Posted on 08/08/2020 6:08:23 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Well, I freeze mine because it gives me plenty of time before I have to process them. Big plus is the skins come right off after they thaw just a bit. Sometimes I don’t can them or make sauce until winter. I have not noticed any problem with taste.
I bought a case of each type/size of jar at the end of last summer. I have about 90 wide mouth jar lids and bands in addition to what came with the cases.
But it’s the regular size that I’m almost out of. I ordered a couple of packs on line today. Will keep an eye out at various stores next week or so.
I like the wide mouth, even though they are more expensive, as they are far easier to clean.
I can fit my hand inside the jar to scrub at anything that might be stuck on.
I had a volunteer tomato that sprang up next to the compost bin. Of course, I let it grow. It only has one tomato so far. It has lots of little flower starts that just shriveled away with no fruit. Crazy.
The other volunteer came up in a pot that I had a tumeric growing in—so I’m just letting it go too. So far have had quite a few cherry tomatoes from it.
Hubby is getting about 10-15 per week—not all are good enough to mess with due to rotten spots etc. But some are nearly perfect.
And we have rain again right now. Electricity went off for a few seconds. So I’m not going to can anything tonight-we are all electric.
That’s why I like the wide mouth too. I have mostly wide mouth, but maybe about 24 regular pints. Then I have quite a few 8 oz and 4 oz size for jelly and spices/dried herbs and they are the regular size lids. Most of my canned goods right now are meats. Chicken, pork roast, beef roast that I bought on sale and canned.
When the shed is finished and I have more room, I’m going to empty the freezer by canning everything I can. Then try to buy a side of beef locally to restock.
Ha. I got over loaded too. Someone gave me some cukes and peppers. Hubby went to the farmers market, and bought cukes, peppers and tomatoes—even though we had a lot from our garden.
They are hybrids and we have heirlooms. Huge nice big tomatoes and then some smaller ones just a bit large than a ping pong ball. I’ll take the small ones and the cherry tomatoes that I picked to the great grandkids tomorrow or next day.
Got the pickles done in quart jars-trying the fermentation method for the first time using mason jars. We’ll see how it goes. Still have tomatoes to quarter and freeze.
Also have a rump roast and country ribs to cook before I take it to my grand daughter and her kids.
We never seem to have the mild mix around here. Maybe I could just add a can or two of tomatoes to the batch. If it’s still too hot, I can give it to the grand daughter that likes hot stuff. LOL
Well, I have the Heinz sauce tomatoes, which make the best sauce, IMO.
And they are determinate, which means they start with a trickle and then BOOM, you’re inundated, then they just taper off.
So I refrigerate the ones i pick early and figure that any flavor loss is made up by the mass of ripe ones that come in the middle of the tomato dump.
I also read this......
Daniel Gritzer at SeriousEats.com
https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/why-you-should-refrigerate-tomatoes.html
His conclusion was that refrigerating fresh vine ripened tomatoes didn’t have much of an impact on flavor. it’s the store bought ones bred for shipping and picked unripe that suffered the most.
I’ve been canning a fair amount of meat, too. While there’s nothing like a good flame grilled porterhouse, food, is after all, food, and nobody is going to be turning their noses up at a good stew from home pressure canned beef during the zombie apocalypse.
Or the Nov 2020 elections.
I am just scrounging any jars I can find.
At our age, we find the extra tenderness of the meat we can is very appreciated. LOL. Hubby won’t even try to eat a steak anymore—I still mangle on down now and then. Ha.
Thanks for the reminder on the Heinz tomatoes. Adding that to my notes for next year. It’s been a long time since I’ve grown that variety! :)
I’ll probably search around online for vanilla beans. I haven’t had time to do it yet. A couple of years ago (2?) I did a deep dive on vanilla beans & found some I liked, but I’ve since lost the links so I’ll have to start from scratch :-(
I have been feeding the birds all along this summer. Boy, are they happy & I have flocks of finches, all sorts, with the Goldfinches being the most beautiful. The red-headed woodpecker was coming every day & I just couldn’t cut off the food, but after this last 40# bag, I might have to do it & start back up when the weather gets cold. The sunflower & tithonia patch are attracting a lot of birds too - I’ve even caught Goldfinches on my zinnias!
The hummingbirds are incredible - I had NO idea we had so many! I put out 10 oz of nectar at 6 am Sunday morning and by 6 tonight, the feeder was low already! I had to get some light bulbs (weird ones, not the usual) at Lowe’s and while I was there, I checked out the hummer feeders. I found a 32 ounce one that looks decent - took it apart right there in the store to see how easy it would be to clean & it seemed simple enough, so I got it. My project (other than mowing) this evening was to fix a place to hang it near the other feeder. I’ll be curious to see how the birds do with it tomorrow. They buzz each other off the one feeder - we see 5 or 6 at a time! They hang out in the cedars nearby & if one approaches the feeder, others zooms out of the trees & they start aerial acrobatics - quite the show!
Yum......pulverize the vanilla almonds to top ice cream .......a must try
“...during the zombie apocalypse...or the Nov 2020 elections.”
LOL! I like how you think, Mom! ;)
It was kind of an accidental discovery - I don’t have a big sweet tooth*, so we weren’t really just chowing them down and while I liked the taste, I wanted to use them up.
Good for topping sugar-free pudding with lo-cal whipped cream, too.
Beau has the sweet tooth, but I try to cut back the calories for him where I can. ;)
*I will admit to a, ‘Wine Tooth’ and a, ‘Martini Tooth.’ :)
I love the flat leaf “Lacinato” Italian Kale and pack it in my lunch. I just eat it raw. Delicious.
I boufht a handful of “planting bags” which are essentially bags that hole 10 lbs of soil made out of the same material they make plastic tarps out of.
I put a store bought sweet potato in one and it is going gang busters.
I have to fill the other 3 bags now and get them started
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