Getting ready
Sep. 12th, 2023 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrWe're traveling later this week, going back to Wisconsin for my niece's wedding. So of course, there's way too much to get done beforehand. Kiln to unload, pots to pack and ship (and bill for). Ads to complete and submit for Clay Fest and Clayfolk--oddly, some of the later show deadlines come first, because monthly publications. Not to mention bookmarks for Clayfolk, social media cards for both. Oh, and could I edit the 15-second TV spot to put in this year's dates and the new website?
No, I couldn't. It was in terrible shape, low-res, bad audio. Easier to make a new one from scratch, though that involved downloading a new version of iMovie to my taxes laptop, since the one on my every-day computer couldn't seem to find my photos for the slideshow.
So yeah, it's been busy.
So what do I spend all day Sunday doing?
Canning tomato sauce!
We do this every year or two, go up to the farmstand and buy a couple of lugs of tomatoes, three bunches of green onions and 30 or 40 mushrooms. We were down to two quarts from our last batch, dated 2021, and I knew I was only going to get busier when we got back from Wisconsin, so away we went.
Denise diverted a couple of dozen to the fruit dehydrator, slicing and laying out, while I rinsed and prepped and sautéed mushrooms and onions, stemmed and cut up roma tomatoes. Then it was heat up the two stock pots with a little olive oil, throw in a big bowl of tomatoes, a couple of bay leaves, about 16 shakes of oregano and 20 of basil. Stir, turn down the heat to medium and cover. Every five minutes, uncover and stir until everything's mushy, then leave uncovered for the last five minutes. Fish out the bay leaves, transfer sauce to a big bowl, scrub out the bottom of the pot. (If I don't, bits of tomato stuck to the bottom will burn in the next batch.) Reheat, repeat.
All in all, it took four passes through the cooking process, eight big bowls of cooked tomatoes. I divvied up the mushrooms and onions, pulled a dozen jars at a time out of the dishwasher, sterilized the lids. Denise put two teaspoons of lemon juice in each jar, I filled them, she put on lids and rings. Once our big blue canner was boiling, I introduced the jars, seven at a time, to the canning rack and carefully lowered them in. Eight or ten minutes on high to get it back to a boil, then back to medium to simmer for 30 minutes. Pull them out and start the next batch, as they cool and ping and seal.
We got just under 24 quarts in all, I split the last bit between a pint jar to can and one to go in the fridge to use up before we go.
Taste a little of the summer, my Grandma put it all in jars...
No, I couldn't. It was in terrible shape, low-res, bad audio. Easier to make a new one from scratch, though that involved downloading a new version of iMovie to my taxes laptop, since the one on my every-day computer couldn't seem to find my photos for the slideshow.
So yeah, it's been busy.
So what do I spend all day Sunday doing?
Canning tomato sauce!
We do this every year or two, go up to the farmstand and buy a couple of lugs of tomatoes, three bunches of green onions and 30 or 40 mushrooms. We were down to two quarts from our last batch, dated 2021, and I knew I was only going to get busier when we got back from Wisconsin, so away we went.
Denise diverted a couple of dozen to the fruit dehydrator, slicing and laying out, while I rinsed and prepped and sautéed mushrooms and onions, stemmed and cut up roma tomatoes. Then it was heat up the two stock pots with a little olive oil, throw in a big bowl of tomatoes, a couple of bay leaves, about 16 shakes of oregano and 20 of basil. Stir, turn down the heat to medium and cover. Every five minutes, uncover and stir until everything's mushy, then leave uncovered for the last five minutes. Fish out the bay leaves, transfer sauce to a big bowl, scrub out the bottom of the pot. (If I don't, bits of tomato stuck to the bottom will burn in the next batch.) Reheat, repeat.
All in all, it took four passes through the cooking process, eight big bowls of cooked tomatoes. I divvied up the mushrooms and onions, pulled a dozen jars at a time out of the dishwasher, sterilized the lids. Denise put two teaspoons of lemon juice in each jar, I filled them, she put on lids and rings. Once our big blue canner was boiling, I introduced the jars, seven at a time, to the canning rack and carefully lowered them in. Eight or ten minutes on high to get it back to a boil, then back to medium to simmer for 30 minutes. Pull them out and start the next batch, as they cool and ping and seal.
We got just under 24 quarts in all, I split the last bit between a pint jar to can and one to go in the fridge to use up before we go.
Taste a little of the summer, my Grandma put it all in jars...
no subject
Date: 2023-09-13 03:36 am (UTC)