Canning Tomatoes

Every summer I can tomatoes.  I think it's because my Mother always did and I was raised to be thrifty and prepare for winter by canning produce.  Now, I only can tomatoes, and I must admit I don't like it much, even sometimes hate doing it.  But ~ still every year I plant 24 tomato plants so I can preserve them for winter meals.  My Mother tells me not to do it anymore, but I can't seem to give it up. It's a long process starting with washing up the jars and getting everything out and set up.  

  I've had the jars for years and years and they're always so pretty washed up and ready to go.  

 

And then there are the tomatoes.  This basket may not look that big, but its almost two feet long and it's loaded.

There is something beautiful about tomatoes with their many and varied uses in meals.

And here is my little bee friend to help me with my chores.

Now, I'm off to actually can, instead of taking and editing pictures.  Can you tell I'm procrastinating?  I've done everything this morning from laundry to cleaning out kitchen drawers, when my first priority was supposed to be canning.   ~
Here are the tomatoes going through the hot water bath, which is followed by the cold water bath to loosen the skins. Canning is a very hot process and it usually comes at the hottest part of the summer.  Thank goodness today the temperature barely made it into the 70's.

I got so involved, I forgot to take more pics of the process, but here is the finished product.

Aren't they beautiful?  I never tire of looking at the finished product.  There is a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment when I see the jars all lined up that always makes the work worth it all.  I've been know to leave them set on the counter for a week because I love to look at them.  Maybe that's why I keep doing a chore I don't enjoy very much.

All in all ~ I ended up with 18 quarts of tomatoes.  That's the largest batch I've ever done at one time and sometimes more than I do in an entire summer, and it's only the first wave of tomatoes.  I think I'll be eating a lot of chili, spaghetti. and sausage-tortellini soup this winter.

Linking with ~ The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays ~ Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday