Terrific Tomato Soup and Other Tomato Recipes
(Page 7 of 9)
September/October 1975
The Mother Earth News editors
On the other hand, if you don't want to clutter up your entire house with ripening tomatoes for a couple of weeks, you may prefer to wipe the fruit clean, wrap each in newspaper, and then pack the 'maters in cardboard boxes, and store them where they won't freeze. Check for ripeness each day by gently squeezing the fruit and removing those that feel soft—for use fresh, canned or however you like. This procedure can extend your tomato season by weeks.
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The last method I'm personally familiar with is to uproot whole tomato vines just before frost, shake off the dirt, and hang the plants upside down indoors. The fruit will then ripen in its own time, if you're one of the people for whom this trick works well. You'll just have to experiment to find out.
There is one more possibility, which I know of only through hearsay and not from experience: A friend of mine claimed the other day that tomato plants will grow and produce all year if planted in big pots and judiciously pruned to manageable size. If you're venturesome — and have plenty of space and a large south window — go ahead and try.
Well, if you don't get some tomatoes put up this year, don't blame me! The only major hindrance is the shortage of canning jars and the sidebarbelow offers some possible solutions to that problem. Otherwise, you're limited only by your imagination and energy.
Perhaps the bounty of a good tomato crop will leave you hoping, come November, that you never see (much less put up) another 'mater! The feeling won't last long, though, and you'll find your harvest a never-failing source of good winter eating.
How to Beat the Canning Jar Shortage (and Come Out Ahead!)
For the past two summers, canning jars and lids have been as scarce as hen's teeth in many areas. Large numbers of people have been affected, but not those who know the secret of salvaging what I call "oddball" containers.
You may already be aware that some commercial food products — mayonnaise and other salad dressings, mustard in large quantities, etc.come in jars that fit one or another of the standard canning lids (regular, wide mouth, or No. 63). Home economists of the agricultural extension offices discourage the use of such containers for canning methods other than the boiling water bath. Nevertheless, these particular "oddballs" have been processed successfully in many a pressure canner with a breakage rate no higher than that of bona fide jars.
All right so far, but in some regions it's lids — not jars — that are really hard to find. Well, good news! Large numbers of commercial glass containers are fitted with self-sealing tops, and both parts are reusable.
Any time you come by a jar with a metal twist-off lid, look inside the cover. If you find a built-in plastic ring, you're in luck. That band can be softened by heating, and the top — properly handled — will then reseal its matching container.
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