Tomato Canning

I have memories of my mom canning tomatoes and peaches when I was younger, but I don't remember helping with the process and I never thought much about canning until after getting married and having my own kitchen. Then suddenly, that Pennsylvania Dutch canning/preserving gene kicked in and I've been adding to the canning list ever since.

When Dan and I first started canning we consulted 3 resources: the Internet, my mom and his mom. And I must confess, when the information differs between sources, the mom methods usually win out (you'll see what I mean later.)

A friend recently asked me about how I can chopped tomatoes and tomato juice, so I thought I'd write a post in case any one else out there is interested. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures. I didn't take any while canning my most recent. Here's what I do.

Gather tomatoes and supplies:

Jars, lids, rings, salt, vinegar or lemon juice, canner, stockpot, basin, food mill (I have my mom's old cone-shaped one), funnel, large spoon and/ladle, cutting board and knife and a couple of bowls for holding the tomatoes as well as a smaller bowl for the skins and cores.

I first wash the jars I'll be using and have them ready. I put the lids in a small sauce pan and heat the water to almost boiling to soften the rubber. And you may want to note that I don't technically sterilize my jars. So far we've never had an issue, but I know I'm breaking a canning rule here.

Before canning chopped tomatoes, I remove the skins (although one year I didn't and the tomatoes were fine) by blanching them in boiling water for about 30 seconds. I then move them directly to a basin filled with ice water.

Then I cut the core out of the tomato and slip off the skins. Next, I chop the tomatoes. You'll notice I don't remove the seeds. I don't mind seeds in chopped tomatoes, and when I use the food mill most of the seeds don't get in the tomato juice.

If you are making sauce or juice, you don't need to skin the tomatoes. Just remove the core, and chop them up a little bit. Then put them in a stock pot and cook them until they are heated through. If it's juice, just put everything directly through the food mill. If you want sauce, let the heated tomatoes drain multiple times in a colander so that you can drain off the juice before making sauce (the more you drain, the thicker the sauce).Then you put them through the food mill. The food mill will remove the skins and seeds for you.

After I've chopped, sauced or juiced enough to fill my canner (7 quart jars), I start filling the jars. I fill them up to the neck of the jar. Then I usually add about a teaspoon of vinegar and a few grains of salt. My mom recommends the salt. She says her mom said tomatoes need a little bit so they seal better, so I do this partly just because my grandmother did it too. However, my mom maintains that some years when she skipped the mini dash of salt, her tomatoes didn't all seal.

I put the lids and rings on tight and place the jars in the canner. Here's where I break more rules. I only put water up to the neck of the jar. Just below the ring. Most canning directions tell you 2 inches above the jars. My experience (gleaned from past generations as well) tells me that's not necessary. And apparently, my great aunt used to only put a few inches of water in the bottom of the canner and would have to check to see if it was boiling by using a flashlight because she didn't want to take the lid off the whole way to check.

I bring the water to a full, rolling boil and then set a timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes (for both chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce and juice), I take the jars out and let them sit, undisturbed, for 24
hours.

Here also, my mom recommends taking the jars out in a draftless room. So I close the windows and shut off any fans. I think I actually read this on some canning website, but otherwise, I never heard of it from anyone else. But, in honor of tradition and generational wisdom, I do it too. (Call me silly, if you want to.)

Want to know how the kids help? Edwin can take the blanched tomatoes from the cold water and put them in a bowl. He can put more ice in the cold water. He then helps set out lids and rings for each jar I've set out. He also likes to put the tomatoes into the jar using the spoon and funnel, and he's getting good at putting on lids and rings. Elena, well, she was able to bring me tomatoes to blanch. I actually saved most of the work for when it was nap time.

Putting Up

Well. Hello. It's been a long time. Anyone still out there? I'm actually sitting at the computer tonight, uploading pictures from the camera, and so I decided I should take the time to write something here and let you know what's been going on around here.

Summer season is in full swing. And by this I mean the preserving season. So far we've canned some sour cherries and frozen a boat load of strawberries and blueberries and a few boxes of roma beans. I'd have frozen the green beans by now too, but I forgot them at my mom's house earlier this week, so I have to wait until Dan brings them back here tonight.

If it wasn't for the fresh produce and the satisfaction I gain from "putting up" food for us to eat later on in the year, I think I'd struggle to enjoy the heat of summer. I can handle the cold of winter with a lot more cheerfulness than the mugginess. (Sorry LJL, I know we're opposites here!).

This year's freezing and canning process will most likely be a little crazier thanks to my two eager helpers. The last two years I only had one helper, so now I have to figure out how to do what needs done productively while preventing all the fresh food from being devoured before I can or freeze it. I figure, maybe if I let them "help" now, they won't know any different, so in the years to come, when they are actually capable of real help (Edwin's actually getting there this year - he competently filled the jars with sour cherries.), they'll just think it's normal. Right? Maybe?

Yogurt

This could've just been a post on facebook, but since a very few of you might still check this blog every now and again, I thought I might as well put it here.

Yesterday morning this quart jar was filled with fresh, raw cow's milk. By yesterday evening, it was filled with yogurt. I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm excited about the prospect. Frankly, I'm just excited about the fact that I have yogurt sitting in my fridge that was made here at home All it required was 1/3. c. plain yogurt (the very last of a container I bought at the store) and a quart of milk we got from the farm last weekend. I used the candy thermometer I got for Christmas (so glad to have an accurate thermometer) when heating up and cooling down the milk, and then the jar sat in a warm oven for most of the day. And voila! Milk became yogurt.

