Between writing a lot and reading some-but-not-enough, I've actually been making a lot of things. We did just finish harvest season in Toronto, after all. I made freezer jam for the first time (no photos — spent too much time covered in peach pulp for that, but the jam tastes great so it was worth it!). I also froze bags of tomato puree.
First you pour boiling water over tomatoes while they're sitting in a sink:
And once the bowl is about as full as it is in the photo, take a stick blender to the tomatoes until they are nice and liquefied.Ladle into freezer bags, seal carefully, and place on the freezer shelf until they are sufficiently bricklike to store stacked. Let thaw in the bag, in a bowl in case of leaks, in the fridge for around 24 hours. This stuff is great for making pasta sauce, soups, and stews.
It took me the length of a long CD (say 70 minutes) to puree and freeze two baskets' worth of tomatoes. Some would argue that's a lot of work, but since I was going to listen to the CD anyhow, it didn't seem like it.
I've been doing a bunch of other stuff too, some textile, some jewelry, and some more "putting up" for the winter, but that can be another blog post. There's a lot to do...
First you pour boiling water over tomatoes while they're sitting in a sink:
(Note: I'd already done a few batches by the time I took the photo. That's why there are free-floating tomato bits in the water. Don't be disgusted; the sink was scrubbed very clean before I started.)
Let the tomatoes sit for a bit, then fish them out one by one with a slotted spoon, core them, and peel them. The skin should slip right off once you core them, but if you have to give it a little help with the paring knife, that's cool too.
Once they're peeled, the tomatoes can go into a bowl:
It took me the length of a long CD (say 70 minutes) to puree and freeze two baskets' worth of tomatoes. Some would argue that's a lot of work, but since I was going to listen to the CD anyhow, it didn't seem like it.
I've been doing a bunch of other stuff too, some textile, some jewelry, and some more "putting up" for the winter, but that can be another blog post. There's a lot to do...