Sundried tomato canners unite

So, we did it!

On Saturday a group of friends and I canned the sundried tomatoes that my Mom gave me this past Christmas.

First, the tomatoes had to soak overnight in a 1:1 combination of red wine vinegar and water. Then, before the rest of our tomato canners showed up, I rinsed the tomatoes and Irooshka and I laid them out to dry off on a towel-covered kitchen table. Here's a pic or Irooshka attacking the vinegar-oozing tomatoes as we lay them out on the table:


Around noon, the first batch of canners showed up, having diligently brought their own aprons for the session:


Well, actually Andy was wearing my white apron, which is too small even for me. I find that everyone's personality was sort of reflected in their aprons, though. Before we started canning, Irooshka took glamour shots of the tomatoes...here is one that I particularly like:


You can see some more of Irooshka's documentation of the tomatoes on her blog. After putting the now drier, yet still moist tomatoes in big bowls, I started demonstrating how to can them:


It's actually quite easy: a layer of tomatoes, then some capers, mint and chopped garlic, then another layer of tomatoes up to the top, leaving space for oil to cover the preserve completely and for some air between the lid and the oil.

I forgot to mention that we also had a ton of delicious food and Abe, Edith's adorable kid:


Among other things, we ate home-made red beet salad, rice with zucchini, spinach and beet greens, baba ghanoush, and lasagne.

Meanwhile, a few more people showed up, including my new Italian friends (Viviana made the lasagne):


Everybody got busy with the tomatoes...




At the end we were all very happy and in awe of the tomatoes' beauty, which was amplified by the extra-virgin olive oil that we poured into all of the jars:


The Italians, including my long-time friend Iole who arrived as we were canning, were especially proud (or made to look so, at least):


Here's another glossy magazine worthy shot of the canned tomatoes taken by Irooshka:


Yum! We all have to wait at least a week until we eat the goodies...some have told me that they are already counting the days.

I had a wonderful time.