Fresh Pumpkins: I'm canning them.

I spotted them through the early morning mists. A herd of lumbering giants bright against a drab scorched earth. These monsters won't hesitate to show you their defenses- tiny spines along their necks- and they drive fear into the heart of even seasoned foragers. What do I do with these things? Where did they come from? But most importantly: How does one go about killing one of these? a herd?

These particular pumpkins have assumed a defensive posture; encircling their youngster in protect it. Out of fear I take the biggest one, lop off its head and carve it up while the others watch. It makes the others still waiting better behaved and lets me get more pumpkin seeds for delicious dried pumpkin seeds. Next post? Delicious dried pumpkin seeds.

Search the internet and you will find that the USDA doesn't suggest canning puree as a good idea. They warn against it. I found post after post of people canning pumpkin and not dying or going to the hospital. Besides, a pressure canner is as close to an autoclave as I presently have so its got to do. If a microorganism can survive 1.5 hours in a canner at 15 pounds of pressure then it deserves to live and I deserve to get food poisoning for not listening to the USDA, the same organization that allows slaughter houses to use bleach on the food sold to citizens and banned soft cheeses because it could possibly hurt someone. Forgive me if I don't put all my eggs in the USDA's basket - oh yeah, USDA inspected eggs have caused salmonella and e coli outbreaks too. hmmm. okay, no more ranting.


My weapons are simple:
My iron will, a razor sharp Butchers Scimitar and a 400 degree oven.

Their weapons:
Painful spines, an 8 on the Mohs hardness scale, and I am starting to suspect from the way they are surrounding their young that they know I am a big giant softy.

 First place your pumpkin on a flat secure surface. They are hard and you have to use a bit of force to take the top off. Be careful here as the pumpkin can roll and that knife is sharp.

 Dissect the specimen from the top down.

 The two halves are full of goo and seeds, grab your favorite spoon and scoop them out. I always resort to using my hands

Below the others watch as the Alpha Male Pumpkin sits awaiting the scoop.

To minimize cleanup I used one big roaster pan

Place these in a 400 degree oven on the middle rack and wait. For me it took about an hour for the pumpkin to become soft enough to scrape the skin off.

That's what I planned on doing anyway, and I even peeled one piece - it was still hot and I singed my fingers a bit. That made me think: how can I do this in a lazier way?

ENTER VITA-MIX!

We long ago learned that if you want something to work well and work for a long time you have to buy something well made and with a great reputation. The vita-mix blender is all of those things and more.( I promise I don't get kickbacks or anything). When we buy something we expect it to perform as it should, its the same reason we make most of our own food; if your going to spend your money or time you should get something good out of it. We paid a bit under full retail because we bought it during some kind of sale period and its become a highly used gadget in our kitchen.

So, I was going to skin the pumpkin but instead I didn't. Instead I crammed the blender full of baked pumpkin chunks and cranked the dial to 11( it really only goes to 10 but there is a super high powered turbo switch). The blender chews through anything, and it obliterated the pumpkin skin and made a lovely looking orange pumpkin colored puree, along with a nice four leafed clover shape. Slightly messy? yeah. much easier? yeah.

It's easy to clean as well, rinse out and add some water and some dish soap then turn on high for a minute and the inside is clean. Also, yes there is pumpkin puree on the wall outlet in the background

5 Quarts of puree. Yay!

I ended up with 6 quarts of puree, one of which I asked willow to use me to bake me a pumpkin pie because I love pumpkin pies. 

Sun Dried Summer

This bowl full of dehydrated tomatoes is our attempt at introducing summer to crisp autumn days and cold winter nights. Will eating these bring back summer? No more so than downing a few strong beers makes me a better dancer...well it might but pictures of that could well lead to divorce.  What these beauties will do is add a sweet tangy flavor to pasta sauces, pizza, and out of season caprese salads.  They will help avoid the bland store bought dried tomatoes covered in chemicals and give us an excuse to plant more tomatoes next spring.

These Roma and Kellogs Breakfast tomatoes were sweet and juicy when they were picked and it took about 10 hours in the dehydrator to turn them into leathery tomato goodness. The price for these in the store is pretty high, and while what you get might satisfy your needs they are nothing like what you can make yourself.  Ignoring the amount of work that goes into planting and maintaining a garden, or more likely trying your best to erase from memory long days of tilling and planting, its a slightly cheaper option but a far more fulfilling one.

Sun Dried Tomatoes Packed In Olive Oil

Organic:

5 pounds Tomatoes - we used mostly Romas but any kind will work
2 cups white vinegar
1 Head of Garlic

Inorganic:

3 Pint Jars
Canning Lids and Rims
Jar lifter
Hot pads
Tongs

Prep Work:
To prepare the tomatoes cut them into either thick slices( I did 1/2 inch slices when using tomatoes other than romas) for paste type tomatoes like Romas I just cut them lengthwise in half. Place on dehydrator drying racks so that none of the slices are touching each other. Dehydrate for 6 to 12 hours at 140 degrees F or until tomatoes feel like leather but can still be bent without them cracking.

Canning in Olive Oil
All I hear about canning tomatoes in oil is botulism botulism botulism, but after the process I prescribe you should have no problems whatsoever.

Using a pressure cooker or canning pot sanitize your pint jars, remove to a cutting board to await filling.

Remove your now wonderfully dried tomatoes from your dehydrator and set aside. Grab a medium sized sauce pot and turn the heat on high. Add your white vinegar and wait for it to boil. The idea here is that you are hitting your soon to be canned sun dried tomatoes with the first two of three anti microbial/anti-fungal steps. when the vinegar reaches a boil start giving small batches of your tomatoes a quick dip.  just a few seconds in the boiling vinegar is all you need, to long and the tomatoes will start to absorb too much of the liquid. Pull your tomatoes out of the vinegar, I found using a spider skimmer worked well to get them out quickly. place your tomatoes into a bowl and continue immersing and removing the remaining tomatoes until all have been treated in the vinegar solution.

Place 1 clove of garlic in each pint jar and then stuff as many of the dried tomatoes into the jars as you can. I left about an inch of head space in each of the jars so I had room to get all the air pockets out later on. Now add the olive oil to the jars very slowly. The oil will get into the nooks and crannies pretty well but you will have to shift the tomatoes around either with a fancy canning tool or with a butter knife- my weapon of choice. Work the tomatoes around until no more bubbles float up then top up the jar with oil until there is about 1/2 and inch of air between the oil and the top.  Continue in this way until you run out of jars or tomatoes. Next place the lids and rings on your jars and tighten the rings until the are just barely snug on the jar. Place in your canning pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes then remove and wait for that delightfully satisfying pop as your jars seal and all your hard work is done.

Allow the jars to sit for at least 24 hours to make sure the lids have seated properly then store somewhere until your curiosity gets the better of you and you have to open them. Just don't eat them all with a fork while murmuring the word precious and hissing at anyone who tries to take them from you.