Just the beginning of the counter-space invasion...this pic was taken a couple weeks ago. A few baby fingerlings, the start of red tomatoes, yellow squash, and pole beans. We're now up to our necks in tomatoes. Loads and loads of tomatoes, loads of yellow squash.
Some garlic laid to dry on the kayak in the warm garage.
I'm really trying to rouse myself into canning all these freakin' tomatoes. I'm just sooo tired and it's been sooo hot! Granted, today was a bit better as the humidity calmed down a bit, making life a little more bearable. My body and this baby have decided that I really only need 4 hours of sleep a night, which is kicking my butt.
I don't mind canning. In fact, I normally quite enjoy it. There's a great satisfaction that comes with all the kitchen prep time spent chopping, preparing, stuffing jars, and listening to music. However, I must admit tomatoes are the worst in my humble opinion. You have to scald them, them pop them into ice water in order to remove their skins (and you have to keep replacing the ice water as it gets warmer. We only have 4 ice cube trays, so we end up using every frozen thing we can to keep the water cold.). Core them, quarter them, and put them into jars. Thankfully, the pressure canner processes them in 25 minutes once you're up to pressure, as opposed to the 85 minutes it takes in a hot water bath. Talk about a hot kitchen!
I was going to can tomatoes this evening. I even made myself a real-deal caffeinated iced-coffee to wake up a bit. But after doing a couple loads of laundry, washing dishes, cooking and eating dinner, I just feel ready for bed. I've got at least another 3 hours before the kids will allow that to happen.
I seriously wondered today if there's any city ordinance against my erecting a "road side stand" on my residential street to sell my tomatoes and squash and green beans and eggs. Drive 20 miles south of here and there's all kind of end-of-the-driveway veggie stands. Why not here in college town? I could simultaneously make some cash while avoiding canning tomatoes...
5 comments:
I so remember the summer I was heavily pregnant with Kendra, and dragging myself around, and complaining even more than usual, (if that is possible), about the heat. I think the farm stand idea is a far better one than the canning one. The thought of canning a ton of tomatoes even makes me feel tired!
I was thinking about you again today when I met a Mom of a little boy in Kendra's class. They all just moved from Troy, Michigan. What a huge move for them all to make!
Girl, you need, tout suite, a food mill. Granted your output afterward would be "tomato sauce" and not something so pretty as quartered peeled tomatoes, but honestly it saves a LOT of time. See if you can find one in a garage sale, but I got mine as a wedding gift and it's great because it has three different screens: I use the finest for the toms and just stew them whole when I cook dinner (or can other stuff) and then I put them through the food mill to rid them of skins and seeds.
Another option is to roast them with a bunch of other things and then can up the remainder. Put in a turkey pan and cooked let's say overnight in a low oven? Wunderbar. See this post I did a while back. http://fastgrowtheweeds.com/2007/08/31/everyones-got-tomato-stories/
I feel your pain, girl! (Overwhelmed here too albeit with vacant uterus)
El, I love you. I finally read your past post to see what you had to say. I've canned 12 pints and 7 quarts of tomatoes this morning. I've frozen many, many cherry tomatoes (of the very cute "Thumbalina" variety). I think the Tomato Glut will be next on my preserving menu. It will be a fab way to get rid of all this beautiful but overly-bountiful yellow squash too.
Mo, I don't know how one can be pregnant in Arizona. I'd have to be bound and gagged for all the complaining about the heat coming from my mouth if I were there! ;)
I hope the Michigan family gets their bearings. Lots of families leaving the state. So sad. Troy is about 45 minutes from me-also a huge auto industry city.
I think a curside stand is a great idea. The kids and i set up one every now and then. Think of it as a garden sale instead of a garage sale.
This weekend is going to involve much tomato canning for me too, and I can't imagine how additionally hard it must be for you right now. Thank goodness for the pressure canner though!
Question for you: do you have to remove the skins for the canning process? I really don't mind them, even when they separate from the tomato in the canned sauce/salsa/chunks/whatever.... is there something about the canning process that requires removal of the skins?
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