Our patio garden in Vegas... complete with Pirate Owl Guard |
So, what to do with all these tomatoes?...and I haven't even mentioned the apples! Two large apple trees grace the land near the house. I'm not sure what kind of apples they are, nor are the owners of the property, but they are a little tart. This isn't an orchard, so by no means are they perfectly round apples with no flaws. Quite the contrary. We've seen some pretty deformed apples growing on those trees, and many that were worm infested, bug bitten, and, the ones that make it to the ground on their own, become the property of chickens and ducks.
Canning, freezing, saucing, and souping. That's the answer, and that has also become our weekend activities for the past few weeks. Our shelves are quickly filling with canned tomatoes, salsa, and pizza sauce. Our freezer is housing large bags of frozen tomatoes and tomato soup. This is our first time ever canning and so we won't really know how we did until this winter when we go to open up the jars and hope for the best. Chris has done all of the tomato work, and I have worked on the apples. One thing that is a prominent part of my creative persona is never wanting to do the same thing twice. It comes through in the clothes I make (no matter how popular a design is...recreating it will always take on a new twist), and it came through in the applesauce recipes I tested. Each batch was a slight variation on the last one...and then it was perfect. I have posted that recipe for you here. NOTE: This can be used exactly the same way to make the best rhubarb sauce ever, or a combo rhubard/apple sauce (just be careful not to burn it like I did!). Maybe next year we can give a little more info and instruction on canning, once we see how we did!