Tomato, Tomoto...

This Labor Day weekend will get underway for me by processing a bushel of tomatoes into canned stewed tomatoes.

There'll be nothing better than opening a jar of lovely local tomatoes this winter for homemade spaghetti, chili, or other delicious dishes. A little work now for a big payoff later.

I'd better hop to it  a bushel is about fifty two pounds of tomatoes. I'm going to be at this for more than a minute. I hope you have a great weekend!!

 

Beauty In A Jar...

These tomatoes were so tasty! I turned nine pounds of them, along with half a pound of green peppers and six ounces of sweet onion into these three gorgeous quarts and one pint of stewed tomatoes. 

The jars all sealed, are cleaned, labeled and in the pantry already. I'm looking forward to more tomatoes when they're ready to make more of this scarlet-colored goodness. 

Today is my first day of my new early morning shift. I'll be done by 10:30 am and will have the rest of the day ahead of me. It's going to be interesting to see how this night owl adjusts. We'll see. 

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!

Stewed Tomatoes...

It actually wasn't in my plans to do any canning yesterday, but "flexible" is a good thing, right? I'd sent off a message to the couple who have a fabulous fruit and vegetable growing business close to us to see if there were tomatoes available. I awoke to a message yesterday morning informing me that she'd have a twenty pound box of beef steak tomatoes waiting for me at the "pick up and pay" shed by noon.

When I arrived, I saw the box of gorgeous tomatoes with my name on the sheet. I turned around to see what could easily be award-winning green peppers for $1.00 each. I knew that I would be turning this twenty pound box of shiny red goodness into stewed tomatoes, so I grabbed five peppers and put my money in the drop box. Then, Handsome and I drove up to their barns - having seen them in the yard - so we could say "hi" and thank them for being so accommodating. I also said I'd be back for more soon.

We drove home and I got all of my canning supplies set up in the kitchen. While the water was heating up in my pressure canner, as well as the blanching pot, I set about cutting onions, green peppers, and celelery, and putting them into my Kilne™ pot where I would soon be adding the cut up tomatoes. Adding salt and dried parsley to the mix, and then letting it simmer, until the vegetables were all softened, it was ready to jar. 

Everything went into clean jars, and after the rims were cleaned, lids affixed and rings screwed on (finger tight), seven quarts of goodness went into the pressure canner for twenty five minutes. An hour later (after the pressure was completed released), the lid was removed and the jars were allowed to settle before I put them on the board to cool. All the lids sealed, jars were labeled, and by dinnertime, all put away in the pantry.

This batch (I used fifteen pounds of tomatoes) also yielded a quart jar of leftover juice that I put into the refrigerator for us to drink. It's our homemade version of V8. I also reserved all the skins from blanching the tomatoes to put into our dehydrator. I've learned that I can dehydrate, then process into powder to use as tomato paste later by simply adding water and a little vinegar. There was actually only a very small bowl of waste - cores from the tomatoes and the cutoffs from the other vegetables. 

The contents of these jars will be used as a base for chili, spaghetti, soup, or casseroles into the fall and winter, so I'll definitely get more tomatoes to make more. After all, two of us would easily go through seven quarts rather quickly.

We took a break for fresh cheese and tomato sandwiches with Duke's mayonnaise on homebread for lunch. I can tell you they tasted incredible. They 'maters were rich and sweet tasting, and each one in the box weighed nearly a pound!

On another note, the ladies and I had a great time for our Saturday Craft Day, but I'll tell you all about that tomorrow. Veggies took top billing for today. I hope you all had as nice a weekend as I did! I'll see you tomorrow.

Fresh Veg From a Co-worker...

All the hard work of Wisconsin gardeners is now bearing fruit. When I went to work yesterday, this beautiful bounty was waiting. On Tuesdays, I work with only one other person - Teresa - and we really work well together. She works in the kitchen, and I work in front as a cashier. Our days go fast, too, busy with sales or fuel, grocery, or freshly made food. With only two, we're really hopping most days.

