Tomato Day Dream
The rain and chill of February in San Francisco has left me feeling cozy and daydreaming about warmer months ahead. As I embrace hibernation, I’m now able to edit seasons-old photographs that have been accumulating dust on memory cards since August. Today, I’m editing and remembering when I went tomato canning this summer with good friends up in Dixon, California. A straight shot northeast of the city, Dixon sits in the middle of a hot, dry, mosquito-filled desert. Aside from the mosquito bites, I remember it very fondly. Eat Well Farm is plentiful in the summer – thousands and thousands of tomatoes are piled into crates, ready to be canned and stored for the months ahead.
With a group of 10 or so friends, we spent all of our waking hours (12, to be exact!) coring, boiling, chopping and cooking down our vibrant red heirlooms and San Marzanos. At the end of it all, after much snacking and beer-drinking, we were canning tomatoes by candlelight. The next morning was when we were truly able to recognize the fruits of our labor…. over 100 jars of all shapes and sizes, brimming with punchy red tomato sauce.
My share of 12 jars has lasted me from then till now, and I still have 7 left, which I dole out only for the most special occasions and guests. I eagerly await the next tomato harvest, excited for the long and sweaty hours of laboring over scalding pots, mosquitoes and all, knowing that the satisfaction that comes from creating something from scratch, with friends, is what makes it all worthwhile.
