The Weeknight Canner

Last night after getting home late, I embarked on a mad canning adventure. Earlier this week my mom had dropped off several flats of homegrown tomatoes from their garden. Last year's canned whole tomatoes are long gone, so I wanted to put away quite a bit more this summer. While the tomatoes she dropped off were a little under-ripe earlier this week, they quickly turned ruby red and by last night were at THAT point - can or die.

So at about 8:30pm I started blanching, peeling, packing, and canning 14 pints of whole tomatoes. I was tired, hungry, and ready to veg in front of the TV for the night, but there was no waiting for these beauties. I ended up finishing around midnight, which wasn't so bad for a weeknight I suppose.

Today I surveyed the finished product:


The tomatoes were gorgeous, even with the blight problems we've had this year. I noticed a blight spot on one of my Black Krim's this week - rats.

The peppers are starting to turn - I've had to restrain myself from picking a Red Marconi while it's still green:


I made dinner for the in-laws last weekend and for the appetizer I made a balsamic marinated roasted red pepper crostini. When I roasted the red bell peppers, I threw in a couple whole Fish Peppers to add a little kick. It's safe to say that Fish Peppers are as hot if not hotter than jalapenos. Zesty!