She and I have a wonderful barter arrangement, too. I've shared canned or baked goods, and sometimes help her with sewing requests (machine embroidering her name on her work shirts, or sewing on a loose button. In return, she shares empty canning jars by the dozens, venison (which I love but don't harvest), or now, these beautiful vegetables from her garden. (There was another green pepper, but I used it to make grilled chicken sandwiches with sauteéd onions and peppers on my homemade buns last night.) We also buy her hens' beautiful farm-fresh eggs.

Our garden is small this year due to health circumstances. We have six tomato plants that are bearing fruit, but it's not ripening (yet). The squash I planted is doing really well, as are my basil plants, but overall, the garden won't be producing nearly as much this year. 

Handsome and I have talked about what we want to can this season, but most of the raw materials will come from farmers markets, local farmers and friends. Thanks to Teresa, we have some lovely, organic vegetables to enjoy for meals until we purchase what we need for our canning needs.

In the spirit of bartering, Teresa won't take any money, so I'm going to come up with something nice for her. I'll have to put on my thinking cap to make it extra special.

It's A Good (Safe) Tired...

 

Before you worry, I've been behaving. Handsome does all the heavy lifting (bless his heart), and I do what I can safely accomplish without risking my recuperation. Most of our tomatoes have gone to the freezer to process later, but a friend who lives up the road had an overabundance of tomatoes that she graciously shared with us. I decided we should process these right away because they were just that gorgeous. BTW- we bartered some of my canned goods for the tomatoes. Everybody was happy with that arrangement!

I've been revisiting our pantry to see what I typically purchase that we could replace with our own homemade version, and one of the things I found were cans of Rotel Tomatoes and Chili Peppers. I usually add this to our enchilada dishes or other Mexican fare. I found a great recipe from THIS website

and we ended up processing 25 cups of tomatoes (run through our food processor), 8 jalapeños (also chopped), and the rest of the incredients called for in the recipe.

When all was said and done, we had nineteen 12 oz. jars of beautiful homemade rotel fresh from the water bath canner. It's already on the pantry shelf now.

 

 

Andy and Shelly found a sweet corn stand and shared some of their corn with us. We got a call when they went back to see if we wanted more, so I asked them to bring three dozen ears for us. Over the weekend, eighteen ears were processed into creamed corn (We already have canned sweet corn, but if I want to make corn casserole it also calls for a can of creamed corn). The cream and butter are added to these jars when it's time to cook them, not in the canning process. You can see we ended up with seven and a half pints.

We also did another batch of Corn and Black Bean Salsa with some of the remaining corn, and ten cobs were blanched and then vacuum-sealed for the freezer. We're set with sweet corn for the winter now!

Today Handsome and I will be baking bread, but I'll likely can sliced green tomatoes, too. I found a recipe from the same site as the Rotel copycat recipe to can the green tomatoes so they can be used later for fried green tomatoes! As I seriously doubt that many of the remaining tomatoes will ripen on the vine, this is a perfect solution to enjoy them all winter long!

By the time our day is done, we'll have four loaves of bread and multiple jars of sliced green tomatoes. I'll share photos tomorrow. I know when we're though, I'll be a really nice tired, and be very grateful for my dear husband who helped every step of the way.

We Make A Great Team...

Brynwood Needleworks - Smoky Paprika Tomato Jam

 

My productive weekend never would have happened without the help Handsome gave me. Before my surgery, we went to the Oshkosh area and purchased a bushel of tomatoes at a great price. Nearly fifty pounds of these red beauties yielded half a shelf of crushed tomatoes, many jars of tomato ketchup, and multiple jars of salsa. It was so nice to see all that goodness in our pantry, but only half of the tomato shelf was filled.

Brynwood Needleworks - Crushed Tomatoes In Pantry

 

One week post-op, I asked Handsome if he would help me with another bushel so that shelf would be full as we head into the cold weather. He agreed, so I contacted the same seller and we went back for another bushel on Friday morning. I need his help whenever anything over five pounds needs to be lifted, as that's my biggest restriction for a month after the surgery.

