Christmas shopping just about done ....

17 years ago

Per my promise to Annie and this being Tuesday the day after HBN (even though last night I bowled kinda poopy our team won most of the points - whew!) I put up another dozen pints of salsa this evening. A bow on the outside of the jar, Annie's #4 on the lid along with the greeting of a smile and a Merry Christmas! and I'm thinking I'm just about done shopping for the festive season!

Whether it be a scuba diving message board or an ice fishing message board historically I have always been much more of a "lurker" versus one who posts. It has been to my benefit as I've learned so much, in all of these forums, learning from the experiences of others that I've rarely found myself comfortable enough to post something that I have found that worked for me. But tonight I did something that made my life easier and I'd like to share.

I've always hated digging tomato paste out of the those tiny little cans (Annie has this in her infamous receipe and maybe someday I'll gain the confidence to make my own tomato paste ... but that hasn't quite happened yet, so in the meantime ...). Dang it - I never have been able to clean those suckers out completely, for years now, and it's always just ticked me off. And I suspect that all of you experienced kitchen folk have figured out and have done for years now but I never got the clue but tonight I tried something and it worked for me. I opened both ends of the can, removed one end cap, and then used a spoon to push down on the remaining lid and forced the contents of the can into my pot and it came out just like a can of cranberries fit for Thanksgiving Dinner right into my salsa pot. Of course you need to remember to remove the other lid (okay, I'm a newbie canner ... I feel fortunate to have found that last lid before it ended up in someone's Christmas present and I only mention this with hope of saving others any embarassment!) LOL!

But it was a time saver for me and I thought I'd share.

My wife returns from Florida tomorrow night after a week of spending time with her Mom. I'm thinking that maybe the 25# bag of beets will be just fine, they can even wait for my attentions, and are not as important than spending some time kissing and hugging my bride while welcoming her back to the state of Michigan. As a new found canner who's obsessed I'm conflicted here ... your opinion is appreciated.

Also: does anybody else sing out a "THANK YOU!" when you hear another pint/quart bottle "pop" its'lid? It just seems like the polite thing to do and I've been doing it all evening!

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Comments (11)

shirleywny5
17 years ago
I have a top and bottom removed can of tomato paste in my freezer at this moment. Whenever I need a tbls. or two of paste, I just push the bottom up and cut off as much as I need and return it in a freezer bag. A hint from Alton Brown.
gardenlad
17 years ago
Great idea, Shirley.

For me it isn't so much a question of getting it all out. It's the fact that there's so much more in the can than most recipes call for. And, by the time I need it again, the stuff has gone moldy in the fridge. So freezing is a great option.

One question: How much of the frozen tube of paste equals a tablespoon? I'm guessing about a half inch??
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annie1992
17 years ago
Mike, that's a good tip. I used to do that with Ocean Spray cranberry sauce until those no-good, low-down dirty dogs changed the can. Grrr.

I, for one, think the beets can wait, especially since I canned 13 pints of pickled beets last night. If you hug your wife sufficiently well and welcome her home appropriately, she might even help you peel the beets later.

BTW, the tomato paste only went in for texture, so if you don't mind a thinner salsa you could leave it out. I like thick, chunky salsa that stays on a chip, so in it goes!!

Annie
aberwacky_ar7b
17 years ago
For Annie's salsa, I bought the 111 oz. can of tomato paste from Sam's for $3.26.

I've done this before, and just scoop out and freeze tablespoon portions and pop them into a freezer bag. The scoops last a long time in the freezer, and it's easy to add to a sauce to thicken it up. I've also put it in ice cube trays, freeze, then pop them out and put in a bag. My ice cube trays hold about 2 tablespoons per cube.

An equivalent amount of paste bought in the 6 oz cans would cost over $9, so the work of freezing up the extra is worth it to me.

If you're making lots of Annie's salsa, it's worth getting!

Leigh
greenglass
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the info, Leigh, I'm going to take your advice as I will be putting up as much as I can. Kudos to Annie as I took some I'd made up last night into the office and everybody loved it. I did drop your story about how that lawyer paid you $10 a pint for his Super Bowl party ... just to let them all know what the current market price is!
annie1992
17 years ago
Mike, I'm glad that salsa was a hit. Of course, the $10 salsa was actually a matter of supply and demand. No supply to meet the demand. LOL

Hmmmm. I made more this year and there WILL be a SuperBowl. I wonder if that lawyer needs more salsa?

Annie
trisha_51
17 years ago
Every time i hear a lid seal i am very thankful! The first ones are especially exciting. My husband gets a grin on his face when i start; he's excited, too.
zabby17
17 years ago
greenglass,

That's a great tip for the tomato paste, thanks! I consider myself a fairly experienced, handy cook (for ordinary stuff, I'm no gourmet), and never thought of that one. It bugs me too to leave so much behind, and I have a little mini plastic spatula-scraper thing that I've been using, which doesn't do a bad job but is a pain and leaves a bit at the bottom.

When I spent a year in France, I found tomato paste regularly sold in a tube, like toothpaste, which was PERFECT --- you could just squeeze out whatever you needed.

Mayonnaise was also sold this way. Another great packaging improvement was bleach --- you could buy it in a big jug like here, but you could also buy a little refill plastic pouch of ultra-concentrated bleach, which you would pour into your empty jug and then fill it the rest of the way up with water to get the same concentration. Sure was handy for life in Paris where one walked everywhere!

Occasionally, over the many years since I was in France, I've found a store with imported foods that has tomato paste in a tube, and when I do I always stock up with several. (It keeps a year or two, though not forever.) It's been a while since I had one, however. If anyone knows of a source near Kingston, Ontario, I'd be grateful!

;-)

Zabby
annie1992
17 years ago
Zabby, I'm not really close to Ontario, but I can buy tomato paste in a tube. I'd be glad to send you some...

Annie
zabby17
17 years ago
greenglass,

In your honour, I thanked all my applesauce jars when they pinged last night.

Zabby
mellyofthesouth
17 years ago
Zabby, One of the stores here sells tomato paste in the cutest little cans. They are the same diameter as a regular small paste can but only just shy of 1.5 inches (3.5cm) tall. It holds 70 grams - almost 2.5 ounces. I just love it. Melly

Christmas shopping just about done ....

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