| So some easy, fun Halloween ideas: | Mummy Cookies and Body Part Jars |  | ||||||||||||||||
| First I made circle sugar cookies (I cheated this time and used ready-made Pilsbury Sugar Cookies. Then we added dots of white frosting and put M&M's to make eyes and noses for the mummies |
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| We then piped on white frosting for the bandages |
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| Here are Body Part Jars. Take Mason Jars, make labels and have fun. The Eyeballs are Grapes and the Fingers are Fresh String Beans |
Tomatoes are the most widely home-canned product in the United States. They also are one of the most commonly spoiled home-canned products. The canning processes recommended in this fact sheet are the result of USDA research on safe home-canning procedures for tomatoes and tomato products.
Although tomatoes are considered a high-acid food (pH below 4.6), certain conditions and varieties can produce tomatoes and tomato products with pH values above 4.6. When this happens, the product must be canned in a pressure canner as a low-acid product or acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower with lemon juice or citric acid.
Research has found several conditions that can reduce the acidity of tomatoes. These include decay or damage caused by bruises, cracks, blossom end rot or Insects, and overripening. Tomatoes grown in the shade, ripened in shorter hours of daylight, or ripened off the vine tend to be lower in acidity than those ripened in direct sunlight on the vine. Also, tomatoes attached to dead vines at harvest are considerably less acidic than tomatoes harvested from healthy vines. Decayed and damaged tomatoes and those harvested from frost-killed or dead vines should not be home canned.
To ensure safe acidity in whole, crushed or juiced tomatoes, add lemon juice or citric acid when processing in a boiling water bath. Add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid. Acid can be added directly to the jars before filling with product. Add sugar to offset the taste, if desired. Four tablespoons of a 5 percent acidity vinegar per quart can be used instead of lemon juice or citric acid. However, vinegar may cause undesirable flavor changes.
The most common reasons for spoilage in home-canned tomato products are underprocessing and incomplete seals. Tomatoes that have not been processed long enough to destroy molds and heat-resistant bacteria may spoil during storage. One of the common spoilage organisms, Bacillus coagulans, is very heat resistant and causes flat-sour spoilage. The jar lid may still be sealed and the product may appear normal, but the tomatoes will smell sour because of lactic acid produced by the growth of B. coagulans in the product. Never use tomatoes or tomato juices with off-odors.
Molds can grow on the surface of improperly processed tomato products and may eventually reduce the acidity to a point where botulism-producing spores can grow and produce a deadly toxin. Because even minute amounts of botulism toxin can cause fatal illness, discard without tasting any canned products that show mold growth on the surface. Discard them where they cannot be eaten by other people or animals.
The processing times in this fact sheet are designed to ensure sufficient destruction of bacteria and molds. Where appropriate, processing recommendations for both water bath and pressure canning are given. In general, a pressure canner results in higher quality and more nutritious canned tomato products.
One bushel of fresh tomatoes weighs 53 pounds and yields approximately 18 quarts of canned tomatoes or 15 to 18 quarts of juice. Approximately 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes makes 1 quart of canned tomatoes.
