I think I can!

I finally embarked on the big project of canning tomatoes to save for the winter. It was so exciting, if not a little intimidating. I signed up for the 2o lb tomato share from our CSA, and chatted with a lot folks about just how to go about preparing these beauties to save a little summer for later.
After a lot of chatting and a little bit of reading, I decided to "hot pack" them for processing. This involved a great deal of peeling, and I would like to thank Diane for kindly helping. We used serrated peelers that I think was a great way to go, and a lot more appealing than blanching on this last warm summer day. It was great to sit at the table and chat and peel away - Diane pointed out that it was almost meditative in way, and I totally agree. She had to leave shortly after the peeling was done, so I set out to prep them the rest of the way on my own. I pureed a few of the peeled tomatoes with water to fill up the pot and keep the acid up and set out to boil the tomatoes. Luckily, Maggie called right around this point and stopped by to help me with the rest. It only took about five minutes of gently boiling to get them ready to can. I had already prepped the jars and lids, so Maggie set about helping me add the lemon juice (to add a bit more acid since the cans will be packed with the tomato water) and filling the jars. We used a chopstick to remove any air bubbles that might get stuck inside the jar and topped them off with the lids, giving a gentle, yet firm squeeze to tighten. We processed the jars in a water bath canner for 40 minutes or so. We pulled them out and waited for that wonderful "pop" that lets us know the seal is good. It was so exciting and I am really looking forward to my summer tomatoes come January!
Thanks for all of the help!

Oh the abadoned eggplant....

So last week it was abundantly clear that those beautiful globe eggplants were the CSA rejected veggie of the week, leaving an overflowing box full of them at the end of the evening of deliveries. I can definitely relate to the intimidating feeling one my get looking at these large beauties, but I don't quite get the objections to things like their flavor or texture... I think if you do it right, which can include not doing much at all but simply grill them and give a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, they're pretty delicious! But if you need further convincing to keep the eggplant from your share this week (if you are receiving them) here is an interesting article in the New York Times, that also espouses the health benefits of this mysterious and lovely veggie.