Quite overwhelmed by the output from our tomato garden, we finally took the plunge to give canning a try! We did twelve half-pint jars (mostly because we don't have a gigantic pot big enough for pint jars), and it was really fun, and our cans are beautiful. When we crack open those jars in the middle of winter and taste the tomatoes from our own garden, I can tell you... we are going to be extremely SMUG.
Tales of long hours spent over the stove, I can tell you, are overdone. We did all the work in about 2 hrs, and then waiting patiently while the jars boil in the pot. Basically, you just boil the jars to make sure they're squeaky-clean, then you blanche the tomatoes to slip off the skins, then you stuff the tomatoes in the jars, then you put the lids on and boil them again.
If you're interested in trying it, I mostly used these two sites:
Martha Stewart, which is kind of basic, and
this one, which had more details.
One of the most exciting aspects of canning was discovering just why one of our heirloom varieties was called
Amish Pink and Yellow. Here you can see an average haul from our garden, where the orange
Amish Pink and Yellow are virtually indistinguishable fro
Betty's Orange (an orange tomato from M's Gran's friend Betty, you see.)
When canned, we saw this lovely (wait for it) pink and yellow emerge!
Anyone else canning? I'd be interested to hear what you've made!
The Splendid Table recipe is for canning, but we just put ours in a jar in the fridge. I know it'll be fine because it's covered in vinegar and we'll eat it soon. I have to wait four days for it to marinate, but... it looks pretty darn good. The whole thing took about a half hour's work!
It's kind of like zucchini bread, but tastes a little crisper. It was delicious! I took a loaf to my office and everyone raved. Very easy to make. Here's a pick of the green tomatoes all chopped up - you just squeeze the liquid out and mix in the dough. Nice and cinnamon-y - I'd highly suggest this if you have some green tomatoes to use up. Recipe via Cooking with Michele.
You know me, I like to spread out my celebrating, so next month we'll be in France. Il n'y a qu'un bonheur dans la vie, c'est d'aimer et d'être aimé. Here's the view from our hotel:
Here's the whole gang... there's my long-time friend L on the right, one of my many friends who procreated this summer. Three month old baby and she's the hottest mamma in town!
And here we sample deep-fried twinkies and oreos before heading to the airport the last day. A perhaps misguided choice. I'm "pretending" to have a heart attack. They were at once delicious and inedible.
Experiencing the "Fremont Street Experience"
newly re-married
That drink was huge, C's straw is actually 2 feet long!
M & K huddle for warmth.
It's really easy to make and ten-thousand times better than (dare I say it?) canned corn. I can't wait to eat it at Thanksgiving! In fact, we couldn't wait to even get it in the freezer, we had corn for dinner that night!
