Once upon a time in a garden not so far away…
I HATE tomatoes! There, I said it. And I am not even sorry! Well, not all tomatoes, just the fresh ones. I can coexist with them in chili, salsa, sauces, even sun dried. Oh, and tomato juice? Why is this even a thing?
Can you guess what my least favorite food to preserve is? I guess I view it as a necessary evil. Our family grows a ginormous garden and every year a huge portion of it is dedicated to these stinky tomato plants (if you’ve never had the opportunity to smell one, come on over). Preserving the little red fruit devils gives us many jars of salsa, diced and stewed tomatoes, marinara/pasta sauce, and one time there was pizza sauce (it was a failed attempt). It definitely gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, in the long winter months, when you grab a jar of homemade salsa from the shelf.
For the last week or two, every time I have been in the garden gathering other produce (someday I will tell you about our zucchini “situation”), I have seen the impending doom. The insane amount of green tomatoes, the number appeared to double by the day. I gave them stink eye and kept on moving. Knowing full well our duel would begin soon enough. You see, not only did the Mr decide to plant a ridiculous amount of tomato plants, but we had an even more ridiculous amount of tomato plants voluntarily take up residence all over the garden. I cursed as I pulled them out with the weeds, and then next day three more came back! I am certain I am being punished.
Today was the beginning of the tomato chapter. And since we had some gigantic, juicy, bigger than the palm of your hand tomatoes I decided to try my hand at canning tomato juice. Not for me, but for the Mr.
I must say, it wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t exactly like a trip to Hobby Lobby, but it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. Maybe it was having my Mom and sweet niece helping that made it seem more tolerable. It sure was a great way to use up those huge juicy tomatoes.
I followed this recipe: https://pickyourown.org/canningtomatojuice.htm
Wash, core, remove “bad” spots, and quarter or cut into chunks.
After cleaning and cutting into large chunks, put some tomatoes in your pot and mash with a potato masher. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and continue to add tomatoes and mash.
After boiling per the recipe instructions, working in batches process mashed up tomatoes through a food mill or sieve. This will separate the skins and seeds from the juice. Return the juice to the pot and bring back to a boil. Boil according to recipe, and then put juice in prepared jars with lemon juice. Process in water bath for recommended time.
Not sure which was more therapeutic-spending the morning with my mom and niece or mashing the guts out of those awful tomatoes! Either way, we ended with some beautiful quarts of tomato juice and even more beautiful memories ❤️.
~ Stephanie