THE YEAR OF THE TOMATO

My MIL cans tomatoes every year.... Her garden is A-MAZE-ing...the envy of everyone within a 20-mile radius. She has about a dozen tomato plants. This year that produced enough tomatoes for THREE rounds of canning. She usually can handle that much canning, but she broke her foot at the end of summer and has had to give up some of her produce. I was lucky enough to join in the fun this year.

On her second round of canning, we picked a few buckets of tomatoes, scalded, peeled, cut, boiled, and canned 17 jars all for my little family. This tomato sauce is the best start for soups, spaghetti and countless Mexican and Italian dishes throughout the year. I feel so lucky I could burst.

If I had space, patience and a gift for canning I would do this for myself every year in my own backyard but I don't. I just glory in these little moments that happen every so often.