Today's canning

The beanies have been away all week to Los Angeles and get home tonight.  Sean is at the beach with his family.  That meant I had the whole day today to myself!

I picked up a bucket of not-so-perfect tomatoes from Farmer Allan on Tuesday.  Tuesday night Sean and I cut them up, boiled them until soft and then put them through the food mill.  Friday I took the tomato sauce and boiled it down until it was nice and thick.  Today the tomatoes were canned in a water boiling bath.

The last of the cucumbers were picked last week and today I decided to make Spicy Freezer Pickles.  It didn't make sense to me that freezing and then thawing pickles would keep them crispy but I made these last year and they were delicious.

Pre-bath sauce.  I bought these jars in Farmington, ME at Reny's.  They are tall and between the size of a pint and quart.

Post water bath.  Ready to put on the shelf

Spicy Frozen Cucumbers, from The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest, by Carol W. Costenbader

4 cups thinly sliced cucumbers ( I sliced on 1/8 in on the mandoline)
2 large onions, thinly sliced (1/8 inch on mandoline)
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Combine the cucumbers, onions and salt in container.  Let stand for 2-4 hours to extract the moisture.

Rinse and drain the vegetables well.  Blot them with paper towels to absorb moisture

Combine remaining ingredients and mix well until sugar dissolves completely, about 10 min.  Stir in cucumbers and onions.

Pour the mixture into clean freezer containers, leaving 1 inch of headspace for expansion.  Cap and seal.  These will keep for up to 1 year in the freezer.

To use, thaw for about 4 hours in refrigerator.

Soaking with salt

Rinsed and drained

Put into jars

Ready for the freezer