Garden Bounty: Holding onto Summer

After being teased with 2 months off during the summer, I am back into the swing of things (I know feel sorry for me now)...things being getting up at an unGodly hour, making lunches, and enforcing homework.....SIGH....summer can't last forever. As the last days of my summer break drew closer, I continued prepping for the zombie apocalypse winter. The Boy and I even made perogies for the freezer!

I started working on this post a while back but just haven't found the time.

The other day I made tomato sauce with the intent to jar it up and save it for later use. I wound up boiling the sauce down too much and it became quite thick. At first I thought what the hell? Then I tasted it and thought...Oh my!! I had inadvertently made tomato jam instead!! How divine!! I had actually been scouring resources looking for a tomato jam recipe but so many of them had so much sugar in them, which I didn't want. The
sauce recipe I followed was one I found on Pinterest from America's Test kitchen. It is simple, without too many ingredients and cooks down nicely. I have even made this twice, the second time cooking it down further on purpose and it turned out just as tasty!

Beautiful luscious jars of tomato jam!!

The original recipe calls to peel the tomatoes but I didn't do that. I washed the tomatoes, cored them and put them through the food processor. Other than that, I followed the recipe. (oh except for the fact that I didn't process that many tomatoes, I cut the recipe into fourths and did 1/4 of the amount...I just don't have the space for 4 pots of sauce and the water canner on my stove!)

Some of the tomatoes are from my garden and some I bought from the Farmers' market. Many of the farmers had bins labeled 'canning tomatoes'. These are just over ripe and extra juicy tomatoes and are cheaper than the others. Only $1/pound!!

We have used the jam to eat plain with bread, as a base for pizza bread, in sandwiches, as a dip for chicken, paired with ricotta or basil or both....the possibilities are endless.  So far the Boy's favourite sammy has been a waffle and grilled chicken breast with tomato jam...this of course is his own creation!

I fear not having anymore ripe tomatos on the plants but I'm sure cracking open a jar such as this mid winter will remind me of the summer bounty we were so fortunate to have this summer.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Preparing For The Zombie Apocalypse (I Mean Winter) Part II

Lovely tomato jam....soooo tasty

Once upon a time people canned and jarred their garden bounty because it was needed to get them through the winter. It was a necessity of life before markets and grocery stores were able to provide year round produce. Now a days canning seems to be a novelty or a hobby people try out to test their abilities. I do know some people who can so they remain as close to their locavore ways as possible. The truth is canning takes some planning but doesn't have to take all day- unless you are actually going to process mass quantities that is. Many of the recipes I've tried out only made 2 or 3 jars of garden goodness at a time so it didn't take that long at all.

I used to think tasks such as pickling were too much work to bother with but now I think the real issue was I just didn't know how to do it, or have the right equipment. Sure you need jars with the right size sealer lids. Some tongs or even a handy dandy jar lifter helps. Many people use the sanitize setting on their dishwashers to sterilize the jars but I don't have that machine in the Little Kitchen so I bought this ginormous canning pot from Canadian Tire many  moons ago to boil the jars in. It even had a lifter jar lifter inside but I'm not too sure where that went. I have lined the bottom of the pot with a towel to keep things from jumping around too much.

This tomato will make delectable tomato jam

 There's a few basic rules (for safety) to follow when canning and pickling:
(If you are ever unsure, please make sure to do some research and find information and directions you are comfortable following. This is not a definitive list but just the steps I follow. Always follow the recipe's instructions.)

1) A clean, uncluttered kitchen:  Depending on how much you plan on canning, you will need space for the jars to rest until  you move them to storage.  Workspace for prep food and a spot to keep things while you work is always handy.

2a) Inspect your jars. There should be no nicks or cracks in them, especially around the lip where the sealer lid needs to seal.

2b) Wash & sterilize:  Your jars and lids must be washed in hot soapy water, rinsed, and sterilized to keep food borne illness at bay. I usually wash my jars before I do anything else and then pop them in the giant canning pot full of water and turn the heat on. (It will take a while for such a large pot to boil so this helps organize my tiny workspace.) Jars boiled for 10 minutes are sterilized.  It is important to sterilize your funnels, tongs, and jar lifter as well so toss those in too.  Some people also put jars in the oven at 225F for 10 minutes. Most recipes will tell you to keep the jars warm until ready to use (read the instructions). The oven is good for keeping jars warm without the water but keep in mind, some recipes do call for a water processing step after you put the lids on your jars.

2c) Sealer lids can be boiled separately just before using so you don't risk boiling away the sealing compound from the lids.

3) Read the instructions on your recipe a bunch of times to make sure you know what to do. I also keep the recipe at the ready to double and triple check that I am doing things right.

4) Prep your food as per instructions and proceed from there as per your recipe instructions.

5) Enjoy the popping sound of sealer lids being sealed! When it comes to the sealer lids and rings, many recipes tell you to just finger tighten until the sealer lid gets sucked in and seals out all the air, then tighten. Follow the recipe's instructions on this one. I like to store the jars with the screw rings loose so that if food spoilage happens, the sealer lid will literally pop its lid.

So far this summer I have tinkered with pickled beets, pickled zucchini, spicy pickled green beans, and tomato jam! I have failed to take photos of all these as this was my first time for all of these things and wanted to enjoy the process. I must confess that I loved the tomato sauce so much I went out to buy more local tomatoes because I didn't have enough in the garden....

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.