Category Archives: preserving

Putting Up: Tomatoes — Roasted & Canned

Posted on September 20, 2013 by diary of a tomato

After stocking the pantry with a season’s worth of crushed and sauced tomatoes, we wondered about roasting as a way of preparing them for canning. We’ve roasted smaller tomatoes to freeze but, with the freezer near to capacity, we needed another … Continue reading →

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Roasted Ratatouille

Posted on September 18, 2013 by diary of a tomato

A late summer harvest of tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, sweet peppers and onions were roasted up in individual batches, then gently mixed together, and stashed in the freezer as part of our winter stores. Local ingredients: Eggplant and sweet onions … Continue reading →

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Canning it Forward

Posted on September 11, 2013 by diary of a tomato

We take back what we said about growing tomatoes in Maine. After promising to help can for an overwhelmed neighbor, this beautiful basketful was just delivered filled with Amish paste, Rose de Berne, and Striped German tomatoes still warm from … Continue reading →

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Putting Up: Pressure Canning Workshop in Kittery

Posted on September 8, 2013 by diary of a tomato

Take your canning beyond pickles and preserves at this upcoming hands-on workshop on Pressure Canning Tomatoes on Tuesday, September 24th from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, at Traip Academy in Kittery, ME. We will guide you through the basic steps of canning and … Continue reading →

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Putting Up: Tomatoes — Crushed & Sauced

Posted on September 6, 2013 by diary of a tomato

For some, security is having enough jars of strawberry jam, for others it’s having a root cellar full of potatoes. For us, it’s having enough canned tomatoes to fill an entire shelf in the pantry. Tomato season is the one … Continue reading →

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Mastering Food Preservation: A Pickle Primer

Posted on August 10, 2013 by diary of a tomato

“The laws of hair care are simple and finite.” — Elle, “Legally Blonde” We’ve all had them, bad hair days. And, for those who practice the art of canning, the same goes for less than optimum pickles. Luckily, like hair … Continue reading →

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Mastering Food Preservation: More on Identifying Ball’s BPA-Free Lids

Posted on July 19, 2013 by diary of a tomato

For those concerned about the presence of BPA in the lining of lids for home canning, we posted previously on identifying Ball’s new BPA-free lids by looking for the serial number on the boxes they come in. Since that post in May, two … Continue reading →

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