It seems I haven't mentioned so much as a word about tomatoes in many a day. I bet you were wondering about those tomatoes, weren't you? You were thinking to yourself, "What? No tomato update today AGAIN?! Who cares about cake? Tell us about the tomatoes!"
Well. If you insist.
One of the reasons I haven't been blathering on daily about the tomatoes is because they've been lying low for the past couple of weeks, regrouping and preparing for the second onslaught. That is, new blossoms were appearing and the new small tomatoes are growing in preparation for Woman vs. Canner: Round Two.
There have been some tomatoes getting ripe during this relative lull, of course, but many of them have been horribly split due to a combination of heavy rainfall and heat. There's nothing wrong with split tomatoes, except for the fact that they rot faster and therefore must be used faster. And I keep picking them, intending to use them immediately and then I , um, don't. The fruit fly situation in our kitchen is getting pretty grody.
I think I've made all the salsa I'm going to make this year. Twenty-eight pints probably won't be enough, but it will just have to do*. I certainly have enough tomato juice to drink myself blind on Bloody Marys should I so desire. I contemplated making ketchup, but given the drastically reduced amount of time I have this year (thanks, Cubby!) to devote to simmering things on the stove without scorching them, I don't think that's going to happen. So any tomatoes to come will most likely just join with the 32 quarts I've already canned plain.
Any bets on how many quarts of plain tomatoes I'll end up with this year? I don't know if I'll make it to 50 this year, but you never know . . .
* That's not actually a joke. I eat a LOT of salsa.
I also adore salsa. So awesome!
ReplyDeleteNow that it is cooler, they will ripen more slowly , you may have a bunch of green ones to do something with ,come frost time. Beth
ReplyDeleteword verification 'sickl'
Kristin may be sickl of canning about now.
Have you posted how you make your salsa? I tried making some roasted tomato salsa but when you ate it chilled it had this weird after taste of burnt oil.
ReplyDeleteInquiring food bloggers wish to know.
I did post my salsa method, a few weeks ago. Though it's definitely not a fancy fire-roasted kind of thing--just a chuck it all in the pot and simmer kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteThe sort of cooking at which I excel, obviously.
You have a "chuck" theme to this blog......have you noticed? ;)Beth
ReplyDeletemy "redneck" version of a gnat catcher, that i found on the internet last year during tomato harvest season:
ReplyDeletetake one of your empty half-pint jelly jars and put about 1/4" of apple cider vinegar in the bottom. Then put a piece of plastic wrap over the top, and hold it in place with a rubber band (or string if that's what you have). poke a few small holes in the plastic. the gnats are attracted to the sweet vinegar smell, crawl in and can't figure out how to get out.
it looks ghetto, but it really works.
Anna: Yes, that does work. To a point. There is a jar of vinegar on my counter right now. But get enough rotting tomatoes in your kitchen, and no amount of vinegar will take care of all the fruit flies. Only the cold will kill them for good. Well, that and finishing with the tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteWoman vs. Canner: Great title! It should be a superhero movie.
ReplyDeleteDaughter said tonight "It's too bad I just finished off your salsa. It would be great with these fajitas."
Me: "Honey, I made plenty. Go downstairs and get another jar."
Can you tell I'm a new canner?