eG Foodblog: Shelby--The Everlasting Garden...Canning...Canning...Canning...

[SusieQ]

Shelby, I just read through your older foodblog and now this one. Wow, it's amazing. You have a wonderful way of describing what you're doing -- whether it involves deer, quail, tomatoes, corn bread or whatever. You also have an amazing garden, which I know takes a LOT of work. (You should see my two really pitiful tomato plants.) So, just wanted to thank you for doing this foodblog -- I am really enjoying it.

[blue_dolphin]

"Cherokee Red"

 

There are also Cherokee black, Cherokee green, and Cherokee purple. 

 

What do the Cherokees have to do with those tomatoes? 

 

Wonderful blog so far. Thank you!

 

dcarch

According to this NPR story, a bit of folklore from a family that had been saving the seeds for years indicated that they originally received the seeds from the Cherokees. 

 

Edited to add my thanks to Shelby for sharing all of this bounty with us!

Edited August 11, 2015 by blue_dolphin (log)

[heidih]

Go Shelby!

 

In light of the joy folks take in the blogs I thought a link to the blog index might be useful - a wealth of great reading contained there and also a bit of "memory lane" in tune with this topic   http://forums.egullet.org/topic/151792-twelve-years-with-egullet/

 

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/135134-eg-foodblogs-information-index/

[Deryn]

My mother used a pressure cooker all my childhood and it didn't blow up but I was sure it would so it took me about 20 years after I left home to buy one myself. I got used to that one and while I too am always respectful, I got very good at using it. And then I lost it (well, someone absconded with it) and I went another 20 years before I got another - and this time it was a giant pressure canner. I wish my husband were here to tell the tale because I know he would tell you it was very amusing. It took me well over a month (and many wasted bits of produce that I was going to 'can' but never did) of me staring at that thing on the stove, night after night, before I got up the gumption to actually put jars into it, lock the lid and turn on the heat. At that point I went around the corner - just in case it might blow up - and when the time came to put on the weight, I made him do it. I also made him turn it off and when it had cooled sufficiently, take the lid off. I felt like a coward that first time, believe me. The second run I was a little less of a 'fraidy cat .. and within a week or so, I was pretty good at doing the whole thing myself.

I just bought an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) though - and the first time I ran it, without even really thinking about it, I made sure I was well across the room till I was sure it wasn't about to explode. It was almost funny since I am now not so afraid of my huge mechanical pressure canner any more. But, old habits die hard.

I feel your fears (err respect) - and they are a good thing so you will always be cautious - but really, once you use a canner a few times, you would be fine.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[Shelby]

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

Edited August 11, 2015 by Shelby (log)

[Shelby]

My mother used a pressure cooker all my childhood and it didn't blow up but I was sure it would so it took me about 20 years after I left home to buy one myself. I got used to that one and while I too am always respectful, I got very good at using it. And then I lost it (well, someone absconded with it) and I went another 20 years before I got another - and this time it was a giant pressure canner. I wish my husband were here to tell the tale because I know he would tell you it was very amusing. It took me well over a month (and many wasted bits of produce that I was going to 'can' but never did) of me staring at that thing on the stove, night after night, before I got up the gumption to actually put jars into it, lock the lid and turn on the heat. At that point I went around the corner - just in case it might blow up - and when the time came to put on the weight, I made him do it. I also made him turn it off and when it had cooled sufficiently, take the lid off. I felt like a coward that first time, believe me. The second run I was a little less of a 'fraidy cat .. and within a week or so, I was pretty good at doing the whole thing myself.

I just bought an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) though - and the first time I ran it, without even really thinking about it, I made sure I was well across the room till I was sure it wasn't about to explode. It was almost funny since I am now not so afraid of my huge mechanical pressure canner any more. But, old habits die hard.

I feel your fears (err respect) - and they are a good thing so you will always be cautious - but really, once you use a canner a few times, you would be fine.

   

 

I love stories like this. 

 

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

[ElainaA]

Shelby that's a wonderful tutorial! And I really like that you let your cats help. Well, hang around anyway. How many quarts do you plan on canning?

I am so jealous of those of you in warmer growing zones! Well, my time will come....... Right now it's pickle time.

Elaina

[Shelby]

Shelby that's a wonderful tutorial! And I really like that you let your cats help. Well, hang around anyway. How many quarts do you plan on canning?

I am so jealous of those of you in warmer growing zones! Well, my time will come....... Right now it's pickle time.

Elaina

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.

