Keeping the Family Tradition Alive

Keeping My Family Tradition Alive I started keeping my family tradition of canning alive last summer. My family has canned for years and there is nothing better than opening up something I have canned on my own and thinking of the people who shared this tradition with me. Traditions are very important to keep going in families around the world. Traditions are very broad anything from what people do on holidays to cooking. My family tradition is very important to me. I knew last year that if I didn’t learn some of my family’s secret recipes while my grandmother and mom are still with us than there would be a chance that my family would never be able to taste the wonderful flavors my family has put together over the years and my family has looked so forward to the taste that we have grown to love. Before I begin canning, I must gather all the materials that I need to get started. The first step is the selection of the tomatoes. I pick all of my tomatoes from my own garden they are so much better than anything from the grocery store. Last year I used better boy tomatoes and roma tomatoes. The roma tomatoes are great to use because they have fewer seeds, thicker, meatier walls and less water. And that means thicker sauce in less cooking time! Also, I don’t want mushy, bruised or rotten tomatoes. Next I remove the tomato skins this is very important. Nothing worse than eating spaghetti and having to chew on a piece of skin left behind. Here’s a trick my grandma taught me: put the tomatoes, a few at a time in a large pot of boiling water for no more than 1 minute. Then I plunge them into a waiting bowl of ice water. This makes the skins slide right off of the tomatoes. If the skins are left on then they become tough and chewy in the sauce, not very pleasant. Now I must remove the seeds and water. After peeling the skins off the tomatoes, I cut the tomatoes in half. I remove the seeds and excess water. I call it the squeeze of the seeds. It is just like it