Erica Scott
Instructor Emily Stallings
Communication Skills
October 5, 2010

Better Than Store-bought I can relate to many things in Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle since I come from a small town where farming and knowing almost everyone around you is the norm. In chapter 13 Barbara talks about canning tomatoes, which I have had some experience with. In fact, I helped my mom just this past August with her canning.
Almost every year around August our kitchen has a distinctive tomato scent that hits you as soon as you walk through the door. The scent fills the whole house and there is not one room that doesn’t have the smell of tomatoes reaching your nose. This year my Paw-Paw brought his homegrown tomatoes down to us to can since we quit gardening a few years ago. I completely agree with Barbara Kingsolver’s statement when she says, “Fresh garden tomatoes are so unbelievably tasty, they ruin us utterly and forever on the insipid imports available in the grocery.” (198). From the first time I tasted a homegrown tomato the taste of a store bought one was never the same.
Towards the end of chapter 13 Barbara talks about how to can tomatoes. This is a fairly simple process that went along with how my mom taught me to can. First, you wash the tomatoes. Next, you dip 6 to 8 tomatoes into boiling water for about 30 seconds. Upon taking them out they are to be placed in ice cold water, which peels the skin right off. Then, using a knife, you cut the core out of the tomato and throw it away. The next step is to quarter each one, slicing them into chunks. After quartering each tomato, you place it all on the stove to boil for about one hour. Meanwhile, you want to boil another pot filled with water on the stove for the jars. The reasoning behind this is so the jars will be close to the same temperature, keeping the hot tomato sauce from cracking the jar. When both the jars and tomato sauce are done, pour the sauce into each of the jars and add a teaspoon of salt. From this basic process you may want to add a few other ingredients such as onions, basil, or oregano to make a delicious salsa or spaghetti sauce. The last step of the canning is to place a canning lid on top of the jar and screw the ring on. Let the jars cool, and as they do so the pressure from the hot liquid cooling creates a vacuum in the jar, sealing the lid and making an odd popping noise. This delectable tomato sauce can be stored in a pantry for up to a year, ready to be popped open and added to your favorite meal.
Canning tomatoes is an easy process with a delicious outcome. I have never had better tasting tomato sauce than the kind that is made straight from homegrown tomatoes. Once you try it you are never going to want to have store bought tomatoes or sauce ever again.