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tomatoes

It is beautiful late August day.  For many, it means that the end of the summer is near.  For Italians, it's time to make the sauce.

Italians are very passionate about tomatoes.

Italians jar the tomatoes in late summer when they're ripened to prefection.  It's a very long day of  very hard work.   Everyone helps... even the kids.

 
Francesca carries a case
 
Marisa supervises
 
My little tomato

The tomatoes are cleaned and then boiled until the skins crack.

 
The jars are half full

The tomatoes are then passed through the mill to make sauce.  Anna Maria is filling jars.

The jars are then boilled to create a vacuum seal.

Francesca counts the jars waiting to be boiled while her dad, Tom, keeps an eye on the propane tanks.

Italians can turn any occasion into a party.  Making tomato sauce quickly turns into a celebration.

Maria prepares lunch on the side of the table that is not occupied by jars.  Hard bread, procsciutto, fresh mozzarella, basil and (of course) tomatoes.

 
Tony and Tom
 
Matteo taking a break

MMMM... Prosciutto...

After 14 hours, 6 sleepy kids went to sleep and over 400 jars of sauces were made.

 
Marisa and the boys
COMMENTS
DEE-Trow said at 8:31 a.m. on Aug 27, 2006:
This is very good. It really tells the story of the tomato. I love how you set it all up. The red is so vibrant. Great job!
Mthorne said at 8:57 a.m. on Aug 27, 2006:
Thanks so much!
Jillcdunn said at 1:20 a.m. on Aug 28, 2006:
Mmmm! Yummy. I love tomatoes. This is really interesting.
Oakraidr said at 4:28 p.m. on Aug 30, 2006:
Excellent job. Nice layout all around.

Makes me wish I was living closer to an Italian Family
Antion157 said at 11:38 a.m. on Sep 11, 2006:
Your beautiful family story takes me back through the generations. We still grow tomatoes on land that has been in my husband's family for nearly 100 years. Although I have not canned them in quite a while, your story makes me want to do it again! Perhaps next year ... 400 jars! Salute!
Pgr17 said at 2:44 p.m. on Sep 12, 2006:
wow - that reminds me of home as well. my mom still cans tomatoes to use for sauce year round. it's smaller scale now but i remember the days when we would all be involved in the process. great pictures... and what looks like a very fun family day. by the wya, this is like the 5th tabblo that has made me hungry!
Mthorne said at 3:13 p.m. on Sep 12, 2006:
thanks - we 'do the sauce' every other year. Between the 3 families that got together that day, we got about 130 jars each. It lasts us about 2 years.
TamnJam said at 10:04 a.m. on Sep 19, 2006:
gee,,, memory lane. going to do one with green beans???
Mthorne said at 10:07 a.m. on Sep 19, 2006:
actually we're doing olives in October - I'll tabblo it.
Engelgrafik said at 3:45 p.m. on Oct 2, 2006:
Mmmmm.... tomatooooeees...... i love 'em. Great tabblo. You can almost taste the color.
Sheila said at 10:41 a.m. on Oct 4, 2006:
great, good tomatoes!!! nice photos you have here. what camera are you using? you really have an eye. =) keep it up!
Pottymomma said at 8:53 p.m. on Oct 8, 2006:
AWESOME!
HunterProductions said at 12:40 a.m. on Oct 12, 2006:
Makes me feel at home.....we do tomatoes every year!! not quite on that scale though.
JeroldsSis said at 12:10 p.m. on Oct 31, 2006:
Wow. This is making me hungry! I love tomatoes! I wish I knew how to can tomatoes. After seeing these, I've decided we're having pasta for dinner tonight!
Red321 said at 4:05 p.m. on Nov 4, 2006:
Great storyline, being new I hadn't really though of using tabloo for documenting an activity like that.

And thanks for the visit and comment.
Pkeener said at 12:00 p.m. on Nov 6, 2006:
What a great story. MMMM I wish I could taste the sauce!
Marco_Andres said at 4:38 a.m. on Nov 8, 2006:
Wonderful. Colourful and informative. I need a big family help with my tomato harvest this year! Congratulations!
Trekki said at 2:53 p.m. on Nov 8, 2006:
Wow - THIS is a great idea for a Tabblo :-)) Makes me hungry right away :-)) Haha, I might like to come and help one day, it looks just like a big fun and so much yummmmm tomato sauce in the end :-))
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