Canning Tomatoes

I am canning tomatoes today. Wooooooo!! This will be my first time canning completely alone and I am excited about it.

One of the many things I love about summertime are the tomatoes. Ironically, I grew up in tomato country and HATED tomatoes for most of my life. Then I hit 20 and began to crave tomatoes. I still can't eat them whole, by themselves, but I will put them in anything. :)

I have watched my parents can tomatoes for years.....but this year is MY year! *takes a deep breath* Into the kitchen I go! Wish me luck!


P.S. For those of you housewives who want to know how I do it, here is the recipe:

1- Make sure your tomatoes are ripe.


2 - Put on a LARGE pot of hot water - you want to bring this to a boil.


3 - Wash all your jars - preferably in the dishwasher because they will remain hot longer, but you don't have to do it in the dishwasher.


4 - Put your NEW lids in a pan of hot water along with the rings. You will boil them in a little while.


5 - Put all your tomatoes in the sink or a large tub. Pour the boiling water in step #2 over the tomatoes. You want to cover them so the skins will come off easily. You will soak them a while until you can put your hands down in the water to pick them out.


6 - Skin and core the tomatoes. Just pull the skins off - sometimes you may need to use a knife, but they should just peel off. Take a small paring knife and just cut out the core. Make sure there are no white hard spots on your tomatoes. cut those out.


7 - Cut your tomatoes in quarters, or smaller and put into a pan. I always cut the tomatoes over the pot so the juice will drip into the pot.


8 - You want to cook these tomatoes until they are tender. Watch them, and stir often so they won't scorch the bottom of the pan. It's good to have a heavy pot.


9 - While your tomatoes are cooking down, go ahead and bring your lids to a boil.


10 - When everything is ready set out your jars and put 1 tsp of PLAIN salt, and 1 tsp of sugar into each quart jar.


11 - Put your tomatoes into the jars leaving about 1/2 inch at the top and wipe off the edge with a towel, place your hot lid on the jar and screw on the ring. They should be very hot so be careful :-)


12 - After you have filled the jar and put the lid on it, place it in a place where it won't be in direct a/c and let it set for 24 hours. After that, make sure the lid bubble has sealed and they will be ready to store.

Happy Canning!