What to do with 30 pounds of tomatoes
Wonder why on earth you ordered such a big box in the first place. Pace the kitchen.
Cry a little.
That’s what I did, anyway, when the 30-pound box of Roma tomatoes I ordered from a friend became ripe and ready to use. Oh, and it was about the same week as a 30-pound box of pears became soft. (With 30 pounds of apples waiting in the sidelines.)
May I also add that I have never canned in my life. As organized as I try to be, sometimes I do really silly things.
So I did what I always do in panic situations. Panic. Then frantically get to work.
Because I have never canned, ever, I didn’t have all of the fancy equipment. I had a utensil set I bought at Target two years ago on clearance. I had a stockpot that doesn’t actually belong to me, but to the owners of the house we’re currently renting. I had a few empty mason jars. After spending some time online researching and picking the brains of my Facebook friends, I decided to can some salsa.
After a couple trips to the store I got started and made a disaster of my kitchen. I found this resource to be helpful — Canning Salsa Safely as well as this recipe — Annie’s Salsa. I did a triple batch of that recipe and used red bells, green bells, poblanos, and jalapenos. I would definitely half the salt next time. Luckily I didn’t have a pot big enough for all three batches, so I was able to dilute some of the salsa.
Five hours later….
Fourteen pints of beautifully canned, delicious salsa. I always rolled my eyes at people who would post pictures of stuff they canned.
Now I understand.
Canning is like pregnancy and childbirth. A lot of labor (ha), a lot of aches & pains,, perhaps a few tears and some screaming, definitely a big old mess… but when it’s over you stand back and look at your creation and forget the all the miserable times that lead up to that moment. It’s touching, really.
And then you start planning for the next go-round.
So after the salsa episode, I still had about 10 pounds of tomatoes. Not wanting to can anything else for a while (a girl needs a break, ya know?) I chopped about 7 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, two ginormous onions, 18 cloves of garlic, and roasted them down.
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| Ready to roast. (That slow cooker is full of pears. More on that later.) |
After dumping the roasted deliciousness into a stockpot and adding some Homemade Chicken Stock that I had frozen months ago, I buzzed it up and voila – a triple batch of Roasted Tomato Soup ready to freeze. And ready to make dinner prep so much easier three different days in the future.
Then I made some sandwiches to go with it that I plan on posting real, REAL soon. The hubs was super impressed with those. That’s saying a lot. Most of the time he’s content. Not impressed.
Well, that ends my report!
I’d love to hear what you have done (or would do) with a big box of tomatoes!
(I need some inspiration for next year when I get “canning hungry” again.)
By the way, I wanted to direct you over to Epicurean Mom’s site where I guest posted on Monday. Katie is absolutely lovely. You’ll dig her blog.
I also wrote a review for In the Night Kitchen for Reading for Sanity’s 2nd Annual Banned Book Week. If you’ve never been over to RFS, prepare to sit in awe at all of the book reviews these ladies (and gent) have done! Wonder if a read is worth it? Chances are they’ve read it. They’ll tell you straight up if it’s worth your time.
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Laura Jayne — September 30, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
Hey Natalie -
I hear your pain. I am an experienced canner, but last weekend when I was planning to do a double batch of spaghetti sauce, I bought 2 bushels of tomatoes instead of just one. After 14 hours in my kitchen, I ended up with 20 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 14 pints of salsa, 4 pints of ketchup, and 4 quarts of stewed tomatoes.
Stick with the canning, once you have all the equipment and some experience, it really is a lot of fun, and definitely rewarding. You need to get your hands on the Ball Blue Book of Preserving – it's the go-to resource for how-to and recipes.
Let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to help you along your canning journey!
Laura
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The Three Little Piglets — September 30, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
Canning is definitely a labor of love! But in a month of two, when tomatoes aren't at their peak, and you crack open a jar of that salsa, you will be SO glad that you took the time to make it. And that is the moment you will be hooked on canning and trying to dream up other things you could can!
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Rachel @ Baked by Rachel — September 30, 2011 @ 2:30 pm
haha the comparison is funny of course the planning to do it again part… not so much ;) I've never canned but am intrigued each year by all of the recipes and stories popping up about those doing it!
