Three Generations of Canning!

Every summer as long as I can remember my mom and her mom (my nanny) have canned some type of vegetable. I always watch and think, "I'll learn how to do that next year". Well that year was this year. today! My aunt Myra has given my mom two big boxes full of beautiful red tomatoes out of her garden. So today when my mom and my nanny were preparing to can I informed them it was time for me to learn and I wanted to help! My nanny was so happy that I was going to help and she showed me how to peel and cut them just right! The process begins with putting the tomatoes in cold water and rinsing dirt and whatever else might be on them off.

After you have rinsed the tomatoes off you then place them into a large pan of boiling water for about one minute. After the allotted time you then take them out and place them into another bowl and begin the peeling process. Once they come out of the boiling water the peeling on them is basically peeling of by itself and you just go ahead and pull the peeling off. After doing so my nanny showed me to cut the core out and then cut the tomato into quarters and then into smaller pieces and place into a separate bowl.

After cutting them and when you have a large bowl full of cut up tomatoes or (seven quarts as my mom says) you empty them into a large bowl and we add one finely chopped onion and half of a finely chopped jalapeno to the tomatoes. Then they are placed on the stove to boil for a few moments.

After the tomatoes,onions and peppers have boiled for a few moments you then place them into jars and put the lids on them and put them into the pressure cooker filled with water.

After you have placed your sealed jars into the pressure cooker you then place the lid securely on top and set your pressure and time it. I believe mom set it for 20 minutes for 10 pounds. This pressure cooker is special to me because it was my nanny's that she used for years. =)

After the jars have been pressurized inside the cooker you carefully take them out and wait for the lids to pop. This is the finished product! When we choose to open and cook it for a meal my mom adds more vegetables into it like potatoes,okra corn etc.

I cannot wait to enjoy some wonderful vegetable soup in the fall and winter. Hopefully one day I can carry on the tradition of canning every summer and be able to use the same pressure cooker that my grandmother used!