Canning Green Tomatoes

I used the larger green tomatoes for canning. I found a recipe on this website:
http://www.5acresandadream.com/2011/11/canned-green-tomatoes-for-frying.html

It is a very simple process. First wash the tomatoes. Then core and slice about 1/4" thick. Pack them very tightly in quart size wide mouth jars. Add 1 tsp canning salt and 1 tsp citric acid. Pour boiling water into each jar. Leave about 1/4" space at top. Put lids on and then process in hot bath for approximately 7 minutes.

I'm going to use these for frying or for other recipes I found such as green tomato chili.

Spiced Green Tomato Pickles

 

We had so many green tomatoes from our garden, I had to figure out what to do with them. The small ones were little green pear shaped tomatoes, so I decided to find out if they could be canned. I found a recipe for spiced green tomato pickles. This is the website:  http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/t62s12ny/spiced-green-tomato-pickle.html.

Spiced Green Tomato Pickles:
2 gallons green tomatoes, sliced
12 onions, sliced
2 TBSP mustard seed
2 TBSP canning salt
2 TBSP whole peppercorns
1 TBSP whole allspice
1 TBSP whole cloves
1 pint sugar
1 quart white vinegar

Combine spices with vinegar, bring to a rapid boil for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar, stirring until dissolved. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in tomatoes and onions, simmer until nearly tender - about 5 minutes. Ladle into clean hot jars leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe rims of jars clean. Put on lids and tighten. Process in boiling water

bath for 10 minutes. 

First I had to wash the tomatoes carefully and inspect them thoroughly.

Then I started sterilizing the jars and lids.

Next Tommy sliced the tomatoes and I sliced the onions. Then I started the pickle process.

Put the tomato and onion mixture in jars and then in the hot water bath.

This is the finished product:

They sure look pretty.

Canning Tomatoes

I have always been intimidated by canning. I felt that it was not something that I could ever hope to accomplish. Well, a few weeks back a friend of my husband's kept giving him tomatoes every day out of his garden until we had a whole bunch of tomatoes. We tried to eat them all fresh, but I can only eat so many tomato sandwiches at one time! So I decided to try my hand at canning. Let me tell you, it was not hard and I actually had fun doing it! I found the step-by-step instructions on the internet at http://www.pickyourown.org/canning_tomatoes.htm

I used quart canning jars, a large pot for boiling the tomatoes and a large pot for sterilizing the jars, lids, and rings.

I put the tomatoes in a large pot and covered them with water. I turned the heat on high and let the water come to a boil. I let them boil for about 1 minute, then I poured them into a cold bowl of water. Once the tomatoes had cooled off a little, I removed the skins, the tough part of the stem and any bruised parts. I then cut the tomatoes up into chunks. I held the tomatoes over a bowl while I cut them up which allowed me to have the tomato juice too. I removed the jars from the boiling water and filled each jar with the tomatoes. I added a little lemon juice to each jar. My tomatoes had enough juice that I did not have to use boiling water or tomato juice to finish filling up the jar. I wiped each jar rim to make sure the lids would seal. Then put the lids and rings on each jar. Make sure the lids are snug, but not too tight. Place the filled jars in a large pot and cover with water at least 1 inch above the jars. Keep the water boiling for 45 minutes for quart jars. (40 minutes for pints) After 45 minutes, remove the jars from the boiling water. Let them cool. You will hear each jar when it seals because it will make a popping sound. You can check each jar by pressing in the center of the lid. If it will pop up and down, then it is not sealed.

The website that I mentioned above has a list of frequently asked questions. It is very helpful for first-time canners like me!

Fig Preserves

Figs are so delicious. I know that they are not for everyone. But for those of us who love figs, they are a wonderful treat for the short time they are in season. A friend of my husband's told him the fig tree on his property was loaded. So my husband was kind enough to pick a large bucket of figs for me. I knew that I could not eat that many figs before they went bad. So I had to figure out something to do with them. Now I have always loved fig preserves but I have relied on my Mother to make the fig preserves and then share with me. This time I decided I would learn to make fig preserves for myself. I automatically went to my first source of all information: the great world wide web. There I found many, many recipes for fig preserves. I picked out the most simple recipe I could find. They turned out perfectly! I was so pleased. Now I will share the recipe with you.

This is where I found my recipe:  http://www.food.com/recipe/fig-preserves-69138
I made just a few slight changes to it.

Ingredients:
2 lbs figs, unpeeled

3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
Juice from one lemon

Directions:
Wash figs gently in cold water. You can cut up the figs or you can leave them whole.
Make a syrup by boiling the sugar and water together in a large saucepan.
When syrup is clear and just thick, around 15 minutes add figs and lemon juice.
Bring to a boil over high heat.
Boil hard 1 minute.
Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove from heat.
You may want to cook down for 10 or 15 more minutes to desired thickness.
Ladle into clean hot sterile jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.