[heidih]

Shelby - have you seen this pink salt idea using tomato skins on Food52?  http://food52.com/recipes/37175-tomato-skin-salt

[Shelby]

Shelby - have you seen this pink salt idea using tomato skins on Food52?  http://food52.com/recipes/37175-tomato-skin-salt

NO!  I'm so totally doing this.  Thank you!

 

My husband is loving this idea.  What a fun idea to try.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Shelby (log)

[Okanagancook]

Thanks Shelby!  Wonderful.  I am tired just scrolling down the page.  All day in the kitchen.  

 

Me too, dealing with various produce including tomatoes.  

I think Brandy Wine tomatoes are not as purple as the Cherokee variety.  I have Brandy Wine tomatoes but they are a long way from being ripe compared to the Cherokees.  I love the Cherokees.  So meaty.  This is the first year I have grown them...saw them on It's a Chef's Life.

I also made a roasted cherry tomato sauce kind of like Elaina's but Spanish.  It had saffron, smoked paprika, slivered garlic, olive oil, bay leaf and thyme sprigs.  Turned out very interesting....very Spanish.  Supposed to be served with grilled meats/fish or on pasta.

 

Well, have a good rest up for tomorrow and enjoy your well earned glass or two of wine!

[Shelby]

Thanks Shelby!  Wonderful.  I am tired just scrolling down the page.  All day in the kitchen.  

 

Me too, dealing with various produce including tomatoes.  

I think Brandy Wine tomatoes are not as purple as the Cherokee variety.  I have Brandy Wine tomatoes but they are a long way from being ripe compared to the Cherokees.  I love the Cherokees.  So meaty.  This is the first year I have grown them...saw them on It's a Chef's Life.

I also made a roasted cherry tomato sauce kind of like Elaina's but Spanish.  It had saffron, smoked paprika, slivered garlic, olive oil, bay leaf and thyme sprigs.  Turned out very interesting....very Spanish.  Supposed to be served with grilled meats/fish or on pasta.

 

Well, have a good rest up for tomorrow and enjoy your well earned glass or two of wine!

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.

[heidih]

Lovely satisfying meal.  SSo......any story on the attractive ceramic wine goblets?

[Anna N]

Shelby, I just read through your older foodblog and now this one. Wow, it's amazing. You have a wonderful way of describing what you're doing -- whether it involves deer, quail, tomatoes, corn bread or whatever. You also have an amazing garden, which I know takes a LOT of work. (You should see my two really pitiful tomato plants.) So, just wanted to thank you for doing this foodblog -- I am really enjoying it.

Like you I spent a couple of very pleasant hours last night going through Shelby's first blog. Being neither a gardener nor a hunter I get a very different perspective on the nature of one's relationship to ingredients. Deer and tomatoes are not prepared to wait on my convenience!

[Shelby]

Lovely satisfying meal.  SSo......any story on the attractive ceramic wine goblets?

I bought those from the neatest online pottery shop way before I got married so probably 18 years ago?  They are hand thrown and I LOVE them.  I love all hand thrown pottery.  I search all the time for pottery wine goblets.  I learned that they are terribly hard to make.  Over the years I've broken a lot of them and I'm down to just three.  I emailed the store to ask if they would consider making them again, but I never got a response.  I guess that meant no.   

 

I'm a little late this morning.  I slept in a bit.  I'm off to the garden and then I'll be back with your morning okra picture. 

[Okanagancook]

The Cherokee Purples aren't too acidic, kind of earthy, meaty as you can see by the picture and definitely very juicy.  The plants are excellent producers and these tomatoes were starting to ripen first so we were eating them for at least a week before my other tomatoes were ripe.  

 

Here is a link to the Chef's Life episode where Vivian Howard searches out some of these tomatoes for a tomato sandwich like no other served to a special group visiting her restaurant.  She also shows us how she makes a tomato pie, something I have never had and looks dreamy.  Enjoy:  http://video.pbs.org/video/2365099378/

[Shelby]

THAT is a gorgeous tomato!!!

 

 

I gotta pick up the pace.  I'm slow this morning.  Planning on canning peaches later.....unless they can wait a few more days, if so, maybe a peach dessert could be in the works.

 

A few garden pictures.....

 

A tiny part of the pumpkin patch

 

 

 

 

Eggplant flower--pretty purple.

 

 

A new garden spider has moved in across the garden from Matilda.  I think the webs are SO cool.  That zig-zag design...I love it.

 

 

Haul from this morning.  I picked some of the Thai peppers that are green.

