Canning Little Tomatoes

In desperate need to do something with all these tomatoes, this morning I started canning. The only tomatoes I didn't can were these -- the smallest cherry tomatoes. They're small as the end of your finger and so delicious.

I take those little tomatoes and put them in a bowl. I spoon on a little of this 1:1:1 dressing: one part veg. oil, one part good vinegar of your choice, one part white sugar. What a pop of flavor! I gobble them up.

Last night we picked a lot of tomatoes, and this morning I picked even more. In this photo you see garden peach, besser, black cherry, white cherry, juliets, yellow pear. I also picked lots of cherry chocolates and green grape. None are what you'd call "big, full-sized tomatoes." You can't make BLTs with these.

I put on big pots of boiling water, one to sterilize my jars, lids, and bands, and one for the hot water bath. The two pots on the back are two kinds of tomato sauce: red and white!

I separated the white and red tomatoes from each other, thinking it would be neat to can some white tomato sauce. What do you think? Might be tasty and interesting a couple of months from now on pasta.

I capped all the tomatoes and put them (skins and all) in the blender and pulverized them to a creamy liquid. Then I heated them well on the stove -- steaming but not boiling.

The white sauce above, the red sauce below:

I'm determined to get a good seal on these babies so they will stay safely canned for months. I turned them upside down (for 15 minutes) after removing from the hot water bath (for 20 minutes).

I'll keep them on the dining room table and check their seals several times a day. They've already "popped" down. So much fun!

Do you enjoy canning? Do you do it each year? Next canning project: fig preserves!