Tomatoes, Tomatoes, & more Tomatoes

So Friday morning my BFF, Jen calls me while she's getting ready to go camping for the weekend and asks if I have a lot to do for the weekend. I wasn't sure how to answer that so she says well, Norm just came home with 3 flats of tomatoes they were giving away up town and they're nice and beautifully ripe and ready to can. Problem is, Jen is leaving in a few hours for the whole weekend and wouldn't be able to get to them until the following Wednesday. By then it would've been too late. So she asks if I'll can them for her if she pays for the bottles.

Being the good friend that I am... ;) I agreed and spent my whole Saturday canning these beautiful tomatoes. I made stewed tomatoes then pressured them for 20 minutes. It was a lot of work but definitely worth it in the end. They turned out so yummy and so pretty don't you think?

Funny thing is that most of you know I hate tomatoes so you're saying to yourself, "why is she so excited?" Well, I hate RAW tomatoes. It's a seed texture thing. However, I love to cook with tomatoes.

3 Flats - Each flat had 4 packages

Getting them ready to blanch the skins off.

And... the finished product.