Of course, the foremost in minds in Canada is the death of the Queen. Although we are not surprised given her remarkable age, it is still a momentous event. My daughter’s boyfriend proudly displays a picture of the Queen ( updated- not the age old framed picture that always hung in our schools as children) in his office ( he works in municipal government). There has always been a connection to the monarchy in Canada. We will watch to see how Charles steps in and hopefully leads with the same grace as his mother.
On a different, yet repetitive, note, my tomatoes continue to ripen and my canning marches forward.
I’ve already made seasoned tomato sauce and my mother’s chili sauce.
Today I embarked on a friend’s salsa recipe.
Time to get all the paraphernalia ready - not like it was stored away since the last round of canning... I just noticed that picture is out of place - I wasn't boiling the water in the blancher quite yet at that stage.
Lots of chopping ensued.
There were onions from my garden.
Lovely green peppers from my garden (a good year for them), and...
although you can't really tell, there are three jalapeno peppers chopped up (minus the seeds) on top of the mix. They were NOT from my garden.
Next came garlic... I made sure to find Ontario garlic. The two gigantic bulbs beside the package came from garlic that a dear friend grew and shared with me.
I minced up all those cloves.
I set the mixture (also includes a bit of cilantro, salt, sugar, apple cider vinegar, some cumin and two small cans of tomato paste to thicken it) on the stove to come to a boil and bubble away for about 20 minutes.
It was then time to put it into jars, lid them, and then...
boiling water processing time!
This final picture is for Joanne - yes, your tea towels continue to live on - still look great, not a thread out of place!!
So this little adventure took about five hours or so out of my life, but well worth it.
Now what the heck do I do with all the other tomatoes?!? One can only eat so many toasted tomato sandwiches!
Have a wonderful weekend, all!
Congratulations on your canning success. That's a lot of work. Tomatoes always remind me of my dad and his small garden. I wish I could readily recall the name of his favorite variety of beefsteak tomato. I remember thinking it quite remarkable when I was little that the different types of tomatoes had names.
ReplyDeleteProbably just beefsteak. They usually get nice and big.
DeleteThere is nothing better than a home grown fresh tomatoes. You've put all those tomatoes to good use. Your sauces and salsa will carry you through the winter months.
ReplyDeleteGoogle 'Lazy Man's tomato sauce' from 'Countryside Magazine'. That method gives you a good thick sauce that you can do any number of things with. Yes, we are getting just a titch tired of toasted tomato sandwiches! I have that same squarish plastic bowl in the background of your pics, and the legs of the food mill fit over it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lotta work. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI have frozen tomatoes resting in the small chest freezer. Hoping to get more tomatoes so I can make salsa very soon.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Ohh, it looks delicious! And what a beautiful tea towel!
ReplyDeleteIt was woven by fellow blogger, Joanne!
DeleteAll that lovely photography of the process and what does F zoom in on? The controls on your stove. It looks like the control panel in a power station! What do all those things do? Just can some plain stewed/seived tomatoes for making tomato based stuff later in the winter (or easier still just freeze them, they come out watery but that actually can save a lot of cooking down later.
ReplyDeleteHaha- it’s not that complicated, really! Yes, just some basic canned tomatoes rather than frozen sounds about right.
DeleteMake gazpacho! A wonderful end to summer veggies.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother lived on the border of Canada and was always a huge fan of the queen. I saw a bit of the transfer this morning.
ReplyDeleteIt is so satisfying to can and when the cold winds blow you are popping a jar of that open. I have lots of green tomatoes I see relish in my future.
Cathy
All those jars of goodness will be much enjoyed this winter I'm sure. With my small amount of produce I don't can, but I have made up salsa and some sauce that will be used out of the fridge in the next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteI suspect many Canadians will be watching the ceremonies of the next week or so with interest. I'll be one of them. Queen Elizabeth II lived a long and full life and I suspect she's passed many lessons onto King Charles III.
I was just watching, on the BBC news channel, your pm at the ceremony to appoint Charles as king of Canada. It sort of surprised me. I didn't expect such a formal ceremony, thought it would just be a signing of papers or such. But I suppose similar ceremonies are taking place all over the coomonwealth
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the salsa lesson.
DeleteWow, I envy you your abundance of tomatoes! Despite having 14 (!!) plants this year, we only had enough for fresh eating. First I planted out a couple of weeks late, which is always a mistake given the kind of heat we have around here by the time June rolls around. This year the heat was especially bad--record breaking, in fact--and not a lot of flowers managed to set fruit. Then there was lots of bug damage, and what I suspect was damage caused by thirsty birds and squirrels, too. All in all, a disappointing year. I would LOVE to have had enough extra to can! How many plants did you have, and what varieties did you grow?
ReplyDeleteThat’s too bad that your plants had a few strikes against them! Concerning which types I plated, I actually went out and looked for the tags ( hard to see at this time of year). I planted: early girl, beefsteak, Roma, bush beefsteak ( likely the same as beefsteak), and cluster ( which actually went INSANE- I just go out and eat off the plant- they’re grape sized). However, I also had a few “accidental” tomato plants which grew from tomato seeds in the ground from either fruits that dropped off or compost. I let them grow, too. In total I have 20 plants.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! Someday I should try canning.
ReplyDeleteWhat can you do with the rest of your home grown tomatoes? Send 'em my way!! (Envious of your crop? Who me? Nah. Well . . . maybe just a bit. Or maybe just a lot.) ;o)
ReplyDeleteLots of homemade goodness! We will see how Charles handles the position. His mother was very classy and graceful.
ReplyDeleteLook at you! The salsa looks amazing and it's one of my favorite snacks!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever just roast 'maters as a side dish with dinner? I love cutting into chunks, add some olive oil, garlic and salt/pepper and just roast them until they're soft. They sweeten up.
I will miss the Queen. I thought the world of her. And ThiS -- it looks just FABULOUS!
ReplyDelete