Our plants have gone completely crazy this year. Now that is not to say that we aren't used to bringing in a very good amount of the delicious, red yummies but this year is a bit exceptional. We have been bringing in over thirty pounds of tomatoes each picking with a couple of pickings topping fifty pounds. The little buggers are everywhere. They are perched on top of my sugar and flour containers. they are in bowls, on the counters, in bags and a few are even hiding in the fridge.
To say that we have been doing quite a bit of canning is an understatement. We just ran twelve more quart jars through the canner this afternoon. Each jar filled with the taste of summer sunshine to be opened when the cold fingers of winter try to find their way in the house. Each pop of a lid as the jars seal inspires a feeling of contentment.
The only thing that really irritates me is when a jar breaks in the canner. We lost a couple of jars that was this afternoon. I was so disgusted when I went to lift them out of the water bath canner and the bottom of the jar fell out along with the contents of the jar. Time to buy some more new jars.
Now, the canning book says to get rid of all of the seeds and such and then after packing the jars to add water to the jars. The very first year we canned tomatoes, we decided that wouldn't work for us. We blanch and peel the tomatoes, cut the stem area off and put them in the jar just like that. We find that there is more than enough juice this way that there is no need to add water. Its all tomato. Then at the very end, we pour all of the left over juice into a jar and can it along with the tomatoes. No sense throwing it out. The juice is full of tomato goodness and the old saying, "Waste not, want not." applies quite nicely to this, but its not something the canning book says much about. Guess its just something you pick up along the way.
To say that we have been doing quite a bit of canning is an understatement. We just ran twelve more quart jars through the canner this afternoon. Each jar filled with the taste of summer sunshine to be opened when the cold fingers of winter try to find their way in the house. Each pop of a lid as the jars seal inspires a feeling of contentment.
The only thing that really irritates me is when a jar breaks in the canner. We lost a couple of jars that was this afternoon. I was so disgusted when I went to lift them out of the water bath canner and the bottom of the jar fell out along with the contents of the jar. Time to buy some more new jars.
Now, the canning book says to get rid of all of the seeds and such and then after packing the jars to add water to the jars. The very first year we canned tomatoes, we decided that wouldn't work for us. We blanch and peel the tomatoes, cut the stem area off and put them in the jar just like that. We find that there is more than enough juice this way that there is no need to add water. Its all tomato. Then at the very end, we pour all of the left over juice into a jar and can it along with the tomatoes. No sense throwing it out. The juice is full of tomato goodness and the old saying, "Waste not, want not." applies quite nicely to this, but its not something the canning book says much about. Guess its just something you pick up along the way.
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