Shelby

June 2007 here. Very newbish What would I do without eG and all of the cool people I've "met" here????

I'm sharp side up. I don't know why...I guess I thought it was better for the knife blade? Edited to add HA HA it's MY knife block you saw

Thank you so much! I am tired. As soon as I do this last post I'm off to rest. It's a good feeling that we get from preserving My Brandy's are definitely not purple. Very pink. So I think that's what they are. I think lol. I need to look for Cherokees. Never seen or grown them. Are they nice and tomato -y?? I will definitely be trying out all of your cherry tomato ideas. I need them so you guys keep 'em coming please Ok, so dinner is not fancy when I can. Meatloaf sandwiches and fries. And homemade pickles. Bread is homemade. Cheese is a sharp cheddar. I put lots of homemade mayo on (thanks Rotuts ) The meatloaf really wasn't as dry as I thought....maybe time in the fridge helped? Oh and here's all of the quarts nice and sealed: I love my fry cutter. When I can get it to stick to the counter. Annnnnnnd a confession. I put the rest of the tomato juice on to simmer for a while because if I keep it in the fridge it just lasts and tastes better when I do that. I got busy typing up my canning pictorial and boiled the juice down to nothing. Like almost burning nothing. Sigh. YES Ronnie (that's my husband and I refused to tell him what I did lol) that's what happened. Oooops. Sleep well, ya'll! See you in the morning! As always, thank you for reading.

NO! I'm so totally doing this. Thank you! My husband is loving this idea. What a fun idea to try.

Thank you, Elaina Maybe it will help someone or inspire someone to try. If I can do it, ANYONE can do it I'm not sure how many....I'll just keep canning until there's not enough to can. About 15 or so years ago I had almost 200 quarts. I doubt I'll even get close to that this year and I'm just fine with that I'll be pickling Saturday for sure. That's the day my crock pickles will be done and hopefully I'll have enough cukes to start a new batch.

I love stories like this. Maybe I'll have to get one and try......we'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Thank you so much Dcarch, Susie!, BlueDolphin and Heidi! You're right, Heidi, the food blogs are so fun. I've gone back a read a ton of them. Susie, I bet gardening in Seattle is a bit challenging --well maybe not this summer because you haven't had very much rain have you? I bet your 'mater plants are good! I'm glad you enjoyed the first blog Whew, canning for today is almost done. Here's a rundown: First, I had to have an iced coffee. I'm not much of a coffee drinker unless it has Bailey's in it but I do like an iced coffee on hot mornings. Gives me a little oomph. The canning prep begins by doing all the dishes and putting all dishes away. I don't have enough space unless I do that. Then, I go through all of the tomatoes and pick out all the ones that need to be canned. I save the ones that aren't quite ripe yet or really great "eaters" so we have some fresh ones for us at all times. I move them all around and put them in order of ripeness and also clean the counters while I'm at it. This may be far more detail than you need lol. Here is today's pile: Next I go downstairs and get at least a dozen quart jars and give them a nice hot soapy bath. They go in the dishwasher after that to be sterilized and kept warm. I give them a bath first because I guess I'm anal lol. You want to get at least two extra jars because you never know if you're going to find a crack or a flaw in them after the dishwasher run. I actually had to discard FOUR today due to cracks down the side of three and a bunch of etching in another. You work too hard to take a chance on a jar exploding in the water bath (happened to me last week, in fact). Put your jars either in the dishwasher (if you have sterilize setting) or you can boil them in a huge pot. I did that for a few years. Not super fun. Don't start the dishwasher yet. Get a pot of water boiling and your sink filled up with cold water. Blanch your tomatoes briefly and then put them right in the sink. Blanching makes the skins slide right off when your coring and peeling. All cored and peeled. You're left with this....dump it in the garden and you'll get some volunteer tomato plants that come up. Now is when I start my dishwasher so that it's done around the same time I'm ready to fill the jars. Get your canner filled up with water and on the stove on high. Get your lids and bands and throw those in a pot and cover them with water. Put them on medium heat for a bit and then turn them down to low. You don't want to boil them...just keep 'em nice and toasty warm. You don't have to do the bands, but I do just because....well, I dunno why... Get your pot o' 'maters on the stove. You want to simmer them for a bit....you don't want them to lose too much structure, but you want them to be hot enough. Here's the set -up for filling the jars. Perfect for going into the jars Fill the jars up leaving about an inch of space between the 'maters and the lid. Use the end of a plastic spoon or this canning thingy and poke it clear down to the bottom of the jar 3-4 times. That gets the air bubbles out that can cause a jar not to seal. With a paper towel carefully clean the rim of the jar. Make sure there are none of those pesky seeds around. Those cause a jar not to seal, too. All ready to go in the canner for 45 minutes Make sure the water in the canner covers the jar by at least one inch...two is better but be careful because if it's too full it overflows when you put your jars in and it's a pain in the ass ....not that I've had that happen or anything.... And voila, all done and sealed. Now, if you have more to do...which I did, repeat these steps. In the end you're left with a lot of wonderful tomato juice. I quickly strain all the seeds and leftover pulp and can that also. It's not fancy like the wonderful recipes I was given today, but it's great for drinking plain or Bloody Mary's...or Red Beers....etc. I have four more quarts of tomatoes and one quart of juice in the canner now. I would have had two quarts of juice but for the defections in the jars. I guess it's time to invest in some new jars. I've used these a ton so I can't complain. So, total for today (if this batch seals ok) will be 10 quarts of 'maters and 1 quart of juice. The remainder of the juice I'll put in the fridge. We'll drink it. It's WINE TIME

