Tomatoes

tomatoes in bags

Host Your Own Tomato Crush

It’s Tomato Time! Like many others, I put up tomatoes in late September. I’m republishing an article originally from 2014 on how to host your own tomato crush. Why not share the work and turn a chore into a social occasion? This year, I’m working with a friend, and we’ll […]

tomatoes in baskets

Homemade Tomato Paste

Why make homemade tomato paste when it’s always available at the grocery store? I use tomato paste all the time. Sometimes I need up to half a cup, and sometimes just a little bit. When I make my own, I can store it in the sizes I tend to need most, so I have […]

tomato paste

Tomato Paste in the Slow Cooker

Tomato paste is, in principle, an easy thing: squish the tomatoes, separate the skins and the seeds, and reduce the resulting pulp until it’s very thick. I have already posted a Roasted Tomato Paste recipe – here’s a version using a slow cooker or two, for when you can’t stand […]

roasted tomato paste

Roasted Tomato Paste

I use tomato paste all the time. Sometimes I need up to half a cup, sometimes just a little bit. When I make my own, I can store it in the sizes I tend to need most, so I have no more partly used cans in the fridge. Sometimes I have a huge batch […]

pickled green tomatoes

Pickled Green Tomatoes

You may already be familiar with pickled green tomatoes – they are common in many New York delis. However, if you’re one of those folks whose understanding of pickles is limited to cucumbers, try these! This is the time of year when gardeners race the frosts to harvest every possible […]

canning tomato sauce in quantity

Canning Tomato Sauce

Canning tomato sauce: it’s my end of summer ritual. I’ll do anything to prolong tomato season! Fortunately, I have a lot of friends who agree with me, and we get together each year for a Big Tomato Crush work party – a ton of fun, and satisfyingly productive. It’s not a difficult […]

spiced tomato jam 1200

Small-batch Spiced Tomato Jam

2013 has not been a good year for tomatoes in Michigan. First it was wet and cold, and then way too hot, and now, in September, we seem headed for an early frost. Our tomato season has been the shortest one I can recall. Even in a scant year, I […]

oven-dried tomatoes 1200

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

All winter I look forward to the month when there are more fresh tomatoes than I can possibly eat. Full-flavored, succulent, wonderful tomatoes. It’s also the month when my preserving kicks into high gear, and I’m overwhelmed with tomatoes to can, freeze, or dry. Oven-dried tomatoes are the very easiest […]