{"id":8344,"date":"2011-09-13T02:25:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-13T06:25:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-13T18:27:25","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T22:27:25","slug":"harvest-time-canning-heirloom-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardern.co.za\/2011\/09\/harvest-time-canning-heirloom-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvest Time – Canning Heirloom Tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"
As many of you know, I was raised in a canning family. My mom canned hundreds of jars of most every vegetable there was, and I can only imagine how much work that was. Me? I limit myself to a dozen jars of Tomatoes, Pickled Beets, Dilly Beans ( yum) and Pickles. Our tomatoes are just about done for the season, but last weekend I think I over did the canning a bit, most likely trying to keep my mind off of the whole Margaret -mourning thing. It was comforting to simply ‘put-up’ some plain tomatoes, which we love with meatloaf in the winter ( a meal I was raised with, and hated as a child, but now is a nostalgic comfort food – particularly those tomatoes, all salty and slurpy- takes me right back).<\/p>\n
This was a good year for tomatoes, and many of the heirloom varieties I have kept separate, so that I could can them together. Their colors are amazing, in maroon, golden yellow and green.<\/p>\n
Canning properly means that you must have an organized kitchen. I keep lots of towels, tongs, and pots of water boiling with jar lids, so that no moment is wasted between filling the hot, sterilized jars fresh from the dishwasher and from placing them into the processor. I never use Weck jars for tomatoes, since their seal is not as long lived as Ball or Mason jars. But I sometimes use Weck for gifts with such preserves that include sugar or vinegar like pickles, jams or chutney.<\/p>\n
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PEELING TOMATOES TAKES ME BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD IN OUR VERY SAME BACK YARD. MY PARENTS WERE SERIOUS CANNERS, AND ALONG WITH MY BROTHERS AND SISTER, I WOULD HAVE TO PEEL HOT TOMATOES HEATED IN LARGE VATS ON THE FIREPLACE OUT BACK NEAR THE DUCK YARD. I WOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT THE HOT, SLIPPERY TOMATOES, AND USUALLY IT WOULD WORK, BEING THE YOUNGEST. SUCCESSFULLY RELIEVED OF THE CHORE, I COULD THEN JUST WATCH MY OLDER SIBLINGS. TODAY, I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO STILL CANS.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n <\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As many of you know, I was raised in a canning family. My mom canned hundreds of jars of most every vegetable there was,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n |