Red Gold! A day of canning

This weekend was the annual family tomato canning party. It’s big time. Do the math:

• 4 family members (+ hubby helped now and again)
• 2 children
• 8 gas burners (5 in, 3 out)
• 250 pounds of tomatoes
• 20 pounds of onions
• 156 glass jars (those are just what we used!)
• 10 hours

It adds up!

This year we had our active toddler in the mix. Fortunately, he was amused by the “may-nose” (tomatoes) and even took a big bite!

My biggest concern was keeping him away from the three big gas burners we use to cook on outside. However, he wasn’t interested in those. I should have been more concerned about the constant in and out of the house, because he ended up falling on the steps! But didn’t even suffer a scratch or bump! Just a lot of crying!

My mother, sister, and sister-in-law and I started work around nine a.m. But that’s not counting the three hours my mom and I spent the day before, counting and sorting jars, lids, and bands!

First we washed all the tomatoes with soap and hot water because the were coated in food grade paraffin wax. Normally, we would get local tomatoes, but we were told this year’s local crop was not good, so we got tomatoes from out of state. Tip: using a flexible laundry basket as pictured is great for washing large amounts of veggies with the hose!

Then comes chopping and cooking down the tomatoes with some sliced onions.

I strain the tomatoes, and mill them through my special tomato processor (a must when you’re making sauce of these quantities!). This is my favorite job for some reason. I like squishing them through and I get to just stand there and think! Tip: cover your counters with vinyl tableclothes, and tape drop cloths on the floors. You’ll protect your hardwood and cabinet finishes and have less cleanup! Dried on tomato sauce is hard to scrub off, and also can stain!

Finally, the sauce gets boiled and hot packed.

We ended up with:

• 84 quarts, 38 pints of tomato sauce
• 10 pints, 12 jelly jars of salsa
• 16 quarts of tomato broth base

Phew! Sounds like a lot until you split it up four ways. Still, I will probably make this sauce last until early next summer!

Preserving food to last through winter is an age-old family tradition on my Italian side. I remember my Grandma Rinaldi’s basement with the “extra stove” – the acidic smell of tomato skins, and the hand-crank tomato mill. It’s been a learning experience to keep up with the past and I plan to teach my children this nearly-lost art of food saving!

Do you process/preserve foods? How do you incorporate children in your family?