Sep 15, 2015

The *Joys* of Home-Canning


(THIS RETRO/VINTAGE PRESSURE CANNER IS ONE MY MOM BOUGHT ME IN 1973 WHEN I WAS 21. 
DOES THAT MEAN THAT I AM NOW CONSIDERED RETRO/VINTAGE?)
The following diatribe is somewhat tongue-in-cheek (I think!) but if this was my first experience with home canning it would also be my last.

I've worked for the last 6 hours to *put up* 8 pints of spaghetti sauce. Of course, these tomatoes came from my garden so that 6 hours doesn't include the time it took to have turf-war with the neighborhood swine-deer or the planting;  then the picking, washing, sorting and initial cooking done last night.

I put the pot of hot tomatoes in the garage last night to cool so the only thing I had to do this morning is send them through the Vitorio, add onions, celery, garlic (oops, forgot the garlic) and spices. The first setback arrived when I knocked the half-full pot of tomatoes off the counter (bending my good pot!) where they shot across the floor in a tomato tsunami and spattered all over the cabinets.

Gordon: Are you ok? Do you need help?
Joanie: No. Yes, bring me the two old pink towels from under the bath/laundry room counter.
Gordon: Sure sorry that happened.

Insert scene of Joanie spatulating, wiping, mopping, and cleaning cabinets and floor. Then a trip down to the the laundry sink to soak the mess out of the towels.

Joanie: Please help me remember to turn off that water. (Exit to dungeon to get onions while starting to feel frazzled.
Gordon: No problem. How long will that be?
Joanie: Until it is half full: about 5 minutes.

Insert more cleaning and chopping in the Ninja (thumb still intact!)

An indeterminate time later...

Gordon: Dam!
Joanie: I could have done this! (maniacal laughter)

Good thing I have quite a supply of old towels under said laundry sink counter to clean up the flood on the floor!

Cook and stir. Watch. Repeat. Continue cleaning all of the implements used to make this mess sauce.



Tell me again... what is so wrong with buying that case of Prego spaghetti sauce?

Oh! I remember! It's because I love how home grown tomatoes taste and there is nothing like it.

Sometimes I wish I'd never tasted a home-grown tomato!

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