He lifted every single thing I needed all weekend (and beyond). He brought all the canning supplies I needed upstairs from my storage area in the basement, he measured all the tomatoes (20# per batch), and helped me load and unload my pots and the canner all day.

Brynwood Needleworks - Marisa McClellan's Canning Book

By the end of the day on Saturday, we'd processed just over forty pounds of red goodness, and added fifteen quarts of crushed tomatoes, plus two quarts of "mostly juice" (for soups or to add to roasts). Not only did we fill the rest of that shelf, but I had to move into another shelf space for the rest.

Sunday, I took four pounds and made a recipe I've been thinking about for months. I belong to the "Food In Jars" Facebook group, founded by Marisa McClellan, and they've all be raving about this recipe. I had to try it! I made her Smoky Paprika Tomato Jam (included in Marisa's Preserving By The Pint cookbook).

Now I know what all the other canners who've made this recipe know. It's delicious! Four pounds yielded four half-pints (one jar missing in the photograph, because that one was actually our test jar at dinner time last night) of tasty, smoky/sweet jam.

In case you're wondering, this jam can be used on a charcuterie tray as a condiment, on hamburgers or sausages, and after tasting, I can't wait to use it as a sauce on baby back ribs! Ladies in the group say it makes a great pizza sauce, too. So many applications!

So, we went through all those tomatoes, and I admit I'm tired. But, I can say, I'm not hurting, and Handsome was my hero as we did this project together all weekend. I'm feeling pretty chuffed at our shared accomplishments. We make a great team.

To Market, To Market...

Brynwood Needleworks - Canned Stewed Tomatoes

 

Grabbing my coffee to go this morning. Taggart and I are off to the Farmer's Market in Fond du Lac today. I'm going to get another bushel of tomatoes to do another 15 quarts of this gorgeous-ness. It's going to be a busy Saturday!

 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

 

Baking Day...

Brynwood Needleworks - He Rests When He Can

 

That puppy wears him out, so while she was taking a nap in her kennel, Tag wanted to catch a quick forty winks, too. He knows there's nothing for him in the kitchen when I'm baking bread, so he doesn't even bother. Well, not until it's baked anyway.

I cleaned the house from top to bottom first, dusting, vacuuming, putting things away that have a tendency to end up on a table or chair...that sort of thing. I no sooner rearranged and cleaned the living room that Tag didn't jump right into this chair.

 

Brynwood Needleworks - Farmhouse Sandwich Loaves Today

 

I didn't start this batch of bread until after 2 pm. It was so hot outside, that I really had to force myself, but Handsome reminded me that he needed bread for his lunch sandwiches, so I just dawdled until mid-afternoon.

 

These beautiful loaves came out of the oven around 8 pm, and this picture was taken right before I put them into bread bags.

 

I'm going to process the last 18 pounds from the bushel of tomatoes I got over the weekend. I'm going to turn them into salsa. I went downstairs to check my stock of canning lids, and sighed a sigh of relief that I'd actually bought enough at the end of the season to be able to can what I still want to put up this season...applesauce, more stewed tomatoes, and pears from Shelly and Andy's tree between our yards. You do know about the shortage of canning lids, don't you? They're nowhere to be found this season, because all the Covid gardeners are canning their bounty. If I plan to do anything once my lids are gone, I'll have to freeze, rather than can, but according to my calculations, I should be just fine this year.

 

I contacted Shelly yesterday to ask if I could have some of the pears from their tree, and she graciously said yes. Are you surprised that one of these loaves is going up to their house today? Sharing my baking with them is the least I can do.  

Well, I'm gonna run. Coffee, and then canning. At least I can enjoy a clean kitchen (and house) while I play. 

I've been thinking about all those in the path of Hurricane Laura. I hope you're safe and sound, and you're constantly in my prayers.

 

Sunday Funday...

