Tomato Preserves

Look what I made, tomato preserves. When I have an overabundance of tomatoes I usually make tomato soup or I add them to my green beans or my lady peas or put them on pizza. I wanted to try something different.

Basically I cut a criss cross in the top end of the tomato, then I blanch the tomatoes for one minute. Immediately I place the blanched tomatoes into an ice water bath to stop the cooking. When cool I remove the skins. Next I crush up the tomatoes. I had to crush them with a fork because I don't have a potato masher. I put them in a pot with some cinnamon, cloves, grated ginger, lemon juice and sugar and cook them for about 20 minutes till mixture starts to thicken. I am not sure the mixture was thick enough if not next time I'll add some pectin or gelatin.

It's a lot of work to make these preserves. I used Juliet tomatoes so there were many to deal with. Larger tomatoes would have been easier I guess. I don't even know if the preserves taste good because I've been out of town. I intend to try some today. I'll have to let you know if I like the preserves. I'll be at the farmers market tomorrow with my pottery. What does the leaf plate have to do with tomatoes, nothing other than it's red. Ha. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.