Weekend Labors...

It was Labor Day Weekend, so I kept busy in the kitchen. I bought forty pounds of beef steak tomatoes from a local producer, with stewed tomatoes, homemade Rotel™ and tomato juice in mind. I processed the first fifteen pounds of tomatoes, which yielded these gorgeous seven quarts of stewed tomatoes, plus two quarts of juice.

I would have processed more tomatoes, but there was a gentlemen who brought pears and McIntosh apples (Handsome's favorite) to the store where I work. We had this big plastic tub, filled with bags of both. I get our pears from Andy and Shelly, but all our apples from the old tree dropped before they ripened, so I jumped on the Macs. 

I came home with twenty five pounds, so Handsome and I cut them all up and put them in two Nesco™ roasters to cook down while I did the tomatoes. I didn't finish the applesauce until midnight, but went to bed with fourteen quarts cooling on the counter. One didn't seal, so it went into the fridge so we'll eat that first.

I did blanch and peel the beef steaks, so I saved  the peels to dehydrate. Did you know that you can also preserve these to make tomato paste? I only just learned about this. Once dehydrated, I pulverized the skins in my little grinder (dedicated to spices and veg - no coffee) and then placed them into a jar.

To use for paste, mix 1 part powder to 1 part water. It's that easy. In the alternative, the powder can be added by the spoonful to soups or other dishes to enhance the flavor. It takes a while to fill a jar, but I have more tomatoes to process, so there will be more skins.

I took the day off on Sunday to rest and spend time with Handsome, but got back to it yesterday. We didn't have plans as Handsome tires quickly, so I want him to rest. Instead, I processed twenty pounds of San Marzano tomatoes (like Romas) into pizza sauce.

I don't peel these tomatoes. Instead, I cut out the core, and then cut them into quarters to run through my food processor...peels and all. The peels are undetectable when the mixture is cooked, and it adds more texture to my paste. As always, I then season the tomatoes with my favorite, Mrs. Wages Pizza Sauce packets to cook.

By mid-afternoon, I'd processed twenty one 12 ounce jars, and eight 8 ounce jars of sauce. After they cooled, I removed the rings (I do that with all my jars), made sure they'd all sealed, wiped the rims and labeled them. They're now in the pantry cupboard awaiting our next homemade pizza.

I work today, but will process the rest of the beef steak tomatoes tomorrow. Then I'll be taking a little rest from canning to work on some craftier pursuits. First things first. I'd better finish getting ready for work. I don't want to be tardy. See you tomorrow!