[In reply to questions about canning.]

I just set a big pan on the stove and fill it with the tomatoes, unpeeled and uncored. Just get the mud off. I bring the water to a boil. Then I shut the water off. Then fish the tomatoes out of the boiling water, one by one, and put into ice water, and the skin will rip off easily as you peel them.

Also, about your cucumbers. Probably, for refrigerator pickles, you will need the bigger cucumbers to slice. Right? I dont really know. I think for pickling the really small ones, you have to grow a certain kind. I always grow the bigger ones, and Papa likes bread and butter pickles.

Anyway, I have loads of tomatoes to do today. I am just going to put them through the blender, cored but unpeeled, and make a tomato sauce because I have too many to peel. Later on, when things slow down around here, I will make some stewed tomatoes, cored and peeled, and I will can them. But, with all the remodleing, I am so behind. So today, I will just wash my tomatoes and core them, and not peel them, and put them thruugh the blender with very little water. Then I will pour them into my big roaster that I use to cook a 25 pound turkey in. I will then put my sauce in the oven on low and simmer it all day. When it is cooked down, then I will water bath can it. Or you could freeze it in plastic containers. I just use this for winter soups and stews.

Making this sauce goes really fast, once ya get started, and it is great fun. I just put a few cups of water in my blender and start in blending tomatoes. When you go to dump the tomatoe puree into your pan, just dump half of it, and use the remaining liquid to keep swirling more tomatoes. So you dont have to add anymore than the liquid you began with. But I get very creative with this mixture. I blend onions and peppers and basil in with my tomatoes. Also, black pepper, salt and a little sugar, maybe a tablespoon. Maybe fresh garlic, if ya got it. Your mixture will foam up, and you can just take a spoon and dip it off the top and throw the foam away. I start my mixture out on the top of the stove and bring it to a boil, so I can get the foam off the top. Then I put the mixture in the oven to simmer all day. Then, when I get around to it, I water bath can it … usually the next morning. But if I make it today, I won’t get back to it until tomorrow afternoon because I have to help my aunt tomorrow morning. But don’t let it set too long or it will spoil.

The object is to cook it down and get the liquid out. But it will never get really thick unless you want to add tomato paste to it. I don’t because I figure, if I want it thick, I can add it later.

This tomato sauce works great for winter soups of all kinds. Like chili and home made tomato soup. You could use it to put over a beef or pork roast to tenderize it. I have used it to tenderize pork spare ribs in the oven before putting them on the grill. It’s good to put over macaroni and cheese, baked in the oven. This mixture is a wonderful staple to have on hand to make meals with. To use for a spaghetti sauce, you would want to add tomatoe paste to thicken it when you go to make spaghetti.

A full pantry of this sauce will keep you in soup all winter.