Yeah I intended to save some myself/ I put it off as so much coming in at one time. and with this NEW order clown world out there . I get so distracted... Plus older...LOL I only had some one time at a Greek outdoor festival...I cant remember what they were stuffed with either. I cut most of mine down as they were here when we moved in and get full of disease. Saw some wild ones growing . It is too bad we cant eat wild Honeysuckle that PARASITE....LOL Thanks all Brothers and sisters of the Soil

I watched an Italian cooking show on PBS years ago where the lady from De Medici Kitchens commented that Americans were crazy to give away all their surplus tomatoes in summer and then have to buy them in the winter as canned or fresh. Her answer was to freeze them! I never had room in the freezer to do so until this year as we bought a 2nd chest freezer. I froze tomatoes all season long by putting them in "food Grade" ziplock freezer bags (not storage bags). I tried making spaghetti sauce with some and noticed no odd smell. In fact they smelled quite nice cooking up. My wife and I were happy with the results but my children refused to eat the sauce after tasting it claiming that it had an odd flavor. Since it is the same sauce recipe I have used for years with either fresh or canned tomatoes, perhaps some people do have a better sense of smell/taste. I am perplexed if I will freeze tomatoes again or not. It sure was a lot easier than canning them.

I agree, I'd just use the tomatoes. Squishing them all up would result in a paste like texture, not the chunky salsa that I make. In fact, I'd probably just chop 'em up and not worry about the skins, or slip the skins from the frozen tomatoes and chop them up, maybe drain a little. You will probably get a thinner "sauce" instead of the thick and chunky salsa, but it would still be good. ruthie, you are right, I just added the sauce and paste for texture, I wanted that thick/chunky salsa, not what we call "taco sauce" here, which is more runny and has smaller chunks of the veggies, or no chunks at all. Annie

bummshel, welcome! I grow a lot of tomatoes (beware---you start with a few plants, then try a few heirloom varieties, then a few more, and next thing you know they take over the yard!). So I can most of them (sauce, crushed tomatoes, salsa, and juice) and store in the pantry. But when they are coming in fast and furious and I don't have time for a canning bout, I just pop 'em in plastic bags and in the freezer, whole. The skins slip off, easily in hot water later. As has been mentioned, the a lot of liquid separates from them---as they thaw, you can see clear watery stuff accumulate around them while the tomato flesh re-mushifies. This is no problem if you are going to use the forzen toms in sauce, etc. (in fact, it can be good, since you can pour off the clear liquid and have a thicker sauce sooner). The texture of the frozen tomatoes is quite mushy, however. You wouldn't want to try to put them in a salad or anything. I also freeze peppers (in strips, ready to stir-fry), corn, some herbs, and shredded zucchini when I don't have time to bake it into bread right away (it is also good in soups and stews). I tried freezing zucchini slices and also beans, but didn't much care for the result (a texture issue more than a taste one). Some people freeze these and more and are very satisfied. Good luck! Zabby