Tomatoes

Well, I've had a few busy weekends, and a few upcoming weekends promise to be just as busy, so I'm happy to have at least gotten as much done as I've been able to (which isn't much).

I did manage to put away 9 pints of tomato sauce, 8 in cans and one in a freezer bag.  I'm planning on making and freezing pizza crusts to go with the sauce.  I'd also like to put together packages of toppings so that I can have a quick and easy option for days I'm not too keen on cooking.  I figure we can make pizza every 3 weeks or so. 

I'd like to have canned more, but our garden hasn't really produced that many cannable tomatoes.  We have a ton of yellow tomatoes (which are great too) but we can't can them.  I have put aside 2 quarts of whole tomatoes so I can make some sauce later.  So I bought a box of tomatoes for $20 at the local farmers market.  I doubt there will still be any boxes available by the time I can get to a farmers market again, so I'm not likely to put any more tomatoes away for the winter.  That's okay, they really are best when fresh.

There's not too much from the garden that we've managed to set aside lately.  I did freeze some broccoli and I've got some green peppers ready to be picked.  I also have some carrots, but I'm planning on overwintering them. Our raspberry are still doing well. I've put away a few pints of our own raspberries, along with 2 pints from the farmers market.  There'd be more in the freezer if we didn't keep eating them all the time :) 

I'd really like to start canning soups soon.  After that I'll move on to buying supplies for the pantry.