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Blogging Buffet: Z is for Zucchini

The theme of my A to Z Challenge posts this year is "Blogging Buffet." In celebration of recently posting my 1000th blog post, I am revisiting posts from the past.  This post originally published on Thursday, August 11, 2011.


I started this year's A to Z challenge with a post about artichokes, so it seems appropriate to end with a post about another vegetable:

Who Knew???? Canning "Pineapple" from Zucchini


Even with serving curried squash for dinner last night, we are falling woefully behind in our zucchini consumption.  These beauties brutes are obviously not the cute, gourmet size, but more along the baseball bat variety.  I haven't looked in the garden today.  I'm a little bit afraid to. 

Anyway, I can either let them sit in the fridge until they go limp (ewww!) and I feel guilty, or I can findsomething to do with them.  A million loaves of zucchini bread is out of the question, and my freezer gave up the ghost, so freezing is not an option either.  The National Center for Home Food Preservation came to my rescue with this recipe:

Zucchini-Pineapple


  • 4 qts cubed or shredded zucchini
  • 46 oz canned unsweetened pineapple juice
  • 1½ cups bottled lemon juice
  • 3 cups sugar

Yield: About 8 to 9 pints


Procedure: Peel zucchini and either cut into ½-inch cubes or shred. Mix zucchini with other ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Fill jars with hot mixture and cooking liquid, leaving ½-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process. See Table 1 for recommended process time for using a boiling-water canner.
Table 1. Recommended process time for Zucchini-Pineapple in a boiling-water canner.
Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of PackJar Size0 - 1,000 ft1,001 - 6,000 ftAbove 6,000 ft
HotHalf-pints or Pints15 min2025


Sounds easy enough.  I'm going to use reconstituted frozen concentrate instead of the canned pineapple juice, as it was about half the price.  Hopefully it is good.  I've seen positive reviews on other sites, so I'm optimistic. 

Anybody else have ideas on how to preserve zucchini?

photo signature3_zps16be6bca.jpg


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Comments

  1. shortybearApril 30, 2016 at 3:25 AM

    great job on the challenge

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marisa BApril 30, 2016 at 4:06 AM

    sounds yummy - great job and congratualtions

    ReplyDelete
  3. TrudyApril 30, 2016 at 3:21 PM

    I heard someone (not sure of the source) joke that manna from heaven was probably zucchini because that would explain why there was so much of it and why the people complained. hahaha

    Congratulations on completing the challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownMay 1, 2016 at 4:04 PM

    I bet this turned out really good! I love pineapple and I love zucchini so it had to be good!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Random MusingsMay 4, 2016 at 8:50 AM

    You could always take some to a local food bank if you still have some left over that you won't get through
    Debbie

    ReplyDelete

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