Canning: Pasta Sauce

The thing about canning is I want to break open what I've canned the moment it's done to see how it tastes. Only that would defeat the purpose of canning, wouldn't it?

So instead I have patiently begun to stockpile my collection of canned foods until that sad time a few months from now when I can't stop at a farmer's market or visit the Habitat For Humanity food stand or pick up corn from a vendor on the side of the road.

But that's a depressing thought, so we will not entertain such notions anymore.

Besides, I just returned from a bike ride down to the farmer's market and returned with as much produce as my new bike basket would carry. So I'm pretty sure that sad day won't arrive for a while yet.

Anyway.

This week's canning experiment: a basic pasta sauce.

It looks lovely and smelled great as it simmered, and that's about all I can tell you now.

Canning: Tomatoes

Next up in the wild world of canning: Butter's Best of Show Tomatoes.


Yep, that's what I decided to call them, to go along with Julie's Jams and Conservative Boy's Delicious Dill Pickles.

(Ahem. But a note about the dill pickles: We broke into a jar on Sunday night at Conservative Family Dinner and ... well ... uh ... let's just say they were potent. I don't know if this was a failure on my part or if this just isn't the recipe for us, but I don't know that "delicious" is the word to describe them. So it may be back to the drawing board on that recipe.)

But I'm guessing that Butter's Best of Show Tomatoes are just fine. You can't go wrong with them, really. All I did was peel the tomatoes and can them in their own juice, so they're ready to use for any number of recipes when tomato season is long gone.

Try canning whole peeled tomatoes yourself with the recipe I used from Food In Jars.

Next up I'm looking for a good sauce recipe, as I use lots of red sauce for pasta and pizza and all sorts of other things.

And, you know, I'd gladly take your family-tested and approved recipe for pickles if you're willing to share. Just sayin'.

A Harvest

I was getting nervous—really nervous—that the few less-than-tasty tomatoes I had harvested were going to be all I had to show for my three tomato plants over at the Conservative Family place and the two more I have in buckets in front of our house.

It was making me quite sad, and Conservative Boy unhappy because that fellow needs his BLTs. And I was only slightly comforted by the fact that I learned many other gardeners in the area were dealing with late, far-from-stellar yields too.

But then, in the past week or two, I harvested this—not only tomatoes, but also lots of jalapeno peppers (anyone want some?) and even my first (and likely only) eggplant.


Plus I picked twice as many tomatoes again this past weekend (much redder than those few you see in the back above, by the way ... I got impatient).

It appears there's time yet to enjoy a tomato harvest, even if it is a bit smaller than usual and quite a bit delayed—a fact I write about in my most recent blog post for Natural Home magazine, by the way. (You can read it here.)

Also, Conservative Boy says he's making BLTs tonight while I'm at class. I just thought I'd throw it out there in case you're interested in joining him. He makes a mean BLT, a task I have officially passed on to him.

(Have I mentioned how picky he is about his BLTs? I have been told I can blame that on a few generations of Conservative and Not-So Conservative women.)