BASIC INGREDIENTS (Vegetable Gardening)

Choose perfect vegetables that are tender, mature (but not woody), and very, very fresh. Vegetables must be prepared and dried immediately after harvesting, or they’ll lose flavor and quality. Every minute from harvesting to the drying tray counts — so hurry. Never use produce with bad spots, and harvest only the amount of vegetables you can dry at one session.
Since vegetables must be chilled quickly after blanching, you’ll need ice at hand to keep the cooling water really cold. Keep a reserve of ice in the freezer and you won’t run short. One way is to start filling heavy-duty plastic bags with Ice cubes a few days before you’ll be home drying; or rinse out empty milk • cartons, then fill them with water and freeze.
The kitchen sink is a favorite spot for holding ice water to chill vegetables, but if you want to keep it free for other uses, a plastic dishpan or other large, clean container also works very well.