Before We Left:
Our garden is putting out more produce than we have time to process. Travis and I processed acorn squash, squash seeds, tomatoes, and cucumbers before we left. Then we had and have to process more once we got home! Yep during the time we were gone a few tomatoes juiced, and fruit flies occurred. Boo!
We have lots of cabbage, Spaghetti Squash, and kale as well. The Spaghetti Squash and cabbage I use in dishes. The kale we steam for breakfast. We're getting to the point where kale will be washed, dried, and ground for winter smoothies.
Tomatoes:
Travis picks tomatoes. I line the red ones up in 1 window, the 1/2 red ones in another window, and the green ones in yet another window. I rotate them. Once I have about a gallon of tomatoes I boil them, give them an ice bath, peel them, and deseed them. I make the boys help. Isaak's always been a pretty good helper. Mica on the other hand...well we struggle.
Travis pours the extra tomato juice in ice cube trays for vegetable juice. Once we have quite a few gallon bags of tomatoes we can them. We usually just can jars of tomatoes. Then we can use them for whatever recipe we want to down the road.
A 24 Quart Pot Ready to Can:
I've been making Sun Dried Tomatoes with the Cherry Tomatoes.
Sun Dried Tomatoes are Really Easy to Make:
- Set the oven to 200 degrees
- Spray a pan
- Wash and cut the tomatoes in 1/2
- Deseed the tomatoes
- You can season them how you wish - basil, salt and pepper is usually what I use
- Bake for about 5 hours, stir, check on them every hour after that - usually they end up baking for about 8 hours
Storing Them:
I just put them in a closed container in the refrigerator. I know people store them in oil to.
Use Them:
We use them in eggs, on cheese toast (melt the cheese over them), and on salads.
This weekend it's time to can relish. I want to try cinnamon pickles. We have lots of dill, and bread and butter pickles.
What would you make with lots of tomatoes and Cucumbers?
