On Wednesday night, I blanched, peeled, and cored about a gallon and a half of paste tomatoes. And then I went to bed, more tired from the start of the semester than from the hour and a half of tomato labor! Thursday morning, before I put the water on for coffee, I filled my canning pot, gathered together some jars and lids, and set to sterilizing. 4 quarts and 2 pints of tomatoes had been raw-packed and processed (45 mins in the water bath, according to the scanned cookbook page my parents sent me, complete with my mom’s tiny, perfect notations about the number of tomatoes that fit in a pint or quart jar — love it) by mid-morning. I’m hoping to do this again next week if there are still tomatoes to pick when I head out to the farm on Tuesday.
I’ve also been cowling, which is how I’m referring (aloud, to no one in particular) to the act of knitting the cowl portion of idlewood. I am in love with the way this fabric feels and drapes in this gauge. I think I’ve got about ten inches, so I’m about two-thirds of the way there. If I can finish a book this morning, I’m going to let myself watch last night’s episode of Project Runway and do some cowling. Happy Friday!
barefoot rooster 
My morning was the reverse pattern: Project Runway then reading. (bad kate.) It’s an excellent episode. DRAMA LLAMAS!
Okay those look great. You already know my address… heh.
My word, you’ve been busy! The cowlneck’s going to be awesome, and you’re going to have such a wonderful bounty of tomatoes this winter.
Wow, well done! That’s a lot of canning…and a lot of cowling, too! (I’m loving cowl as a verb. I think I will incorporate it into my knitting vocab as well. :) )
Oooh…the latest Project Runway is a good one. But it will make you want to punch that Gretchen chick in the face.
If you get into canning you might try these reusable lids…saves a lot of $$… they are safe, BPA free…
http://reusablecanninglids.com/
Always enjoy your site and Boh… all the great knitting, and good food. Tried lots of your recipes. Really liked your last shawl.
Wow! You’re really motoring on that cowl! Must get busy … yummy tomatoes!
nang A – I request to know how you’d use these tomatoes – you lost me at the blanching stage :). my dad planted lots this summer and he could use some of these recipes.