One must sit down and rehydrate from time to time and stopping to talk to you guys is the perfect excuse Okanagancook asked the same thing about the Cherokee Red.......I swear I bought a couple of Brandywine plants, but maybe I'm wrong? I've been calling them Brandywines....... I absolutely love the eggplant in there. Just gives it a slightly different "boost". I didn't strain the seeds...I pulled a lot of them out before putting chunks in the sauce. We don't mind a few seeds. Exactly. I feel the same way about less acidy tomatoes. I want them to taste like tomatoes! Bring on the acid!

It would come in handy.....I've just never been around those or learned how to use them. Maybe I'm a bit scared of them kinda like I'm ....well, I hate to use the word "scared"....lets say I'm very respectful of the pressure cooker we have.

Thank you for the recipe! I don't have a pressure canner, either. What type of container do you use to freeze it in?

LOL and that's the site that I found it on! I skip the garlic, though, out of laziness. I'm in Kansas, it differs if you are in a high elevation, but I do just like you're doing. 45 minutes. I agree that 85 minutes is way too long.

That sounds super good. I think I'll make this towards the end of the season to use up the green tomatoes that are always left. I bet the long skinny red ones are Thai chile peppers. I grow those too...although none of my peppers are going great guns this year.

That makes complete sense. I do only use the older varieties because we like the taste the best. We don't care for the yellow type. I bet those might be lower in acid. Believe me, ours have enough acid. Just ask the canker sores I get at the end of summer after eating a zillion 'maters.

We've been keeping a list of our tomato weights. We have a little contest every morning to see who picks the biggest tomato. I'm not winning because someone seems to have scoped out where all of the big guys are growing. 1.66 lbs. seems to be as big as they get........

Oh no! It's such hard work and then to have so much rain that you can't control. I'm sorry I've found stinkbugs on my 'maters this year, too. Nasty little creatures. I just tried to say "pick a peck of purple podded poles" five times and failed Phew. I'm not alone! I'm putzing around the kitchen getting organized so I'll be canning tomatoes soon.

I may have a few more ears to do. I did quite a few last week. This was my first time growing corn (well, growing sweet corn) and I planted 200 seeds. Not near that many came up. I planted them all the same so I don't know what went wrong. Thus, I didn't have all that much. And, some of it turned into huitlacoche (smut). I cut it off the cob. Do you freeze yours on the cob?

