All about Food: Tomatoes

We are deep in the processing month that september lends itself too, and the photos have turned out well so I thought I would share:

Tomatoes

We are lucky to have growers like Jon and blue moon farm to have hundreds of pounds of tomato seconds being dropped off on our doorstep and they have been kicking our ass a bit to get canned, but we are caught up and I think done-

Step one: secure a buttload of tomatoes (We abandoned our tomato crop at the community gardens this summer, I couldn't handle park district stuff and Ben couldn't get out there enough, so good things for back ups)Step two: core and half the tomatoes, then worship your vitamix blender for its ability to liquify skins and seeds. No need to peel tomatoes in this house.

Step three: Simmer on the stove for hours. Be thankful that its not that hot to simmer the tomatoes on the stove for the next 6 hours to reduce them and get out all the added air from the blender.

Step four: Put tomato goodness in jars, pressure can and put up for winter. I think that we have at least 60+ jars currently: most to be used for food nanny meals, but still as much as we need.

With our heirloom slicers, that we do have in the side yard garden, we have enjoyed many fresh, but slicing them relatively thin and oven drying them on racks... holy yummy, they don't last long and have been a great addition on pizza's this summer and with cheese platters.

I will say that the only reason I tolerate the heat of summer is for the harvest, so putting it up for winter is really the greatest reward.