 

 

 

Breakfast was a tomato and pimento cheese sandwich

 

 

 

[Smithy]

This is so much fun! I love your attitude about the garden spiders, and I've never seen a zigzag like that. Very cool. I realize now that I've also never seen an eggplant blossom. It's interesting that it looks more classically nightshadesque than the tomato blossoms I see.

Re cherry tomatoes: I like to toss them in olive oil, maybe add a sprinkle of salt or herbs, then roast them until they collapse and caramelize slightly. That makes the start of a great pasta sauce, chicken addition or bruschetta topping. Covered with olive oil to keep the air off, it keeps well in the fridge and even better in the freezer. I've never tried canning it.

[Shelby]

This is so much fun! I love your attitude about the garden spiders, and I've never seen a zigzag like that. Very cool. I realize now that I've also never seen an eggplant blossom. It's interesting that it looks more classically nightshadesque than the tomato blossoms I see.

Re cherry tomatoes: I like to toss them in olive oil, maybe add a sprinkle of salt or herbs, then roast them until they collapse and caramelize slightly. That makes the start of a great pasta sauce, chicken addition or bruschetta topping. Covered with olive oil to keep the air off, it keeps well in the fridge and even better in the freezer. I've never tried canning it.

Thank you!

 

Those spiders are so huge and beautiful--and I'm not a spider lover. But I do love these girls (I don't know why I think they're female lol).  AND every grasshopper they catch and eat is one less that is munching on my garden.

 

I'm having fun with my big camera getting some good pictures of blossoms and the garden in general.  I got lazy and started using my iPhone for everything.  Just not the same quality.

 

Do you slice your cherries in half when you do that or keep them whole?

 

Thought I had a contender...foiled again....

 

 

Took a picture of my storage area in the basement for all that I've canned.  Can't remember if I took one in the last blog.

 

Edited August 12, 2015 by Shelby (log)

[kayb]

One of these days, I want to come to Kansas and spend a week in the kitchen with you. When we're not cooking, we can watch horse racing, and gamble.

[ElainaA]

One of these days, I want to come to Kansas and spend a week in the kitchen with you. When we're not cooking, we can watch horse racing, and gamble.

Can I come too?

ElainA

[dcarch]

" A new garden spider has moved in across the garden from Matilda.  I think the webs are SO cool.-------------But I do love these girls (I don't know why I think they're female lol). ----"

 

Come on! girl spiders are nasty. They have nasty mating needs with male spiders.

 

dcarch

[cyalexa]

One of these days, I want to come to Kansas and spend a week in the kitchen with you. When we're not cooking, we can watch horse racing, and gamble.

Remington park opens on Friday and the meet runs well into the fall/early winter. I think It is closer to either of you than you are to each other! If you come when one of my husband's horses run you can come in the saddling paddock and if we are lucky, the winner's circle.

Edited August 13, 2015 by cyalexa (log)

[Shelby]

One of these days, I want to come to Kansas and spend a week in the kitchen with you. When we're not cooking, we can watch horse racing, and gamble.

 

 Trust me, I'm borrrrrrring.  I think I should come there and we should visit the ponies in person

Can I come too?

ElainA

 

Kay lives in the cool state near Oaklawn Race Track...girl, we'd have fun there

" A new garden spider has moved in across the garden from Matilda.  I think the webs are SO cool.-------------But I do love these girls (I don't know why I think they're female lol). ----"

 

Come on! girl spiders are nasty. They have nasty mating needs with male spiders.

 

dcarch

 

Awwwww.....noooooooooo, as Heidi reminded me today, just think of Charlotte's Web.  

Remington park opens on Friday and the meet runs well into the fall/early winter. I think It is closer to either of you than you are to each other! If you come when one of my husband's horses run you can come in the saddling paddock and if we are lucky, the winner's circle.

Ohhhhhhhhhh man, I gotta get with you and find out your horse names so I can cheer!

 

So sorry for the blank afternoon.  I had an unexpected visitor that took forever and it's just been one of those days.  Still up to my elbows in canning peaches.  I'll be back as soon as I can with pictures.

[MelissaH]

I, too, love those spiderwebs with the zigzags. You've now got me thinking of ways to incorporate spiderweb-like patterns into a future knitted sweater!

 

The one year we grew eggplants, I was surprised that the flowers were such a pretty purple. And I was even more amazed to see that the eggplants were purple right from the beginning; it's not like tomatoes where they start out little and green, get bigger and green, and only then change colors.