Get out your Ball preserving book and your pressure cooker!

[Left coast liberal]

What are you "putting up" this season?

Me? So far...

Plum Chutney and Conserves
Apple pie filling
Apple Sauce
Plum Apple sauce

As much Tomato/Veggie sauce as possible - ready for the warm pasta!

And, looks like I will be doing LOTS of green tomato mincemeat this year.

And you?

[ejpoeta]

1. i just peeled some tomatoes for the first time ever and am making sauce in the crockpot

as we speak.... i make my own sauce, but tend to buy canned tomatoes... but i had a bunch of tomatoes come ripe all at once and so.... I am making sauce. Hope it comes out alright.

[The empressof all]

3. Next time you have a bunch of tomatoes

Try roasting them with the skins on with lots of garlic. When they're soft I throw them through the food mill or even in the blender for a different take on sauce. Roasting the tomatoes gives them a different complexity of flavor. Not better--Just different. I enjoy sauce made either way but like to change things up sometimes.

[ejpoeta]

7. thanks. i am honestly new at this. beyond slicing tomatoes and putting them on sandwiches

and making sauce with canned from the store.... I am new. Too bad I didn't pay attention when my mom did this stuff. But now that we got something to grow in the garden, I can't wait to try for even more next year!! Maybe I can get a good lot of tomatoes and can them!! That would be so awesome!! I feel like an idiot because I don't know a lot... like what to do with the squash! I'll figure that out too.

[Left coast liberal]

12. You aren't an idiot! We are all learning all the time...

...thats why I posted.

BTW - I cut up all my extra summer squash (and I had a lot this year) and throw that in with the tomato sauce too. I makes it nice and chunky and taste wonderful bring good color too.

Keep sharing your successes and trials! That is how we all learn.

:hi:

[shraby]

8. You don't need to peel them, plop them in boiling water

for a couple of minutes, fish them out of the water and the skins come right off. If they are too hot to handle, run cold water on them.

[mattvermont]

20. skins

I always say, "The vegetable peeler is a vitamin steeler"

[newfie11]

19. Let me tell you the EASY way to make sauce

Wash tomatoes, cut any bad parts off, put in blender or food processor (skin and all) grind up. I also add onion, garlic, and chili peppers also ground up in blender. Put all in crock pot (lid off), leave on high and around 15-24 hours you can put them in jars and then water bath. I got tires of throwing away the skins and figured they must have nutritional value as well so started doing my way. BTW as this gets closer to 24 hours it becomes tomato paste.

[The empressof all]

2. Oh I love the Green Tomato Mincemeat

I made a huge batch in the Nesco last year. I used if not only for pies but for quick breads and cookies as well. There's also a great recipe for Green tomato cake that I posted last year in the Cooking and Baking group. It's more like a quick bread. You add the chopped green tomatoes in chunks and they actually taste like plums when the bread is done.

I did about 8 loaves of Chinese Pear Bread yesterday. I didn't know what else to do with them. They're crunchy like apples but have a very delicate flavor. I regretted using half whole wheat flour as the flavor of the fruit got lost a bit. I have zucchini to do this week. I'm not going to bother with the pickles. I know the zucchini muffins and bread will get eaten so that's where it's going. I'll also make a huge batch of ratatouille for the freezer bags. I also far too many pears than we'll be able to eat out of hand. What doesn't go to the food bank will go into some Pear Sauce.

[virgogal]

4. God I wish I lived with you. :-)

[Left coast liberal]

13. Bless your heart. I wish my kids liked trying my preserves more.

Go figure!

[susanna]

5. Urban gardener checking in here...

I put up spicy dill pickles, gingered tomato preserves, blueberry jam, tomatoes and spiced melon pickles so far.

Thinking about some green tomato pickle for the last of the toms. I'm also making a variety of herbed red/white wine vinegars, but that doesn't need the canner. :-)

[grasswire]

6. I have about twenty vintage Ball books

Dating way, way back.

[Left coast liberal]

14. Those books are a real "must have".

I am envious of your collection!

[shraby]

9. My mom used to put up 500 quarts of various and sundries.

She figured that to last until next canning season. We had strawberries, cherries, jam from each plus rhubarb jam, she also made watermelon rind preserves (about like jam), pickled crab apples, pickled cauliflower, dill pickles, relish, applesauce, meat, corn, beans, about anything she could grow and preserve.
I only put up about 200 quarts..depending on what I could get..mostly strawberries, cherries, pickles, and jams.

[MuseRider]

10. Everything is so late here.

I hope I get to harvest all of it.

Tomato sauce...the tomatoes are late and full of water so they are not making as much sauce as I would like and the flavor is not as good as it should be. I am getting 2 quarts for every 30 pounds but I am still doing it, my fingers are a nicked up orange mess. Going to make more salsa I think, it seems a better use this year.

Pickles...Bread and butter and dills. I have enough for an army.

Green beans...I have a lot of pints put up. I still have two patches that we are waiting on so there should be a lot of them.

Peppers...they did not do as well as expected this year but they are big. If I have some left over after the salsa I will put them up.

Turnips...thinking about using parafin to store them. Anyone do this? I don't have a clue.

Potatoes...going to have to dig them up pretty soon and put them in the cellar

Squash...same as potatoes. I may can some, dunno yet.

It had been a while so next year I should have a better idea how to organize and get a better method moving it all along. Right now my kitchen is totally trashed :).

[uppityperson]

11. Peaches and nectarines so far

Bought a case of organic peaches and one of nectarines for $17/20-25#. Have canned the peaches, doing nectarines next. I think I prefer the nectarines since you don't have to skin them or scoop out the insides like peaches.

I saw how to can zucchini, so am trying that tomorrow.

Last yr I froze a lot, this yr am trying canning since my freezer is full of mice and rats (keeping them for a friend with snakes).

[Left coast liberal]

15. Yummers! the necterines not the mice. ;-)

[uppityperson]

16. Nectarines are MUCH easier than peaches!

All you do is wash them, cut them, pack and process them. They look very pretty too. I have a couple pints of zucchini cooling now, as an experiment.

[newfie11]

17. slacking this year

only put up tomatoe sause and peaches. I did freeze some cherries.

[lizziegrace]

18. I'm freezing all my produce this year

I moved to a house on 4 acres this past spring. Due to illness, lack of funds and starting the garden from scratch, I only got green beans, tomatoes and peas from my garden. I bought zucchini, squash and corn from a local organic farm. My daughter brought peaches back from her visit to SC.

I bought a chest freezer (5 cubic feet?) and since that was a large purchase for me, I didn't invest in canning supplies. Besides, boiling water, contents under pressure is a dangerous combo for me. I'm the queen of disasters. ;-)