To one pint of pressed tomatoes Adelaide added one-fourth of a cup of vinegar, one and one-half teaspoons of salt, three-fourths of a teaspoon of black pepper, one-eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, three-fourths of a teaspoon of dry mustard, and one-fourth of a cup of brown sugar.
Adelaide boiled these ingredients together until they thickened, then poured them into bottles. She filled the bottles clear to the top allowing just enough room for the cork, which she pressed in tightly, then dipped the top of the bottle into melted paraffin. After putting on the label, Adelaide stored the jar away in the preserve closet.
"Mother," said Adelaide one morning, "how do you put up tomatoes? I mean ones like those you use for tomato bisque and scalloped tomatoes?"
"There is nothing simpler, my dear, and as soon as those big beauties on Daddy's tomato plants are ripe enough you shall have them for your own," answered mother.
Tomatoes
| Ripe tomatoes, | 1 dozen |
Adelaide watched those tomatoes every day, and as soon as they were sufficiently ripe she picked them.
Placing the tomatoes in a pan, she covered them with boiling water for about a minute, drained off the water, peeled them and cut them into quarters. Adelaide let these come just to the boiling point, then she filled the sterilized pint jars at once. In filling the jars Adelaide was careful not to let any of the little seeds of the tomatoes remain on the rubber as they might prevent the jar from being perfectly air-tight.
As usual, Adelaide inserted the silver knife in the jar to let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, fitted on new rubbers smoothly, sealed the jar quickly and let it stand upside down out of the way of any draft.