Spirited Away

This is the last embroidered piece that I'm going to be posting for awhile.  This one is actually based off the movie Spirited Away and is a birthday present for a friend of mine.  It's one of her favorite movies and scenes (mine also).  It took many months to create but I think it turned out great.

  

How to freeze fresh tomatoes

I have been mega busy lately and haven't had the time to get on here as much as I would like.  I know months have gone by, but I have lots to share.  I just started a garden this year and I am very much a city a girl and love it, but I also love to cook especially with fresh ingredients.  I went very simple this year since it is my first and planted just tomatoes and green bell peppers since I use those the most.  And I am so proud of myself with the help of my family I was able to keep plants alive and healthy and have had so many yummy tomatoes (^_^). 

We had so many tomatoes that I decided to freeze them for the winter months which is not nearly as bad as I had thought.  So I thought I would post a tutorial on how to freeze fresh tomatoes and maybe it will inspire you to save some of these yummy veggies for a colder season. 


                                                       How to freeze fresh tomatoes

 
First your going to need to wash them of course.  Then you are going to need a large bowl of ice water, a sharp knife, cutting board, another bowl to place the peeled tomatoes in and a large pot of boiling water.

Once you have everything ready you need to score the bottom of the tomatoes by making an (x) this helps the skin slip off the tomatoes.

Now that you have scored all the tomatoes you need to place them a few at a time into the pot of boiling water using a slotted spoon.  Leave tomatoes in boiling water for about 40 seconds no longer then a minute.  It does not take very long any longer and you'll have mushy tomatoes (not good).

Take tomatoes out of boiling water using the slotted spoon and place them in the ice water.  The ice water shocks the tomatoes helping the outer skin slip off.  This was amazing it made it so unbelievably easy to peel the tomatoes it took no time at all.

 So now just dive in and you use your hands to peel off the skin from the tomatoes it's so very easy they should come out looking like this.

Now you need to cut them in half and squeeze as much of the juice and seeds out that you can, try and be gentle when doing this.  You can save the tomato juice and strain it and drink it or use it for cooking if you like.  When done they should look something like this.

 

 Okay if you have a vacuum sealer use it, it is awesome it sucks out all the air and even removes some of the juice that you could not get out.  If not you can you use freezer bags just be sure to get out as much of the air as you can.  I hope this helpful and I will be back soon with some new pieces of art.