Heirloom Tomatoes & Squeezo Machine

My Favorite tomatoes for slicing and eating plain are the heirloom varieties. They are flavorful and come in so many unusual colors. Aren't these green ones gorgeous? They are fully ripe and this beautiful bright green color. The best tasting though, this year, was the dark ones that had a purple/black skin with a reddish pink flesh called Pierce's Pride. It's pictured here on the plate with the green variety and a delicious yellow tomato.

We also like the big tomato varieties for sandwiches, such as Big Boy or Beefsteak.

And the best for cooking into a sauce are the Roma varieties. This year I found an Amish tomato that was like the Roma only much bigger. The reason the Roma tomato is good for making sauce is because it is a fleshier tomato with less juice and so it thickens beautifully. With the amount of tomatoes we grow though almost every variety ends up in my tomato sauce.

I use this squeezo strainer to remove skins and seeds from the pulp. Mine is very old (at least 50 years). One can buy them new for over $200 new, but I did see quite a few up for auction today on ebay starting for a lot less money. It's a very handy machine for making tomato sauces as well as apple sauce. There is a crank on one side. Out the other side of the squeezo comes the skins and seeds, which we toss into the compost. The large funnel at the top is where the blanched product goes in, and then there is a spout out the front where the pulp comes out. We attach it to our picnic table because it can be quite a juicy mess.

Nothing can be simpler than cooking down this sauce and processing it up for winter storage. Every modern canning book will have picture instuctions for how to can or process tomato sauce. These books can be purchased any place where canning jars and other canning products sold.

Here the the girls and Noah are helping to make applesauce last fall. We get our apples from one of the many orchards just south of the Missouri River. We usually combine a juicy sweet Gala or similar type apple with some tart Jonathon's for our applesauce, which I also process for winter use. Look here to see my canning recipes for the best salsa and old fashioned cucumber relish.

Latest Critter Catches ~ Bunny, Bull frog, Praying Mantis

My husband, Jim, caught all these critters over the last couple of weeks. He's so great about showing new things to the kids. Of course, Noah (being 3 years old), is enthralled with new things and especially new animals.
Keera is holding the wild bunny she named Fluffy. Fluffy scattered with her siblings as their nest was being mowed over. None were caught by the blades thankfully. She was big enough that we hope she was able to make or find a new nest.


This beautiful bright green praying mantis was surprisingly slow when we let him out of the mason jar. They are wonderful for eating undesirable pests in the garden, so all are welcome here. :)





Noah was very sad when his large bull frog hopped away with huge leaps. Isn't it gorgeous with it's beautiful spots underneath it's body and it's webbed hands and feet?! We suspect it was a female as we now have many little frogs all over the garden. Too bad the gardening season is pretty much over. Regardless, we always have frogs in our small ponds, evident by their loud croaking in the evenings. It's a welcome sound heralding the spring after a quiet long winter.

Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

2 Dozen Large Jalapeno Peppers

1 lb of SHIMECAS ITAILIAN SAUGAGE OR BOGOULIAS Cooked

3 CUPS OF SHREDDED PARMASEAN CHEESE

2 BRICKS OF CREAM CHEESE

AND MINCED GARLIC TO TASTE

Slice peppers in half, clean out insides, mix remaining ingredients together and stuff inside pepper halves, bake for 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Serve with ranch dressing as a dip on the side.

This recipe is so good and simple. It takes a little time to get it prepared unless you have help, but it is well worth it and perfect for a football season half time snack.

It came from my husband's cousin's wife, Debbie. I substitute any italian sausage that I like as I am in the country and don't have this brand available.

Best Old Fashioned Cucumber Relish Recipe

4 cups chopped, unpeeled cucumbers (about 4)

1 cup chopped green pepper (about 2)

½ cup chopped sweet red pepper (about 1)

3 cups chopped onion

3 cups chopped celery

¼ cup salt

3 ½ cup sugars

2 cups white vinegar

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 tablespoon mustard seed

Chop all vegetables with a food processor, place in plastic bowl and sprinkle with ¼ cup salt let stand 4 hours. Drain thoroughly in colander, squeeze with hand to get all liquid out of veg. Combine sugar, vinegar, celery seed and mustard seed. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stir in drained vegetables. Simmer 10 minutes; add a few drops of green food color. Pack into jars to within ½ inch of top. Put on cap, screw brand firmly tight. Process in boiling water bath 10 minute. Yield: 5-6 pints.

This is another recipe from my mother in law, Doris. It is an old recipe from her old Ball canning book. It's not in any of my canning books and I could not find relish recipes anywhere on the web with celery. It's a wonderful recipe worth sharing and a great way to make use of all those cucumbers coming out of the garden. Enjoy!

The Best Salsa Recipe for Canning

30 tomatoes peeled and chopped
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
10 cups chopped onions
10 cloves garlic
4-5 yellow banana pepper or 1 cup chopped jalapenos
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
2 cups vinegar
8 teaspoons pickling salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 large cans tomato paste

Simmer 1 1/2 hr, stirring often, at the end of cooking time add 1/2 bunch of cilantro if desired.
Jar and process, 35 minutes for pint jars and 45 minutes for quart jars.
Makes 17 pints

Enjoy!

This recipe came from my mother in law, Doris. She got it from her Canadian friend Fran.

We use less sugar and more jalapenos. Either way it is delicious and a great way to make use of all those garden tomatoes.

We use this salsa in place of rotel for a cheese dip, also added to mashed avacados with lime juice for guacamole and my hispanic friends like to eat it on rice. And of course, it's used as a dip for tortilla chips or topping on other mexican dishes.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

It's doing quite well with all the rain we've had. Our hay on the other hand is a whole other story. It was finally cut, but it has been rained on twice. My husband is turning it over. Hopefully it will dry out enough so it can be bailed up.

Butternut squash.

Corn.

watermelon or cantelope.......

Vegetable Gardens, Herbs and Plants

Herbs, vegetables and flowers ready for planting.

Young tomato plants.

Maybe we will have our gardens planted by the time I publish this post. Jim is tilling again, to help the soil dry out for planting. This is a borrowed tractor and tiller from a neighbor.

Wild Purple Garden Phlox

This purple flower is growing wild in our fence lines. Isn't it pretty?! I should move it to my yard but there is too much poison ivy nearby. My sons cut these for me and put them in a vase. Wasn't that sweet?! They are thoughful boys.