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MindySue — September 30, 2011 @ 3:04 pm
Thanks for the shout out Natalie! I sit in awe of your sweet skills in the kitchen (and my husband occasionally professes his love for you whenever I use your recipes). I plan on the grilled veggie quesadillas tonight!
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Natalie — September 30, 2011 @ 3:58 pm
Laura Jayne – You are officially my hero. To show you just how inexperienced I am with large quantities of produce… I had to google how much a bushel was. You processed over 100 pounds of tomatoes!! I've heard from many people to get the Blue Ball book. It's on my list!
Three Little Piglets – I completely agree! We're already on our 3rd jar, so I hope there's some left when it's snowy outside!
Rachel – That's exactly why I started! Canning seemed to be frumpy and old-fashioned until just a few years ago. Domestic really is the new "cool". :)
MindySue – Thank you, as always :) You'd be surprised how many husbands have professed their love to me/admitted that they felt like they were married to me somehow/insisted that their wives cook from my blog. I'm surprised I have any female friends left at all!
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SkinnyMommy — September 30, 2011 @ 6:44 pm
That's fantastic! You will be so happy you have all the great marninara in the heart of winter :)
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Traci — September 30, 2011 @ 7:20 pm
Skip canning and freeze some yummy, super-easy homemade marinara. Saute onions and LOTS of garlic in olive oil. Add in chopped tomatoes, and tomato sauce until you achieve your desired consistency. Flavor with basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer until your house is infused with the yummy smell. (People were coming to my house 2 days later asking me what I was cooking!) Freeze in ziploc baggies.
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Natalie — September 30, 2011 @ 7:27 pm
SkinnyMommy & Traci – Actually that's salsa up there in those jars :) And Traci, that's exactly what I do with marinara. I always have bags of Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce in my freezer! Here's the recipe I use: http://www.perrysplate.com/2008/03/roasted-garlic-pasta-sauce.html
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Jolene - EverydayFoodie — September 30, 2011 @ 11:35 pm
I have sooooo many tomatoes to use up, and they are all ripening at once! Thanks for the suggestions.
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Ann — October 1, 2011 @ 3:19 am
What a GREAT job! Your analogy is spot on! I've never done any canning, but I have done the whole freezing thing you did….I've done corn and tomatoes – but I made tomato sauce….
Next year – I'm canning and I can't wait! I'm scared, but excited at the same time!
Nicely done and you should be rightly proud!
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Joanne — October 1, 2011 @ 3:38 am
Canning is one of the few foodie things that just REALLY intimidates me. I salute you on your bravery!
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JennyX — October 1, 2011 @ 5:25 pm
I just found your blog and am loving it. There are some dedicated vegetarians around here the and the sheer number of wonderful veggie recipes I have seen from just glancing down the page look amazing!! I am so excited to try some!
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Natalie — October 1, 2011 @ 5:40 pm
JennyX – Thank you for saying so! We're part-time vegetarians (flexitarians?) so you'll find lots to try. Let me know how things turn out!
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Karly — October 2, 2011 @ 1:59 am
I canned today, too. Then my daughter declared the canned goods "horrible." And I cried.
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Natalie — October 2, 2011 @ 2:15 am
Oh Karly… I think I was your daughter as a child. Maybe that's why my mom never canned?? I'm so sorry!!
What did you can? I can't imagine sticky buns would can well… :)
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Laurie @simplyscratch — October 2, 2011 @ 3:12 am
Natalie you ROCK! Someday… I will can!
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pinksuedeshoe — October 3, 2011 @ 10:07 pm
I am gearing up for tomatoes too. And I really think I am going to have to try your tomato soup, I love tomato soup and I can see having it in the freezer all winter as a huge bonus. Awesome post, so glad you took the plunge!
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Natalie — October 3, 2011 @ 10:17 pm
Laurie – Try it! If I can can, you can can. (That was really fun to type.)
E – Yes! Try the soup! I love having dinner in the freezer. It makes my present self think that my past self was so smart and clever.
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Carly — October 4, 2011 @ 8:19 pm
I canned 25 lbs of roma tomatoes into tomato sauce. Blanche, deseed, puree, then cook down for 2-3 hours. SO much better than what you can buy in the stores. I use it for my pizza and marinara sauces all year. Love it.
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