This afternoon I spent my time doing something that marks, for me, the beginning of autumn. I put up my first batch of tomatoes.
This batch I blanched and then froze—a much easier process than canning.
The process:
#1. Put tomatoes in boiling water for about 2 minutes (or until they look ready—they look ready when their skin starts to pull and they float on the surface)
#2. Stick tomatoes in a pot (or bowl) of ice and water. (30 seconds is long enough but do whatever you like)
#3. Pop the stem off the top with a knife then use your fingers to slide the tomato out of her skin. (I always wear gloves for this because the tomatoes have so much acid.)
#4. Stick tomatoes in your seal-a-meal (or Ziplock freezer bag) with a little salt and seal.
#5. Freeze.
So easy and so great. I freeze loads and loads of them and then use them all winter in yummy soups and spaghetti sauces. In fact, the pot on the right back burner is full of stew meat, garden onions and fresh tomatoes bubbling into a thick spaghetti sauce for tonight. Ahhhh—I can just drink in that smell.
More crafting to come but for today I’m relishing the official begining of autumn.
—z
