Freezing Baked Goods- Wrap baked breads

Freezing Vegetables - Freeze only fresh high- quality vegetables picked when barely mature. For best results, freeze no more than 2 to 3 hours after picking. Wash in cold water, sort and cut into appropriate sizes. Blanch or scald. Pack in recom- mended container and freeze.

Do not freeze lettuce, celery, carrot sticks, potatoes or fresh tomatoes. All will become limp or mushy. Tomatoes will collapse when thawed.

Freezing Meats - The meat you thaw can only be as good as the meat you freeze. “Drugstore” wrap in meal-size packages. Flat cuts or patties should be wrapped individually or in layers sepa- rated by a double thickness of freezer wrap.

Make sure store wrappings are moisture and vapor proof. If not, re-wrap meats with one of the wraps recommended under “Packaging!’

Freezing Cooked Food-Prepare cooked foods as you would for the table; shorten cooking time 10 to 15 minutes to allow for additional cooking dur- ing reheating. Omit seasonings and part of the liq- uid. Plan to add them at reheating time. Potatoes should also be added to soup and stew at heating time. Add crumb and cheese toppings at heating time.

Cool as rapidly as possible and freeze at once. Liquid or semi-liquid dishes may be frozen in rec- ommended containers with head-space. Cas- seroles and other more solid foods may be frozen in the baking container. If you don’t want to leave your casserole dish in the freezer, line it with foil. Bake, cool, freeze, lift out the foil package, bag it and return to freezer,

Freezing Baked Goods- Wrap baked breads in

recommended material. Thaw in wrapping. Unbaked yeast breads can be frozen after the first rising. Punch down, wrap and freeze.

Bake cookies as usual. Cool and freeze on trays, then pack in recommended freezer bags or car- tons Unbaked cookies may be dropped, molded or rolled and frozen on cookie trays. Store in bag or carton; bake without thawing. Refrigerator-type cookies can be wrapped and frozen in roll form. Thaw only enough to slice when ready to bake.

Fruit pies are best frozen unbaked. Bake without thawing. Bake pecan and similar pies before freezing...rich fillings do not freeze solid. Cut steam vents in top crusts when ready to bake.