Tomato canning, 2010 edition

I've made a tradition out of tomato canning over Labor Day Weekend. I started it last year, and we did it again this year, and it's gone so swimmingly well that we (Tom and I) plan to do this every year, because there's nothing quite like homemade catsup. :)

Anyway, to start, a few weeks before Labor day, we place an order with Three Way Farm (Virginia), who sell produce at two farmer's markets we go to, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The order is placed for two boxes (about a bushel, total) of Roma tomatoes.

½bu. Roma Tomatoes

Working in batches for each recipe, the tomatoes get dunked into boiling water for 30 seconds or so to make them easier to peel.

Coring the Tomatoes

Skinned & Cored

Tomatoes are seeded and chopped or sliced as needed. For tomato paste and catsup, the tomatoes are cooked with some other vegetables and seasonings, and then put through the food mill.

Using the manual food mill

Catsup add-ins

Mashing Tomato Paste

Catsup & tomato paste are fairly labour-intensive, but for us, it's so worth the effort. We've come to prefer to know exactly what's in our food and where it came from.

Filling the jars (catsup)

Catsup

Tomato paste, with bonus shot of a basket of veggies
harvested from our garden. :)

stewed tomatoes, stewed tomatoes with green chiles.

An Introduction

Hello:

My name is Donna. I have a long-standing interest in crafty pursuits such as sewing for fashion, costuming and practical needs. I also like to quilt - both for practical and artistic reasons.

In recent years, as I've become more aware of issues related to the "typical American diet", I came to embrace the "slow food" movement. Along with this came an interest in organic foods, going to farmers markets, gardening, canning and all sorts of "old fashioned" home cooking. My interest in gardening, farmers markets and canning/preservation help support my interests in eating local (sometimes referred to as being a "locavore").

In pursuing these interests, I've done extensive collection of vintage sewing patterns, cookbooks and handy/thrifty techniques. I know that there are others out there who may also be interested in such things but haven't had an easy time getting started. It's my hope that, by relating my own experiences, I can help others to enjoy some of the same things I do. I look at this as my way of "giving back" and ensuring that some of the things I've learned don't get "lost".

As an aside, I make reference to "home front", as a lot of the things I found come from World War II era materials - a time when people undertook many of these things as part of the "home front campaigns" of that era.

Any way, I hope you find this site a useful resource. I look forward to hearing from any of you that might have questions or suggestions for furtherance of my "home front" goals.