Silence Unbroken

I've been silent on the blogging front recently. Is it silly that I find it too much "work" to sit down, upload pictures and then write about stuff? The things in front of me - the dishes, a sewing project, the mountain of laundry sitting on the chair in our bedroom, a braided rug that's taking me forever to finish, cooking a meal, etc - are what get first dibs (after kids, of course, can't forget about them.). I also don't use this as my spill-all outlet for my life. So some things that others might write about, I save for my pen and paper journal. Those are the real goods, but not for the public domain. :)

I also question the value of posting my crafts and projects. Don't get me wrong, I really like reading about and seeing what others are doing because I get great ideas or tips, but I find myself questioning the worth of sitting myself down to post my projects when I could be working on other projects or just doing what needs to be done. Or reading a book. Or exercising. Or watching Downton Abbey. I save so many things for nap time or after the kids are in bed and it just gets swept aside.

But Dan is at work right now, it's Sunday night so the laundry can wait, the kids are sleeping, Downton Abbey is over for this week (and it's a sad one, let me tell you), I had a nap this afternoon and don't feel tired yet, and I realized I can post about multiple things with the same photos. Perfect. I do like being efficient although I can't claim that skill in many other areas of life.

Anyway, Dan and I actually spent the better part of 4 days and 3 nights away, on our own while our kids hung out with our parents. This was a first for us. We hadn't been away alone since Edwin came along. So it was quite exciting. Dan had a conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico and when it was being planned I flippantly  (but not really flippantly) said he could go if I could come along. And that's just what we did. So here area few pictures to prove we were there. Now that we're back in cold northeast, balmy Puerto Rico seems like a dream.

Below you'll see us in old San Juan. Behind us is an old fort (el Morro). Old San Juan has a wall around most of it. It's a charming city that reminds me of an old European city. It's over 400 years old. We ate so much good Puerto Rican food while there. I'm hoping to find some recipes and make some here at home.

You'll also see two of my projects in this picture and the one below. I bought some knit fabric a while back (for no reason other than it was a cheap remnant and feels so soft), found a tutorial and free pattern online and so I made a simple skirt. I think it's one I'll wear a lot this summer. It's as comfortable as my yoga pants and will be so much cooler. I also made a maxi skirt using the same pattern but different fabric. Also incredibly comfortable. I don't have a closer picture but you can get an idea of what it's like from the website I got it from. Just a sewing side note: the knit fabric I used is pretty thin, so I followed the pattern creator's advice and cut the waist band on the small side (because thinner knit fabric stretches more) and cut the skirt pieces larger (because a thinner fabric will cling more. It turned out great.

Project 2 is the shoulder bag. It's reversible, but I don't have a picture of it the other way around. The paisley fabric is what is on the inside. I carried this bag on the plane and used it while walking around town in San Juan. The only down side I discovered is that the solid pink fabric bled some color onto my clothes. I did prewash the fabric, but perhaps I should've washed it at least one more time before using it. I got the pattern from this site but tweaked it. I widened the bag and slightly lengthened the straps. Then I put two tucks on each side so that the top is narrower than the bottom. I also added some interior and exterior pockets.

A street in Old San Juan. Many of them are cobblestones, but this one below happens to be paved.

A sunrise I didn't see because I chose to sleep in when I had the chance!

                                       

And just to prove I spent some time on the beach. Reading "7" by Jen Hatmaker. Pretty ironic to be reading that book while on a mini vacation in the Caribbean. 

A new sun hat.

The beach we sat on the morning before we flew back home.

 And I think that's all I'm going to take time for tonight.

Now you know a little about what's been happening around here.

One Year

This girl turned a year old a couple weeks ago, and I can hardly believe that her first year has gone by so quickly. What would I like you to know about Elena?

She's a busy girl. She's determined. And when she decides to do something, she does it. I'd say she knows her mind. Nursing is an example of that. She just up and quit a short time before her birthday. It's as if one day, she just decided that she was done. One day she wanted to nurse, the next day, not at all.

She's crawling everywhere but doesn't show much interest in walking. I'm figuring she'll start walking whenever she decides to, and until then, she's happy to zip around on hands and knees. She has no problem climbing, and if the stairs are open, she makes a beeline for them. I've also found her on top of the kids' table and the coffee table.

She's so aware of what's going on around her and doesn't hesitate to ask for what she wants. And when she crawls over to me and hold her hands up to me (her way of saying "pick me up"), it's basically impossible for me to not pick her up.

Elena freely gives me kisses and snuggles and is nice and cuddly. She's waving  and saying "bye" when Dan goes to work or when we leave her favorite stuffed animal in her crib. She's generally a cheerful, happy girl who occasionally throws in a temper tantrum just to let us know she's really serious about what she doesn't like.

I am so thankful she's part of our family.

Elena's First

Just had to take the time to read Elena's birth story. I can't believe a year has passed already. I plan to write more later about Elena!

What We've Been Up To

I've been silent here for a while. As usual, I've given myself a list of  "to do" items, and I find that between those and the usual household tasks, and the other scheduled events of life, I just don't get around to posting much. So this evening, while taking a break from the Christmas stocking I'm crocheting for Elena, I thought I'd post some pictures of what the kids have been up to. What you don't see in the pictures is me. Aside from the few moments it takes to snap some pictures, I've been doing laundry, baking cookies and breads, cleaning (a little, when necessary), washing dishes, changing diapers,  and so on.  One thing I haven't been doing is nursing. Somebody just up and stopped nursing on her own last week!  It was like one day she just decided she was done. I'm hoping potty training goes just as smoothly. :)

Enjoy the photos!