Yes please! I think both Anna and Dejah have had this recently and it looked so good. Breakfast this morning tomatoes and scrambled eggs:

In the past I've canned salsa. I kind of like just having the plain tomatoes so I can do what ever I want with them. I hope your 'maters come on soon! It's so hard waiting for them .... I do pickle. I have crock pickles going and I have quick pickles made. I'm also going to do some pickled eggs later this week inspired by HungryChris on the pickling thread. I'd be interested in the V8 recipe. My husband drinks it most every morning. Yes! Just a few days ago I did something. I took some pictures of what I did. It was a lot of fun doing something so foreign and new (to me). Good morning everyone! View into the garden this morning. I was trying to catch my husband's head showing, but I failed. He's 6' tall and the tomatoes are taller than he is. Annnnnnnd, your okra pictures of the day (I am obsessed with the okra, can you tell?) I love how the flowers dry after the okra grows. It stays on the tip like a little hat. Pickage from this morning. (Pickage should be word) I have to introduce you to Matilda. I don't know what kind of spider she is (or if she's even a she). I call her a garden spider. She's BIG. I wish I could get a better picture. The web is absolutely gorgeous. We go and talk to her every morning. She normally has a huge grasshopper she's munching on. She's the protector of the tomatoes.

P.S. SO sorry for the pictures....I have to get used to using a nice camera again rather than my iPhone. Sweet dreams everyone!

Oh wow, just wow. Thank you everyone for your interest. I'm honestly overwhelmed. I'm not lying...this blog isn't going to be as fast paced and full like my first one was. This is very garden-centric (LOL is that a word???). I will be back tomorrow morning early to answer and talk about all the new questions and topics going on. I can't wait!!!! But I'm pooped right now. I'm older than I was last blog and....well, I have less energy I guess. Plus I get up super early to garden due to heat. For now I will post dinner pictures: I should have canned tomatoes today but with all that was going on I wouldn't have gotten a good start early enough and so I didn't. So, I sorted the tomatoes and found some that I didn't think would make it overnight and I also had some leftover 'maters that weren't enough to fill a whole quart canning jar the last time I canned. Thus, it was pasta and venison meatball night. So boring....to most but a few pics of the sauce in progress..... I love doing eggplant like this. Adds a great thickness and a touch of smoke to the sauce. I made these venison meatballs last year--I'm sure some of you remember. The zucchini made these SO tender. This is my last package Finished sauce Salads, homemade bread and pasta. What could be better? Again, I'm so so happy to have you guys with me this week. It makes all the canning and all SO much more fun! I'm having another swallow or two of wine and then I'm going to go snuggle in bed. See you bright and early in the morning!!!!!

I just will have to make that sauce. Period. Oh yeah, I have about 30 quarts of tomatoes already put up. And six quarts of juice. I'm probably going to make you guys leave me forever, but I don't add any acid or lemon juice to my canned tomatoes. Haven't ever and I've canned for twenty years. Never ever had a problem. A google showed me that in 1994 the experts changed and started to recommend adding acid. I didn't learn that way, and for me, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But, don't think of me as an expert and you guys should do what you want to do. *Shelby ducks and runs from the canning experts*

Oh that sounds so good. I've been drying them in the oven with drizzled olive oil, sea salt, rosemary...basil etc and pepper. 225 degrees for 3 hours or so. Then I put them in mason jars and cover with more olive oil. Super good on pasta....pizza....salad....right out of the jar..... But, I'm on jar #5 so I better find some different ways to preserve them or use them up.

Got the cherry 'maters all cleaned up. If I had one of those really cool, old wooden farm house tables, I'd use this as the centerpiece. I think they are cheerful Now I gotta nail down what to make for dinner. We eat around 8 so, I have some time if I want to make something that takes time....we'll see. Oh, and it's happy hour....time for wine.

Annnnnnd, here's the harvest from this morning. Some mornings it's more than others. Today's was heavy on the cherry tomatoes.

Still thinking about the stuffing of okra blossoms......Here is a side view. They are much smaller than squash blossoms, but if you were gentle, I think it could happen?