Brynwood Needleworks - Sunday Canning

 

When I got up on Sunday morning, I knew that canning was on my agenda for the day. I got out my hardware, and Handsome helped me when I got to the "jarring" step. By the end of the day, I'd canned ten pints of Zucchini Pepper Relish (from one zucchini from Shelly!); one quart, plus 10 ounces of tomatoes (also from Shelly's garden); and six quarts of late season Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling.

Brynwood Needleworks - Zucchini Pepper Relish In The Works

The first thing I did was shred the zucchini in my Cuisinart™ food processor, and then hand chop the peppers and onions. They went into my pot, along with the requisite amount of apple cider vinegar, and cooked down for about a half hour.

After straining off the apple cider vinegar used to cook down the mixture, I added mustard and celery seed, sugar, and more apple cider vinegar. After the entire mixture came back to a boil, I put it up in pint sized jars and gave it a fifteen minute water bath. While everything was processing, I cleaned up for Round 2.

 

Brynwood Needleworks - Beautiful Tomatoes and Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling

I did the batch of tomatoes next. These beauties came from Shelly's garden and filled a nice-sized bowl. I thought I'd get two quarts, but came up short, so I put the balance into a ten ounce jar which worked just fine. I put the two jars into the water bath canner and set about preparing the pie filling.

Round Three began when I went out into the garden with Handsome and the pups, and pulled rhubarb. Handsome took the stalks from me and cut off the leaves. After we picked what we needed, we headed back to the house.

I cleaned and peeled the rhubarb, and then washed, cored, and sliced the strawberries. In my clean pot, I mixed ClearJel™ and sugar, added water, and brought the thick mixture to a boil. Once it boiled, I added lemon juice and mixed it well. I had to bring it back to a boil, and then I took it off the heat, and added the fruit.

All the jars were sterilized in my canner. (I have the awesome Ball™Electric Water Bath Canner that I bought on sale last season. I bought it HERE, but Amazon and other companies carry it, too.) I lined up all my jars, filled them, wiped the rims, added the lids and rings, and took them to the canner.

They processed perfectly (tomatoes, too), but, because my apple pie filling siphoned, I took some advice from a fellow canner, and left them in the water bath to cool down. I turned it off and just waited about twenty minutes. They came out without a single jar sputtering and siphoning!

When I took this photograph, the jars were still too hot to clean and label, so I'll do that today. I just let them sit, undisturbed, overnight. They'll be fine to label after coffee.

I still have six quarts of strawberries I bought on sale, so I'll turn those into jam later today. It will be nice to have them available for holiday gift giving, as we certainly don't eat everything I process!

Tag will be here tomorrow with some great news! He's looking forward to sharing it with you, so I won't spoil his surprise. You'll just have to grab your morning coffee or tea, and stop by to find out what he wants to crow about now. I'll be back on Wednesday with more porch photos for you. See you then!

Salsa and Stitchery...

Tomato Salsa From Our Farm Tomatoes

Our harvested tomatoes became salsa yesterday. There are more tomatoes to come, but they're not ripe enough yet to pick. This is our grandson's favorite, so there will definitely be more salsa! Soon.

Primitive Gatherings "Twilight Garden" Block 8 & Week 8 "Freebie"

 

I'm so far behind on my Primitive Gatherings "Twilight Garden" blocks, that it's going to take a concerted effort to catch up. I've finished preparing three weeks' worth, so I have five kits to get to now. I'm also behind on my "Freebie" kits...arghhh! I'll definitely work on those soon, too.  

Today, however, I'm doing my civic duty. I was called last weekend to see if I could help paint the inside (only two rooms, plus two bathrooms) at our town hall. There are more of us working, so I was happy to help. Hopefully, we'll get it all done in one day. I've got other fish to fry, if you know what I mean.

I hope you're enjoying your summer. I pray for the victims of the fires out west, and for their safety. Seeing the images hurts my heart. 

 

I'd love to know what you're working on, too. Feel free to send me an email to let me know. (link in my sidebar.) I can then respond directly!

