen. My second batch was more toward the "cooked" side by the time I fished them all out (I needed something larger than a big, slotted spoon!), but I guess that means I'll just cook them for less time later on. Next they must be quickly dumped into ice water. I had to have someone (someone ended up being my father-in-law- a big thanks to him!) run to the store for ice. We only had three trays in the freezer (thanks to my wonderful planning-ahead abilities), which was barely enough for the first two quarts-worth. As you can see from the picture above (with the BIG chunk of ice), I got a little , umm, shall we say, over-zealous about my ice water. My problem then was fishing ice cubes out of the beans as I put them in the colander to drain. Oh well, live and learn! They drain pretty quickly, and then I just put as many in a freezer quart bag as would reasonably fit. Squeeze all the air out and seal the bag. For an extra "A" for effort, one can stick a straw in the bag as the double zip locks are being snapped together and suck as hard as possible to get the extra air out. Now, Ziploc brand sells vacuum seal bags, but then it becomes necessary to spend more, purchasing special bags with a special vacuum port, and of course, Ziploc's handy-dandy hand-sized vacuum attachment. Being the conscientious, somewhat thrifty person that I am, I figured that one of the green straws from the silverware drawer utilized with my incredible set of lungs would do the trick. (This must be done without inhaling any beans, of course. A trip to the hospital involving a laryngoscopy to remove imbedded bean pieces from one's airways would put a bit of a damper on the whole money-saving idea behind freezing beans!) I personally found that the straw method is not incredibly effective (either that or my straw was too small). Anyway, repeat all of the above process until every bean is tucked safely away with its friends in freezer bags, label them with the date (the contents are kind of obvious, in my opinion), and tuck them away for meals later on after the garden has stopped producing.

Now, after all that, stop and think. Have you ever thought about a bean? Think about the little seed that goes into the ground at the end of spring. A little water, some nice warm sun, and voila! It's a plant! Give it a couple more weeks, some more water and sun, and voila! It's a plant loaded with more beans than you know what to do with! How's that for evidence of a creator? I don't know how anyone can explain away the process of germination, growth, and reproduction in something even as "simple" as a bean. So, we'll plant the beans, water them, keep the weeds away, pick the beans, and say, "Thank You, Lord, for making such wonderful things as beans!"