Canning...a tomato love story... -killertomato

Growing your own garden is naturally the cheapest way to get vegetables on the table and by far the most local food you could obtain. Most of the work takes place during planting- then it's just upkeep, which you won't mind once you start reigning in your bounty! If you have never done it, give it a try. You can grow a lot on the tiniest amount of land and if you don't have any land, I bet you could still grow something out on your balcony. You'll just need to research what you can do with where you live. This year, we grew our garden out in the fromt yard. We'd just moved in to a new place and so the neighbors gave us some hairy eyeballs as we tore it to pieces to get everything planted. By midsummer, their children were coming by evenings to see the miniature cucumbers and okra. They plucked cherry tomatoes off the vine and dared one another to try them and then asked if they could pick more. Most of all, they were fascinated by the wasps, spiders and other living creatures that each seemed to protect the plants from pests in their own chomping chain. It sounds like we had a lot of vegetables growing, right? We did! There were radishes green onions and herbs, too. We ate it all up and when there was excess, we turned to canning.

I am not a certified canner, so I wouldn't feel right giving directions on this blog. I mean, your botulism is your own business. KIDDING! Botulism is extremely rare and though you must follow the instructions and recipes carefully, your jars should seal properly. Here's a link from a great source: http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm There is a lot of information on the internet if you need images, etc. Just don't be intimidated. It's not that hard and after a couple of times, you've got it down. If you mess it up, just remember you aren't the first.

Yesterday I was writing about using the green tomatoes that are no longer ripening on the vine and turning them into a zingy soup. Today I took the firm little cherry tomatoes that were left and pickled them. There were some extremely tiny ones the size of capers, which I am particularly anticipating. I used the same recipe for pickled peppers (the kind whose vinegar you shake onto greens) for it's ready availability. For one quart, about a quart of white vinegar, a tablespoon of pickling salt, a few peppercorns, a smattering of chili flakes, a pinch of turmeric, and in this case a dash of sugar because I think it's going to cut some of the tartness. I'd sterilized the jar, lid and ring (after absentmindedly grating some cheese into the pot of boiling water instead of the bowl beside it- doh! yes, i started over), and filled it with the washed tomatoes. After bringing the vinegar concoction to a boil and briefly reducing the heat, it was poured over the tomatoes while the jar was still hot from sterilization. Lid went on, and jar was placed into a huge pot of boiling water so that the jar was covered. Wish we had a canner, but I did some research on this and it's been working fine. After about 15 minutes, the jar came back out, happy popping sounds ensued and now it sits in the dark pantry to cool overnight. Tomorrow I'll remove the ring around the lid and make sure it's pressed down and a can opener would be needed to pry it off. If not, we'll just have to eat them sooner. I'm pretty excited about them. I have never had one so I don't know what they'll taste like. I'm thinking they could be used in a salad, on a cheese plate when friends come over for cocktails (in a martini?), as an addition the Christmas buffet, to name a few possibilities. Anytime you can pull something from the pantry and add something fun and unusual to the spread without having to cook or run to the store, it's a winner.