 

You Say "Tomatoes"...

 

I say "tom-ah-toes". Either way, ours are starting to ripen. Romas here, with Celebrities ready soon. These will be made into sauce, and the Celebrities will become salsa. The cherry tomato plants continue to produce, too.

I'm in the studio for a few days, but I'll be canning these beauties soon. No matter how you say it, our farmhouse tomatoes are going to be tasty!

Spring Has Arrived At The Farm...

Hickory Hill Farm Old Apple Tree

We have a few beautiful, old, apple trees on our property. This branch belongs to the one closest to the farmhouse.  I've shown it to you before...with the lilies that adorn the base of it all summer long.

Our Farmhouse

The tree is located just across the drive from our house. I've placed six hummingbird feeders from the hooks that were already on the porch. (One is hanging from iron double hooks outside the kitchen windows.) We're planning to replace those windows - on the far left - with a bay window. I love our kitchen view, and would love one without the post that divides the two current windows.

We've got three tiny hummingbirds visiting so far, but I'm confident we'll have more over the summer, as they spread the good news to their little friends. There's also an oriole feeder hanging from the other hook in front of the kitchen windows. We have two pairs (gorgeous Baltimore Orioles) that visit to eat the oranges and grape jelly that are suspended from that feeder.

Indigo buntings, tree swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, sparrows, blue jays, cardinals, nuthatches, finches (goldfinches and purple) and wood tits also visit the feeders daily. We've got suet and fruit/grub blocks that interest the various species.

Old Farmhouse Sink/Planter

Remember the galvanized double sink we added to the farm last summer? It's a raised planter now. (That's why I wanted this one!) Handsome and I placed the legs on pavers to give it added stability, lined it with weed barrier fabric and then filled it with soil.

Pardon the weeds under the sink. I've been purposely keeping the dandelions for the bees, and have to pull the grass, too. I'll get to those soon (along with the weeds growing in the flower beds around the porch), but I needed to get the plants in the soil first.

Tomatoes

Last summer, I was paying $35 a half bushel for tomatoes! I was shocked, to say the least, so I decided then that we'd grow our own this year. There are six "Celebrity" variety tomato plants on the left side of the divided sink.

There's also a large tomato plant in the wooden planter next to it, which will give us a head start on fresh tomatoes this summer. I may have to thin them out as they get bigger, but hope to have another galvanized planter by then.

Yes. I do have the double galvanized sinks on the porch, but my plan is to find liners for those sinks and plant them with red geraniums. They're in pristine condition - like they were made yesterday - so I just can't bring myself to plant directly into them. They'll stay under the protection of the porch roof to keep them that way.

Cucumbers and Tomatoes

There are three cucumber plants (for pickling) yet to be planted. I'm looking for a long, drained, wooden planter to set on the ground in front of the sink for them. For now, they'll be here so I can water them with the rest of the plants.

On the right side of the planter, there are four "Roma" varieties for canning and cooking. I've also added two varieties of green peppers and one red pepper plant. (My own "salsa in a garden"!) There are also two cherry tomato varieties in pots next to the "friends and family" entrance to our home.

We also have cilantro, rosemary, basil, mint and chives growing in the herb garden next to the house. The lavender is getting big and the hostas we planted last year are already growing, too. I'll show you that area again after we finish cleaning up and installing the edging we bought yesterday.

Rhubarb

  The rhubarb is nearly ready to pick, too! We'll harvest some, and then wait until fall to cut more. This is its second summer at the farm, and I want it nice and strong so we can split the hills and continue to have them grow along the front of the compass barn as time goes on.

I'm back in the studio now. I have guests coming on Sunday, and I'm making special gifts for them. We're having a reunion of sorts with some of the ladies who used to work for me at Stitches (my needlework shop in the late 1980s-mid 1990s). I'm so looking forward to it, and want them to leave with a reminder of our time together. I'll tell you all about that after Sunday.

Today, I'll sew while all the newly planted vegetables grow. It's (always) a good time to be at the farm.