Snatch up that Celery!

If you see celery at farmer's market, grab some bunches.  Farmer's market celery is less watery, has a much deeper celery flavor and is more crunchy than store bought.  Not many farmers carry it though; and when they do, it goes fast!

I buy at least 3-4 bunches and freeze it for the winter.  It's simple to freeze--just wash, chop and package.

Many recipes call for chopped celery. 

Have yours ready to go all winter long!

To wash it, I cut it first; put it in the sink or a bowl of water and swish it around for a while.  Drain and rinse well.  Then pat out the excess moisture between towels or in a salad spinner.
To chop it, I first cut off the fat core end, then pull off the leaves with their skinny stems.  Set the leaves/stems aside.  Then chop as for a recipe.
I package it in 1/2 and 1-cup amounts in sandwich or snack bags; then put all the smaller bags in a gallon ziploc bag and label. 

For the stems, I first package a couple of good fistfuls of leaves in a freezer ziploc to be used for making chicken/beef/pork broth or soups.  4-5 leaves gives plenty of flavor to a large pot of soup or broth. 
The rest of the leaves, I make celery broth as follows:  Put leaves in a pot, cover with 4-6" of water and then slowly simmer until the water is about half as much.  Strain out the leaves, cool the broth completely, then package as above in 1-cup packages.  Celery broth is awesome for cooking rice, lentils or couscous; for adding to soups or stews; or as a substitute for water in any recipe.